From Archerfield Speedway
Brisbane, AU — (March 12, 2012) — David Muir scored his second KRE Race Engines Sprintcar Track Championship win in succession at Supercheap Auto Archerfield Speedway on Saturday night February 11, leading home Peter Lack and Bryan Mann in the night’s Feature event that was brought forward in the programme due to pending storms in the Brisbane area. The win was Muir’s third of the season at Archerfield and consolidates his second place in the standings behind Mann with five Rounds remaining.
It was a near perfect night for Muir who set fast time in group qualifying and then finished sixth in his first Heat before winning his second to top the qualifying points. With reports of rain on the way and moving in quickly, the Dash was cut from the programme and the Feature was lined up per qualifying points, giving Muir the pole with Todd Wanless alongside him on the front row.
Wanless’ time up the front was short-lived though when he and Muir made contact in turn one just after the green, the #2 J&J flipping into the wall with Wanless emerging okay but obviously disappointed at his wretched run of luck recently. The flip was Wanless’ third in as many events at Archerfield and he will be looking for a change of fortunes ahead of the upcoming Qld Sprintcar Title at the venue.
Brett Thomas and Darren Jensen also brought on the reds during the Feature, Thomas on lap four and Jensen on lap twenty after both crashed in turn three. Steven Johnson and Brad Ayres also failed to complete the distance, Johnson out on lap fourteen and Ayres four laps later.
Muir opened a gap on the field on every restart and despite his impressive runs through the field at Archerfield in recent months, he was probably better with the wind in his face on Saturday night than he was in lapped traffic mid-race. Lack’s best opportunities came as the leaders battled their way through the tail of the field, closing right to the tail of the #18 and then losing the momentum when the race was slowed under yellow or stopped under a red.
Mann’s third place finish will keep him atop the KRE standings ahead of Muir while Andrew Scheuerle’s sixth place finish will keep him in touch but starting to need solid results and luck to fall his way if he is to successfully defend his Series win from last season. Jensen’s DNF and Kevin Titman’s last lap pass on Steven White for fourth in the Feature will narrow the gap between those two in their own battle for fourth and fifth in the standings.
Darrell Hodges finished seventh in the Feature ahead of Ben Hilder, Brent Kratzmann and Brock Dean in tenth, with Garry Gill, Paul Rooks and Melissa Boyes the final three at the chequers. Heat races earlier in the night were won by Lack, Mann, Boyes and Muir. No B-Main or Dash was held.
In other racing on the programme, Will Muir won the P&M Motor Body Works ASCF Junior Sedan Feature from Jayden Peacock and Jack Kay, Barry Gibbs won the Compact Speedcar Feature from Gary Hudson and Mick Wilson while Qld Champion Charlie Brown won the Formula 500 Feature, taking the win ahead of Dan Scougall and Ross Allen to sweep all four Formula 500 races on the night.
The next event at Supercheap Auto Archerfield Speedway is the Polar Ice Qld Midget Car Series on Saturday night February 18 with Wingless Sprints, Lightning Sprints, Modlites, Ford v Holden, BIS and Outlaw Sedans also on the programme.