From WSS, James Baker Photo
David Murcott shot away from the outside of the front row to claim his second career Performance Wholesale World Series Sprintcars A-Main during Round 5 of the East Coast Pipeline Speedweek at his adopted home track of Avalon Raceway, Geelong.
Murcott did not have things all his own way however, crashing out of his two heats. Thankfully for the Mainline team a good time trail (second to James McFadden) was enough for Murcott to qualify for the Silver Dash. He progressed finishing the final Gold Dash second to American Jason Johnson in the Vortex Top 8 Shootout.
Johnson was gunning for his third win in a row and was following Murcott when he made contact with Steve Caunt while attempting to place him a lap down. Caunt hit the wall hard and Johnson was sent to the rear of the field for causing the stoppage. Johnson lasted only three laps before he retired with a flat right rear tyre on lap 23.
Murcot drove away on the demanding, slick surface to win from Danny Smith of Danville, Indiana. Smith lined up sixth for the main event and soon jumped into fourth. Following the lap 2 stoppage he passed Tatnell for third and picked up the pieces following Johnson’s misfortune to secure the best finish of his Australian tour thus far for car owner Trevor Green.
Local Matthew Reed finished on the podium after starting eight and endured an eventful race battling with Stephen Bell and Brooke Tatnell. On lap 10 Reed finally made the move on Tatnell stick while the defending champion fell into the clutches of young South Australian sensation Steven Lines three laps later. Lines went on to finish fourth from Tatnell, Hoosier Hard Charger Kerry Madsen who finished second in the B-Main to start sixteenth and a flying Ryan Farrell.
An earlier lap-2 caution period put Danny Reidy and McFadden out when the latter spun in front of the field collecting Jamie Veal and Bryan Mann. Veal recovered to finish eighth.
Murcott celebrated with a wing dance while crew chief Dave Sharman was delighted by the victory. “It was really good after the week we’ve had, we have been fast enough but just not a lot of luck. It was really good to win in front of our Melbourne sponsors John Sidney and Mainline. David was wrapped to get the monkey off his back. Had a good start to the season but had bad luck the last few weeks. Thankfully everything is looking up from here.”
The B-Main ended in controversy when Robbie Farr rolled over along the main straight and the race was declared with 7 laps still remaining just was Caunt passed Max Dumesny for the final transfer position. With both Farr and Dumesny failing to progress further than the B-Main Tatnell extended his overall points lead to 998 from Dumesny on 956, Farr with 934 and Farrell closing in on 930. It was a major blow to the championship hopes of both Dumesny and Farr.
Meanwhile Tatnell’s good news continued, moving ahead of Johnson in the East Coast Pipeline Speedweek points standings. Tatnell now leads by 8 points with 576, Johnson is on 568 and Danny Smith is third with 554. The final Speedweek showdown promises to be a thrilling race at the Sungold Stadium, Premier Speedway Warrnambool on New Year Day.
Results:
Qualfications: 1. W 25 – James McFadden, 12.570; 2. Q 29 – David Murcott, 12.592; 3. USA 4 – Danny Smith, 12.625; 4. V 92 – Matthew Reed, 12.633; 5. W 2 – Brooke Tatnell, 12.633; 6. NQ 47 – Jason Johnson, 12.680; 7. V 70 – John Vogels, 12.723; 8. V 26 – Nick Lacey, 12.762; 9. NT 5 – Danny Reidy, 12.782; 10. V 35 – Jamie Veal, 12.885; 11. S 45 – Steve Lines, 12.903; 12. V 88 – Stephen Bell, 12.932; 13. ACT 9 – Steve Caunt, 12.939; 14. W 45 – Daryl Clayden, 12.946; 15. W 92 – Kerry Madsen, 12.950; 16. V 5 – Max Dumesny, 12.967; 17. Q 16 – Bryan Mann, 12.978; 18. W 87 – Carl Dowling, 13.009; 19. S 2 – Craig Vanderstelt, 13.014; 20. W 95 – Ryan Farrell, 13.022; 21. Q 7 – Robbie Farr, 13.028; 22. S 7 – Lynton Jeffrey, 13.039; 23. Q 83 – Grant Anderson, 13.051; 24. S 41 – Wayne Rowett, 13.055; 25. V 6 – Mike Van Bremen, 13.083; 26. W 11 – Jason Kendrick, 13.097; 27. Q 68 – Cameron Gessner, 13.102; 28. Q 58 – Peter Lack, 13.135; 29. V 20 – Domain Ramsay, 13.180; 30. S 8 – Terry Pitt, 13.182; 31. Q 25 – Andrew Scheurle, 13.196; 32. S 24 – Ricky Maiolo, 13.210; 33. N 36 – Eddie Lumbar, 13.226; 34. V 68 – Brett Milburn, 13.247; 35. V 17 – Dennis Jones, 13.353; 36. V 32 – Ian Thomsen, 13.358; 37. S 44 – Andrew Cox, 13.380; 38. S 99 – Josh Ruhs, 13.411; 39. V 19 – Daniel Newnham, 13.416; 40. V 39 – Brett Smith, 13.471; 41. S 38 – Jason Tranter, 13.557; 42. S 20 – Glen Sutherland, 13.735; 43. V 44 – Ron Dalton, 13.778; 44. V 82 – Simon Van Ginneken, 14.015; 45. USA 7 – Craig Dollansky, NT
Heat Race #1: 1. V 6 – Mike Van Bremen, 2. Q 16 – Bryan Mann, 3. Q 7 – Robbie Farr, 4. W 2 – Brooke Tatnell, 5. NT 5 – Danny Reidy, 6. V 20 – Domain Ramsay, 7. W 25 – James McFadden, 8. ACT 9 – Steve Caunt, 9. V 82 – Simon Van Ginneken, 10. S 44 – Andrew Cox, DNF: N 36 – Eddie Lumbar
Heat Race #2: 1. S 7 – Lynton Jeffrey, 2. V 68 – Brett Milburn, 3. NQ 47 – Jason Johnson, 4. W 87 – Carl Dowling, 5. W 45 – Daryl Clayden, 6. W 11 – Jason Kendrick, 7. V 35 – Jamie Veal, 8. S 38 – Jason Tranter, DNF: S 8 – Terry Pitt, S 99 – Josh Ruhs, Q 29 – David Murcott
Heat Race #3: 1. V 19 – Daniel Newnham, 2. Q 25 – Andrew Scheuerle, 3. Q 68 – Cameron Gessner, 4. Q 83 – Grant Anderson, 5. W 92 – Kerry Madsen, 6. USA 4 – Danny Smith, 7. V 70 – John Vogels, 8. S 45 – Steve Lines, 9. S 2 – Craig Vanderstelt, 10. S 20 – Glen Sutherland, 11. V 17 – Dennis Jones
Heat Race #4: 1. W 95 – Ryan Farrell, 2. S 24 – Ricky Maiolo, 3. V 88 – Stephen Bell, 4. V 5 – Max Dumesny, 5. V 92 – Matthew Reed, 6. S 41 – Wayne Rowett, 7. Q 58 – Peter Lack, 8. V 39 – Brett Smith, 9. V 26 – Nick Lacey DNF: V 44 – Ron Dalton, V 32 – Ian Thomsen
Heat Race #5: 1. N 36 – Eddie Lumbar, 2. W 45 – Daryl Clayden, 3. S 8 – Terry Pitt, 4. NQ 47 – Jason Johnson, 5. V 6 – Mike Van Bremen, 6. V 82 – Simon Van Ginneken, 7. S 7 – Lynton Jeffrey, 8. Q 16 – Bryan Mann, 9. W 25 – James McFadden DNF: S 38 – Jason Tranter, NT 5 – Danny Reidy
Heat Race #6: 1. W 11 – Jason Kendrick, 2. W 87 – Carl Dowling, 3. Q 29 – David Murcott, 4. W 2 – Brooke Tatnell, 5. Q 7 – Robbie Farr, 6. V 35 – Jamie Veal, 7. ACT 9 – Steve Caunt, 8. V 68 – Brett Milburn, 9. S 44 – Andrew Cox, DNF: V 20 – Domain Ramsay
Heat Race #7: 1. Q 68 – Cameron Gessner, 2. S 45 – Steve Lines, 3. V 17 – Dennis Jones, 4. S 24 – Ricky Maiolo, 5. V 5 – Max Dumesny, 6. V 39 – Brett Smith, 7. S 2 – Craig Vanderstelt, 8. V 26 – Nick Lacey, 9. S 41 – Wayne Rowett, 10. USA 4 – Danny Smith
Heat Race #8: 1. V 19 – Daniel Newnham, 2. Q 58 – Peter Lack, 3. Q 25 – Andrew Scheuerle, 4. W 95 – Ryan Farrell, 5. V 88 – Stephen Bell, 6. W 92 – Kerry Madsen, 7. Q 83 – Grant Anderson, 8. V 92 – Matthew Reed, 9. V 70 – John Vogels, 10. S 20 – Glen Sutherland, DNF: V 32 – Ian Thomsen
C-Main: 1. S 8 – Terry Pitt, 2. N 36 – Eddie Lumbar, 3. V 68 – Brett Milburn, 4. S 20 – Glen Sutherland, 5. V 39 – Brett Smith, 6. S 44 – Andrew Cox, 7. S 41 – Wayne Rowett, 8. V 17 – Dennis Jones, 9. S 38 – Jason Tranter, 10. V 32 – Ian Thomsen, 11. V 82 – Simon Van Ginneken
B-Main: 1. NT 5 – Danny Reidy, 2. W 92 – Kerry Madsen, 3. Q 16 – Bryan Mann, 4. ACT 9 – Steve Caunt, 5. V 5 – Max Dumesny, 6. Q 68 – Cameron Gessner, 7. S 24 – Ricky Maiolo, 8. V 6 – Mike Van Bremen, 9. W 11 – Jason Kendrick, 10. Q 58 – Peter Lack, 11. V 19 – Daniel Newnham, 12. Q 25 – Andrew Scheuerle, 13. Q 83 – Grant Anderson, 14. S 8 – Terry Pitt, 15. N 36 – Eddie Lumbar, DNF: Q 7 – Robbie Farr, S 2 – Craig Vanderstelt
A-Main: 1. Q 29 – David Murcott, 2. USA 4 – Danny Smith, 3. V 92 – Matthew Reed, 4. S 45 – Steve Lines, 5. W 2 – Brooke Tatnell, 6. W 92 – Kerry Madsen, 7. W 95 – Ryan Farrell, 8. V 35 – Jamie Veal, 9. V 88 – Stephen Bell, 10. V 26 – Nick Lacey, 11. W 87 – Carl Dowling, 12. Q 16 – Bryan Mann, 13. W 45 – Daryl Clayden, DNF: NQ 47 – Jason Johnson, V 70 – John Vogels, ACT 9 – Steve Caunt, W 25 – James McFadden, NT 5 – Danny Reidy