By Daniel Powell
The saying; there is no place like home, was a pretty apt way to sum up how Mikayla Hein felt in regards to her recent return to her home track, Murray Bridge Speedway in South Australia, aboard her wingless sprint.
After her opening three wingless sprint race meetings had been interstate, Nyora Speedway in Victoria and Northline Speedway in the Northern Territory, Hein earlier this month made her long awaited debut on home soil.
“I was very excited about running my wingless sprint at my home track,” expressed the 17-year-old. “I felt quietly confident running there straight away, as I had a lot of experience racing my junior sedan there and that’s given me a good understanding of what the track will do throughout the night.”
At the Murray Bridge Speedway season opener on Saturday night, October 15, Hein drove strongly and was rewarded with a fourth place feature race finish. For Hein, this was the third race meeting in a row where she had finished in fourth. Earlier in the night, she had finished both of her heat races in second and seventh place.
The following weekend, Hein returned to Murray Bridge Speedway hopeful of being able to contend for a podium place. However, it wasn’t to be, as in the feature race she was forced to retire. Hein was unable to start her car after a red light stoppage early on in the feature race due to a mystery mechanical issue. Leading up to the feature race, Hein had finished third and seventh in her heat races. The night before, Hein and her team-mate Cody Atkins travelled to Bordertown’s Tolmer Speedway for the opening round of the Eureka Garages & Sheds Sprintcar Series to run some demonstration laps.
This Saturday night (October 29) Hein will make her first appearance at Adelaide’s Speedway City, which is something she is looking forward to.
“I’ve watched racing there all of my life, and I cannot wait to finally get out there and race,” she enthused. “There are a lot of major race meetings there this season like, the South Australian Title and also supporting the Australian Sprintcar Title and World Series Sprintcar Championship events, so it’s going to be good to get some early season track time.”
Special thanks from Hein must go to Robin and Cody Atkins from Atkins Motorsport, along with David, Mum and Dad, and Pop for all of their support.
Mikayla Hein is proudly supported in the 2011/12 season by: All States Auditing & Accreditation Services, Old No 7 Transport, Active Motor Wreckers, CMV Truck Dismantlers, Blue Heeler Hotel – Kynuna, Octane Leisure, Oval Track Imports, Pickos Photos, Savage Shots Photography, Bridge Bearings and Bolts, Mingbool Restorations, ASCO Fabrications, JRM Group, Kent Town Crash Repairs, Port Gawler Off Road Hire Park, Race Craft Designs, Transport and Warehousing Solutions, M McNamara, M & J Gray, and Steve and Linda.