By Daniel Powell
The great form of James McFadden continued over the weekend during the ninth round of the World Series Sprintcars Championship at Archerfield Speedway in Queensland, and it resulted in him maintaining his healthy lead in the overall point standings.
A fourth place finish in Wednesday night’s Capalaba Cup, which was also held at Archerfield Speedway and wasn’t a World Series round, followed by a pair of third place finishes on the podium over the two nights of the Australian Open, a round of the World Series Championship, up against some of the world’s best sprintcar drivers was McFadden’s scorecard.
Although he would’ve liked to have continued his winning form, the 22-year-old was pleased to come away from the tight bullring of Archerfield Speedway with a good point’s haul to add to his sizeable lead in the World Series point standings.
“It was close and tough racing all weekend, and to come away with the results that I did was very satisfying,” commented McFadden, who currently holds down a 455 points lead in the standings over his nearest rival and defending champion, Robbie Farr. “Up against some of the world’s best drivers [Americans Donny Schatz and Shane Stewart finished 1-2 in last year’s Knoxville Nationals] we held our own, and that does wonders for the confidence of me and the whole team.”
On Wednesday night, McFadden finished just off the podium in fourth of the $10,000 to win event. After a pole position start, McFadden’s winning hopes suffered from a bad start. Earlier in the night, he had topped the time sheets in qualifying, followed by a pair of top five finishes in his heat races, and then started the feature race from pole position by virtue of winning the dash.
The opening night of the Australian Open on Friday saw McFadden qualify 10th in time trials after a late pill draw, but he suffered a bit of misfortune in the opening heat race that forced the team to chase their tails for the remainder of the weekend. While running third in the opening heat race a coming together with a competitor ahead of him on the penultimate lap and resulted in a right front flat tyre. McFadden remained on track and held on for a rear of field finish. In the remaining two heat races he finished in second and fourth place respectively. For the preliminary feature race, McFadden started from position 10 and fought his way forward to finish strongly in third place behind winner Jason Johnson and runner up Donny Schatz at the completion of the 20-lap journey.
The NQ # 25 Totally Workwear Midland & VIC Park supported COOL driver returned for the second night of the Australian Open full of confidence from his performances the night before. A ninth place finish in the fourth and final heat race left him seventh on points going into the feature race. The format after the completion of the heat races was a mid pack dash and the regular Top 8 shootout. The top two from the mid pack dash occupied the final two spots in the Top 8 shootout. A second place finish in the mid pack dash behind Shane Stewart earned McFadden the final spot in the Top 8 shootout. In the Top 8 shootout, McFadden was at his blistering best and rocketed to pole position for the 50-lap feature race.
McFadden was one of the front runners throughout the 50-lap feature race, after fellow front row starter and eventual winner Donny Schatz got the jump at the start. In what was a tight tussle from start to finish, McFadden remained at the pointy end of the field and came home in a credible third place finish.
Adelaide’s Speedway City in South Australia is the venue for this Saturday night’s (January 14) 10th round of the World Series Championship.
McFadden would like to thank his car owner Scott Milling, parents Dave and Tania, crew chief Glen Beaton, and crew members Crackers and Alex, along with his valued sponsors: Totally Workwear Midland & VIC Park, Western Diamond Drillers, AUS FUEL GULL, Lucas Oil Products Inc, Allstar Performance, Astro Titanium, KRE Race Engines, OMP, Racer Industries and COOL Chassis, for all of their ongoing support in the 2011/12 season.
To find out more about James McFadden, visit his official website: www.jamesmcfadden.com.au