From WSS
Mt. Gambier, AU — (December 28, 2014) — Eight time champion, Brooke Tatnell has claimed an emphatic win in round three of the 2014/15 World Series Sprintcars tour at Mount Gambier’s Borderline Speedway, as Californian Kyle Hirst narrowly holds on to the series lead.
Tatnell was quick to give credit to his crew for the victory, after a long night driving between rounds and a meticulous servicing program of the Transport Equipment Hire #2.
“Tonight this is about Dylan Buswell and Shane Finch. I jumped in the truck with the boys after last night and drove straight here and washed up the car until six this morning, and then were up again at eight-thirty and out here at the racetrack working all day from about ten. I get the glorified job and I get to have more fun than they do and I am so appreciative of what they give up in life to make me look good.”
Brad Keller captured the Revolution Racegear QuickTime honours with an 11.28 lap in front of an all-star top six of Luke Dillon, James McFadden, Jamie Veal, David Murcott and Brooke Tatnell, while Washington state based racer, Trey Starks blew an engine in hot laps, ending his night.
Lee Nash, Colin Brooks, Jamie Veal and Victorian Luke Nash all registered heat wins in round one, with Nash repeating in round two alongside Ashley Scott, Nick Lacey, and Scott Bogucki; the latter arriving late at the venue after driving back from winning a round of the 360 Allstars Series at Nyora last night.
The biggest advances of the night however belonged to Luke Dillon and Brooke Tatnell who would promote themselves with consistent sub-eleven second passes from the Bronze Shootout, right through to being the two quickest of the Race Safety Equipment Gold Shootout, displacing McFadden, Veal, Hirst, Keller, and Murcott as well as Darren Mollenoyux to take command of the front row for the A-Main.
With the points settled, the C-Main allowed West Australia’s Taylor Milling and Mount Gambier’s Ash Scott to join the back of the B, only to have Milling become a victim of a start-stop chain reaction that sent him riding the wheel of Tasmanian Mark “Mozzie” House on the back row, and out of contention after a soft rollover.
The B-Main however did bring joy to the strong Mount Gambier crowd who cheered on their favorite son Steve Lines who won from pole over Ryan Jones.
The cool temperatures refrigerated the track surface into maintaining a lot of moisture for the A-Main, and although not offering many passing opportunities, would provide a ferocious spectacle of just how quick the field could circulate around the venue.
As the field was pushed away, reigning Australian champion Dave Murcott headed infield with a loose fuel connection, forcing him to rejoin the field at the rear.
Everyone knew success would weigh heavily on the start, and top qualifier, Luke Dillon chose to start on the outside of row one, however, Tatnell shot out of a cannon to secure turn one before a multi circumstance incident took out the One Life/ Rentco #12 of Daniel Harding and the ever hopeful Scott Bogucki who clouted the infield Victory Lane scaffolding trying to stop his front end damaged #84.
Murcott would also be caught in the crossfire but rejoined the field as Tatnell again secured the first turn and was never headed, until a slight flame became evident around the engine of the #2 TEH Krikke Motorsport Cool that flared enough for stewards to bring on a caution for a safety inspection of the car.
Tatnell was unaware of the flame which was only coming out of the left side of the engine and clearly wasn’t effecting the car’s performance, and upon inspection, was deemed safe to return to racing from the start of the grid.
With less than ten laps to go, Tatnell again held on to his lead, with the whole crowd watching as the bizarre flame began to appear again, wondering if the engine would hold on. However, Tatnell survived to take his first win of the 2014/15 World Series Season, and his sixth in total at the venue in World Series competition, leading Dillon, McFadden, Keller and Veal across the line for the top five, while Kyle Hirst’s sixth placing was enough to let him finish the evening still on top of the points table.
A broken valve spring was later found to be the cause of Tatnell’s flame issue, with the Krikke Motorsport crew well aware that the engine had come perilously close to disaster.
Defending champion and local hero Steven Lines hard-charged his way from 15th to 7th to salvage the best of a frustrating week so far behind the wheel of the Halls Haulage #3, and also claim the Sprintcar Zone Lucky 7’s bonus.
The series points are still tight after three rounds, with Kyle Hirst on 833, Dillon on 825, and Tatnell on 794.