Madsen wins feature, Tatnell wins WSS championship

Kerry Madsen on his way to victory at Valvoline Raceway. - Image courtesy of Valvoline Raceway
Kerry Madsen . – Image courtesy of Valvoline Raceway

From WSS

Perth, AU — (February 21, 2015) — Brook Tatnell has claimed his ninth ENZED World Series Championship as former series leader, Dave Murcott, relinquished his title hopes with a gut wrenching turn one crash with just 5 laps to go in the A main.

Rookie of the Year Kyle Hurst claimed the Revolution Racegear QuickTime award at the start of the night with Murcott timing in third extending his points lead over Tatnell to 80 points with Tatnell qualifying 11th. Tatnell was able to reel in six points on Murcott after both rounds of heats with both drivers qualifying for the top 8 shootout, which was won by return visitor Kerry Madsen. Murcott’s championship hopes looked good starting from the front row with Hirst and Jason Kendrick sharing the second row while Tatnell joined Jamie Maiolo on row three. Distant title hope James McFadden would start from 11th spot. On a perfect racetrack for a Grand Final showdown, the Motorplex provided a multi lane highway for great racing throughout the field that would provide mammoth battles including a five lap wheel to wheel showdown between Tatnell and Murcott, while McFadden also showed his nose in the top five after two restarts. However, a bizarre hard right turn in the main straight by Jason Kendrick made contact with Murcott, leaving what appeared to be minor wing damage on the Australia #1, but the restart would reveal that the freshly recrowned Australian champion had sustained a higher impact than first thought. Murcott restarted from fifth, seemingly unaware that his steering was on the verge of failing, and before turn one, became a passenger as the Mainline Dynolog Dynamometers entry headed straight into the turn one wall, junking the car and leaving the massive crowd speechless. Murcott left the scene directly heading for the pits with helmet in hand, and his body language clearly showing his level of devastation. With only 6 laps remaining, Tatnell still battled with Hard Charger Ryan Farrell who’d reached the second spot from fifteenth, however Kerry Madsen was unchallenged, leading every lap of the race to get his fifth World Series round win from Farrell, and Tatnell who claimed third and his ninth title in the process. The final points tally still accommodated Murcott for a somewhat sour second position on points with McFadden securing third. For further insights, post-race interviews with Tatnell and team owner Shane Krikke are featured on the World Series facebook page. The contracted teams will finish the series with a championship dinner at the Burswood on Swan Function Centre Sunday. Speedway Australia would like to congratulate all of the competing teams across the twelve rounds and look forward to revealing plans for next season’s series in the near future.

Feature:
1. N 29 – Kerry Madsen
2. W 26 – Ryan Farrell
3. W 2 – Brooke Tatnell
4. NQ 25 – James McFadden
5. Q 7 – Robbie Farr
6. W 41 – Cameron Gessner
7. W 17 – Kyle Hirst
8. W 3 – Steve Lines
9. W 69 – Shaun Bradford
10. W 53 – Matt Egel
11. W 8 – David Priolo
12. W 12 – Daniel Harding
13. W 20 – Luke Dillon
14. W 49 – Ryan Jones
15. Q 75 – Darren Jensen
16. W 46 – Lee Nash
17. W 99 – Jamie Maiolo
18. W 77 – Brad Maiolo
19. A 1 – Dave Murcott
20. W 92 – Jason Kendrick