From Darren O’Dea
Bunbury, AU — (November 14, 2015) — “The car was pretty good, the track was pretty demanding and I was trying to hang on.”
That was Jamie Maiolo only moments after winning round three of the AHG Sprintcar Series at Quit Bunbury Speedway on Saturday night.
Jamie won the 30-lap final from younger brother Brad and Jason Kendrick for his second victory in three races.
Jamie started from P4 and was tucked in behind front runners Shaun Bradford, Luke Dillon and Ryan Farrell for two thirds of the journey until Bradford spun and was collected by the other two.
Bradford sustained too much damage but Dillon and Farrell were able to get a restart, albeit from the back of the pack.
After inhering the lead Jamie never looked back and powered away for the win.
“I think we were good for a podium and it came unfolded in front of us and I’ll take them anyway they come but it’s a great result for the LJM Racing team,” Jamie said.
This was on the back of the brothers starting on the front row for the feature race at the Perth Motorplex seven days earlier.
Jamie said the different track layout tested drivers and crews.
“We changed it a bit (the car set-up), we probably missed it a little bit in the Dash, after that track grade it was pretty smooth.
“We probably should have thrown a little bit more gear in it and tightened it up a bit for the track conditions.
“But yeah we ended up making a fair few changes for the feature and the car was pretty good, I think we were probably good for third but the other boys got tangled up.
“When it’s pretty demanding like this, sometimes you are just happy to roll it back into the trailer, so to come out with a win, it’s great.”
Brad Maiolo started from P5 and on the restart after the front three crashed, he was third but took full advantage of Jason Kendrick going a bit wide and slid into second to finish behind his brother.
“The car was quick,” Brad said.
“The front wing collapsed which didn’t help but we will take second anyway.
“It was a demanding track, I was feeling it pretty early on but I pushed on and had a bit of luck there and here we are on the podium again, so all good.”
Considering he didn’t finish the first two feature races of the season Kendrick would have been happy with his third.
He started from P3 in the final after moving up a couple of rows in the Top 8 Dashes.
The team struggled with the car set-up early on in the night and was one of many teams seen changing gear ratios and suspension settings.
On the podium Kendrick also conceded he had some bleeder valve issues in the rear tyres (that alter their air pressure) and said it was pretty hard to drive before the final restart.
Round four of the AHG Sprintcar Series will be held at the Perth Motorplex this Saturday night before returning to Bunbury on Saturday, November 28.