Veteran driver Graham West from Bendigo in his LJ Torana was triumphant at Hamilton’s Western Speedway after he took the win in the A Main of the VMPA Australian Multiskill Modified Series.

This victory was all the sweeter as last year at the Hamilton track West suffered massive damage after getting tangled in a crash resulting in him rolling his Torana several times. A lot of hard work and dollars went into getting the Torana back up to a raceable condition with somewhat disappointing results for the rest of last season after suffering engine damage at Rosedale’s Series round as well.

West drove exceptionally well during the night racking up two seconds and a fourth in the heats and led the feature from the fourth lap onwards after passing Avalon’s Chris Rieck in the I & J Speedway Equipment Commodore.

The track proved a challenge for many of the thirty one drivers with two exceptionally slick spots developing during the night and many drivers going into turn three too hard only for their car to push out into the far corner sometimes with other vehicles caught on the outside of it. The cars and drivers who drove to the conditions and who had their vehicles set up better were the winners and grinners at the end of the night.

These included Portland’s Chris Hayden in the VS Commodore and Brenton Mills from Geelong in his VL Commodore who ran second and third respectively. Hayden gained a first, third and fourth in the heats and Mills also had a first, fourth and fifth during the heats which started him out of position six in the final.

Heat wins were not dominated by any one driver as there were nine winners over nine heats, they were Russell Bent in the Bass Highway Waste FG Falcon, Mark Carlin in the G & W Racing Falcon, Victorian Champion David Smith, Darren Cockerill, Chris Hayden, Chris Rieck in the I & J Speedway Equipment Commodore, Daniel Drewett, Brenton Mills and Michael Hetherington

The front row of the feature saw Chris Rieck qualify from pole position with Mark Carlin on the outside, Hayden and West starting behind. Rieck won the corner and took the lead early with Carlin slipping back through the field eventually finishing in 7th position. West took the lead after a few laps and continued to look strong as he led the rest of the race.

Brenton Mills was one of a few drivers that moved forward during the race along with Gavin Catley, Zac Swanson, Daniel Drewett and Jayde Aarts. Drewett started from position fourteen and crossed the line in sixth position only to incur the wrath of the Steward resulting in him being relegated rear of field after all his hard work.

Jayde Aarts deserves a mention for his solid drive throughout the night with a fourth, sixth and second in the heats, starting out of position nine and finishing sixth in the final it was a exceptional result in the calibre of cars and drivers that the relative newbie Aarts was up against.

Final results in the final were Graham West, Chris Hayden. Brenton Mills, Chris Rieck, Ty Galley, Jayde Aarts, Mark Carlin, Gavin Catley, Nick Hill, Michael Hetherington, Zac Swanson, David Smith, Rodney Burr, Ben Moon, Garry Ainley and Daniel Drewitt. The I & J Speedway Equipment tyre donation was won by Michael Hetherington by a random draw after the final.

With Round One of the VMPA Australian Multiskill Modified Series due to be run at Redline Raceway, Buninyong but cancelled due to foul weather and now Round Two run and won with perhaps some surprising results it looks a wide open Championship for the taking as the VMPA heads to Horsham’s Blue Ribbon Raceway on February 1st for Round Three of the State Series. This Round will keenly anticipated by many drivers as a shakedown for the Victorian Championship to be held at the same venue later in the year.

The Victorian Modified Production Association would like to thank the following for their support:-

AUSTRALIAN MULTISKILL TRAINERS AND ASSESSORS

Nut’s Wheels
Carlin Constructions
I & J Speedway Equipment
Atkins Autoworks
Mac Graphix
GW Racing
Ern Overall Quality Used Cars
Pakenham Plumbing Services
Pakenham Crane Trucks
Blackwell Race Engines

Bass Highway Waste