AMERICAN Cory Eliason won round 14 of the Maddington Toyota Sprintcar Series at the Perth Motorplex on Friday night, that was also the penultimate round of the World Series Sprintcars Championship.

Driving the WA-based Diamond Bay Motorsport W26, he won from James McFadden and Kerry Madsen in a testing 35-lap feature race that saw the track take rubber and most cars finish without rubber by the end of the contest.

So demanding were the track conditions, that a lot of drivers failed to go the journey after their tyres ran out of rubber and peeled off the rims.

Eliason started from P6 in the final and after following early leader James McFadden (who started P2) and Kerry Madsen (who started P4), he slipped into second after a few laps before striking a telling blow just after 20 laps were in the book and was never headed again.

The race was not even a lap old when Glen Sutherland went over in pits bend and Ryan Lancaster spun around, with only the latter getting a restart at the back of the pack.

The field regrouped a couple of laps later when Daniel Harding spun in turn two and with seven laps down, McFadden led Eliason and Madsen into traffic.

On lap 11 Brooke Tatnell’s campaign was over the night, rolling over in pits after contact with Jock Goodyer who started on pole after earlier winning the Gold Dash.

There were some good battles right through the order as most drivers tried to hold their position and running on the lowest line possible.

On lap 29 Harding pulled up on the back straight for another restart and then shortly afterwards officials stopped the race, allowing teams to top up their fuel after a high number of rolling laps.

Ryan Lancaster was also out after hitting the main straight fence hard.

Despite most cars not having any rubber left, they were not allowed to change tyres.

It ended in heartbreak for Callum Williamson with his team putting some air in a deflating tyre and as a result he was disqualified.

American Lucas Wolfe took fourth after putting in a sensational effort, qualifying via the B Main, starting 23rd and finishing fourth.

Brock Hallett finished fifth after he started from P13 while Ben Van Ryt was the best of the local brigade, taking a very impressive sixth after starting from P15.

Seventh was Lynton Jeffrey, after starting from P8, crossing the line ahead of Ben Ellement (from P18 to eight), Andrew Priolo (from P3 to P9), AJ Nash (a great drive from P19 to P10), Mitchell Wormall (from P17 to P11), Ben Butcher (from P16 to P12), Rusty Hickmn (from P5 to P13) and Goodyer (from P1 to P14).

There were many tales of heartbreak including David Murcott who was out lap 32, one of many succumbing to tyre issues - he was eyeing off a top five finish at the time.

Eliason started the night in the best possible fashion, setting quick time with a best lap of 13.753, bettering that of Murcott with a 13.797 and Madsen with a 13.805.

In the heats, wins went to Taylor Milling, Van Ryt, Williamson (twice), Ellement and Hickman.

Maiolo won the B Main and made the transfer to the rear of the A Main, along with Lawson, Wolfe and Sutherland.

Round 15 of the Maddington Toyota Sprintcar Series and the Grand Final of World Series Sprintcars will be held at the Perth Motorplex tonight - Saturday February 22.

RESULTS


Heat 1: 1st Taylor Milling, 2nd James McFadden, 3rd Brooke Tatnell, 4th Lucas Wolfe, 5th Lynton Jeffrey, 6th Cory Eliason, 7th James Inglis, 8th Jason Pryde, 9th Troy Lawson. DNS: Jamie Oldfield and Matthew Cross.

Heat 2: 1st Ben Van Ryt, 2nd Rusty Hickman, 3rd AJ Nash, 4th Glen Sutlerland, 5th David Murcott, 6th Mitchell Wormall, 7th Andrew Priolo, 8th Brock Hallett, 9th Adrian Haywood. DNF: Jason Kendrick. DNS: Tom Callaghan.

Heat 3: 1st Callum Williamson, 2nd Daniel Hartigan, 3rd Ryan Lancaster, 4th Ben Butcher, 5th Kerry Madsen, 6th Daniel Harding, 7th Ben Ellement, 8th Jock Goodyer, 9th Bradley Maiolo. DNF: Kris Coyle.

Heat 4: 1st Ben Ellement, 2nd James Inglis, 3rd Mitchell Wormall, 4th Jason Pryde, 5th Andrew Priolo, 6th Jock Goodyer, 7th Cory Eliason, 8th Lucas Wolfe, 9th Brad Maiolo. DNS: Tom Callaghan, Matthew Cross.

Heat 5: 1st Callum Williamson, 2nd AJ Nash, 3rd Brooke Tatnell, 4th Jason Kendrick, 5th Kris Coyle, 6th Daniel Harding, 7th Ben Butcher, 8th Lynton Jeffrey, 9th David Murcott, 10th Troy Lawson.

Heat 6: 1st Rusty Hickman, 2nd Kerry Madsen, 3rd James McFadden, 4th Glen Sutherland, 5th Ryan Lancaster, 6th Ben Van Ryt, 7th Daniel Hartigan, 8th Brock Hallett, 9th Taylor Milling, 10th Adrian Haywood.

B Main: 1st Brad Maiolo, 2nd Troy Lawson, 3rd Lucas Wolfe, 4th Glen Sutherland, 5th Jason Pryde, 6th Taylor Milling, 7th Tom Callaghan, 8th Kris Coyle, 9th Adrian Haywood.

Feature: 1st Cory Eliason, 2nd James McFadden, 3rd Kerry Madsen, 4th Lucas Wolfe, 5th Brock Hallett, 6th Ben Van Ryt, 7th Lynton Jeffrey, 8th Ben Ellement, 9th Andrew Priolo, 10th AJ Nash, 11th Mitchell Wormall, 12th Ben Butcher, 13th Rusty Hickman, 14th Jock Goodyer. DNF: Jason Kendrick, James Inglis, Ryan Lancaster, Daniel Harding, Brooke Tatell, Brad Maiolo, Troy Lawson, Glen Sutherland. DQ Callum Williamson.