It might have taken a bit longer than expected, but Darren Vine was one happy driver on Saturday night at Brisbane’s Archerfield Speedway, after he claimed a sensational victory in the latest ARTS Speedcar Series round in what was his first 2019-20 season win.

Debuting a SR11 powered King car that is owned by his brother-in-law Paul McMannim at the beginning of this season, Vine has so far this season been finding his feet with the unfamiliar equipment.

Vine’s victory on Saturday night, which has come after four minor podium finishes earlier this season, was a feeling of one major thing, relief.

“My team and I have been working our way around this new car all season and getting myself comfortable in a car that is nothing like any other car I’ve raced before, so to pick up our first win this season is not only a feeling of relief but proof that my team and I are on the right track,” the eight-time Australian Compact Speedcar Champion said.

“We have encountered a few obstacles during the season so far, which has seen nights where I encountered misfortune and ones where I just wasn’t fast enough, but no matter what the situation it has pushed us to work harder on trying to improve the car.”

The breakthrough victory for the season saw Vine inherit the lead late in the 25-lap event due to the misfortune of long-time leader Rusty Whittaker crashing out of contention and hand the lead over to Vine, who grabbed this opportunity with both hands. With three laps to go, it set up a sprint to the finish with Charlie Brown and Brock Dean ready for the challenge. On the final lap, the lead changed on three occasions, while Dean was working the bottom line perfectly and Brown pulling a slide job on the last corner only to have Vine roll off the throttle and drive back under him on the exit to take out the win by the narrowest of margins over Dean and Brown.

“I had a little bit of luck on my side with Rusty (Whittaker) crashing out in the feature race, but I was still able to be good enough to be in the right place at the right time,” explained the Qld # 6 Mike Vine Turbos supported King racer, who had qualified on pole position for the feature race after he had qualified third in time trials and then picked up a win and a second in his two heat races.

“It’s very pleasing to get back into victory lane amongst such tough local competition, as I was on the pace throughout the night and it was a great reward for my team to be able to put together a whole night.”

Vine and his team are unsure of their plans for the rest of the 2019-20 season due to current coronavirus situation around the world, but they are hoping that things will be resolved sooner rather than later.

Vine would like to thank his 2019-20 season sponsors:
Mike Vine Turbos
Men at Work Exhausts
Mobile Injector Services
Craig Thompson Machining
Williams Graphix

Special Thanks: Paul McMannim (brother in law and car owner), Darren’s mum and dad (Roz and Mike), and his wife (Keli).

To find out more about Vine and his team, LIKE them on Facebook by searching Darren Vine Racing.