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Bell's Stunning Victorian Sprintcar Title Win At Sungold Stadium
Sunday, 14 March 2010 by Gavin White
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Local favourite and part time racer Stephen Bell turned in one of his finest performances to win the 2010 Fresha Fruit Juice Victorian Sprintcar Title on Saturday night, March 13 at Sungold Stadium. Bell powered past early race leader and eventual runner up Grant Anderson mid race and never looked back as he opened a handy lead to record his first open Sprintcar victory at Warrnambool in ten years. Pre race favourite Robbie Farr started ninth and wrestled his way onto the final podium position on the final lap following the demise of James McFadden within sight of the finish line.
Polesitter was Anderson following his excellent qualifying effort in the family run #37 with Tasmanian Sprintcar champion Jason Redpath alongside. McFadden and Bell filled the second row ahead of Luke Dillon and defending champion Matthew Reed followed by Mike Van Bremen, surprise packet Jamie Stark, Farr and local hope Darren Mollenoyux started tenth.
Fans also had one eye on 15th starting Steven Lines who earlier had recovered from his heat race tribulations to win the C-main before he scorched to the B-main win in a sensational performance.
Anderson jumped to the lead and set about opening a small advantage over the impressive Redpath as Reed shot into fourth and quickly challenged Bell for third as McFadden slipped back at the start.
Only five laps into the 30 lap final and Tim Morse brought the yellows on following a spin in turn 1. The multi Australian V8 Dirt Modified champion duly restarted at the rear.
At the restart it was clear that one of the leading contenders clipped the restart cone and would be sent to the rear for the incident with second placed Redpath being the unlucky recipient.
Mollenoyux was making the bottom work for him as he passed cars as he quickly reeled in third placed James McFadden challenging for the position. Shortly after ‘Molly’ had a half spin in turn 4 as he coughed up multiple positions to the ensuing pack.
As the race approached the halfway stage Bell found his groove on the bottom and worked his way masterfully into the lead. It was a lead that he would not relinquish as he worked his way through the lapped traffic extending his lead. It would prove to be a sweet victory for car owner Mat Eastham and his long time supporter John Drysdale as they savored the victory. Bell enjoyed the opportunity afforded to him by Eastham to race locally and have a chance to run with the best in the business.
Bell accepted the chequered flag ahead of Anderson and as McFadden sailed through the final corner a suspected steering failure sent him careering into the unforgiving concrete wall ending his race abruptly. It was a cruel way to end another strong showing at Warrnambool for the exciting and popular young talent.
Farr elevated himself into third ahead of Reed with Lines once again passing a bunch of cars to end his alphabet run in fifth. Mollenoyux, Dillon, Phil Down, John Vogels, Tim Morse, Van Bremen, Jamie Stark and Dennis Jones rounded out the finishers. Nick Lacey, Ricky Maiolo, Glen Sutherland and Redpath all recorded DNF’s.
A number of the leading contenders suffered misfortunes throughout the night with Ryan Farrell leading the way following a fourth quickest qualifying effort before leading his opening heat race and then pulling infield mid race with a hurt motor. A motor change and then a clash with the wall in hot laps in the C-main would end a frustrating night for the hard charging WA ace.
David Murcott similarly suffered a wing fall apart in time trials as he could only muster 39th quick with no sideboard helping him. Then a broken rear end after tagging the wall also signalled the end for the luckless Downing brother’s outfit.
Jamie Veal flipped out of the B-main while leading following contact with an out of shape lapped car before Steven Lines carved his way to the win ahead of a ‘brakeless’ Morse, Sutherland and Dennis Jones. Brett Smith and Daniel Newnham came unstuck on the back straight while Eddie Lumbar also suffered the misfortune of getting upside down for the second time.
Lines advanced from the C-main along with Daniel Pestka, Brett Milburn and Taylor Johnson. Both Chevvy Cooper and Ryan Jones clouted the turn 4 wall ending their C-main aspiration.
Mike Van Bremen won the opening heat of the night after race long leader and QuickTime Steven Lines had an injector nozzle come loose within sight of the finish line. McFadden cleaned up his rivals in heat 2 while Anderson did the same in heat 3.
Jamie Stark surprised everyone including himself with a heat four win when Farrell limped infield after hurting a motor while leading. Domain Ramsay scored the heat 5 win with Glen Sutherland doing likewise in heat 6. David Aldersley led heat 7 before he hurt a motor allowing Ash Burke to record a solid win with Ron Dalton scoring a popular victory in heat 8.
Peter Doukas recorded an all the way win in the Yeoman Williams Memorial Junior Sedan final to outrun Chris Bellman and Peter Kinnear. See the full report for more details.
A reminder that the Race Info Line 9513 5555 contains all the information for upcoming events.
For more details phone General Manager David Mills 0408 529 625
Website – www.premierspeedway.com.au
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Sungold Stadium, Premier Speedway is located 3 hours South West of Melbourne near the beautiful coastal city of Warrnambool. Steeped in tradition Sungold Stadium is a AAA rated venue offering excellent facilities for competitors, spectators and officials alike.
Located only a short driver from the internationally acclaimed Twelve Apostles on the Great Ocean Road, there is loads for tourists to the area to see and do.
