Farrell's Easter Victory At Sungold Stadium
Monday, 5 April 2010 by Gavin White
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Multiple West Australian Sprintcar champion Ryan Farrell jetted into the Warrnambool leg of the Coates Hire Easter Sprintcar Trail and duly became the first driver from the West to capture a round of the Easter Trail in it’s 31 year history. In an exciting a drama filled 30 lap final Danny Reidy continued his Easter Trail affinity over the past four years with a runner up finish while Robbie Farr raced into the final podium position despite starting 11th.
For car owner Mat Eastham the win backs up victory in the Victorian Sprintcar Title in March with Stephen Bell at the wheel. The black #88 only contested one round of the Easter Trail and was duly in victory lane. Starting from the pole position, Farrell qualified exceptionally well on a very quick surface that produced some excellent racing in the final.
“It’s a real credit to Mat (Eastham) and up until this season I have been in this car and had some success but after he has had some other guys in the car that have done well and it’s a credit to Mat. For a pretty tight budget he presents a really great racecar every night,” said Farrell from victory lane.
Popular former local Max Dumesny gained the jump at the first start before Tim Morse inverted his machine in turn 4 forcing a complete restart.
“Max is an old fox here and you have to watch him! I love racing Max and once he got that first start I wasn’t going to let that happen again so we got lucky,” explained Ryan.
For the race winner it has been the second time in three weeks that he has ventured to the Warrnambool venue to compete in cars other than his regular Monte Motorsports #95, a fact that Ryan recognised.
“I have got to thank Luch for letting me be here tonight. He has been good enough to let me come and race Trevor’s (Green) car for the title and Mat’s car again tonight.”
“I just love coming here, this is by far the best run facility in the country and the people here are nice and I am treated well and it’s just a pleasure to come here.”
Third starting Reidy powered by Dumesny only two laps into the event and kept pace with Farrell throughout the event. Obviously looking to move into a race winning position, Reidy also had to contend with a hard charging group of speedsters coming from behind.
“Yeah we thought we could get there too but obviously needed a few more laps to get near Ryan. I thought I was in trouble when Farry and Linesy poked their noses in their late and I guess I found a bit more and pushed hard on the bottom and made it work.”
“It seems to be that time of year and I think its been the last four years that I have finished in the top 3 overall but it would have been nice to get the overall win but full credit to Linesy. They hurt a couple of motors and still managed to get out there and get the job done.”
Third placed finisher Robbie Farr charged forward and into second with a glimmer of hope that he could have gone all the way to the front after starting a long way back.
“I just cooked the tire trying to get Ryan (Farrell) and we were a little too free and I was just buzzing the tire on the top and you can’t do that for too long and then you will pay for it.”
“We just give it a crack and tried to make a race out of it and it was looking alright mid way through and I thought we had a shot at this and I could feel the tire starting to come apart and in the end we just hung on.”
Steven Lines turned in a stunning performance after changing motors three times for the evening and eventually racing into fourth with the use of Dylan Jenkin’s engine following a crash that eliminated Jenkin during the heat racing. It was a move that secured the overall Easter Trail win following victory in the first two legs for the reigning South Australian Sprintcar champion.
“It’s just amazing how this sport goes, you can be on such a high and then it tears you down real quick. We just had a motor issue and put another in and it seemed to do the same thing so we were in trouble then.”
“I have to thank the Jenkin family, they’re an awesome family and such nice people.”
“It’s good to get good results for the crew, they have worked hard all year and Dave and Camden Neon Signs and his whole family have just supported me all year.”
Local Ashley Burke drove a fantastic race to run with some of the best in the country and finished with a credible fifth place finish. Starting seventh, Burke moved forward quickly and raced hard with the likes of Lines and Farr turning in his best performance of his young career.
Seventeenth starting Jamie Veal charged forward to finish sixth getting by Fast Time winner Carl Dowling who finished seventh. Dubbo’s Jeremy Cross made all three Easter Trail finals and impressed once again with a solid eighth place finish while John Vogels, Ryan Davis, Eddie Lumbar, Darren Russell and Nick Lacey rounded out the finishers.
Mitchell Dumesny failed to start the A-main after crashing in hot laps while his father Max also suffered damage to the front end following an incident on the main straight. Tasmanian Shaun Dobson and Victorian Brett Milburn both failed to finish following separate incidents.
Quick Time winner Carl Dowling, Max Dumesny, Nick Lacey and Danny Reidy won the first round of heats while Rod Mathews, Darren Mollenoyux, Brett Milburn and Daniel Newnham were victorious in the final round.
Rookie Brad Warren won the C-main while Brett Milburn won a spectacular B-main that saw both Grant Anderson and Mollenoyux exit the event while both being in a transfer position.
EASTER TRAIL OVERALL POINTS
1. Steve Lines 645
2. Danny Reidy 635
3. Jamie Veal 590
4. Jeremy Cross 575
5. Carl Dowling 570
Mount Gambier’s former national champion Rory Button excelled all night to easily account for Phil Johnson and Luke Weel in the Australian Wingless Sprint final. Former Sprintcar racer turned AWS competitor Quentin Tanner rolled early in the final and was fortunate to walk away from the incident. With the 10-lap record broken twice for the evening the racing was first class for the popular category.
In the Super Rod final Daryl Nelson returned to victory lane ahead of Shaun Toulmin and Howard Stansfield. The final had plenty of drama as Tim Rankin crossed the line in second however he was minus the body which excluded him from the final results while Jason Grayland was also black flagged from the final.
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.
