Sunday, 14 February 2010
Daniel Kirby
Jack Lee picked up his maiden Stampede Series round victory and has continued his good form from the Oval Express Series and SA Title win by taking out the 20 Lap final at Darlington’s Mid Western Speedway last night (Saturday Feb 13th) in Round 2 of the KC Sheds & Garages/Tri Steele Stampede Series.
In a race that had multiple cautions, Lee was able to lead from start to finish and show just why he is a force to be reckoned with leading into the next month of racing which includes the Australian Title at Alice Springs over Easter. Steven Horton showed class and determination to finish in 2nd place with Dale Sinclair and Greg Wickham rounding out the podium.
Lee started on the front row with defending Stampede Series champ Dale Sinclair. Ash Sinclair and Rookie Jye O’Keeffe shared the second row. Graham Mollenoyux and Horton shared the third row.
With Lee leading all the way it was left to Horton, Dale Sinclair, Ash Sinclair, Graham Mollenoyux, Jye O’Keeffe and Ash Sinclair to battle it out for the final Podium positions. The latter 2 both spinning out of contention with O’Keeffe being sent to the infield for bringing the yellow on twice. Sinclair was able to fight his way back to 10th in the 15 car field.
Following Wickham home in 5th was Mollenoyux with Scott Dillon, Jeremy Beddison, Mat Turner, Kevin Freeman, Sinclair, Jesse Nicolas and Ian Smith rounding out the field. Andrew Blackstock, Gerrard Mabbitt and O’Keeffe all finished on the infield. Blackstock suffering from a stone wedged in his throttle cable.
Heat wins went to Ash Sinclair (x2), Mollenoyux, Dale Sinclair, O’Keeffe and Jack Lee. O’Keeffe’s win was made all the more spectacular with an awesome drive from 7th spot in the 8 car field. Jeremy Beddison added his own piece for the highlight reel with an awesome wheel stand along the main straight during a restart in his heat race victory.
Hard luck story for the night would have to go to the V98 of Emma Tuckett. Tuckett endured chain issues in her opening heat race with the team fixing the problem between heats. Her second heat was a forgettable one when one of the con-rods vacated the Kawasaki 4 Cylinder and forced her out of the event. Tim Hicks also endured engine gremlins which sidelined him after his first heat. Jesse Nicolas joined the upside down club with a flip in his last heat race.
Attention now turns to next weekend when Round 3 of the KC Sheds & Garages/Tri Steele Stampede Series invades the tight confines of Simpson Speedway. With a 25+ car field expected, it promises to be a race not to miss. Can Jack Lee go back to back or will last season’s Simpson Round winner, Jock Baker make it 2 from 2? The only way to find out is to get your backside trackside with racing from 6pm.
The Victorian Formula 500 Association would like to thank Ken and Cheryl Willsher from KC Sheds & Garages and Mark Wiley from Tri Steele for their valued support of the 2009/2010 Victorian Formula 500 Stampede Series.
2009/2010 KC Sheds & Garages/Tri Steele Stampede Series Remaining Dates
Feb 20th- Round 3 Tri Steel Stampede Series, Simpson Speedway Simpson
Mar 6th- Round 4 Tri Steel Stampede Series, Western Speedway Hamilton
Mar 7th- Round 5 Tri Steel Stampede Series, Avalon Raceway Avalon
Mar 13th- Round 6 Tri Steel Stampede Series, Redline Raceway Ballarat
Apr 17th- Round 7 Tri Steel Stampede Series, Blue Ribbon Raceway Horsham
May 1st- Round 8 (Final) Tri Steel Stampede Series Laang International Raceway Laang
Top 10 points Points after Round 2:
Jeremy Beddison 224
Steven Horton 216
Ash Sinclair 215.5
Ian Smith 214.5
Mathew Turner 214
Dale Sinclair 213.5
Jesse Nicholas 210.5
Jye O'Keefe 187
Kevin Freeman 185
Chad Sullivan 127.5
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