Triumphant return for Wahgunyah Speedway

WAHGUNYAH Speedway returned to action on Saturday, December 30 with not one, not two, but three big feature events plus supporting categories. Held underneath the recently installed LED lighting system that was required to replace the former lights which were destroyed during the November 2022 flooding of the Corowa–Wahgunyah area, the stage was set The traditional Boxing Day fixture had to be moved a week back due to weather, but fans and drivers were treated to a terrific night’s racing, with two feature length race records set in Sports Sedans by Josh Service from Melbourne and in Goulburn Ovens Sedans by Daniel McCarten of Albury. In the traditional Noel McGrath Memorial for Production Sedans Zoey Salau from Swan Hill would hold out Scott Hawkins from Leeton and Chris Fitzgerald from the Wangaratta club. Salau took the lead in the final from the drop of the green flag and local hope Jack Bear was the first favoured driver to exit the race. At the fall of the chequered flag, Salau had claimed a first blue-ribbon Production Sedan feature event victory in front of Hawkins, Fitzgerald, Leighton Evans, and Kenneth Mankey after earlier power steering issues in the night. The Sports Sedan class were competing for the Grand Slam with $1000 up for grabs to the winner. Dennis Reid, Josh Service and Reid a second time won the three heat races heading into the feature event with Reid’s last win by half a car length at the finish line with Craig Cottier breathing down his neck. In the feature event for the Sports Sedans, Josh Service from Melbourne’s eastern suburbs assumed the race lead on lap one after starting at the front of the field with Reid. Bradin Claridge moved into second spot ahead of Reid on lap eight and at the halfway mark Service led Claridge, Reid, Daryl Joosten and Craig Cottier and that is how things remained. Forging ahead by almost a quarter-track margin, Service went on to win from Claridge by five seconds at the finish line with Reid, Joosten and Cottier rounding out the top five. Racing for the Goulburn Ovens Sedan Association, the second night of two for the Colin Young Memorial, saw competitors each compete in three of the six qualifiers before their twenty-lap feature event. State champion Justin Brockley claimed a huge win in heat race number one finishing ahead of potential overall honours combatants Billy O’Donoghue, Tommy Schmetzer and Ben Schmetzer. Brodie Montague then won heat two, O’Donoghue claimed victory in heat three, Daniel Joosten was a winner in heat four, with heats two to four all finishing less than a car length apart. Daniel McCarten took victory in heat five and Daniel Kettels claimed a win in the last heat race. As the feature event got underway Joosten settled out front ahead of O’Donoghue, Kettels, Brockley and McCarten. At the halfway mark Joosten led McCarten, Ross Maclean, Brockley, and Mitch Watts. McCarten then moved to the lead on lap fourteen and with five to go led Joosten, Brockley, Maclean, and Watts. Brockley moved to second on lap 16 and Joosten and Maclean swapped positions a number of times lap after lap until McCarten claimed victory by a car length in front of Brockley, Joosten, Maclean and Watts. In support class, action state Standard Saloon champion Rhys Lansdown claimed a win in the twelve-lap final ahead of Trevor Evans. Evans had the lead of the race briefly before Lansdown moved back to the front of the field. Lansdown from Wahgunyah finished in front of Evans, Josh Delarue, Micheal Fleming-Robertson, and Rhyse Lavender. In Ladies Sports Sedans, Chelsea Hodge from Bendigo claimed the win in front of Lisa Chalcraft, Tara Johannesen, Chloe Creek, and Leah Orgill. A spin during the race to Orgill seen Emma Threlfall come unstuck with contact, and a winded Threlfall was cleared by medics soon after. Two Junior Sedan competitors were given the chance to get valuable lap times in for the nationally aligned up to 1500cc class. The more experienced Maddy Capon was first to the finish line in the final whilst newcomer Taijan Ussher from the Wangaratta club set a new one lap record time, the first time the class had competed with transponders at the venue. In Unlimited Sedan action, Corey McDonald from nearby Mount Beauty club claimed the win ahead of local member Wayne Eames and Peter Camilleri.

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