SATURDAY night saw Wangaratta City Raceway host a massive night of action with feature races for VSC Sports Sedan Ladies, the first race for the season for the Victorian Wingless Sprints, and round one of the SSV Northern Street Stock Series. The ‘Firecracker 1000’ for the ladies provided plenty of action, with some big incidents, and a deserving winner. Heat one saw the start of the carnage, when Bianca Ballantyne found the marbles up high on turn three and backed the WANGG88 into the wall on lap three. Salau tagged the back straight wall on the first lap of heat three, and was still side by side the following lap. However, this time Salau tagged the wall a little too hard where she upended the immaculate green SH52 and taking a nasty roll on the back straight - luckily Zoey walked away uninjured, but the car was done. Roycroft would lead the ladies away in the feature race with Simpson hot on her tail, only for the front left suspension on the Simpson AX10 machine to give way. At the restart McGraw was on a mission, setting the fastest lap of the final after storming back to get past Lamb, Roycroft would take the win from Meyer, and a brilliant effort from McGraw to get on the podium. The Wingless Sprints returned to Wangaratta after a lengthy hiatus, and the provided plenty of thrills and spills. Heat 1A was taken out by John Egan in the NX47 - earlier in the race both Andrew Seery and Brocke Argus both tagged the back wall, and Argus was able to continue, but Seery had damaged his suspension and had to be towed off. Young Jarrod Payne had a wild ride on the back straight in a very violent series of barrel rolls - Jarrod was not feeling great afterwards, resulting in a delay in proceedings while the ambulance transfer was completed, the whole speedway community wishes him all the best. Darcy Boulding would end up taking the victory over Jaidyn Boulding, and John Egan in an all-NSW Podium. Round one of the SSV Northern Street Stock Series took centre stage, and they certainly showed the crowd how good the Victorian Title is going to be in January, and with some big names in the line-up, it was anyone’s to take. Heat four was crazy, it looked like the feature race with some wild passing in an action-packed race - Brad Warren drove the wheels off the V55 machine to take the win from Tim Hutchinson, and Matt Nelson who would cross the line in third with smoke pouring out of his car. Brad Warren had his consistent night rewarded with a pole position for the final, and he did not let that go to waste when he jumped to an early lead ahead of Oggie Ahearn. Hutchinson found another gear and reeled Warren in to make a last corner pass to take an incredible win from Warren, and Roycroft in third, a fantastic drive from Hutchinson to get a well-deserved win. The Top Stars were dominated by current multiple state title holder River Paterson who would win two of his three heats to start on pole for the final, James Peacock was the other heat winner. The feature race was full of moments that would define the results - Taijan Ussher was a little overzealous on a pass on Noah Basten for the lead during the race and resulted in a yellow and sent Taijan to the back of the bus. Basten would go on to take a great win ahead of Cruz Abela, and Cruz Paterson in third. VSC Sports Sedans heat race wins went to Jack Chiminello, Rhys Collins, Matthew Ismail, and Rhys Meakins. The final was taken out by Jack Chiminello, ahead of Alex ‘Action’ Gouveia in a very impressive run, and Rhys Collins home third. Felicity Roycroft was victorious in the Production Sedans final, ahead of Katie Meyer, and Rodney Anderson. GP Midgets were dominated by Alex Myers who had a clean sweep in the heats, and then went on to win the final from Terry Brown and Locky Robotham. The next race meeting at Wangaratta City Raceway will take place on Saturday, November 23, hosting round two of the JP Asphalting Extreme Sports Sedan Series, a round of the VMPA Series for SSA Modified Sedans, and a round of JSPA Junior Sedan Series, Street Stocks, Compact Speedcars, and AMCA Nationals.
