By Dean Thompson
In front of a huge crowd not seen at Nyora Raceway for a long time, Sprintcars, Lightning Sprints and Standard Saloons produced some fantastic racing before Charles Hunter, AJ McTaggart and Drouin’s Bradley Hill took wins in those events respectively.
Around 1500 to 2000 people attended the Nyora facility, enjoying all the action with V8 Supercar star Cameron Waters amongst the Sprintcar competitors drawing a crowd.
The All Star Sprintcars series started the racing with a timed-lap session to determine heat race starting positions and it would be Cam Waters claiming the top spot – and a largest point’s allocation for the session – when he timed 12.215 for the fastest lap.
Jordan Abbott, Paul Solomon, Chris Campbell, and Travis Millar all were close behind with 11 race drivers recording below 14 seconds on the clock.
Solomon picked up the first win of the night with Abbott taking the second ahead of host-club hero, Todd Hobson. Eventual winner Charles Hunter took the win in heat three before Ryan Davis won the final qualifier.
In the feature event Solomon, Campbell, and Abbott were amongst the drivers not to finish. Brett Smith crashed in front of the steward’s stand, landing upside down, whilst Jordyn Charge was also a non-finisher.
Hunter led and was declared the winner from Hobson, who hails from Clyde, Brad Warren from Longwarry, then Davis and Millar.
A field of 17 drivers from Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria competed in the Australian Lightning Sprints National Title with the eventual winner being New South Wales racer AJ McTaggart.
McTaggart completed a three-peat over four years which included a season with no national title due to Covid.
During the night McTaggart would set the fastest one lap time for the class with a 14.116 second lap and was the benchmark driver all night.
Qualifying wins went to Scott Withers (NSW), Harley Graham (NSW), Pete Styles (NSW), Danny Stone (NSW), Keith Blatch (QLD), and McTaggart (NSW).
Lining up for the 25-lap title race McTaggart, Graham, Michael Conway (VIC), Blatch, Jordan Binskin (NSW) and Styles were the top six starters. Blatch moved into third early as the race got underway.
When the chequered flag unfurled McTaggart was crowned Australian champion for the third time in succession with Blatch, Graham, Binskin and Conway rounding out the top-five finishers.
In the Miles Cup for Standard Saloons, Drouin-based racer Bradley Hill was too good for a stellar line up that included Shane Stewart – the Victorian champion who copped the wrath of the stewards with a rear-of-the-field penalty during the race – and Chris Stewart, the Victoria number two ranked racer.
Stewart, whose car sustained heavy front end damage, left the race track whilst he was second in the race.
Despite challenges from Rhys Lansdown from Kooweerup and Nick Chrystie from the Mornington Peninsula, Hill won from Chrystie, Lansdown, Wayne Sheerman and Mark Miles from Catani.
In Junior Sedan racing Owen Cecil won the Junior Standard Saloon final from Hunter Carey, Zac Barwise, Nathan Miles, and Harry Cecil, and in the Speedway Sedans Victoria New Star Juniors, Nyora resident Tristan Jarred won from Pary Das, Matilda Farrell, Cruz Farrell, and Tyson Heaphy.
Nyora returns with another title on Saturday 26 February when the Formula 500 class returns.
