Jan 22, 2012

In what was perhaps the best race of the 2011/2012 championship thus far, Brad Smith stormed to a superb hometown victory in round seven of the Carline Mufflers National Super Sedan Series at Latrobe’s Bendigo Bank Arena last night.

Starting fourth in the 35-lap feature event, Smith swept to the front on lap 13 and then cleared away to score an emphatic win that propelled him into third overall in the series pointscore.

Australian champion and series leader Steve Jordan qualified on pole position and, after electing to start from the outside front row, led the opening stages of the event before succumbing to Smith’s surge and ultimately finishing in second spot ahead of Wayne Randall, who spent much of the race embroiled in a great scrap with Darren Kane and series rookie Steve Latham, who secured his best result on tour thus far.

In a race that ran 35 laps without interruption and saw just two cars fail to go the distance, there was great racing through the field on a fast two-lane racetrack. It was perhaps fitting that the two drivers atop the championship standings in Jordan and Kane shared the front row for the feature, having recorded identical results through the preliminaries. However, nothing – including light rain in the final few laps and a deflating right rear tyre - could prevent Smith from securing his second win of the 2011/2012 series.

Kane occupied second spot for the opening five laps before succumbing to Smith and despite dropping another spot to Randall, the defending series champ still sits second overall in the championship chase.

Jarrod Harper collected the Supercharge Hard Charger award for his effort in advancing from 12th to 6th, with Lachlan Onley, Sam Hughes, David Nichols and previous round winner Dave Gartner rounding out the top ten.  Jason McPherson was the best of the non-contracted drivers in finishing 11th ahead of Trent Wilson and Bill Miller.  An atypical Michael Nicola was next in line, followed by Adam Beechey, Phil Townsend, Des Korn, Shane Best and Lucas Roberts, piloting the Dave Mackenzie V24 after an engine failure in his own mount.

Heat winners on the night were Smith (x2), Jordan, Kane, Randall, Nichols, Hughes, Gartner and Roberts.  The B Main saw Onley down Townsend, Doblo, Beechey, Best, Korn, Hopkins and Tania Smith.

Contingency Winners

Shock Doctor Lucky Sevens: Lachlan Onley

Oval Express Best Presented Car and Crew: Jarrod Harper

Monroe Pole Winner: Steve Jordan

Supercharge Hard Charger: Jarrod Harper

American Racer Encouragement Award: David Nichols

2011/2012 Carline Mufflers National Super Sedan Series progressive pointscore (after 7 of 11 rounds): Steve Jordan 3701, Darren Kane 3496, Brad Smith 3388, Dave Gartner 3242, Wayne Randall 3065, Lachlan  Onley 2969, Jarrod Harper 2876, Sam Hughes 2816, David Nichols 2524, Steve Latham 2395

The Carline Mufflers National Super Sedan Series is proudly supported by:

• Carline Mufflers
• Speedway Australia
• Speedway Sedans Australia
• Lukey Performance Products
• Supercharge Batteries
• Monroe Shock Absorbers
• JD Couriers
• Ian Boettcher Race Parts
• American Tire and Racing Services
• Hoosier Tyres
• AFCO Shock Doctor
• Oval Express Magazine
• Bob Jane T-Mart Modbury
• Comfort Inn and Suites Robertson Gardens
• Elf Racing Fuels
• Motel Le Grande (Albany)

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