Onley and Pascoe imitated each other all night, both coming home third in the opening rounds heats, then improving to both finish in second in the second round heats. The final round saw both drivers tie on 87 points after they each claimed a heat race win in fantastic fashion.

 

Kodee Brown recorded two wins in the opening two rounds before coming home fifth in his final heat to sit comfortably in third on 85 points, while Darren Kane and best of the locals Adam Beechey sit tied on 81 points to round out the top five on points. The full points list is below.

 

Kodee Brown started the defence of his title in the best way possible, winning the opening heat.  After chasing Mick Nicola in the early laps, the pair then ran side by side for several laps.  Jack Childs brought on the yellow lights twice with separate spins, and would end up on the infield.  On the resumption Brown took the lead, and opened a small lead, defeating Nicola and Lachlan Onley third. “Real Bonus, down a cylinder at the moment, tracks got a lot of bite in it”, said Brown

 

The second heat would start with Kevin Purton and Adam Beechey running side by side for the opening three laps.  The race was stopped when Josh Beaumont spun in turn four, while in fifth place.  On the resumption, Robert Bird would spin, with Bert Vosbergen having nowhere to go, making contact, with Bird retiring from the event.

 

Once underway again, Purton and Beechey again resumed hostilities, running side by side.  The veteran driver who announced that this would be his last ever event, started to open a lead in the concluding stages, going on to win by 1.646 from Beechey and Lucas Roberts

 

Heat three didn’t get more than half a lap in when Brad Smith would stop on the back straight, bringing on the yellow lights.  Smith would retire from the race, putting his campaign behind the eight ball immediately.  On the restart drivers went three wide, but the yellow were activated again, after officials deemed the start invalid.

 

On the third attempt Dave Gartner opened a considerable lead, with drivers again running three wide for the minor placing’s, with Peter Nicola who started from the back of the field moving to second on lap five.  Gartner though, was a mile in front by this stage, and won easily.  A great battle for the minor placing’s would see Peter Nicola hold off Matt Pascoe.   Mick Nicola Jnr suffered trouble with the right back wheel on the last lap while challenging for a minor placing, and would eventually register in sixth place.  “Didn’t feel super great, need to tighten things up, the track is widening up, it’s fast” said Dave Gartner after the win.

 

The final heat of the opening round would see Ryan Alexander and David Nichols start on the opening row.   Nichols got the best of the dispatch, sling-shotting around the outside of Alexander in spectacular style.   Nichols then hit the fence inexplicably, putting Alexander in the lead, allowing Corey Smith to move to second, with Darren Kane soon passing Nichols as well at the half way mark. Darren Kane made a great move under Corey Smith with two laps to go, but the move amounted to naught, with Wayne Dillon spinning just ahead of the leader Ryan Alexander, resulting in a four lap re-start.   The restart would see Kane move under Smith to take second place, and soon after Corey Smith would spin, bringing on the yellow lights again.

 

Ryan Alexander and Peter Nicola were three wide in the early exchanges with Rob Bird behind Jason Campbell, in a spirited opening to heat five.  Nicola’s exciting start would amount to nothing in the end, suffering a flat tyre on the third lap. Campbell’s small lead, became smaller in the concluding stages with just a car length separating the pair with three to laps to go.  Pascoe eventually got underneath Campbell, but wasn’t able to make the move stick with Jarrod Harper third.  “The competition is very, very good and to win a heat against these guys is quite an achievement” said a happy Campbell after the win.

 

Heat six didn’t get further than the first corner with Josh Beaumont and Wayne Dillon making contact.  Beaumont landed on the top of Dillon’s car, resulting in a lengthy delay.  Randall, Beaumont and Pavlovich went three wide in a spirited race, when heat six resumed.  Darren Kane would lead Lachlan Onley though, as the two fancied drivers settled down to fight it out. Randall eventually got clear of Beaumont and Chris Pavlovich, to be a comfortable third, as Kane continued to lead Onley by two car lengths, and opened the lead in the concluding stages for a convincing win over Onley and Randall.

 

Kodee Brown started from pole position in heat seven, but didn’t have it all his own way, as Brad Smith, after a disastrous start in his opening race challenged strongly, but a mid race mistake allowed Brown to open a small lead, leaving Smith having to hold off Dave Gartner, with Lucas Roberts a distant fourth.  Brown though was too good, winning by 1.867, with Smith, Gartner and Roberts filling the top four.  “It’s running on all eight cylinders, going awesome now, I will never die wondering” said Brown after the win

 

Heat eight had an initial false start, as Adam Beechey lead narrowly from Callum Harper, while Trevor Ware and Kevin Purton were engaged in a separate battle for third.  Beechey narrowly held off Callum Harper while Ware was a distant third.

Looking at the final night tomorrow we can see that both of the leading drivers in Onley and Pascoe will start from position six in their final heats while Kodee Brown will start in fifth alongside Onley in his final heat. All eight cars that are scheduled to be off the front rows in the final four heats are all desperate for some extra points and will be racing hard to get as many on the board as possible.

 

Racing resumes tomorrow at Latrobe with the final four heats which will determine starting positions for both the B and A Mains. speedway Sedans Australia will once again endeavour to bring you the comprehensive run down of all the happenings  across the night in the lead up to the 2015 Australian Champion being crowned!

SSA National Super Sedan Points After Round 3

 

1. Q15 Matt Pascoe 87

2. N17 Lachlan Onley 87

3. A1 Kodee Brown  85

4.Q36 Darren Kane 81

5. T41 Adam Beechey 81

6. V0 Lucas Roberts 76

7. SA36 Ryan Alexander 76

8. V3 Mick Nicola 73

9. S8 Dave Gartner 72

10. T25 Kevin Purton 70

11. T22 Callum Harper 69

12. Q33 Wayne Randall 69

13. T6 Brad Smith 64

14. Q97 Jason Campbell 63

15. T2 Jarrod Harper 63

16. S5 Trevor Ware 61

17. V2 Peter Nicola 49

18. T48 Wayne Dillon 46

19. V23 Mick  Nicola Jnr 46

20. T3 David Nichols 43

21. WA44 Chris Pavlovich 43

22. T23 Ethan Cole 33

23. WA4 Bert Vosbergen 33

24. T16 Corey Smith 31

25. T71 Robert Bird 31

26. T54 Josh Beaumont 26

27. T15 John Innes 26

28. S77 Bill Miller 8

29. Q24 Jack Childs 8

 

Round Four Heat Grids

Heat 13 - 1. Q33 Wayne Randall, 2. T23 Ethan Cole, 3. V3 Mick Nicola, 4. T25 Kevin Purton, 5. V0 Lucas Roberts, 6. T41 Adam Beechey, 7. T15 John Innes, 8. S5 Trevor Ware

 

Heat 14 - 1. V2 Peter Nicola, 2. S8 David Gartner, 3. T16 Correy Smith, 4. W44 Chris Pavlovich, 5. Q36 Darren Kane, 6. T54 Josh Beaumont, 7. W4 Bert Vosbergen

 

Heat 15 - 1. Q24 Jack Childs, 2. T3 David Nicholls, 3. V23 Mick Nicola Jnr, 4. T22 Callum Harper, 5. A1 Kodee Brown, 6. N17 Lachlan Onley, 7. T48 Wayne Dillon

 

Heat 16 - 1. T2 Jarrod Harper, 2. S77 Bill Miller, 3. S36 Ryan Alexander, 4. Q97 Jason Campbell, 5. T71 Rob Bird, 6. Q15 Matty Pascoe, 7. T6 Brad Smith.