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Scott Withers held it together to take the
Aussie title
Budgewoi’s Scott Withers created history last night and was
crowned the new Australian Litre Sprintcar Champion.
Forty of the nation’s best Litre Sprint Car drivers converged on
Tyrepower Parramatta City Raceway (TPCR), January 24 & 25 to
battle it out for the coverted title and the only thing hotter
than the start of the Australia Day long weekend was the action
on the track.
All cars were immaculately presented at scrutineering Saturday
afternoon and everyone turned up with enough tyres to run on any
type of track and it was just as well. Competitors contended
with a temperature that would fry an egg on any floor pan and a
wind that would blow the shoes off a horse. Trackside it was in
excess of forty degrees and the gusty 30km/h cross wind played
havoc with any attempt made by the promoter to make the track
work. He battled all day but Mother Nature dealt her cards and
night one of the event presented contenders with a track the
instantly became deeply rutted with a scorched poll line; a
track from hell.
After three rounds of qualifying heats and two reverse grid
scrambles on Saturday night the field was truly spread. Not a
format regularly used, the scrambles did exactly what they were
designed to do and made for some of the best racing TPCR has
seen, drivers kept it clean; the crowd on the edge of their
seats. The general consensus being that it was good to see a
change from the usual faster cars tearing away at the front.
Heat winners were:
HEAT #1: Drew Keith (NSW)
HEAT #2: Scott Doyle (QLD)
HEAT #3: Sean Barnett (NSW)
HEAT #4: Scott Withers (NSW)
HEAT #5: AJ McTaggart (NSW)
HEAT #6: Shane Cooper (NSW)
HEAT #7: Keith Blatch (QLD)
HEAT #8: Sean Barnett (NSW)
HEAT #9: Scott Lewin (NSW)
A SCRAMBLE: Steve Troughton (NSW)
B SCRAMBLE: Paul Freeman (NSW)
On a decidedly cooler Sunday afternoon 37 cars returned to fight
through one round of heats, the B Main, the Top Ten Shootout
sponsored by Queensland Speedway Spares and the A Main Feature
of 25 laps.
The winners were:
HEAT #10: Brett Davies (NSW)
HEAT #11: Scott Doyle (QLD)
HEAT #12: Andrew Johnson (NSW)
B-MAIN: Brett Davies (NSW)
At the completion of four rounds of heats it was defending
Australian Champion Sean Barnett who sat in prime position, he
was highest point scorer and favourite to take out the title.
A field of 24 met the green with Sean Barnett off pole, Scott
Lewin position two, AJ McTaggart from three, Karl Geddes off
four, Andrew Johnson fifth and Withers from sixth. The top four
put
on an exhilarating display racing wheel to wheel going hammer
and tong early on before Barnett widened the gap. Mid way
through he developed ignition issues allowing Karl Geddes to
pass. He subsequently withdrew two laps later and Geddes went on
to forge a commanding lead before Brett Davies spun out with 12
laps to go forcing a restart.
This restart was the turning point of the race and ultimately
affected the outcome. Gedde’s throttle did not respond off the
line and he too succumbed to ignition problems but not before
becoming hooked up with Scott Lewin who was right on his tail.
This allowed Scott Withers and Andrew Johnson (out of three and
four respectively) to make a break and from this point there was
no looking back for Withers who held it together to take the
win. Andrew Johnson finished second, Scott Lewin took third and
AJ McTaggart crossed the line in fourth to claim the first B
Grade racer home.
We would have included a quote from the new Aussie Champion but
it was an unprintable response from a qualified printer (that’s
what he does for a crust). Now 24 years of age Scott started
racing Go Karts at the age of seven then moved onto Quarter
Midgets and has raced Litre Sprint Cars for the last three
years.
His season so far has been a testing one having cooked two
engines and not achieving the desired results but with the help
of sponsors UTS Safety Equipment and Pat Purcell Race Engines
the team was able to contend for the title; well worth the trip
to TPCR.
Scott celebrated with his brother and father until 7am but not
so for the major sponsor (his Mum Christine) who tirelessly
headed straight back to work with an early start the next
morning – the great Australia Day holiday.
Australian Litre Sprint Car Racing Association member, Federal
body secretary and event organiser Colin Bell comments on the
title, “My job was made a lot easier with the help of a few key
personnel – Viv Lewis and her team from the NSW Sprint Car Club
that worked with the transponders as well as Pat Lynch and her
team that took on the Race Secretary’s job; thank you to all. It
was a fantastic meeting and the positive feedback has been
unbelievable, it’s great.”
For full results and lap times visit http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?25/01/2009.PCR
and keep an eye out for further reports.
TITLE TOP
THREE: L-R Andrew Johnson, Scott Withers and Scott Lewin
WINNER: New
Australian Litre Sprint Car Champion Scott Withers on the podium
TOP TEN
SHOOTOUT: L-R David Fanning, Scott Doyle, Matthew Reed, Scott
Lewin, AJ McTaggart, Andrew Johnson, Scott Withers, Sean
Barnett, Shane Cooper and Karl Geddes
Story and Photos Courtesy of:
Rusty and Jodie Bell
Real Balls Promotions
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Australian Title Format
Announced
Night 1
3 rounds of 3 heats 12 Laps (depending on car numbers)
Preliminary Scramble 1 20 Laps
Preliminary Scramble 2 20 Laps
Both scrambles to be inverted.
Night 2
1 rounds of 3 heats 12 laps each
Qualifying points apply to all heats and scrambles
Pole Shuffle { top 10 Shootout } top 2 cars best of 3
B Main 15 laps depending on car no,s
A Main Australian Title 25 laps
All drivers will receive appearance and qualifying money
All travelling drivers will receive tow money
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Positive Future Set For
Minisprints And Litres.
The future of Minisprints and Litre Sprintcars in Australia has
taken a positive step forward after a meeting between delegates
from both racing categories, unanimously decided to pursue the
conglomeration of classes into one standard set of rules over a
progressive period in the coming seasons.
In alignment with NASR strategic goals, representatives from
Litre Sprintcars in QLD and NSW along with members of the
Victorian and Tasmanian Minisprint categories met in Adelaide
with a view to combining the classes in a meeting which was
supported and facilitated by NASR General Manager Tim McAvaney.
Several key points were derived from the meeting including
management structure, specifications, a name change, and time
frames which are to be looked at in more detail over the next
two months.
A steering committee made up from all the delegates in
attendance was formed with a view to determine and address
problems and opportunities with the merger and set in place an
achievable time frame for the move. The steering committee will
meet again in Melbourne in late August to compromise on a
standard set of rules and regulations to be implemented over all
categories by season 2008/2009.
It is envisaged that the structure of the Australian Litre
Sprintcar Racing Association will be used as a management base
due to its NASR recognized national body status. A possible name
change for all divisions to “Lightning Sprints” was tabled,
however other names will be researched, with a view to help
identify the new class as a truly national category.
Engine specifications were closely examined between the two
classes with the general consensus being that the rules are
fairly similarly aligned.
As expected there is still a long way to go before the classes
can be merged and recognized as being truly national, however
the current atmosphere is positive and enthusiastic, and
measures are now in place to progress forward to a national
class as soon as practicable.
Responses and suggestions are being sought from members of both
groups to help facilitate in the progression of the sport in
this country.
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