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By Ben Graham
Mark Robinson showed his dominance on a slick racetrack with a commanding victory in the Queensland V8 Dirt Modified Championship at Charlton Raceway on March 8. Robinson’s Ford powered Teo entry lead home Grafton rookie Jai Stephenson, with reigning Australian Champ Tim Morse rounding out the top three.
Robinson, who has claimed the Queensland Title twice previously, made the most of his front-row start and lead every one of the 30-laps in the Championship decider.
“It was really good early in the race” said Robinson post-race. “But as the race went on it actually got a bit tight up where I wanted to run so I just brought it back down in the black slippery stuff and kept it on the bottom and just made sure the car was wide enough so nobody could get past. We just need to improve on some of the heavy rough stuff but we’ve certainly got the slick down pat and the drier the track gets the faster we go”.
A resurgent Darren Latimer started alongside Robinson on the front row and held down second place for the opening half of the race before being pressured and ultimately passed by Stephenson. Stephenson was unable to bridge the gap to Robinson over the closing stages, while Latimer faded to fourth at the fall of the chequered flag.
“I didn’t think I would be able to get past him (Latimer) in the early stages but with about 15 laps to go I could see his car bouncing around doing the wrong things so I had half a chance and I took it” said an excited Stephenson, who recently finished sixth in the Australian Title.
Finishing just behind Stephenson in third was Tim Morse, who was at the wheel of the “Keith-4-Wheels” Bicknell entry of Keith Muller. It was Morse’s first experience in an American-built machine and the extra 10-inch wheelbase took some getting used to.
”Its a bit like getting out of a nimble little 4 door sedan and getting into a big 4wd, that’s what it feels like” revealed Morse. “ And the way they come on at the end of the feature was really surprising, they hook up at the end. And you’ve got to get off the throttle a little to get into the turns, whereas I usually drive in on the throttle. You don’t need huge amounts of throttle coming off the turn. They just hook up and go whereas my car is alot different to that”
It was a night of mixed fortunes for a number of other fancied runners. Latimer finished fourth with newly crowned NSW Champ Andrew Pezzutti close behind in fifth. Rookie David Clark put in a good drive to snare sixth, while defending Champ Luke Oldfield recovering from a rear-of-field penalty to finish seventh, just infront of Phil McNamara. Heartbreak as well for Scott Conlin, running out of fuel with just four laps remaining while fighting for a top-five result.
QUEENSLAND V8 DIRT MODIFIED CHAMPIONSHIP
FEATURE (30 Laps) 1st Mark Robinson, 2nd Jai Stephenson, 3rd Tim Morse, 4th Darren Latimer, 5th Andrew Pezzutti, 6th David Clarke, 7th Luke Oldfield, 8th Phil McNamara DNF: Scott Conlin, Paul Booker, Trevor Perry, Lance Towns, Nev Robertson, Ryan Collier, Ricka Groom, Barry Ashen.
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