|
By Ben Graham
Luke Oldfield chalked up a win for the locals with a commanding victory in Round Five of the Summer Slam V8 Dirt Modified Series at the Brisbane International Speedway on Saturday night (Mar 22). Oldfield lead home Mark Robinson and Andrew Pezzutti in what was a thrilling GFR Industries-backed Feature race.
Oldfield started the 30-lap main event from the outside front row, however it was Robinson who had the upper hand in the early going. The Ford-powered Robinson established a handy buffer over the field and looked at ease negotiating what was at times dense lapped traffic. Although not within striking distance, Oldfield was never far behind, while Pezzutti, Latimer and Morse battled for the minors.
The one and only stoppage, with fourteen laps to run, gave Oldfield the break he needed, bringing the runaway Robinson back within reach, while Pezzutti had moved past Latimer for third with Morse close behind in fourth.
With just under 10 laps to run, Oldfield made his move in traffic, slicing past Robinson coming in to turn four, whilst a flying Pezzutti followed suite shortly after, relegating Robinson to third. Morse, who had battled brake problems early in the night, maintained fourth, while Scott Cannon and Stuart Herne held down fifth and sixth respectively.
At the front of the pack meanwhile, Oldfield had powered away, putting several car lengths between himself and the ensuing field.
As the leading trio approached the final two turns, it was Oldfield slightly ahead of Pezzutti and Robinson, with lapped traffic just ahead. While Oldfield safely negotiated turns three and four, drama unfolded right behind, as the flying Pezzutti tangled with lapped traffic with the finish line in sight, allowing Robinson to swoop around the outside to reclaim second.
There would be no denying Oldfield however, who went on to record a popular win. Robinson crossed the line in second, while Pezzutti managed to limp across the line in third after making contact with the wall exiting turn four for the final time. Tim Morse and Scott Cannon rounded out the top five.
With the final round of the Series to be staged at the Lismore Speedway in just 24 hours time (Easter Sunday), Tim Morse maintains a slender 35-point advantage over Robinson, with Cannon a further 25-points back in third.
GFR Industries Feature Race (30 Laps)
1st Luke Oldfield, 2nd Mark Robinson, 3rd Andrew Pezzutti, 4th Tim Morse, 5th Scott Cannon, 6th Stuart Herne, 7th Steven Milthorpe, 8th Rebecca Kiehne, 9th Steve Wright, 10th Trevor Perry, 11th Paul Booker, 12th Peter Britten, 13th Murray Atkin, DNF Maurice Yardley, Gary Wathan, David Clark, Jai Stephenson, Darren Latimer, Keith Muller, Lance Towns, DNS Tony Sneddon, Evan Flewall-Smith, Ray Klarich
Points After Five of Six Rounds
1st Tim Morse (1,269), 2nd Mark Robinson (1,234), 3rd Scott Cannon (1,209), 4th Darren Latimer (1,030), 5th Stuart Herne (964), 6th Steven Milthorpe (906), 7th Lloyd Hobson (645), 8th Trevor Perry (613), 9th Murray Atkin (599), 10th Tony Sneddon (559), 11th Cory Read (369), 12th Tony Moore (327)
|
|
