Sport
9 March, 2023
PORTLAND RACER DANIEL STORER WINS SPRINTS AT HORSHAM
Motorsport fans headed back out to Kalkee and the Blue Ribbon Raceway last Saturday night for the latest high octane event headlined by the Pro-Sprints, Unlimited Sedans and Junior 1200 Sedans and were treated to a terrific night of racing. Daniel...
Motorsport fans headed back out to Kalkee and the Blue Ribbon Raceway last Saturday night for the latest high octane event headlined by the Pro-Sprints, Unlimited Sedans and Junior 1200 Sedans and were treated to a terrific night of racing.
Daniel Storer from Portland was the winner in the Sprintcar series round, while Corey McDonald travelled from the north east of Victoria to win the Unlimited Sedan final, and Arthur Hutchinson was awarded the victory in the Junior 1200 Sedan feature event after a post-race disqualification.
Sprintcar action came by way of the Sprintcar Racing Association Pro Sprints, with cars that compete with mostly LS3 Chevrolet powered race engines.
Ten competitors greeted the green flag for the first qualifier, with David McKay from the eastern suburbs of Melbourne taking victory in the first race of the night ahead of Steven Horton and Domain Ramsay.
Portland’s Daniel Storer took victory in the second qualifier from Matthew Symons and Eddie Lumbar from Deniliquin.
In the feature event of the evening, Storer began from pole position, with Jordan Rae alongside and it would be Rae to lead the first lap.
Five lap’s in, Rae led Storer from Ramsay, McKay and Sam Wren, and the placings remained until after the lap 15 mark when Symons moved into the top five.
It took until the last lap of the race for Storer to pass Rae and snatch the race victory by just .292 of a second. Ramsay was third, from Wren and Symon’s.
Victorian Speedway Council Unlimited Sedan’s returned to the track for their second appearance of the season - the Lucky Seven’s Series - with local Wimmera racer Danny Smith keen to impress against the competition.
Corey McDonald from Mount Beauty had other ideas though and he was the first to win one of the qualifying races on the way to the final, defeating Smith in the race after Tim Williams had led the first six laps. Sean Lister then won the second qualifier.
In the final, Lister led from the front row with McDonald working his way forward from deeper in the field.
McDonald moved into the lead on lap six of 15, and went on to win the race by six and a half seconds in the non-stop final, with Lister second, Peter Farley third, Smith and then Anthony McKean.
Speedway Sedan’s Victorian Production Sedan action saw many Horsham locals up against visiting drivers from the Portland, Hamilton, Colac and Ballarat areas.
Portland’s Ian Calderwood took victory in the first heat of the night, before Stuey Robinson won the second race.
In the feature race, Robinson took the lead on lap three of the 12 lap race, and went on to win ahead of Darren Pumpa, Heath Riley, Belinda Taylor and Dean Hughes, with Hughes the first of the Horsham-based finishers.
A small field of Compact Speedcars attended the night, with Mark Cecil from Goulburn Valley taking victory in the first qualifier, and Trevor Perry taking the win in the second.
Only three cars started the final, and Perry took the victory in front of Cecil and Aaron Stubbs.
The Johnstone family, members of the Horsham Motor Sports Club, put together a feature event for the Junior 1200cc Sedans, arranging sponsors and prizes for the competitors - which included their own daughter Rebecca.
Bryce Leek who travelled, via Wangaratta and then South-East Melbourne, won the first heat race, with Arthur Hutchinson from Hoppers Crossing the second.
Leek then won the third and final qualifying race prior to the feature event.
The Junior final was set up to be a terrific race with 12 competitors, including six boys and six girls.
Leek, from the front row, took the lead from lap one, with Rebecca Johnstone - the local racer - the first car to pull infield, disappointing local fans.
Leek led Hutchinson, Riley Taylor, Chase Doherty and Ella Sheedy at the five lap mark.
Riley Taylor was first of the favoured competitors to exit the race, and at lap 10 Leek was leading Hutchinson, Doherty, Libby Ahearn and Dayne Murdoch.
Hutchinson passed Leek briefly on lap 11, only for the lead to change straight back, with Leek first past the flag on the final lap of the race, followed by Hutchinson, Doherty, Ahearn and Murdoch.
Unfortunately, the race ended in controversy, depending on opinions of the situation, with the initial winner, Leek, disqualified by the stewards team from the results.
At the time of writing, clarification of the reasoning behind the decision was being sought.
Hutchinson was awarded the win ahead of Doherty, Ahearn, Murdoch and Elizabeth Flavell.
Racing returns on April 22, with Wingless Sprints, V8 Trucks, F500’s Stampede Series, JSPA Junior Sedans, Production Sedan’s and Limited Sportsman.