Ansell Vic 1
Hamilton limited Sportsman driver, Craig Ansell drove a splendid race to lead all the way to be crowned Victoria 1 in the 30 lap final at Bllueribbon speedway on Saturday night.
On an action packed night the spectators had plenty to talk about with 3 roll-overs , hard hits and exciting close finishes
Ansell finished 1st and 2 seconds in his three heats to enable him to drive off the pole in the final.
He led all the way to have a comfortable win from Brett Horton, Joe Aston and Horsham’s Paul McDonald in 4th place. Last years Vic 1 title holder Mark Laity travelled all the way from Bairnsdale to defend his title but had to pull out of the final with mechanical trouble. Dimboola’s Sandy Williamson finished a creditable 7th in the final.
There was a 20 minute delay in the final while an ambulance was called for limited sporty driver Paul Baker after a sickening crash with Andrew Fraser. Baker spun in front of Fraser who had nowhere to go. Baker was treated at the track by medicos for a broken arm and then transported to Wimmera Base Hospital.
In the Streetstocks 1000 the final saw a 25 lap duel between the impressive Anthony Beare and Mildura’s Robbie Faux. Close behind them was Australia 1 Brad McClure. In a controversial finish, rounding the last corner Beare drove through a slower car, pushing him out of the way and off the track to complete the race with Faux alongside him in a dead heat for first. The chief steward had already penalized Faux one spot for reckless driving which left Beare as the winner. Many believe that Beare should of been penalized as well. Brad McClure was awarded 2nd and Faux 3rd.
Locals Richy Bansemer and Luke James had their own battle back in the field as they duelled for 6th and 7th place with James coming in ahead after Bansemer spun.
The Wingless Sprinters put on a great exhibition of high speed racing with Luke Weel winning the 20 lap final from Lee Meade and Mark Walsh. Heat winners on the night were Luke Weel, Dan Dubois, Bradley Warren and Mark Walsh.
The 1200cc Juniors provided the most heart in the mouth stuff with 3 roll-overs and plenty of hard tight racing. Learner driver Hamilton 26 Mark Hutchins rolled over in two consecutive races and Horsham driver Jo Ellis starting off pole was caught in a congested first corner and turned over.
In the 20 lap final which had only one stoppage, Avalon’s Mitch Whiting scored an all the way win from Ballarat's Nick Cockerill 2nd, Lang’s Chris Heard 3rd and Alexandra’s Michael Gorman 4th.
Local driver Gemma Horrocks had two good heats scoring a 1st and a 2nd but could not hold a consistent line in the final and finished mid field