Michael Pickens Shows the Way at Toowoomba
With squealing tyres and the ultra aggressive moves the Speedcar Super Series is synonymous for, Round Two of the SSS stormed through Toowoomba QLD on Saturday night with New Zealand throttle-stomper Michael Pickens at the helm.
After a dousing of rain on race morning, no one could have expected the 440m Charlton Raceway clay-based surface to turn as slick and dry as it did on the ferocious Speedcar ranks; the track taking in some serious American Racer Tire rubber by the end the night.
The Rod Bowen’s Prestige Smash Repairs Pole Shuffle again provided tight wheel-banging racing between some of the Southern hemisphere�s best. Young gun South Australian Ben Wiese went “no holds barred” against Sydney’s Darren Jenkins resulting in a number of clashes during their two lap battle. Darren claimed the win to challenge next in line; Australian Champion Steven Graham. In perfect formation, both completed two full laps running wheel to wheel around the super slick surface with Graham defeating Jenkins on the last corner.
Pickens qualified into pole position after toppling top points qualifier Mark Brown followed by Graham moving up from 5th position, Ken Stanaway, Darren Jenkins, Ben Wiese, Troy Jordan and Dene McAllan.
In a frantic feature race start, Pickens and Stanaway shot ahead of the pack followed closely by Brown, Graham and Jenkins. With Stanaway looking for an outside pass on the young Kiwi racer in the 2nd lap, fellow QLD competitor Todd Wanless Q63 brought on the reds by rolling alone after tagging Ben Wiese in turn 1, his second flip for the event!
On the restart, Brown made an aggressive move under Stanaway into the first corner but slid up-track relinquishing 2nd back to the Queenslander. Following in 4th & 5th respectively, Graham and Jenkins continued their wheel to wheel racing from the pole shuffle before Jenkins rode the right rear wheel of Graham entering turn one, spinning the 7N airborne into the wall with 26 laps to go.
Back under green, Victorian Harley Bishop hit turn two and spun on the slippery surface, forcing Grant Draney & Stevie �Kiwi-Kid� Walsh to stall to avoid a collision. All were sent rear of field for the restart which saw Pickens jump ahead of the swarm of challengers battling furiously behind him. A lap later West Australian McAllan WA21 came unstuck entering turn three, tagging the wall and rolling down track.
Mark Brown N42 moved up track for an outstanding pass on the Esslinger of Ken Stanaway to steal 2nd at the restart, followed patiently by Steven Graham and Adam Clarke in the Seamount Team NZ9 Breka machine, relegating Stanaway to 5th a few laps later. Sixth running Troy Jordan in the V11 Ed Pink/Beast combination struck drama with 14 laps to go when he slipped high exiting turn two and slammed into the wall, flipping him along the back straight.
Restarted, Pickens & Brown shot car lengths ahead of 3rd running Graham who was valiantly holding off an assault from Clarke in 4th. The duo parried for the remaining laps with Clarke almost slipping past into third until Graham was able to pull ahead leaving Clarke a corner behind for the remainder of the race.
Michael Pickens in the NZ4 Breka machine took an unfaultable feature win ahead of Round One winner Mark Brown N42 and Steven Graham A1 in a dash for the $2,000 cash prize!
Steven Graham scored the National Speedway Illustrated Quick Time Award for the second time and A Main 10th place-getter, Rookie Speedcar racer Stevie Walsh, took home the US$150 M&W Aluminium voucher.
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