Asian Motor Sports

Adam Clarke came, saw and conquered the NSW Speedcar Championship at Tyrepower Parramatta City Raceway, winning convincingly from runner-up Mark Cooper with Mark Brown lunar launching off cushion to snatch third on the final corner off Stephen Brown.

Earning the right to start from pole in the 30-lap Bikebiz NSW Speedcar Championship, Adam Clarke took control of the lead in the Valvoline/SsangYong Breka entry from Team BOC pilot Troy Jenkins, who push ten-tenths to keep the Novocastrian within eyeshot.

Mechanical gremlins slowed the Jenkins machine substantially, as Mark Cooper in the American Tire and Racing Services Stealth then charged in pursuit of the Seamount team car.

Cooper pounced immediately following a restart at mid-distance, capturing the lead for a brief period, before Clarke switched back to the top line, winning by the length of the straight at the chequers.

“We had an awesome car and team behind me, so it was good to come away with the win, and that’s what we are here for,” said four-times NSW Champion, Adam Clarke.

“I was in cruise mode there for a bit on the highline, then I tried the bottom, so when Coops stuck his nose in, I had to step it up a bit - In the end we got the job done.”

The Seamount Racing one-two wasn’t to be with Michael Pickens breaking a crank trigger ignition mount in the heats, a part that would require an entire engine swap. Pickens jumped at the lifeline thrown by Peter Bourke, stepping out of the Carline Mufflers Stealth, offering the ride to Pickens, however the engine problems sent Pickens to the infield early in the final.

Mark Cooper extracted every ounce from the Stealth / Mopar machine, and pushed Clarke as hard as he might.

“I thought there might have been something down there on the bottom of the racetrack,” noted ex-pat Kiwi Mark Cooper, “I had a peak down there myself, but when (Clarke) got going back up the on the top and went back around me, I thought I best get back up there.”

Posed with the question, if you could do the thirty laps over again, is there anything you would do different to conquer Adam Clarke, Mark Cooper philosophically relied, “It is Clarkey!” Cooper reiterating after a momentary pause, “At the end of the day … it is Clarkey. It’s not the car, he is just one outstanding driver.”

Mark praised his father, Fred, for his car building prowess, “My dad always puts together a fast car, we proved that, we just need to have a few things go our way, and we’ll be right.”

The battle for third was a race and a half.

Stephen Brown, smooth and precise on the bottom in the BPX Express Stealth, whilst Mark Brown jumped and jived on and above the cushion in the third Brett Morris Speedcar, the Beast / Brayton Mini Pickers combo.

It was an uneasy start to the Mark Brown night, with the diff pulled out of the car early, and very much struggling in the first heat, but come the final stormed through the pack from grid fifteen.

“Everything kept falling off the car early in the night,” Brown sarcastically stated. “We have only raced the car twice in Australia and ran out of preparation time mid-week, so we came here with what we had.”

The crew clocked in for overtime, fine-tuning the Speedcar prior to the feature.

“We put a set of gears in the first heat - the wrong gears as it turned out. We turned the engine to ten grand and the car jumped out of gear six times. I drove one handed in that heat as I hate to hold the car in gear. We then discovered we had a bent shock in both heats from a previous show, but Brad (Dent) got it dialled-in for the feature.”

The shock and awe Brown-barnstorm on the cushion was the product many Speedcar drivers could not replicate.

“I tried the bottom a few times, but it was never going to work. Brett (Morris) told me that if I had to run the cushion - run over the cushion - just do whatever had to be done. I was driving about twelve -tenths. I needed to slow down to go faster, then I probably would have had something for the guys up front.”

The final corner manoeuvre to secure a spot on the podium took some doing.

“I drove the car into turns three and four as hard as I have ever driven a car. I basically stuck it in, shut my eyes, and hoped it came out. So I am happy for Brad (crew chief), I am happy for Brett (car owner), there was no pressure and we had fun all night.”

Bikebiz 2006 NSW Speedcar Championship

Top Ten

1. NZ9 Adam Clarke (NSW) Valvoline, SsangYong, Breka Racecars
2. N7 Mark Cooper (NSW) American Tire & Racing Service
3. N42 Mark Brown (NSW) Mini Pickers, Rondalee
4. N85 Stephen Brown (NSW) Business Parcel Express
5. N22 Chris Steep (NSW) Hi-Tec Oils, AQL Auto Quick Lift
6. NZ2 Scott Buckley (NSW) Hawk Engine Developments, Aggressor Chassis
7. N70 Jason Gates (NSW) National Warranty Group
8. N18 Tony Abson (NSW) TA Plumbing
9. N57 Tim Evans (NSW) Blaster Promotions
10. Q2 Grant Draney (QLD) GWD Enterprises