Motor Racing
3 February, 2025
Horsham brings the heat to the track
The heat was on both on and off the track as the temperature peaked just shy of 40 degrees in lead up to the running of the Ti Bill’s Race Parts & Injectors Victorian Wingless Sprint Championship combined with the R&L Douglas Earthmoving Victorian Unlimited Sedan Title and support from the Junior Sedans at Horsham’s Blue Ribbon Raceway.
This was the biggest Speedway event to hit the Wimmera district for the summer season. The fans were out in force to support the competitors here to battle for the coveted Victorian Championships.
Despite two short power outages due to the extreme heat, which was still 37 degrees at 8:00 pm, the night ran well, and the crowd were treated to some thrilling on-track action.
On a side note, I must say ‘I was very impressed with the club’s quick thinking action for
the competitors parked on track during the first power outage, sweating in three-layer fireproof overalls, gloves, balaclavas and helmets.
The club officials ran water bottles straight out to each competitor to stay hydrated.
It was also great to have local media journalist Chris Graetz from Wimmera Mallee News share something in the commentary with local announcers Paul Cleveland, Paris Charles and Rhmaon Rivero, who called the Unlimited Sedans.
With a mind-blowing 55 Wingless Sprints coming from as far as the Northern Territory, Tasmania and South Australia to take on Victoria’s best, the event provided plenty of thrills and spills from the V6 powered opened wheeled warriors.
The qualifying heats were hotly contested, with vital qualifying points up for grabs to make the top 20 final.
Brad Warren and Todd Moule went undefeated, claiming both of their heats, while singles went to Wayne Logue, Sam Martin, Peter Logue, Carly Walsh and Zack Rogerson.
The two last chance B Main’s took the top three finishes into the championship final. Anthony Tapley, Jeremy Beddison and Will Green came through the first B main, while Tyson Martin, Logan Davis and local racer Steven Hateley were the final transfer.
With two wins apiece, Warren and Moule would share the front row for the 30-lap final; Warren got the better of the starts and, with a clear track ahead, took command, followed by Moule, Millar and defending champion Mitchell Broome from Mount Gambier, South Australia.
By one-third of the race journey, Millar advanced to second and Broome to third two laps further into the journey, and Moule steadily dropped back to sixth.
Warren was never headed over the journey and went on to claim the Victorian Championship; joining him on the podium was Millar, Blake Walsh, who had advanced from twelfth to third, and Broome would relinquish his crown on the final podium step in fourth. Rylan Furler was fifth, followed by Moule, Kahn Aston, Carly Walsh and Raymond Walliss, the final finisher on the lead lap.
Tenth was Sam Martin followed by Tapley, Hateley, Harley Alexander and Beddison to round the finishers.
The list of retirees would read Wayne Logue, Thomas Mcdonald, Chris Ansell, Logan Davis, who had a big crash, Martin, Green and Kirby Hillyer.
The Unlimited Sedan Title was a strong field of 14 competitors with a combined field of Late Models, Super Sedans and AMCA Nationals to battle for the coveted #1 championship.
Local racer Danny Smith fired the first shot, taking the opening heat race with singles to Trent Susol, Corey Ramsdale and Anthony McKean. Warrick Taylor looked strong, taking two wins, but sadly, he would not take his place for the 30-lap final due to overheating issues from the extreme conditions.
This left the door open for the rest of the field, and it would be Susol with front row advantage led from go to whoa, parking his Late Model in Victory Lane, Smith flew the flag proudly for the Wimmera with a fine second and Brian Simon and Gavin Ough for the final podium placings. Brendon Eames, Daryl Nicolson and Jaryd Carman were the final finishers.
Nathan Lightburn, Anthony McKean, Troy Hutchinson, the two Corey's in McDonald, and the outgoing champion Ramsdale would all park up on the infield.
Supporting the prestigious titles were not one but two Junior Sedan divisions. The stars of the future shone brightly with the 1200 rear-wheeled drive machines in their own races for the heats. Jaylen Knight and Riley Greig shared the heat wins while the Juniors (New and Top Stars).
Both classes were combined for their feature race, and it would be South Australian Greig
taking the final after starting from the rear of the file,d Knight (Top Stars) would take the runner
up position, followed by local runner Jack Mills, Aiden Gartner (New Stars winner), James Becker, and the final car on the lead lap chased to the line by Archie Thomas, Libby Ahearn and Zara Baxter.
Sadly, local female racer Rebecca Johnstone failed to start the feature race after performing well in her preliminary heat races.
The next event scheduled for Horsham’s Blue Ribbon Raceway is already shaping up to be a huge weekend at the skids at the Wimmera Club will play host to the Victorian Production Sedan Championship supported by round 9 of the JSPA Junior Sedan Series, V8 Trucks and Limited Sportsman on Saturday, March 15 and Sunda,y March 16 will see the round six of the Victorian Quarter Midgets Series take part on the infield track. We look forward to seeing you then!
For further details, please visit the Blue Ribbon Raceway Facebook page.