Bairnsdale Speedway Association concluded their season on Easter Sunday on a cold and wet miserable day with die-hard fans glued to their seat watching action that seen track records set by Mitch Whiting in Compact Speedcars on his way to a Keith Astrella Memorial victory. Whilst Bairnsdale member Josh Thomas won the Standard Saloon Easter Classic 600, Brett Schmidlin won the Limited Sedans, Adam Greenwood the Sprintcars, Tom Braz the Junior Standard Saloon series round, and Wayne Logue the Gary Bowden Cup for Wingless Sprints.
Compact Speedcar action in the Keith Astrella Memorial produced heat race victories to Australian champion Justin Paull after Mitch Whiting was penalised two places for a jump-start in the first heat race, before Whiting won the second, Mark Cecil the third and Whiting the fourth and final heat race. Along the way, Whiting set a new ten-lap record at Bairnsdale for the Compact Speedcar class and a new one-lap record also. 15.544 is now the fastest lap for the class at the venue whilst the ten-lap record was lowered by around eleven seconds on the previous.
In the feature event, Whiting was never headed as he stormed to victory for his first Keith Astrella Memorial victory, an event that means a lot to his car owner Robbie Gordon. Matt Papa finished second and challenge Whiting throughout the race with Michael Conway coming from within the pack to finish in third spot ahead of Tania Hallett and Mitch Allison.
Wingless Sprints competed in the Gary Bowden Cup to honour the late Bairnsdale man and in three qualifying races prior to the feature event Thomas McDonald, Wayne Logue from Morwell and Ben Hodge took victories. In the feature event, Logue proved to be the best as he led the other two heat winners to the podium at the end of twenty laps with Logue, Hodge, McDonald, Scott Cole and Peter Logue rounding out the top five.
Sprintcar action was provided by the Victorian Sprintcar Association competitors with Rodney Dennison winning the time trial battle prior to heat racing. Mark Noonan and then Peter Laity won the two Sprintcar heat races before Adam Greenwood from Sale won the feature event ahead of Noonan, Alistair Bastian, Peter Laity and Dillon Siely.
Junior Standard Saloon competitors competed in the final round of their track series and across three heat races Tom Braz with one victory and Hunter Carey with two wins claimed early bragging rights. In the final after finishing behind is big brother Jack most times this season, Tom Braz would storm to the front and go on to victory passing Jack along the way to finish in front of Jack Braz, Bree Walker, Blake Smith and Beau Stuchbery. Walker moved forward from in the pack to pass Smith after a great battle in the middle stages of the race.
Visiting New South Wales competitors competed in the Limited Sedans class with Liam Murphy with a win in heat one and then Brett Schmidlin with two wins leading into the final being the class standouts. In the final Schmidlin despite numerous attempts by Murphy to get past, held his nerve and his track position taking a feature race win. Schmidlin defeated Murphy, Garry Targett and Matt French with no other finishers.
Completing results is the Standard Saloon Easter Classic 600. In six heat races, there were six different winners. Ashley Cormack, Joshua Thomas, Luke King, Nigel Frew, Aaron Cormack and Shane Stewart all with a win apiece. In the feature event, Thomas racked up another victory at his home track when he led Stewart to the finish line with Stephen Dadswell in third spot, Andrew Cormack and then Aaron Cormack.
Bairnsdale Speedway Association would like to thank these wonderful supporting partners;
A1 Trailers
Active Sound Systems
Assist A Lift Bairnsdale
Aussie Septic Solutions
Bairnsdale Autobarn
Bairnsdale Automotive
Bairnsdale Bearings & Industrial
Bairnsdale RSL
Boost 2 Drive
Bridgestone Service Centre Bairnsdale
Buchan Towing
Curtis Engineering
Dennison Quality Roof Restorations
East Gippsland Locks and Keys
East Gippsland Plumbing and Drainage
East Vic Hydraulics
Eastern Signs & Designs
Egee Printers
Eye Care Plus
EZ Print
Gillicks Busline
Gippsland Treated Pine
Gippsland Truck Centre
Granite Rock Quarries
Great Southern Kitchens
Kennedy Trailers
Logue’s Autowreckers
M&S Laity Hay Contractors
Mitchell Valley Excavations Pty Ltd
Napier Photography
Patties Food
Phaselink Electrics
RCI Services
Riviera Automotive
Riviera Concrete
SS Auto Wholesalers
Tambo Waste
Tim Bull
Todd Plumbing Supplies
TRFM & Gold 1242
Wayne Trinder Plumbing & Gasfitting
Westpoint Motors
WGI Earthmoving & Heavy Haulage
Ends Release.
Media written by DMT Sports Media – Dean Thompson
