Having teamed up with car owner Colin Sands and his Westpoint Racing team at the beginning of the 2018-19 season, young VSA Sprintcar racer Alistair Bastian is certainly making the most of the opportunity.
Stepping into the class during the 2016-17 season and contesting a trio of race meetings before participating in the full 2017-18 schedule on a limited budget aboard his own ex-Dan Carrigy Maxim car, Bastian’s previous highlight was coming home third in the Victorian Title, but it was Sands’s offer to pilot one of his Westpoint Racing cars that became the turning point.
Enthusiastically accepting the Sands offer during the off season, the 21-year-old racer has been on the verge of achieving his maiden feature-race victory and it wasn’t until last Saturday night at Rosedale Speedway where he was finally able to achieve the milestone.
In an almost flawless form throughout the event, Bastian’s heat-race performances aboard the Vic # 55 Westpoint backed Maxim, which resulted in a win and a third-place finish, were good enough for him to start the 25-lap feature race from pole position.
Immediately jumping into the lead on the opening lap, Bastian then quickly slipped back to third place as he encountered immense pressure from his rivals, but he thankfully managed to regain his composure, once again taking control of the lead on lap nine. From there, he was able to hit his marks throughout the remaining laps, along with surviving a green-white-chequered flag caused by a late stoppage to achieve a convincing win.
In what was a fitting outcome, it was Bastian’s Westpoint racing teammate Adam Greenwood who came home in the runner-up spot, while this season’s form driver Shane Steenholdt joined them on the podium in third.
“It was such a fantastic feeling to win my first feature race, particularly being able to share the podium with drivers the calibre of Adam and Shane,” said the Bairnsdale, Victoria-based driver.
“Colin and the whole Westpoint Racing team run such a professional operation. The car was perfect last Saturday night, which is a massive help in my chase to be consistently competitive. I have to say a big thanks to him for the opportunity to be a part of his team and I can’t wait to see what else we can achieve together.”
Currently sitting second in the overall VSA Sprintcar season point score behind Steenholdt, Bastian’s next outing will take place on the Saturday night of March 9 at Rushworth Speedway with the seventh round of the point score.
Bastian is proudly supported by the following 2018-19 season sponsors:
Westpoint
Bridgestone Tyres – Bairnsdale
Curtis Engineering
Tambo Marine
Battery Land
Dents Down Under
Burson Auto Parts – Bairnsdale
Bastian would also like to give special thanks to his dad (David), Colin Sands, Ethan, Adam, Charlie and Anthony.
To find out more about Bastian and his campaign with the Westpoint Racing team, LIKE him on Facebook by searching Alistair Bastian Racing.
