Two of Western Australia’s best drivers in Daniel Hartigan and Tom Payet will no doubt be difficult to beat when they make the long trek to Carrick Speedway in Tasmania to battle it out in the 2017 Powranna Plant Hire Australian Wingless Sprint Championship.
Defending and two-time Australian Champion Hartigan will be putting it all on the line later this month, when he travels over 4,000 kilometres to the Carrick Speedway track for the first time in a bid to retain the Australian Championship crown, after winning last season’s running of the event at Toowoomba’s Hi-Tec Oils Speedway. The proven feature-race winner certainly won’t have an easy task ahead of him, not only going up against a stout field of locals and other interstaters, but also facing off against fellow Western Australian and best mate Payet.
Photo: Peter Roebuck
Payet has been in top form so far this season, having recently achieved a remarkable feat when he collected his third consecutive WA Title victory in the Des Nash honoured event at the Perth Motorplex. Stealing the lead from pole-sitter Hartigan in the middle stages of the WA Title-deciding feature race, Payet once again took top honours, with Hartigan being forced to settle for second, in a repeat of the results from the 2015-16 running of the event.
The 2017 Australian Championship is sure to incite some friendly fire between the hard-charging pair, who will be battling each other, as much as the rest of the field.
The Australian Championship will be held over three days, beginning on the Thursday night of February 23 with practice and then the Calcutta. The following Friday night will see drivers contest the first rounds of heat races and a preliminary feature race, with the remaining heat races, C main, B main and Australian Championship-deciding feature race to be held on the Saturday night of February 25. The event offers a whopping prize pool of $22,000, with $4,000 to win.
Two weeks later, Cranes Combined Carrick Speedway will host the Tasmanian Wingless Sprint Title on the Saturday night of March 11.
To find out more about the Australian Wingless Sprints Championship, contact Mick Parry on 0423 548 622, and to find out more about the Tasmanian Title, contact Chris Breen on 0409 951 868.
For more information on the AWSR, visit their website at www.awsr.com.au or LIKE them on Facebook or Follow them on Twitter by searching Australian Wingless Sprint Racing.
