Tonight’s Powranna Plant Hire Australian Wingless Sprint Championship opener at Carrick Speedway in Tasmania has seen Victorian Luke Weel come away with the preliminary feature race win and virtue of that sits on top of the overall point standings.

Weel, who in last season’s Australian Championship qualified on pole position for the feature race only to go on to finish in a disappointing seventh place, led the 20-lap preliminary feature race from beginning to end after he had started from position two.

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Photo: Angryman Photography

Scott Thomsen, a two-time Queensland Champion, tried in vain to chase down an impressive Weel, but in the end had to settle for second place.

After qualifying on pole position for the preliminary feature race, current and two-time South Australian Champion Joel Chadwick was firstly outjumped by Weel at the drop of the green flag and by the completion of the opening lap was shuffled back to third when he was passed by Thomsen for second. Although he was able to match it with both Weel and Thomsen, he was only good enough to snare the podium spot on the podium.

Finishing just off the podium in fourth, Luke Redpath, who emerged as the best of the locals, drove strongly to hold out fellow Tasmanian and current Australia # 2 Brad Whitchurch, who came home in fifth.

The top-10 finishers were completed by Wayne Hurford (Vic), Daniel Storer (Vic), Jeremy Smith (Tas), Glenn Watts (Vic) and Jason Langdon (Vic).

Bradley Walkley (Tas), veteran Peter Logue (Vic), Tony Moule (Vic), Bradley Herbert (Tas) and Josh Padman (Tas) rounded out the finishers.

The preliminary feature race was marred by a nasty crash opening-lap crash from Travis Millar (Vic), who after qualifying third, rolled over in turn one. In what was a large crash, he was able to emerge from the wreckage but was shortly after transported to hospital for a precautionary check-up. Fellow Victorian Luke Storer was also eliminated without a lap being completed, after he had started alongside Millar. The only other retirement from the preliminary feature race was another Victorian in Sam Wren.

Earlier in the night, the heat-race wins were shared between Scott Thomsen, Daniel Storer, Millar, Chadwick, Langdon, Hurford, Weel and Redpath.

Throughout the latter round of heat races, there was plenty of drama. The biggest crash of the night was that of local Luke Wilson. The Wingless Sprint newcomer rode out a huge end-for-end crash in the final heat race of the night in turn three, after he had clipped another competitor while running on the low side of the track. Thankfully, he wasn’t injured, but his car was a total ride-off.

The Western Australian pair of current and two-time Australian Champion Daniel Hartigan and current and three-time Western Australian Champion Tom Payet endured disastrous runs in their heat races. After a third-place finish in the opening round, Hartigan crashed out of his second heat race off the start, while Payet finished towards the back of the field (due to a spin earlier in the race) in his opening heat race and then suffered a DNF in the second heat race. With their backs currently to the wall, both Hartigan and Payet are looking to bounce back to form in tomorrow night’s second and final night.

The Australian Championship action will conclude tomorrow night, which will consist of two further rounds of heat races (10 laps each) and then a C main, a B main and the 35-lap Australian Championship deciding feature race.

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Photo: Angryman Photography

Current Australian Wingless Sprint Championship Point Standings:
1: Luke Weel (Vic) – 74 points
2: Joel Chadwick (SA) – 73
3: Luke Redpath (Tas) – 66.5
4: Scott Thomsen (Qld) – 65.5
5: Travis Millar (Vic) – 63.5
6: Luke Storer (Vic) – 63.5
7: Wayne Hurford (Vic) – 63.5
8: Brad Whitchurch (Tas) – 63
9: Jeremy Smith (Tas) – 61.5
10: Jason Langdon (Vic) – 61.5
11: Daniel Storer (Vic) – 61
12: Glenn Watts (Vic) – 61
13: Peter Logue (Vic) – 57.5
14: Tony Moule (Vic) – 55
15: Bradley Walkley (Tas) – 54
16: Bradley Herbert (Tas) – 52.5
17: Sam Wren (Vic) – 51
18: Josh Padman (Tas) – 50
19: Jack Crossin (Tas) – 48
20: Carly Walsh (Vic) – 46
21: Hadyn McBain (Tas) – 44
22: Steve Thomsen (Qld) – 44
23: Jamie Rolls (Tas) – 43
24: Mathew Balcombe – 43
25: Jacob Goodluck (Tas) – 42
26: Wayne Logue (Vic) – 42
27: Ryan Harding (Tas) – 42
28: Daniel Hartigan (WA) – 41
29: Mick Parry (Vic) – 41
30: Troy Lewis (Tas) – 40
31: Sam Borlini (NT) – 39
32: Luke Wilson (Tas) – 39
33: Chris Breen (Tas) – 38
34: Ebony Hobson (Vic) – 38
35: Glen Harris (Vic) – 37
36: Joe Turnbull (Tas) – 36
37: Wade Lello (Tas) – 35
38: Geoff Cook (Vic) – 35
39: Leigh Mugavin (NT) – 35
40: Matthew Symons (Vic) – 33
41: Narelle Blight (Tas) – 33
42: Tim Herbert (Tas) – 32
43: Jake Power (Tas) – 32
44: Tom Payet (WA) – 27
45: Dwayne Williams – 24
46: Robin Dawkins (Tas) – 24

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.

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