Last Saturday night, Darlington’s Mid-Western Speedway hosted the third and penultimate round of the Intercity Signs Ladies of the Dirt Series, where Jaimie-Lee Smith claimed her second round win.
Continuing her good form, Smith qualified in pole position for the feature race, with fellow previous round winner Samantha Millar alongside her in second. At the drop of the green, Smith managed to hold her line and Millar was unable to get the jump on her. The pair continued to battle throughout the 20-lap feature race with Smith taking the chequered flag head of Millar by just 0.199 seconds.
A consistent Bree Hall crossed the line in third place, ahead of Renae Eastham and Demelza Nettlefold who rounded out the top five. Remaining finishers were Carly Walsh, Georgia McLeod, Brittany Kuypers and Elira DeGrandi. Te-arni Perkins was the only non-finisher, being forced to retire prematurely on lap 13 after a rough night of racing.
The heat-race wins were awarded to Smith and DeGrandi earlier in the night.
In the open $1,000 to Win feature race, Jason Langdon managed to get the jump on pole-sitter Luke Storer to secure the win ahead of him. Fourth-place qualifier Glenn Watts was also able to improve on his starting position, stealing third place from Luke Weel to round out the podium. The top five was completed by Weel and Travis Millar.
Remaining finishers included Wayne Logue, Super Series Champion Daniel Storer, Alex Thomson, Victorian Champion James Wren, Luke Cole, Tim Ludeman, Adam Smith, Mick Uebergang, Carly Walsh, Geoff Cook, Ashley Armistead and Steven Hately.
A special mention must go to B-main transfer Wren for his top-10 finish. Fellow B main transfers were Smith, Armistead, Luke McCutcheon, Walsh, Ludeman and Hately. Liam Atkinson was the only non-finisher after suffering an early retirement on lap seven.
Earlier in the night, heat-race wins went the way of Uebergang, Millar, Watts, Thomson, Luke Storer and Atkinson.
The fourth and final round of the Intercity Signs Ladies of the Dirt Series will be held on the Sunday of May 22 at Nyora Raceway.
Latest Intercity Signs Ladies of the Dirt Series Point Standings (after three completed rounds):
1: Jaimie-Lee Smith – 936 points
2: Samantha Millar – 886
3: Demelza Nettlefold – 790
4: Renae Eastham – 789
5: Bree Hall – 758
6: Te-arni Perkins – 644
7: Georgia McLeod – 629
8: Carly Walsh – 465
9: Brittany Kuypers – 424
10: Elira DeGrandi – 343