Record Run for Hillyer on Night 1
By Phil Michell Motorsport Media
The Wingless Sprints of SA season kicked off last Saturday night at the Murray Machining and Sheds Murray Bridge Speedway with a history making opening night field, as 25 cars fronted for night one of the new season. With such a large field of hand the night consisted of six heats, a B-Main and a 25 lap A-Main, and once the final chequered flag had fallen it was Mount Gambier’s Kirby Hillyer who celebrated in victory lane.
Hillyer’s race time of 5:59.794 smashed the existing 25 lap track record by over 30 seconds (6:30.753) set by Joel Heinrich in 2019, but he didn’t have it all his own way as the race lead changed hands on several occasions.
After winning both of his 10 lap heats Mitchell Broome started on the pole position with Hayden Vickers, Ryan Alexander, Rylan Furler, Hillyer, Cory Hodgson, Matthew Kennedy and William Caruso completing the first four rows.
As the green flag fell Broome quickly took over the race lead from Vickers and Alexander and he would lead the opening 14 laps until Hillyer took the lead for the first time on lap 15 as the leaders attempted to lap the slower traffic. But he would only lead one lap as Vickers then took control and paced the field until he made a mistake in turn two allowing Hillyer back by with two laps remaining.
While the battle for the top spot was going on Ryan Alexander, Mitchell Broome and Matthew Kennedy were also racing hard for the final podium spot.
From that point Hillyer held on to defeat Hayden Vickers by .189 of second ahead of Ryan Alexander, Matthew Kennedy, who claimed fourth on the final lap, and pole sitter Mitchell Broome. Rylan Furler, Cory Hodgson, Tyson Martin, Brent Fox and Michael Spoljaric completed the top 10.
Prior to the final the six heat winners were Mitchell Broome (2), Rylan Furler, Hayden Vickers, William Caruso and Cory Hodgson, with the final heat being the best of the night as Hodgson held out Ryan Alexander and Matthew Kennedy with all three drivers only .543 of a second apart.
The night was also historic with all three of the Pitcher sisters taking to the track for the first time in the Wingless Sprint division. It was a tough night for the team with debutante Kirra-Lee having contact with fellow rookie Jenna Kervers in heat three, Sharni Pitcher ended her night in heat four with contact with Matthew Tyler while Tamika had a slightly better night after transferring from the B-Main into the final.
After dropping a heat Anthony Tapley ended up in a position that no one expected as he ended up in the B-Main, a race he would win easily ahead of Caleb Evans, Tamika Pitcher and debutante James Rodda.
This Saturday night a small field of first and second season drivers will be on track supporting the Sprintcars at the Murray Machining and Sheds Murray Bridge Speedway.
Ends Release…
Release by Phil Michell Motorsport Media for Wingless Sprints of SA