Chadwick Wins Inaugural TiBills Event
By Phil Michell Motorsport Media
Former Australian Champion Joel Chadwick added yet another accomplishment to his impressive resume as he claimed the inaugural round of the Ti Bills Race Parts Wingless Sprints SA State Series on Saturday night at the Whyalla Speedway. After qualifying on pole Chadwick managed to pace the field for the entire 30-lap journey to lead home Mount Gambier’s Mitch Broome and Loxton resident Keke Falland.
Right from the outset Chadwick established himself to be one of the drivers to beat as he won his opening heat and finished third in the other. Following the main event Chadwick was pleased with the result but admitted that there was still work to be done.
“Tonight, the car was better than it has been but we still need to get better. We haven’t been fast enough at our other events so we went back and worked on a few things and tonight we got the result we were after. I really must thank Ti Bills and the Wingless SA committee for the work they have put in to get this series up and running and to everyone here at the Whyalla Speedway for having us here. Not just tonight but also for the State Title” added Joel.
For Broome second was a great result having never been to the track before and for the fact his team had travelled over 9 hours to compete.
Fourth place in the final went the way of Rylan Furler, who had a solid evening, while Jordon Bolitho, Bronson Mauro, Nate Trewin, William Caruso, Hayden Vickers and Jenna Kervers completed the top 10. For Trewin his seventh placed finish was an unexpected result as he charged up 13 places having started from position 20.
Matthew Tyler, Jesse Alexander, Alan Saint, Nicole Southby, debutante Tate Cowie and Caleb Evans completed the finishers.
After a relatively clean run through the heats, it all went pear shaped in the opening turn of the A-Main as William Caruso, who started from position four, spun in front of a majority of the field with a huge pile up resulting. The incident also involved Harley Alexander, Jenna Kervers and Alan Saint with Alexander being the only retirement.
Another highly fancied contender to strike issues was Jack McCarthy who hit the wall bringing out the caution with nine laps remaining.
The night was supposed to begin with Time Trials but just as the teams headed out for hot laps the wild weather the State was experiencing hit Whyalla with a brief but heavy down pour hitting the Speedway requiring the racing program to be rescheduled. Due to the cancellation of Time Trials the heat line-ups for the 26 drivers on hand reverted back to the random heat group draw that was conducted at the Driver’s Briefing.
Therefore, heat one saw Jack McCarthy and Hayden Vickers share the front row and that’s how they finished as McCarthy defeated Vickers, Rylan Furler, Jenna Kervers and Brad Evans to take the first ever chequered flag of the new series.
Heat two saw Mildura based driver Jordan Bolitho lead home Corey Brougham and Harley Alexander, who was debuting a new Cool Chassis that he purchased from the Brougham’s just prior to the event. The final heat of the opening round went the way of Joel Chadwick with Mitch Broome, Jesse Alexander and William Caruso completing the top four.
The second round of heat races saw the heat fields inverted and the rows swapped therefore the remaining heats produced three new winners as passing was proving to be tough. As was the case in the opening round the heat winners all came from the front row with heat four being claimed by Dale Gesell ahead of an impressive Nicole Southby and Bronson Mauro, who was making his first appearance of the season.
Heat five saw a fitting result as William Caruso, who is one of the driving forces behind the series, claimed a heat win with Rylan Furler and Jenna Kervers in hot pursuit. The final heat of the night went the way of Keke Falland, who was fortunate in the end as his right rear tyre went flat as the car sat on the scales post-race. Mitch Broome, Joel Chadwick, Darryl Knuckey and Harley Alexander completed the top five.
With both Brett Ireland and Darryl Knuckey missing from the Last Chance Qualifier a field of eight drivers were left to fight for the final four spots in the final and the 15-lap encounter was dominated by Matthew Tyler as he crossed the line six seconds ahead of debutante Tate Cowie while Caleb Evans and Nate Trewin completed the 20 driver A-Main line-up. Brad Evans, Slade Petry, Tyson Newton and Darwin’s John Murdie were the four non-qualifiers.
Round 2 of the series will beheld at the Borderline Speedway in Mount Gambier on December 10, 2022.
Contingency Prize Winners – Round 1 of the Ti Bills Race Parts Wingless Race Series:
- Broome Family and BP Gambier West, Mount Gambier ($100 BP Fuel Voucher) – #S20 Harley Alexander
- Revolution Racegear ($100 Voucher) – #S84 Jesse Alexander
- Wingless Sprints of SA ($100 Cash) – #S58 Nate Trewin
- Alexander Bro’s Construction & Civil ($50 Supercheap Voucher) – #S23 Jack McCarthy & #S41 Bronson Mauro
- Phil Michell Motorsport Media (Complimentary Press Release) – #S15 Hayden Vickers
Round 1 of the Ti Bills Race Parts Wingless Race Series Sponsors:
- Serge’s Crash Repairs – Round 1 Major Sponsor
- Pronto United Finance – Series Sponsor
- Obst Customs and Classics – Series Sponsor
- Chris’s Auto Air & Mechanical – Series Sponsor
