Chadwick Opens State Series With A Win

Chadwick Opens State Series With A Win

By Phil Michell Motorsport Media

The opening round of the SA Wingless Sprint Series attracted a stout field of 25 drivers from across the state and Victoria, but despite the field being one of the strongest ever seen at Murray Bridge the increased competition still wasn’t enough to upset the National Champion. After sitting out the opening two shows of the season Joel Chadwick drove to victory in the 25 lap A-Main, but he had to work extremely hard to get the better of Joel Heinrich and Matthew Kennedy.

At the completion of the two rounds of heats Chadwick topped the score charts to start on pole alongside Heinrich but it was Heinrich who got the jump on the start and he would lead for 22 of the 25 laps before Chadwick pounced in turn four.

Prior to Chadwick making the race winning pass Heinrich had got out to a sizeable lead but the lapped traffic would play its part. With Heinrich out front the real battle was between Chadwick and Kennedy for second with Kennedy looking the better of the pair as he worked the low groove on the track to perfection. But as he challenged Chadwick for second Kennedy showed the National Champ the fast way around, as Chadwick moved to bottom lane and eventually found his way past the leader utilising that part of the race track.

Once Chadwick got to the front a late race caution bunched up the field, but Chadwick didn’t relinquish the lead as he defeated Heinrich, Kennedy, Jake Ashworth and Michael Spoljaric, who was the last driver to qualify out of the B-Main, in what was one of the best Wingless Sprint races seen at Murray Bridge.

Renee Pestka drove a great race to finish sixth ahead of Mildura’s Jay Brown, Anthony McMillan, Brad Evans and Mick Barker.

Earlier the field was split into three heat groups with Anthony Tapley making a winning start to his season in heat 1, with Heinrich and Jay Brown also winning in round 1. Brad Evans was an impressive winner in heat 4 while Chadwick and Jack McCarthy rounded out the heat winners.

With the increased field a B-Main was required for the first time at a Murray Bridge Club event with Jay Brown, Melissa McMillan, Normie Moore and Michael Spoljaric being the 4 drivers to transfer to the back of the 20-car field.

The next event on the South Australian Wingless Sprint calendar is Round 2 of the SA Series at the Murray Bridge Speedway on Saturday December 15, 2018.