A strong field of 48 home state and four South Australian contenders are gearing up to head to Simpson Speedway, where they will all be vying for the top honours in this Saturday night’s The Tyre Factory – Warrnambool supported Victorian Wingless Sprints Title.
Heading the 52-car line-up for the Victorian Title, which includes a mixture of youth and experience, is defending champion Glenn Watts.
Watts, who won last season’s Victorian Title at Hamilton’s Western Speedway by leading from start to finish, is coming off a second place in last Saturday night’s latest autObarn Super Series round at Warrnambool’s Premier Speedway and is full of confidence for a successful Victorian Title defence.
Photo: Robert Lake Photography
Another strong chance will be the man Watts finished second to on Saturday night, defending autObarn Super Series Champion Luke Weel. Weel is looking to make amends from last year’s Victorian Title, where a spin while challenging Watts for the lead cost him the top spot and he went on to finish just off the podium in a disappointing fourth.
Last season’s Victorian Title surprise packet was Michael Skene, who had qualified on the outside of the front row for the feature race and then went on to finish in fifth place. There’s no doubt that Skene is looking for a repeat of that performance by finishing a bit higher.
After finishing sixth in the recent Australian Championship, Travis Millar carries a fair bit of confidence into this season’s Victorian Title and is going to be one to challenge at the pointy-end of the field. In last season’s event, he ended up sixth.
The Storer brothers, Daniel and Luke, head into the Victorian Title with good form on their side. Daniel is the current autObarn Super Series point standings leader and is one of the front-running Victorian Title contenders, while Luke carries a lot of confidence into the event following his season-best finish of third in last Saturday night’s autObarn Super Series round.
Other Victorian Title contenders are likely to be Dayn Bentvelzen, youngsters Todd Hobson, Ben Doukas and Alex Ross, Michael McDonald, locals Matthew Balcombe and Mathew Symons, veteran Peter Logue and his son Wayne, another veteran in Tony Moule, last season’s Victorian Title 10th place finisher Jeremy Beddison, Mick Parry and Clint McLaren.
Carly Walsh, who finished 11th in last season’s Victorian Title, and Bianca Klemm are going to be flying the flag for the ladies and are most certainly not to be taken lightly.
Looking to take the Victorian Title west to South Australia will be Mitchell Broome who finished an impressive eighth in last season’s running of the event, along with the Beasley brothers Travis and Brad, and Trent Gravestock.
The format for this season’s Victorian Title will see the drivers compete in three rounds of heat races each ahead of the C main, B main and the Victorian Title deciding feature race.
For the second season in a row, the Victorian Title is proudly supported by The Tyre Factory – Warrnambool. To find out more about The Tyre Factory – Warrnambool, visit their website at www.ttf.com.au or LIKE them on Facebook by searching The Tyre Factory Warrnambool. The Tyre Factory – Warrnambool is owned by Victorian Title entrant Geoff Cook.
Photo: Robert Lake Photography
2018 Victorian Title Nominations:
VX2 Robert Whiteside
V2 Travis Millar
VX4 Jaidyn Job
V4 Carly Walsh
S4 Travis Beasley
V7 David Alford
V9 Dayn Bentvelzen
V10 Peter Merrett
V11 Mathew Symons
V14 Alex Ross
VX14 Shaun Lyness
V16 Wayne Logue
VX17 Warren Sell
V20 Thomas McDonald
V23 Mathew Balcombe
V24 Michael Lovell
V26 Luke Schneider
V28 Luke Weel
V30 Tony Moule
V31 Mick Rigby
V33 Luke Storer
S35 Mitchell Broome
V35 Glenn Watts
V36 David Cook
V43 Daniel Storer
VX46 Michael McDonald
V48 Michael Skene
V49 Ross Jarred
V50 Robert Stevenson
V52 Scott Irons
V54 Jeremy Beddison
V55 Luke Tuckett
V60 Steven Hateley
V66 Marc Evans
V67 Chris Halesworth
VX69 John Rotheram
S69 Brad Beasley
V70 Aron Lawrence
V72 Tyson Bartlett
VX77 Travis Evans
V77 Alex Thomson
V79 Clint McLaren
V81 Matt Bartlett
V83 Todd Hobson
S85 Trent Gravestock
VX90 Daniel Kelly
V91 Bianca Klemm
VX91 Ben Pollansky
V92 Raymond Klemm
V95 Geoff Cook
V98 Peter Logue
VX98 Ben Doukas
For further AWSR information, visit their website at www.awsr.com.au or LIKE them on Facebook or follow them on Instagram and Twitter by searching Australian Wingless Sprint Racing.
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