Perth’s Daniel Hartigan certainly had something to celebrate over the New Year period, speeding to victory in both nights of competition in the Manjimup Shootout, sponsored by Cutts Engineering, at Manjimup Speedway.
On the opening night of competition, New Year’s Eve (December 31), the current and two-time Australian Champion was the dominant force, scoring a convincing win in the 20-lap preliminary feature race on the massive 600-metre Manjimup track, ahead of Ashley Pittard and Bradley Taylor in second and third respectively.
While Hartigan ultimately repeated his solid form the following night, it wasn’t quite all smooth sailing. On lap three, while leading the 30-lap feature race, Hartigan broke a muffler causing him to lose power and allowing second placed Pittard to bridge the gap between them. While Pittard attempted to throw everything he had at the leader, Hartigan was able to use his experience as a driver to defend against his attacker, going on to seize the victory and wrap up the Manjimup Shootout.
“It was great to visit a country track over the New Year period and the low-key racing was a lot of fun,” expressed Hartigan.
“We were able to bring in the New Year by celebrating with good friends in a relaxed environment; coming away with a great result was just a bonus. It was the perfect start to the year.”
Models of consistency throughout both nights of the event, Pittard and Taylor once again rounded out the podium in second and third place. Rookie Brody Miller gave an impressive performance to finish just off the podium in fourth, while Mitchell White made a great recovery to complete the top five, after hitting the wall hard in an earlier heat race and causing damage to his car.
A branch of Cutts Group Pty Ltd, Cutts Engineering is a family run business established in Manjimup in 1949. Their team of fully qualified and experience heavy duty mechanics can assist you with services and repairs to all makes of vehicles, whether they are on or off road, farm or commercial. Their services include fabrication, manufacturing, repairs and maintenance, sandblasting and paint services, boiler maker and welding services, and machining.
For their next outing, the WA Wingless Sprints will head to the Perth Motorplex on the Friday and Saturday night of January 13 and 14 where they will battle it out in the coveted WA Title.
To find out more about the WA Wingless Sprints, visit their website at www.awsr.com.au/wa or LIKE them on Facebook by searching Wingless Sprints W.A.