Baxter Wins Exide Batteries Brisbane 1000

18/01/10…Pam Franz…story written by Grant Woodhams from Speedway Sedan Digest

Gympie based Modified Sedan driver Brett Baxter drove to one of the best wins of his career at Archerfield Speedway on Saturday January 16th when he led home a stellar field of Queensland and Northern NSW Modifieds to win the Exide Batteries 1000.
Qualifying on pole for the 30 Lap Feature, Baxter had first to contend with the pressure of the in form Aidan Raymont and then the rim riding exploits of Qld 1 Shane MacDonald before he drove away to win by the length of the straight.

Baxter was the top qualifier after each driver had three heats. Over thirty drivers contested the three heats that were won by Baxter (2), Shane McDonald (2), Geoff Hayes, Gavin Lorensen, Aidan Raymont, Steve Price, Greg Worling, Nathan MacDonald, Rodney Pammenter and Glen Pagel.

The heats were generally without incident except for the 8th heat which saw Rodney Pammenter roll the CR8 car. Pammenter was o.k. and the car received only minor damage.

The B Main for qualifiers seventeen to thirty saw only eight cars front the starter and the race was won by Lismore’s (NSW) Greg Worling from Gympie’s Steve Cook, driving his converted Super Street car, followed by the Lismore pair of Quinton Clark and Steve Downes.

Twenty cars were set for the 30 Lap Exide Batteries 1000 but before the green flag flew, Mark Raymont was on the infield with a car that failed to start.

At the start Baxter and Aidan Raymont were engaged in a brilliant battle for the lead with Baxter on the inside and Raymont running high and for several laps looking to go around the outside of Baxter. However Baxter, a reasonably recent convert to the Modified world was not fazed by the attention of one of Australia’s best.

Raymont dropped off the pace, as the race was run at a hectic speed, and Shane MacDonald stepped up to the mark, and worked the highline beautifully to close in on Baxter. By mid race he looked to have the car and momentum to make the move, however a broken tail shaft put paid to his hopes and he drove to the infield.

Baxter had moved away from the pack as the race entered its final stages. Glen Pagel was strong in second, Raymont still hanging on in third, Nathan MacDonald who had started out of ten was up to fourth.

Rodney Pammenter who had rolled in heat eight was on the move and out of position thirteen was looking to finish on the podium. In the final stages of the race he passed both MacDonald and Raymont to grab third.

For Baxter it was a well deserved win and he has become in a short period of time one of the hottest prospects in Queensland Modified Sedan racing.
The race was a great advertisement for Modified Sedans and its hoped that the Archerfield Promotion will look to run this division again in the near future.

Modified Production Exide Batteries 1000 – Starting Order:
Brett Baxter G5, Aidan Raymont G28, Shane MacDonald Q1, Gavin Lorensen G11, Neil Coomber GL11, Glen Pagel G4, Geoff Hayes L12, Royce Ernst CR14, Mark Raymont G27, Nathan MacDonald CR32, Steve Price SC22, Luke Hollyman C12, Rodney Pammenter CR8, Ashley Barron SB44, Robert Trapp CR23, Jeff Peacock C63, Greg Worling L3, Steve Cook G13, Quinton Clark L81, Steve Downes L6

Placings: Top Five: 1 Brett Baxter G5, 2 Glen Pagel G4, 3 Rodney Pammenter CR8, 4 Aidan Raymont G28, 5 Nathan MacDonald C32