Kane Wins Again but Pascoe Still Leads
01/02/2014…Pam Franz….courtesy of NSSS/SSA Media Release
Darren Kane and Matt Pascoe continued their battle for the 2013/2014 National Super Sedan Series at Mildura’s Timmis Speedway on Friday night (January 31) with the Queensland duo again filling the first two spots in the 35-lap feature race. Kane collected his second consecutive round win, leading all the way from pole position to again relegate Pascoe to the runner-up position. However, it is the latter who maintained the championship lead heading into the final round at Murray Bridge .
South Australia’s Dave Gartner finished in third spot ahead of Michael Nicola, Lucas Roberts and Lachlan Onley, who deserved a better result given his willingness to run the outside line. Bill Miller was next best ahead of Mark Pagel, with Ash Bergmeier, Luke Dodding and Tim McAvaney completing the finishers.
On a day of extreme temperatures in excess of 40 degrees, teams faced the additional stresses of keeping cars and drivers cool. Given the heat of the day, the track held up remarkably well through the night, understandably slickening somewhat for the feature race.
Kane topped qualifying with two heat wins, the second of which came when he slipped underneath Miller with just a couple of laps to run. Other heat winners were Pascoe, Nicola, Gartner and Onley, while Miller, Latham and Tony Barklimore finished inside the top five in each of their outings. Roberts was also strong, collecting two runner-up results to qualify sixth despite failing to go the distance in his second heat due to an overheating engine.
In the opening laps of the feature, Kane set a cracking pace, leaving Pascoe to deal with the challenge of Gartner, Nicola and Roberts. However, a mid-race restart enabled Pascoe to close the gap and, from this point, the two leaders remained in very close company through to the end. Whilst Pascoe certainly got close – very close at times – he never got quite close enough to execute a pass. Gartner drifted back and found his position under serious threat from Nicola, Roberts and Steve Latham, whose efforts came to a grinding halt with a broken tailshaft.
Mark Pagel secured the Supercharge Hard Charger in advancing from 12th to finish eighth behind Miller, while Bergmeier, Dodding and McAvaney finished a lap in arrears. After making a long haul Gary Pagel and Tony Barklimore were early casualties, with Kaleb Perrett also finishing on the infield.
2013/2014 National Super Sedan Series progressive pointscore: Matt Pascoe 2660, Darren Kane 2515, Michael Nicola 2438, Dave Gartner 2142, Mark Pagel 2004, Michael Doblo 1875, Lachlan Onley 1829, Steve Latham 1790, Pater Nicola 1786, Bill Miller 1665, Tony Barklimore 1588, Jason Campbell 1190, Jack Childs 992, Lucas Roberts 910, Gary Pagel 658
The 2013/2014 National Super Sedan Series is proudly supported by:
Speedway Australia
Speedway Sedans Australia
American Racer
Oval Express
Super Charge Batteries
JD Couriers
Hoosier Tyres
Queensland Saloon Car Association
SPEED