National Modified Sedan Championship Goes to Mark Carlin

21/04/2014…Pam Franz….courtesy of Jason Crowe SSA Media

Mark Carlin has tonight won the Australian Modified Sedan Title, at Albany’s Attwell Park, leading all the way in the 40 lap Main event, before a big holiday crowd, to win his second Australian Title, at the same venue he won his first.

Carlin defeated defending Champion, Aydan Raymont, Kye Blight and Laurie Dowsett.

The event was under constant threat of rain, and the program did lose over an hour, due to a heavy shower earlier in the evening.

The A Main was a brilliant spectacle, with the track in brilliant condition, considering the earlier rain, with Carlin and Raymont starting on the front row of the grid for the 40 lap decider. Greg Worling and Laurie Dowsett started on the second row, while Rodney Pammenter and Clint Noakes would start from row three.

The race was run at a cracking pace, with Carlin taking the lead from the outset, with Raymont, Dowsett, Pammenter, Aidan Trewern and Greg Worling all close behind.

Positions remained unchanged through the first ten laps, with drivers racing two and three wide, with all twenty cars still running. Three laps later, the one and only stoppage occurred with four cars involved in a crash in turn one. The result would be that all four cars would withdraw, with Lindsay McAuley, Glenn Pagel, Ross Bullimore and Peter Gray all suffering an array of damage.

Four laps later, Greg Worling would withdraw while in seventh place, as Brett Barron moved to sixth place.  Meanwhile, Kye Blight had progressed from the back of the field into eighth place.

Carlin had again opened a gap on the remainder of the field, with Raymont still in second place, while the battle for third place had intensified, with Dowsett, Pammenter and Trewern all racing very closely.

Contact between Jason Pearce and Christopher Hayden at the half way mark, saw both cars on the infield coming off turn four, with Pearce losing the bonnett, which folded back over the front of the car, leaving the West Australian no option but to retire from the event.

Carlin caught the lap traffic soon after, and put cars between himself and Raymont, who was still giving great chase. With ten laps remaining, Aidan Trewern moved into third place, passing fellow Albany based driver Laurie Dowset,t who went back to fourth place, while Blight had moved to fifth, passing Rodney Pammenter on the outside.  In sight of the finish with four laps remaining, Trewern started to slow, and a lap later Trewern would retire as the car overheated.  Blight meantime, had already passed Dowsett, and with Trewern out of the race, had remarkably moved to third.

Behind the battle for third, Pammenter and Brett Barron were trading positions for fifth place, with Barron getting the upper hand with two laps remaining.

The lead to Carlin was too great for Raymont to reel in, with Carlin winning his second National Title, both at the Albany venue.  Raymont was gallant in defeat, trying until the very end, while undoubtedly the drive of the night would come from Kye Blight, who initially came from the C Main, a race he won, and after finishing fourth in the B Main, he was able to qualify for the A Main from position twenty.

“The track was awesome, the car was awesome. The track crew did a great job after the rain, thanks to the Albany club, it has been a great event”, said Carlin, who becomes the seventh driver to win the event more than once.

Earlier the C Main was conducted after a lenghty rain delay, with Kye Blight advancing to the B Main along with Sean Theyer, in a race which went the journey without a stoppage.

The B Main was held with light rain falling throughout the majority of the twenty laps.  Steve Beres and Nathan Macdonald were early casualties, as was Sean Theyer, who all completed less than two laps.  Kye Blight stormed from the back of the field to claim fourth, with Matt Noakes taking the win from Ross Bullimore and Peter Gray, who remained in the first three positions, through the twenty lap event.

The final round of qualifying heats saw victories to Laurie Dowsett, Mark Carlin, Glenn Pagel, Chris Hayden and Ross Bullimore.  Bullimore’s victory in the last heat by a mere 0.109 would ensure both Mark Carlin and Raymont would finish the qualifying heats, tied on points.

FINALS – OFFICIAL RESULTS

C Main – 11 Laps: 1. W71 Kye Blight, 2. W11 Sean Theyer, 3. W91 Jeff Steele, 4. W8 Calon Ball, 5. W9 John Purser, 6. V3 David Dolic, 7. W47 Peter Fraser, 8. W46 Jason Batchelor (9 laps), 9. W13 Barry Hall (4), 10. W4 Miranda Ball (4). Time: 3.14.004, Winning Margin: 6.117, Fastest Lap: 17.529 W71 Kye Blight

B Main – 20 Laps: 1. W21 Matt Noakes, 2. Q66 Ross Bullimore, 3. Q78 Peter Gray, 4. W71 Kye Blight, 5. W17 Matt Kata, 6. Q27 Shane Macdonald, 7. W81 Rodney Burr, 8. W19 Neville Bylund, 9. W83 Sam McAuley, 10. Q10 Gavin Lorensen (17 laps), 11. V15 David Smith (15), 12. W74 Allan Mortimer (11), 13. Q93 Jason Beer (7), 14. W18 Adam Houston (7), 15. N36 David Jacobi (7), 16. W11 Sean Theyer (2), 17. Q32 Nathan Macdonald (1), 18. W77 Steve Beres (1). Time: No Time, Winning Margin: 0.455, Fastest Lap: 17.537 W71 Kye Blight

A Main – 40 Laps: 1. W42 Mark Carlin, 2. A1 Aidan Raymont, 3. W71 Kye Blight, 4. W14 Laurie Dowsett, 5. Q49 Brett Barron, 6. Q28 Rodney Pammenter, 7. W23 Clint Noakes, 8. Q37 Todd Doyle, 9. W57 Mick Hamon (39 laps), 10. V72 Martin Hawson (39 laps), 11. V25 Christopher Hayden (39 laps), 12. V69 Daniel Drewitt (38 laps), 13. W12 Aydan Trwern (37 laps), 14. W21 Matt Noakes (30 laps), 15. W22 Jason Pearce (20 laps), 16. N33 Greg Worling (17 laps), 17. W29 Lindsay McAuley (13 laps), 18. Q44 Glenn Pagel (13 laps), 19. Q66 Ross Bullimore (13 laps), 20. Q78 Peter Gray (13 laps). Time: No Time, Winning Margin: 1.733, Fastest Lap: 16.645 V42 Mark Carlin