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Pascoe Takes Toowoomba
SSA Media Release
Queensland champion Matt Pascoe continued his impressive start
to the 2011/2012 season with an all-the-way win in round two of
the Hotondo Homes (Rockhampton) Super Sedan Championship Series
at Toowoomba’s Charlton Raceway on Saturday night (November 5).
Starting from the outside front row, Pascoe led throughout the
30-lap feature race despite the best efforts of top qualifier
Wayne Randall, who narrowed the gap in the closing stages but
ultimately had to settle for second spot. Darren Kane finished
in third spot ahead of Dave Gartner and Mark Pagel.
Pascoe’s victory is his third feature race success of the season
following his win in the opening round of the championship in
Rockhampton last month and a Dirt Modified feature race win in
Brisbane last weekend. He now possesses a 110-point lead in the
championship standings.
Randall was the standout performer in qualifying, combining
experience, guile and good fortune to emerge with three heat
wins. The opening heat of the night however saw Kane finish
ahead of Pagel and Dale Christensen.
Heat two saw Dempsie Pails look a certain victor with a lap
remaining until he succumbed to pressure from Randall in the
final turn and found himself relegated in the sprint to the
chequer. Gartner finished third on this occasion.
Randall’s second win was a straightforward affair, leading
throughout heat three to defeat Ian Brims and Kane. Pails ended
his night early when he climbed back straight wall in the
opening lap scramble.
Heat four saw Pascoe outpace Gartner and Sean Black, while heat
five again saw Pascoe at the forefront, downing Tania Smith and
Steve Jordan on this occasion.
The final heat ended in somewhat bizarre circumstances with
Colin Hockley and Ian Brims engaging in some tit-for-tat contact
at the front of the field that achieved little other than
enabling Randall to again pounce in the final corner to snatch
an unlikely win. With Brims and Hockley relegated to the rear,
Pagel and WA’s Rob Bawdon filled the minor placings.
The opening laps of the Roma Windscreens-sponsored feature event
were interrupted on a couple of occasions before the race
settled into a groove with Pascoe leading Randall and Kane. On
a slick track surface that afforded few passing opportunities,
the order at the front remained unchanged for the most part,
with Pagel next in line ahead of Gartner and Smith, who was
making her return to competition after an 18-month layoff.
Having stepped in to replace an injured Adam Bradford midway
through the night, Jordan was making some progress from the back
of the field until he found himself wedged against the back
straight wall in the path of oncoming traffic. In the midst of
being lapped by the leaders, Christensen arrived on the scene
and the subsequent collision put both cars on the infield with 9
laps remaining. From the restart, Randall upped the ante in his
pursuit of Pascoe and edged alongside on one occasion but was
unable to make the pass stick. Kane enjoyed an untroubled run
into third, while Gartner moved ahead of Pagel to annexe fourth
place. Smith was solid in sixth, with Shayne Lau and Sean Black
completing the finishers. Bawdon, Hockley and Brims joined
Jordan and Christensen on the infield.
2011/2012 Hotondo
Homes (Rockhampton) Super Sedan Championship Series progressive
pointscore:
Matt Pascoe 635, Ian
Brims 525, Dempsie Pails 385, Jason Campbell 326, Colin Moss
323, Andrew Roberts 323, Wayne Randall 300, Darren Hawkings 287,
Lee Wilson 287, Matt Williams 284
The 2011/2012 Hotondo Homes (Rockhampton) Super Sedan
Championship Series is proudly supported by:
Hotondo Homes
Think Money
Old Man’s Garage
Roma Windscreens
Shock Doctor |
