Defending champion Darren Kane moved to the top of the 2011/2012 Carline Mufflers National Super Sedan Series standings with an emphatic victory in round two of the championship at Toowoomba’s Charlton Raceway last night. After qualifying his Ian Boettcher Race Parts Dominator-Mazda RX8 on pole position, Kane spent the opening five laps behind Tasmania’s David Nichols before setting forth on a path to victory that also saw him secure the QSCA Queensland Cup as the highest pointscorer over the two Queensland rounds.

Nichols faded to finish fourth as two-time series champ Wayne Randall and Australian titleholder Steve Jordan advanced to secure the minor placings.  Trailing Nichols home in fifth was Mark Pagel, who subsequently collected the Queensland Cup trophy as the best performed non-contracted driver over the two nights of competition.

Lucas Roberts bounced back from his opening round misfortunes to finish a solid sixth in advance of Jarrod Harper, Wayne Brims, Sam Hughes and Dave Gartner, with Michael Nicola uncharacteristically subdued in finishing 11th.  Brad Smith rounded out the first dozen, with Ian Brims, Tania Smith and Dave Mackenzie completing the finishers.

The evening got underway with a sombre start to proceedings as drivers, crews and officials gathered trackside in a tribute to Shane Dryden, a passionate Super Sedan fan and friend of the series who was tragically killed travelling home from the opening round.

Qualifying produced some brilliant racing on a two-lane racetrack, with heat wins falling in favour of Kane, Randall, Jordan, Harper, Pagel, Gartner, Roberts, Brad Smith and Steve Latham.  Unfortunately for Latham, a superb qualifying performance that put him on the outside front row was nullified when he crunched the turn four concrete on the opening lap of the feature event.

At the ensuing restart following Latham’s demise, Nichols pounced from the front row opportunity afforded him and led Kane, Randall and Jordan through the opening lap. However, Kane took command on lap 5 and, despite a moment exiting turn four that allowed Nichols to again zero in on the lead, Kane maintained a considerable advantage for most of the 35-lap race.  With a dozen laps remaining, Randall and Jordan (TPC Engines Sweet-Dodge) had loomed large on the rear of Kane, but the gap expanded once again as the laps wound down.

The B Main featured an excellent two-wide scrap between local youngster Sean Black and Sam Hughes (Go Hard Concrete Insane-Chevrolet) that ultimately fell in favour of the latter as Black succumbed to a late-race challenge from Des Korn, whose efforts to get back on track after a spectacular ride along the turn three wall were particularly meritorious. Opening round winner Lachlan Onley struggled throughout the night and only secured his place in the feature with a 4th-place finish in the B Main.

Other non-contracted drivers supporting the series included Rob Bawdon, Shayne Lau and Barry Craft, all of whom were impressive at times in an event that produced some very high standard racing in front of a healthy New Year’s Eve crowd.

South Australia’s Shane Best struggled from the outset after a mishap in hot laps, while Townsville’s Trent Wilson experienced engine problems that may force him to miss round three in Sydney on Wednesday night. However Mark Pagel has confirmed that he will be travelling to Parramatta for the event.

Contingency Awards

Shock Doctor Lucky Sevens: Jarrod Harper

Supercharge Hard Charger: Sam Hughes

Monroe Pole Winner: Darren Kane

Oval Express Best Presented Car and Crew: Darren Kane

American Racer Encouragement Award Draw: Sam Hughes

2011/2012 Carline Mufflers National Super Sedan Series progressive pointscore (top ten): Darren Kane 1332, Steve Jordan 1118, Wayne Randall 1012, Lachlan Onley 1007, Dave Gartner 960, Jarrod Harper 930, Mark Pagel 925, David Nichols 858, Brad Smith 827, Michael Nicola 765

The 2011/2012 Carline Mufflers National Super Sedan Series is proudly supported by:

Carline Mufflers

Speedway Australia

Speedway Sedans Australia

Lukey Performance Products

Supercharge Batteries

Monroe Shock Absorbers

JD Couriers

Ian Boettcher Race Parts

American Tire and Racing Services

Hoosier Tyres

AFCO Shock Doctor

Oval Express Magazine

Elf Racing Australia

Bob Jane T-Mart Modbury

Motel Le Grande (Albany)

Comfort Inn and Suites Robertson Gardens