It was only a matter of time until Hallett scored a Speedweek A-Main win and Saturday night he delivered, scoring victory over a fast finishing series leader McHugh and Jamie Veal in third.
The GW Racing pilot was facing a 90-point deficit behind McHugh as the series moved to Mount Gambier and so a victory was critical to keep him in the championship hunt.
What he didn’t need though was McHugh to finish right on his bumper in second place.
The current Australian Champion now has a 60-point lead going into the fourth round at Avalon Raceway on December 30 but Hallett feels he can match McHugh’s speed given the opportunity.
Veal rocketed from position 10 in the A-Main (even changing a motor after his heat race) to his eventual third place finish – his second in as many rounds.
Placing fourth in a career best result was Broken Hill’s Brendan Guerin.
After starting on pole (earlier winning the dash) Guerin led early but was relieved of his post by Hallett and then McHugh where he battled with impressive newcomer Jordy Rae for that spot before Rae pulled infield with motor issues after what had been a stunning performance to make it to the Dash and be an early contender for the podium.
Veal began to put Guerin under scrutiny and with Marcus Dumesny coming from 11th along with Grant Anderson (originally starting fourth and initial front row sitter Cam Waters there was quite the battle pack for the top five.
Texan Chase Randall was back to his explosive self in the DKM Motorsport #9 after qualifying strong and finishing second in his heat but a brake issue reared its head in the A-Main and he had to retire early on lap 22.
Joel Heinrich put in a sterling drive coming from second place in the B-Main to run a creditable 11th place in the A-Main.