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Fresh from racing an Aussie Racing Car the week before at Phillip Island, Harvey came home and qualified fastest, before he won the three leadup heats. He then dominated the 20-lap final which was held at the fifth round of the WASCC Racing Championships.
Harvey led every lap and took victory by 9.0s in his Ford Falcon AU. His father Clint was the Saloon Car Series winner in 2004, and Mason is just one of two second generation title winners, now that it is a one-off event. The other was (current Aussie Racing Car series leader) Joel Heinrich who won the Nationals in 2018 after his father Bruce won the series/championship four times.
Second in the 2024 decider was fellow West Australian and Falcon driver Chris Kneafsey who hung with Harvey for several laps. He then became engrossed in a battle for the minors with Jackson Callo and Rob Marcon in their Fords.
Scott Dornan (Holden Commodore VY) and Glenn Crankshaw (AU) were next two ahead of Brock Ralph (Commodore VT). The latter was fifth to the flag behind Callo and Dornan. However post-race penalties elevated Ralph to third. Callo was relegated to fourth for contact on Marcon, and Dornan was hit with a 30s penalty for an incident with Crankshaw at Turn 4 which put the Falcon off onto the grass, and dropped to 12th as a result after it took some time to regain the track.
Marcon crossed the line sixth which became fifth and was classified ahead of a brace of Commodores. Vince Ciallella headed them from Matt Martin, Brock Boley who started 22nd, and Marc Watkins. Tenth was Dan Carrucan (Falcon) ahead of Crankshaw.
Some of the pre-event quicks that didn’t finish included Rick Gill (AU, electrics), second fastest qualifier Garry Hills (VZ), Shawn Jamieson (VY, coil) and Grant Johnson (VT) who had an engine failure before the final.
In the Pro-Am for the older spec Fords and Holdens, Michael Koberstein (Commodore VN) took his second Nationals title after he won in Sydney in 2022. He finish 13th outright 2.6s ahead of Adam Koberstein (Commodore VP) and Travis Sharpe (Falcon EA).
Next year the eighth running of the Saloon Cars Nationals will be at The Bend in South Australia.
