THERE was plenty of action throughout last Saturday night’s NSW V8 Dirt Modified Title at Hessions Auto Parts Grafton Speedway, and it was current and four-time Australian Champion Mark Robinson who picked up the victory.
Despite Robinson impressively leading the entire NSW Title deciding feature race, there was lots of action going on behind throughout the 30-lap journey, which included numerous caution periods and five-time Australian Champion Kevin Britten, who was the defending NSW Champion, charging towards the front after he had started from the middle of the field.
Robinson at the fall of the chequered flag scored a solid victory, which was the second NSW Title victory of his career, and it also continued his impressive 2022-23 season campaign, where he now has three wins from four starts.
In what was one of his career-best performances, Andrew Firth stood tall for the locals after he had qualified on pole position for the NSW Title decider. He then went on to run consistently throughout the feature race and was rewarded with a second-place finish.
Defending NSW Title holder Kevin Britten, who was shooting for four NSW Title wins in a row at the 440-metre Grafton Speedway track, had a tough run throughout the qualifying events and therefore started the feature race from position 11. In the feature race, he worked his way through the pack and at the fall of the chequered flag came home in third.
Finishing just off the podium in fourth after starting from position 12 was another of the local favourites in Joshua Rose, who finished ahead of Phil Roberts (Qld), local Brayd Stephenson, Brock Gardiner, local Luke Dunn, Blake Eveleigh and the unlucky Seiton Connor-Young in 10th. The latter had been running impressively up the front of the field throughout the feature race and sat in second prior to suffering a flat right-rear tyre in the closing laps and consequently dropped down the order.
2009 NSW Champion Phil McNamara started from the back of the field out of position 20 and went on to finish in 11th ahead of Brock Armstrong (the highest placed of the Sportsman category competitors), Kyle Armstrong and Shane Laurie.
Joining Connor-Young in the hard-luck stories was another one of the pre-race favourites in Mitchell Randall, who had started alongside Connor-Young on the second row of the feature race, 2001 Australian Champion Scott Cannon, Chris Corbett and local youngster Taylah Firth who had incidents that brought their runs to a premature end.
The latest Northern River Rumble Series round for RSA Street Stockers was fought out on Saturday night, and it resulted in the feature-race win taken out by Jakob Lesha who drove strongly to defeat Adam Grill and Greg Dickinson to the chequered flag.
In the support class action, the feature-race wins were shared between Jeremy Wade (RSA Four Cylinder Sedans), Geoff Hayes (Production Sedans), Callum Beerling (Modlites), Tyler Burnham (RSA Junior Sedans) and Lawson Clarke (SSA Junior Sedans).
The next event on the season calendar for Grafton Speedway is going to be held on the Saturday night of February 11. Headlining the action will be the NSW Title for RSA Street Stockers, and the return of the V8 thundering Late Models, along with AMCA Nationals, RSA Four Cylinder Sedans and Junior Sedans as support classes.
Grafton Speedway would like to thank Hessions Auto Parts for their 2022-23 season support. Based in Grafton, along with their nearby Coffs Harbour location, Hessions Auto Parts stock a wide range of parts and accessories at competitive prices. To find out more about Hessions Auto Parts, contact them on 0266 423 085 (Grafton) and 0256 456 361 (Coffs Harbour) or visit their website at hessionsautoparts.com.au.
For more information, contact Grafton Speedway promoter Mick Corbett on 0427 310 009. You can also visit their website at graftonspeedway.com.au or LIKE them on Facebook by searching Grafton Speedway.
Photo: Butcher Photography
