Wins were earned by Damien Miller in sports sedans, Gary Evans in standard saloons, James Oliver in top star juniors (up to 1500cc), Will Fallon in new star juniors (developing drivers up to 1500cc), Dylan Barrow in junior sedans and Arthur Hutchinson in 1200cc junior sedans.
With summer upon us, the Alexandra and District Speedway Club will be dormant until February 26 to avoid the heat in the open valley, so club members were more than keen to get this race meeting run and won.
Sports sedan action was fierce, especially in anticipation of the upcoming state title at Alexandra and Alexandra’s top sports sedan drivers qualified strongly for the 12-lap final.
Pakenham’s Damien Miller led the feature event through lap one with Josh Service from Lilydale, Brendan Miller, current Victorian champion Lee Beach and former two-times state champion Jamie Paull following him the first back across the start and finish line. Beach and Paull both went no further than lap one, though, and Luke Fallon elevated himself into the chase, before he and David Donegan became the next two big guns to find themselves out of the race.
In the finish, Damien Miller defeated Service, his brother Brendan Miller, Steve Kershaw, and Robert Paterson.
Gary Evans, who holds three of Alexandra’s standard saloon track records, won two of the three qualifiers in his Commodore station wagon. In the final, Evans assumed control of the race and claimed victory ahead of Kacey Ingram, Matt Davis, Daryl Joosten and Jaimi Barber.
Dylan Barrow had a clean sweep of the junior sedans, winning three qualifying races before taking the feature race win by a large margin and about a second per lap quicker than his competitors. Rhys Meakins finished comfortably in second place from Jayden Bryant, Harry Cecil and River Paterson.
Arthur Hutchinson won the 1200cc junior sedan class after his close friend Riley Taylor won the first heat of the night. Hutchinson then won the next two heats and went on to win the feature event, leading every lap. Braiden Webster finished second a long way back in a close battle with third-placed Will Fallon. Taylor finished fourth with Jack Kershaw rounding out the top five with just over a second separating second to fifth.
Alexandra junior racer Will Fallon had a great run in the new stars, winning two of three heats and then the final by 13 seconds. Xander Baxter finished second and Allie Erickson was third ahead of Jasmine Bryant and Isabella Thornton.
James Oliver was the only racer to win more than one of the qualifiers in the top star juniors. Rhys Meakins, Nathan Miles, Dylan Barrow and Bree Simpson were the others to win.
In the feature event, Oliver led from pole position from Simpson and Meakins. Four laps into the race, Barrow moved into third before Meakins came right back past him again, before passing Simpson. When the chequered flag dropped, Oliver had beaten Meakins, Simpson, River Paterson and Miles.
Alexandra Speedway returns on February 26 when the AMCA Nationals visit for the first time in many seasons and all club classes will be on show.
