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Sam 'Putty' Putland almost cleansweeps the Mildura double header weekend. For the Mallee Shield, Sam won 2 of the 3 heat races and then went on to win the feature, therefore making the Mallee Shield HIS event. Following on from the Mallee Shield was the Challenge Series Rd 4 and Sam won the only 2 races run in that event. 6 starts, 5 wins!
In what was a trying weekend for the Mildura club and the Lightning Sprint organisers, the Lighting Sprint racing was called short due to lack of available cars!
Saturday's Mallee Shield night was rained out so the club decided to run both events on Sunday starting with the Mallee Shield on Sunday afternoon then followed by the series round Sunday Night. While there was a reasonable field of cars nominated for the 2 events, by the time we got there, we had only 7 cars on track!
Only 1 Victorian driver showed up for thier 'own' event being Phil Marturano from Melton. An equal lack of SA cars was a poor effort for our class and our series!
Mark Johnson who had nominated only for the series round was there in time to run the feature race for the Mallee Shield and promptly drove into 4th place.
The 'shield' racing went off pretty much without a problem, Sam winning the first heat followed by Quinny in 2nd and Kate coming home 3rd. Kate took the second heat after a stellar drive to hold off Quinny who ran 2nd then Sam 3rd. The third heat was Sam's again followed by Quinny again then Kate. Michael Buxallen ran 4th in all heat races while Phil who was starting ROF (in only his second meeting in a Lightning Sprint) and Bart shared problems and rounded out the results. The 'shield' saw Sam off 1, Quinny off 2, Kate off 3, Buxy off 4, Phil off 5, Bart off 6 and Mark rounding out the field. The result was predictably Sam, Quinny and Kate with Mark moving up to 4th, Bart now having the car going properly up to 5th and Buxy in 6th. Phil was unable to take part due to brake line problems.
The Series Rd 4 was an entirely different matter!
With rain threatening, high winds and dust blowing, our cars were sent out for heat 1. Just 5 laps in to a (shortened) 8 lap race, rain hit the track and cars hit the wall! Kate hit first then Mark went in as well, both cars going over, Kates back onto the wheels, Marks staying wrong way up in the fence. Really, the Chief Steward should have thrown the yellows the moment he saw rain drops on the track. This race was later declared at lap 5 with Sam taking the win, followed by Quinny then Mark, Kate, Buxy and Phil.
Marks car, with a broken diff housing, was unable to re-join the nights proceedings while the Wiese team with help from other teams got Kates car ready again. We were then sent out to finish the track prep after the streeties had spent about an hour on it then one of our competitors chose to pack up and not risk machinery on a pretty ordinary track.
Once a round of street stocks had been run, the track was coming in nicely, quite hooky and fast. With now only 4 cars on track due to Buxy not being able to start becuase of a failed battery, the racing was still pretty damn good until Quinny rode Sams back wheel during a passing attempt and rolled! This heat was again won by Sam, followed by Kate then Phil.
Due to there now only being 3 cars available to race, the Club and organisers decided to not run the dash or feature as it was pretty pointless! Series prizes and points were awarded on the 2 heats only.
So, the series rd 4 was won by Sam, Kate in second, Phil Marturano was thrilled to score 3rd, Quinny made 4th, Mark Johnson scored 5th and Buxy 6th.
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