Nick Hall powered his way to victory at this years Sprint Freight & Logistics Lightning Sprints River Ramble, with three nights of racing at three different tracks. Hall would claim one feature and place second in the other two nights competition to win overall against the toughest field assembled. With competitors coming from Tasmania, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia, they provided the best racing seen in the southern part of Australia this season. 

TIMMIS SPEEDWAY - MILDURA
NIGHT 1

Heat 1

Nick Hall’s night started in good form with a win in heat1, crossing the line ahead of 5s Brendan Quinn making a return to racing finishing 2nd ahead of a hard charging 18s Daryl Knuckey 3rd.

Heat 2

Nick Hall returned in his SA1 Warner Forklift Gambler to win heat 2 from hard charger 72v Mark Sheen driving his Razor Litre Sprint into 2nd with the 8Q of Scott Doye finishing 3rd aboard his JSR Litre Sprint.

Heat 3

Scott Doyle 8Q smashed the field in heat 3 and showed everyone just how fast his team was. Sam Putland 17s finished 2nd from a fast finishing Graham Knuckey 78s.

DASH

Sam Putland 17s hit his straps taking the dash win ahead of 5s Brendan Quinn 2nd with SA1 Nick Hall secured 3rd place ahead of 8Q Scott Doyle in 4th.

A-MAIN

With Sam Putland and Brendan Quinn then Nick Hall and Scott Doyle off the two front rows it was going to be a 25 lap marathon race. They didn’t disappoint either with Sam Putland getting the upper hand early in the race only to fade back to finish 5th. Neil Toye 10s started outside the top 10 to finish in 4th place behind 78s of Graham Knuckey charging hard to claim 3rd place. Brendan Quinn 5s put in a solid drive to finish 2nd within striking distance in the closing stages when lap traffic came in to play. Nick Hall looked comfortable all night, started out of three and went on to claim the feature win in front of an enthusiastic crowd.

 RIVERLAND SPEEDWAY - RENMARK
NIGHT 2

Heat 1

Sam Putland 17s scored first blood for the night taking the win ahead of Graham Knuckey 78s making moves early to secure 2nd place, with local throttle stomper Brendan Quinn 5s home in 3rd.

Heat 2

 Quietly spoken Daryl Knuckey 18s claimed heat 2 win in front of Mark Sheen 72v in good form picked up 2nd place with Sam Putland having another solid finish in 3rd.

Heat 3

Nick Hall did a world of good for his points haul, winning heat 3 ahead of Scott Doyle 8Q holding on to 2nd position with Graham Knuckey finishing 3rd collecting valuable points.

DASH

After a couple of attempts to start the dash the win went to SA1 Nick Hall with Graham Knuckey 2nd, while the battle for 3rd would see 17s Sam Putland claim the position ahead of 18s Daryl Knuckey.

A-MAIN

After some track preparations it was in great shape for the feature with Nick Hall and Graham Knuckey then Sam Putland and Daryl Knuckey off the two front rows the scene was set for a cracker 25 lap feature. Nick Hall grabbed the early lead with Graham Knuckey in toe. Daryl Knuckey would start well but fade back ending up locking horns with Mark Sheen and coming out second best with a DNF and a tweak in his chassis. Brendan Quinn 5s move forward to finish 5th behind 8Q Scott Doyle who chased hard only to finish just off the podium in 4th. Sam Putland would continue his form finishing well in 3rd position while the battle up front saw Graham Knuckey make a rare pass on Nick Hall who held on for 2nd so line honours went to Graham Knuckey. A packed house at Renmark Speedway were witnessed the best racing from the class this year.    

SUNLINE SPEEDWAY - WAKERIE
NIGHT 3

Heat 1

Starting from the front row Brendan Quinn 5s took full advantage to claim heat 1. The gentle giant Graham Knuckey 78s drove his way into the second place ahead of 8Q Scott Doyle finishing 3rd.

Heat 2

Scott Doyle 8Q was now stating his case of being a contender for the overall River ramble title, as he raced his way to win from SA1 Nick Hall in second and Mildura Mad Man v20 Scott Bobstchinski finished well in 3rd. Scott Doyle set a new 12 lap record on his way to this win.

Heat 3

Sam Putland did a world of good for his points haul, winning heat 3 ahead of Graham Knuckey 78s also scoring well in 2nd. Nick Hall drove a good race to finish in 3rd place.

DASH

On the first start there was contact in turn 1 putting Graham Knuckey out the dash. Race back underway but not for long before 8Q Scott Doyle was on the top side of the track ( had to check up from running into Sam Putland) when he got all crossed up and left Brendan Quinn no where to go crashing into the Queenslander damaging his exhaust putting him out for the night. Finishing order, winner Sam Putland beating home Brendan Quinn in second.

 A-MAIN

Sam Putland lined up against fellow South Aussie Brendan Quinn on the front row with Quinn getting to turn 1 first and made a break on the pack till a few laps in SA1 Nick Hall spun, bringing out the caution lights and sending him to the back on the restart. Back under green light conditions, while Nick Hall had his work cut out for him. Brenda Quinn lead the field back to racing, he was having trouble testing the boundaries of gravity allowing Sam Putland to take over the lead and Graham Knuckey would also squeeze past Quinn for second place. Scott Bobstchinski not having much luck bought out the caution lights when his car came to a rest on the front straight. Sam Putland lead the field back to green with Graham Knuckey challenging for position when a right rear broke so had the car bouncing like a pogo stick then several laps later his car eventually bit the dust and rolled in turn 1. Tasmanian Bruce Pitt started the weekend in his own car but when an engine let go, he was offered a drive in the 19s car of Richard Clavell. Bruce finished a creditable 5th place behind Brendan Quinn 5s bringing the car home safe in 4th. Daryl Knuckey manage to fix his damage from the night before to finish 3rd and the drive of the night after earlier spinning goes to Nick Hall with a great display of skill managed to finish second, After starting on the pole Sam Putland would greet the chequered flag 25 laps later in 1st place fighting off all challenges. Taking a victory lap taking and doing a wing dance, the emotion was hard to hide.

OVERALL WINNERS

1st.

Nick Hall SA1 continued his fantastic season of racing by winning the River Ramble Series sponsored by Sprint Freight & Logistics. Nick was hot favourite to win and he did not disappoint with 3 nights of great driving from the South Aussie throttle stomper congratulations must go to him and his team for a great week end and great season of racing.

 2nd.

Sam Putland 17s scored points well over the weekend to secure second overall. Sam was coming off his first feature win in the Des James Memorial at Truckworks Speedway City weeks earlier. A solid end to his season has given him confidence for his next season’s competition.

 3rd.

Brendan Quinn 5s had a good week end, having a break from racing early this season and returned to driving the 5s Winning Wings house car. Brendan’s first drive in the car at Timmis Speedway Mildura he finished 2nd to Nick Hall, with a solid 5th place at Renmark and 4th on the final night scored enough points to finish the week end 3rd overall.

 4th.

Graham Knuckey 78s having the same week end as his season has been, while he experienced hi’s and low’s the team was able to finish well at Mildura with a 3rd place. A feature win at Renmark put him in good stead for the final night. While running in second place at Waikerie his suspension let go making the car bounce into a flip with a perfect dismount. Although out for the night he scored enough points to finish 4th overall.

TOP 10 OVERALL POINTS

1st - SA1 Nick Hall

2nd - 17s Sam Putland

3rd - 5s Brendan Quinn

4th - 78s Graham Knuckey

5th - 8Q Scott Doyle

6th - 18s Daryl Knuckey

7th - 72v Mark Sheen

8th - 12s Chris James

9th - 19s Michael Buxallen

10th - 20v Scott Bobstchinski

 Full race results and pointscore HERE

THE WEEKEND

The Easter weekend was full of great racing and it started from night 1 heat 1.  The action provided by the mix of car packages was awesome and a much needed exercise to improve the situation of amalgamating the classes in the future. Tasmanian Bruce Pitt in his Mini Sprint was fast until engine problems struck, Queenslander Scott Doyle was super fast in his Litre Sprint passing competitors round the outside provided great action for race fans and a hand full to catch once he got pass. The Victorian contingence headed by Scott Bobstchinski in his V6 Sprint, joined by Mark Sheens Litre Sprint, Paul Crouch in his 4AGE and Jamie Heyen in his V6 Sprint were all providing great competition on home soil and also across the border. The SA bunch led by Nick Hall, the Knuckey’s, Sam Putland and Brendan Quinn were certainly there in numbers and controlled much of the racing over the weekend. All in all a great weekend of racing.     

The BBQ’s at the end of every nights racing with the presentation were excellent & provided an opportunity for drivers, crews, friends and families to mingle. Also the lunch prepared by Lee Payne and his crew chief Brian was a great social meeting where drivers and crews not only had the chance to converse & get to know each other, but also engaged in a kick of the football to burn off all the bacon, sausages and eggs.

 A Special Thanks must go to Lee Payne, Brian Ramsey, Mary Henry, Ashley Warner & Paris Charles for all their help in making the whole weekend run smooth and enjoyable.

Thanks must also go to all the sponsors:

Sprint Freight & Logistics,
Complete Laser Alignment, Pro-Tuff Products, Ledtronix &  Baa Moo Oink butchers

Well this is another wrap from