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02/01/10 - Renamrk Speedway
“HURRICANE Hits RENMARK, BUT LIGHTNING STRIKES BACK”
The South Australian Lightning Sprint Title held on the 2nd of January was won by Brendon Quinn in a nail biting finish to the 25 lap main event held at the Renmark venue. Quinn had dominated the race until the last lap when defending champ Nick Hall made an unsuccessful late charge for the lead which had the crowd on their feet as the local boy charged to the finish line for his first feature win of his Lightning Sprint career.
Heat 1
The first heat started out in spectacular fashion when Chris James and Ryan McKenna both finished the night in separate first corner accidents. Chad Allman was another casualty when he lost steering, breaking a front end when he hit the wall. The race win went to defending champ Nick Hall with 2nd place going to Kate Wiese, Brendon Quinn was 3rd and Sam Putland in 4th place.
Heat 2
Ben Hall opened up a sizable lead in the early stages then with a couple of laps on the board Brendon Quinn and Nick Hall were on the move. Sam Putland was showing good speed but he had Daryl Knuckey in chase, at the chequered flag it would be Quinn in 1st place with Nick Hall 2nd. Daryl Knuckey would claim 3rd place after Sam Putland would be moved back 2 positions. Ben Hall picked up 4th place scoring much needed point after cutting down a tire in heat 1.
Heat 3
Brendon Quinn made it clear in heat 3 that he was going to be one of the favourites for the title when he ran away with the win. Sam Putland was another driver looking dangerously fast when he place 2nd in the final heat. Current champ Nick Hall gave chase earning a 3rd place finish, gaining valuable points for the feature race starting positions.
Feature
The front row was filled by Brendon Quinn on pole and Nick Hall out of position 2. When the green flag fell it would see Quinn take control of the race with Nick Hall settling in behind. Sam Putland had his hands full with Daryl Knuckey while Kate Wiese and Ben Hall were having a battle of there own for 5th and 6th and further back in the back there was plenty of racing going on with Sam Chapman, Lee Payne and Michael Buxallen. Nick Hall was making ground on Quinn as they were dealing with lapped traffic and coming down to the closing laps it looked like Hall may have had a chance to win the race as Quinn was held up by back markers. Soon after clearing this traffic the white flag was shown and Hall started the last lap with an aggressive pass on Quinn that saw both cars locked together before parting. Quinn would resume the lead going on to claim his first State Title victory, leaving Hall to deal with Sam Putland who was breathing down the neck of the defending state champ. Sam Putland crossed the line for well earned 2nd place finish ahead of Nick Hall 3rd and Daryl Knuckey having a lonely race for 4th while Kate Wiese rounded out the 5.
Grizzle
Well it was disappointing to see the track conditions we had to deal with in heat one it was a contributing factor to the damage done to race cars, the track served up was bone dry and this is a very slick race track to start with let alone being poorly prepared for a State Title. Not only that but the track camber rolls off in turn 1-2 which once you get over that middle part of the track, your sucked into the fence with not much chance of coming out unscathed.
The after race tension could have been avoided if cooler heads had prevailed, as race drivers are responsible for there teams behaviour it’s up to drivers and crew to sort things out through the correct channels.
Gossip
Seems the thing that matters most right now is getting to Dubbo. Our class is well represented with 9 cars including past and present champs going over. Whatever the outcome of this first National Title, it will become a benchmark for Lightning Sprints in general and the V6 specification. I hear a rumour that SA might be putting up thier hands to run the second National Title. How good would it be to have 50 odd Lightning Sprints racing at one of our tracks!!!
Well that’s a wrap for this Trak Yak
CAM GRIND | 
TY2-3