Lincoln On Top After Night One

Lincoln is undefeated after three races, even though he finished second in the opening heat.  The lead two drivers were relegated, elevating Lincoln to the win, after contact cuaght the eye of the officials between original race winner, Nick Cockerill and Mark Kinnear.  Cockerills relegation, elevated Lincoln, with Kinnear moved to second.

Dion Bellman would win the second heat after starting from position five. The drive of the race, and possibly of the night, came from West Australian Alec Melvin, who started from position twelve.  Melvin charged down Bellman in the concluding stages with Peter Doukas of Victoria finishing third, who had to hold of strong challenges from Queensland driver Robert Hawkings (51) and James Kennedy (75) as shown right.

Brody Thomsen won an exciting third heat, and claimed the first heat win by a Queensland driver.  Thomsen drove well to defeat Victorian Kye Walters and Josh Buckingham in what turned out to be one of the quickest races in total time of the night.

A confusing finish to heat four saw the chequered flag appear a lap early.  Will Muir, Josh Smith and Hayden Purnell who started in the first three positions on the grid, would finish in that order.

Jai Dillon of Western Australia would win heat five with a great drive.  Dillon, took the lead early and drove clear of the field, before winning by 1.357 over 2011 Victorian Champion, Chris Bellman, while Johnny Terriaca who started from positon ten would finish third.

In a convincing performance, Tim Smith would win heat six by more than four second after starting on the front row.  Smith would be too good for South Australian Jesse Arthur and Josh Fraser.

Heat seven would see Murray Parsons scheduled to start from pole position.  The car broke down on the warm up lap, forcing Parsons to watch without starting the race.  Corey Lincoln was untroubled in taking the win from Dion Bellman and Nick Cockerill in an all Victorian finish.

Lachlan Reeves was another to win from the front row.  Driving his Charade, sixteen year old Reeves from Avalon in Victoria held off the challenge of Jordan Ferguson, who started behind the winner on the grid, while Brody Thomsen claimed the minor placing.

Josh Buckingham was impressive in heat nine, accounting for Will Muir in an exciting finish.  Muir drove on the outside of Buckingham for several laps, before Buckingham prevailed, while Josh Smith finished a distant third.

Michael McDonalds win in heat ten was not the biggest margin, but it certainly was emphatic.  McDonald downed Andrew Maxwell of South Australia by 3.463, but the margin to thid was 12.671.  Donald Young would take third place after a great battle with Jaidyn Ruhs.

Heat eleven would see Brooke Buckingham emulate his brother from two races previous.  Buckingham who started on pole lead throughout, but it was the mid pack battle between Jack Alfirevich, Johnny Terriaca, Alec Melvin, Sam Roza and Mark Kinnear which caught the eye of everyone, with the drivers swapping positions throughout.  Terriaca would claim second while Kinnear finished third.

Peter Doukas was another to win from the front row, with an easy win over Michael Learoyd and James Kennedy.   Both Learoyd and Kennedy of Queensland, had an excellent race for the minor placings, with Learoyd getting the great minor placing.

Heat thirteen was not unlucky for Corey Lincoln (left) who won again, this time from position seven.  Alec Melvin led for the great portion of the race, before a small mistake allowed Lincoln to take the lead, and win well.  Melvin would finish second while Johnny Terriaca would take third place.

Heat fourteen had Jack, Josh, Jordan, James and Jamie all engaged with Jayden Peacock, coming out the winner.  Peacock started from the front row, defating the fast finishing Josh Fraser and Kye Walters

Nick Cockerill made up for his opening heat relegation, by winning heat fifteen.  Starting from positon two, Cockerill comfortably downed Michael Learoyd and Josh Smith who had a great battle with Lachlan Reeves, Chris Bellman and Lawson Mayes.  Learoyd and Smith would narrowly hold off the challenge to claim second and third respectively.

Position seven would be sufficient for Peter Doukas to claim maximum points in heat sixteen.  Doukas drove a great race, passing Sam Roza and Brendan Learoyd on his way to victory.

The penultimate heat would see Josh Buckingham successful again.  Buckingham would win from position six, passing early leader Jordan Daniel in the process.  Daniel and thid place getter Brody Thomsen had a very narrow margin separating  the pair at the end of eight laps.  Jordan Daniel would get second place, by a mere 0.001.

Patrick Brennan would win the final heat of the night after surviving a great battle with Hayden Purnell. Mark Kinnear finished a consistent night with third place. 

Official Points after three rounds 

Grand Parade at Arunga Park with sunset as the backdrop.

*Photos courtesy of Jody Shanhun