Article by Scott Kernahan
The business end of the season is gearing up as visitors begin their influx into Darwin’s Northline Speedway for the AMCA Darwin Cup doubleheader beginning on Friday 23rd August 2024. Preparations are also well underway for the Chariots of Thunder Series with interstate racers arriving to dial into the clay banked oval track and fine tuning for the series.
Dirt Karts – The normally unflappable Tony Brown experiences a very rare mishap in Heat 1 with a spin whilst leading the field on lap 3 which dropped him to 4th spot. He was however able to make it back into third place whilst Michael Brown took the win ahead of Brad Fichtner. Tony Brown then made amends in Heat 2 to regain the race win ahead of Isaiah Strong and Fichtner in third place. The restoration was complete for Tony Brown in the Feature Race to romp away for yet another Feature win ahead of Strong and Fichtner.
AMCA Nationals – Interstate visitors coming to Darwin for the AMCA Darwin Cup included twice Australian Champion Matt Hardy from Queensland and Shannon Singleton from NSW. It was Hardy in Heat 1 that started from deep in the pack however found his way into the lead in quick time. Erica Glazbrook came into contact with Mathew Barker on the last lap in turn 4 resulting in contact with the wall. Hardy takes out the win ahead of Mark Allcorn and Deegan Sherwood. Hardy and Shannon Singleton battled in Heat 2 until Hardy got through after Singleton drifted high in turn 4 on lap 3 and took off into the distance. Mark Allcorn managed to slip past Singleton on lap 9 to take out second spot with Singleton maintaining third position. The first 5 laps of the 25 lap Feature Race were a beauty between Hardy and Mark Allcorn until Hardy worked his way into the lead. Hardy wasn’t challenged again and went on to take out the race ahead of Allcorn and Shannon Singleton in third place.
Solos – SA’s Sam Martin was back again for another tilt on the Solos to battle with Steven Hutchinson, Brad Niven and Wayne Lorymer for 3 x Heats and a Feature Race. Martin cleared away from the tapes in Heat 1 to leave Hutchinson and Niven to engage in a spirited battle before Niven squeezed past and held onto second place and Hutchinson in third. Mayhem at the start of Heat 2 with the tapes being broken which then resorted to a light starting procedure. At the restart Martin was left slightly behind at the jump. Niven was away smartly but Martin managed to compose himself and ride back into second place leaving Hutchinson in third place. Heat 3 and Martin led from start to finish with Brad Niven laying the bike down in turn 3 leaving Hutchinson to take second place and Wayne Lorymer in third place. Martin then blitzed the field in the Feature Race to win ahead of Niven and Hutchinson home in third. No entertainment from Martin this week following his spirited celebration from last meeting when he dumped the bike on the back straight !
Sprintcars – The interstaters are coming as we welcomed Kaiden Manders from WA to join fellow Sandgropers Trent Pigdon and Aaron Chircop whilst Steven Loader has arrived from
Victoria with more drivers expected over the next couple of weeks. Proceeding began with Hot Laps and it was Jordyn Charge that laid down a quick time of 12.966 followed by Aaron Chircop with a 13.191 and Trent Pigdon dialling in with 13.240. Then Chircop followed this up in Time Trials to lead the field with a best time of 12.416 and Pigdon with a 12.417 and Charge dropped in with a time of 12.418………yep, chuck a blanket over those three you could! Pigdon came flying out of the blocks in Heat 1 after a restart to blitz the field with Chris Harrison a gallant second and Jordyn Charge home in third place. Kale Quinlan appeared to have resolved his gremlins from his last outing to take out Heat 2 with a mighty fine drive to lead home Steven Loader and Kaiden Manders recording third spot. The Feature race loomed to be a beauty with Charge and Pigdon on the front row, but it was Chris Harrison that belted out to an early lead but back in the field it was Quinlan and Loader who came together in turn 3 resulting in Loader tipping over onto his side. Quinlan was out of the race and Loader managed to resume after some hasty repairs on the infield. Harrison held the lead for the first 11 laps until Pigdon forced his way through on Lap 12 to assume the lead. Loader was to retire on lap 6, seemly because of the earlier incident. Meanwhile Jordyn Charge was commencing his assault on the pack having dropped as far back as 6th place on lap 3 and by lap13 had made his way into second spot in his pursuit of Pigdon out front. Kaiden Manders mostly held down 3rd place throughout the race and Chircop rode in 5th place for most of the distance. It all came down to the last 3 laps with Charge closing in on Pigdon at a rapid rate and it wasn’t until the last lap as the two exited turn 2 with Charge taking the lead. Into turn 3 for the last time and encountering lapped traffic it was a case of 3 into 1 was never going to work and there was contact which resulted in Pigdon exiting his spot with contact with the wall in turn 4. Charge through for his third Feature race win in a row whilst Manders now inherited 2nd spot and Chris Harrison relegated to third placing. It was the most exciting last couple of laps seen at Northline for quite some time and bodes well heading into Chariots of Thunder coming soon.
Wingless Sprintcars – The Wingless Sprintcars began their Duel in the North with reigning series winner from last year, Blake Walsh, in ominous form with a string of Feature Race wins down south this past season. Up to 20 cars were nominated to contest night 1 through 2 rounds of split Heats and a Feature Race. Heat 1A saw disaster for Jamie McInnes after a tangle in Turn 1 which resulted in heavy contact with the wall ending his race. Out front Walsh made his way through to the lead on lap 6 whilst William Prest, Cameron Jaenke and Jarrod Goldoni fought out a tense battle. Walsh finished first with Jarrod Goldoni in second and Jaenke in for third place. Matt Sealy took off like a scolded cat in Heat 1B to go flag to flag for the win, whilst behind him Keelan Edwards, Daniel Goldoni and Jason Davis scrapped it out for the minor placings with Edwards picking up one spot to finish second and Daniel Goldoni, coming from 7th to finish in third place. Jamie McInnes returned from his earlier mishap to lead away in Heat 2A with Blake Walsh hot on his heels. This was to be a race long duel over 10 laps for the two flyers in the pack with McInnes holding sway to win ahead of Walsh and Jarrod Goldoni in third. Daniel Goldoni made a clean get away in Heat 2B to go flag to flag and win ahead of Jason Davis and Mathew McLennan who had a spirited battle for the minor placings. Blake Walsh basically owned the 25 lap Feature Race to lead every lap. Behind him all sorts was going on with a host of retirements and pocket battles breaking out all over. Mathew McLennan was first to retire on lap 5 and then Keelan Edwards car “lost steam” and pulled infield on lap 9. Will David spun with 17 laps to go and then again with 7 laps to go so headed infield. Chris Ansell was out on lap 18 and then William Prest was infield as well on lap 20. A great scrap was evolving between Daniel Goldoni and his brother Jarrod and Matt Sealy before D. Goldoni retired on lap 19. Jamie McInnes and Jason Davis made wheel contact exiting turn 2 onto the backstraight on lap 19 and how Davis didn’t flip was a miracle with a high bounce into the air but kept going. Ultimately it was Blake Walsh home for the win with Matt Sealy securing second place and Jarrod Goldoni in third place.
Street Stocks – With all the fanfare of a John Farnham reunion tour, the evergreen Justin Brumfield rose out of retirement to pilot the James Ballantyne #3 car and showed quickly that he has not forgotten how to drive! It was somewhat of a continuance of the Star Wars trilogy that played out last year between he and Jake Koivumaki and it showed in Heat 1 with the two immediately resuming their door to door battles they became accustomed to. Brumfield did however have a close encounter with Jayke Budd on lap 5 with Budd retiring and Brumfield continuing and made up for lost time to finish second to Koivumaki and Kane Lloyd in third place. Heat 2 saw another spirited battle between Brumfield and Koivumaki with a rollie paper being the only distance between them at the end of the race when lapped traffic came into contention. Brumfield with the win whilst Lloyd was again placed third. The Feature Race was another gladiatorial scenario with the Brumfield and Koivumaki at it again until a popped left rear tyre ended the battle for Koivumaki who peeled off onto the infield. Kane Lloyd inherited second spot whilst Megan Henderson enjoyed a well-earned third spot.
Following on from an action-packed Friday night’s racing the gladiators returned on Saturday 24th August to resume battle in the AMCA Darwin Cup and Duel in the North for the Wingless Sprintcars.
Dirt Karts – A very unusual occurrence in the Dirt Karts with runaway points leader Tony Brown suffering a rare DNF in Heat 1 due to a mechanical issue which paved the way for Michael Brown to lead all the way to record victory ahead of Brad Fichtner and Ruel Mitchell. The balance of power was restored in Heat 2 with Tony Brown returning to blitz the field and romp away to win ahead of Fichtner and Michael Brown. Ruel Mitchell and Isaiah Strong were unfortunately nonstarters in the heat. 15 laps was the journey in the Feature Race and Tony Brown was pretty much non challenged in the race and won comfortably ahead of Michael Brown and Brad Fichtner home in third.
AMCA Nationals – Night 2 for the AMCA Darwin Cup and QLD’s Matt Hardy is shaping as hard to beat so far after a clean sweep of Friday Nights racing. Local star Mark Allcorn ran a pretty consistent 2nd place overall to Hardy with a hattrick of 2nd placings for the night. Joining the fray for Saturday night was NSW steerer Tony Blanch. In Heat 1 it was Hardy who came through the field at a rapid rate to score the first win for the night with New South Welshman Shannon Singleton taking 2nd place with Mark Allcorn home in third place. Blanch took the challenge to Hardy in Heat 2 with a spirited battle to take the win ahead of Hardy and Shannon Singleton securing third place. Hardy and Blanch engaged in another mighty duel in the early stages of the 25 lap Feature Race before Hardy took the ascendency to pull away and build a healthy lead. Paul Carmody rotated his machine in turn 1 with 15 laps to go and eventually retired as a result. Hardy went on to record the victory ahead of Blanch with Singleton taking the last podium position in third place.
Solos – SA rider Sam Martin continued his good run of late on the infield track and commenced the night with a great ride in Heat 1 to take the win. Steven Hutchinson was awesome in his ride into second placing with the rapidly improving Brad Niven scoring third place. Martin backed it up in Heat 2 for another win with Niven taking out second place after Hutchinson pulled out of the race with an issue and Wayne Lorymer recording third place. A trifecta of Heat Race wins for Martin in Heat 3 with Niven again in second and Hutchinson in third place. It was Martin again in an all the way win in the Feature Race with Niven home in second and Hutchinson in third place.
Sprintcars – It was a final tune up for the winged wonders in preparation for the next month of high octane Sprintcar action at Northline Speedway. Chris Harrison led the way in Hot Laps dialling in a 12.852 lap to lead home Kaiden Manders (WA) and Trent Pigdon (WA). Then into Time Trials it was Jordyn Charge that lit up the sheets with a fast time of 12.670 ahead of Aaron Chircop (WA) and Manders with third best time. Heat 1 began on a rapidly drying surface
producing dusty conditions however it was Jordyn Charge to lead the way home ahead of Manders and Pigdon in third place. Lachlan Cole was a retiree on lap 6. After a couple of false starts in Heat 2 it was WA’s Trent Pigdon who danced away at the start and led the 10 lap journey to win ahead of Manders and Charge finishing rapidly. Charge was “in charge” for the 25 lap feature race and was never headed for the whole race distance. Kaiden Manders held down 2nd spot for the whole race but was then disqualified for apparently not going to scales after the race. This saw Trent Pidgdon promoted to second spot and Zack Grimshaw elevated into third spot for the Feature race results.
Wingless Sprintcars – Night 2 for the Duel in the North for the Wingless Sprintcars and Victorian Blake Walsh was looming as the man to beat in his pursuit for back-to-back Titles. Walsh led the way in Heat 1A and behind him it was the Goldoni brothers (Jarrod and Daniel) that engaged in a family war! At the same time Cameron Jaenke hunted them both down to sneak into second spot whilst Jarrod came third. Matt Sealy is enjoying some really good form of late and led Heat 1B from start to finish. Jamie McInnes and William Prest then duked it out over the next few laps. Kyle Wiseman then managed his way into third place ahead of McInnes. Will David then spun in turn 1 with 2 laps to go. Sealy with the win ahead of Prest and Wiseman. Blake Walsh came from 3rd place to overhaul the leaders on lap 4 to take the lead and was never headed for the remainder of the race. Daniel Goldoni again showing good late season form to take second spot and Cameron Jaenke in third place. The ever improving William Prest displayed his talent in Heat 2B but did it from behind the leaders. Daniel Dennis led the race for the first 6 laps before being overhauled. A great drive from Dennis however it was Prest who continued on to win ahead of WA’s Jason Davis and Dennis finishing third. Then came the Pole Shuffle to decide starting positions for the feature and first out it was Davis and McInnes, with Davis taking the 2 lap dash. Then came William Prest who also succumbed to Davis. Then Davis’s run came to an end courtesy of Cameron Jaenke. Jaenke also accounted for Daniel Goldoni and then brother Jarrod also fell to Jaenke. Matt Sealy could not lower the flag for Jaenke who was having a great run through the Shuffle. But ultimately Blake Walsh dispatched Jaenke to take the coveted Pole Position for the Feature Race. Once the green flag dropped it was Walsh who disappeared into the distance. Pocket battles broke out behind him in a fast race with only the Goldoni brothers and Keelan Edwards designated as non finishers having pulled infield. Jason Davis followed home in second place and Cameron Jaenke in third position.
Junior Sedans – Junior Sedans were back tonight and are gearing up for their support role at Chariots of Thunder in September. The racing has been outstanding this season. River Spitzbarth was back to his best in Heat 1 in winning the race. Brock Beurskens was first to bring out the yellow flags after a spin in turn 1, followed by Blake Overend and Hannah Tomkins coming together in turn 4 on lap 7 which resulted in Tomkins retiring to the infield. Rhys King had a nasty encounter with the wall in turn 1 and was a little slow in getting out of the car but was ok. River Spitzbarth made his way to the lead in Heat 2 after 3 laps and took off like a scolded cat to leave Harrison Turnbull and Kallen Hall to battle out for the minor placings and finishing in that order. The 15 lap Feature Race was a Spitzbarth benefit whilst behind him all sorts of chaos was playing out amongst the field. Kallen Hall and Harrison Turbull put on a show in their scrap for second place. Then began the procession of retirements with Rhys King, then Hannah Tomkins followed by Blake Overend and Zackery Czoloszynski, Turbull and Hall now joining in the carpark on the infield all retiring from the race. Out front it was River Spitzbarth taking the chequered flag ahead of Brodie Costello and Kade Beurskens home in third place.
Street Stocks – Along with the “retired” Justin Brumfield, the clock was wound back with another returning former star of the division in Simon Spitzbarth who was piloting the NT#31 machine of Kane Lloyd. In Heat 1 it was Jake Koivumaki and Brumfield who resumed their long running duels out front with another door-to-door scramble before Koivumaki held on for the win and Jayke Budd home in third place. Koivumaki made it two from two in Heat 2 in a flag-to-flag run to lead home Brumfield and Spitzbarth in third place. The result was the same in the Feature race with another healthy encounter between Koivumaki and Brumfield before Koivumaki recorded a fine win with Brumfield second and Spitzbarth again in third place.
The next upcoming meetings are the double-header on Friday 6th (Duel in the North, Sprintcar Defend the Top End & AMCA Darwin Cup Series) and Saturday 7th September (Sprintcar NT Title, Duel in the North & AMCA NT Title).