ToRNADO CUP ROUND 1

Time for a Tornado Cup round 1 write up...
Thanks again to Daylesford Speedway for putting us on this past weekend. Due to lack of numbers for their own meet, the big cars were cancelled...but volunteers still ran a show for us, with canteen and all! Thanks for your work in prepping the track and providing trophies for the Daylesford Track Championship(which we will get to later).
The track presented this time around was almost back to its 2019 best! It was smooth and once rolled in by the 160’s, it raced better through each of the heat groups.
With a touch of water at the break, it continued to offer multiple racing lines, even until the 160’s started!
Novice:
We had four cars competing again in our novice class. Unfortunately, Leo seemingly struggled with some mechanical issues throughout the day and was a touch off the pace.
Will in the v28 in his second meet, showed some improvement in his consistency of performance. He pushed the more experienced duo of Roman and Stuart a couple of times, holding down second place for plenty of laps throughout the heats and final.
But the big battle up front was consistently between the ‘seasoned’ novices of the v29 and the v50. It was a cracking first heat as they battled traffic with Stuart taking the win. Roman would win the next to heats in convincing fashion.
Come final time, Stuart would jump to the lead on lap 1. On lap 5, Roman got a touch loose, having to restart from the rear. Stuart would drive away and lead all the way to the chequers while Will would do his best to hold off a determined Roman. With 4 laps to go, Roman takes second with Will finishing a hard fought third 🏁
Jnr. Rest:
With the track quickening after our first novice race. Heat 1 would see all racers jump well and finish exactly in their starting positions! Jed would take first from Chase and Holly.
Heat two was a great great battle between the front row cars for 5 laps. With Cruz leading, contact from the V1 would see Chase put to the rear on the restart. Cruz would streak away to win from Tyler and Holly.
Heat 3 was another excellent battle between our fast developing Restricted class. Holly would hold on for the ten laps to win but it was anyone’s race to the final flag as the v66 and V1 both pushed hard to the line.
On paper, it was a fairly straightforward final. But, again, our juniors are showing great maturity and development each week. Tyler would start pole, but the V1 would get the jump on the outside to lead. Whist positional changes were rare in the final, all kids races well and put plenty of pressure on until the last lap. Despite some hustle and bustle late, Chase would take the win from Tyler and Cruz 🏁
120 Open:
It was an interesting day for this class. There was plenty of action and plenty of shuffling of position throughout. Also, there was great maturity shown in some great drives!
Heat 1 saw some contact between cars end the race for the v14 on lap 3 after he threw a chain. Out of three, Leah would hold on to take victory from the V1 and v2 who both made plenty of ground during the race.
Heat 2 saw an increase in grip and speed on track positional changes almost seemed impossible. Logan would win from Leah and Arthur.
Heat 3 again saw a fast track with passing proving difficult. It wasn’t from a lack of trying with plenty of drivers giving themselves a chance. Ultimately, Jamie would drive away for a solid win from Jake and Arthur.
The 120 final was a fairly hectic affair, with a couple of stoppages and a little controversy. An early incident would see the V1 relegated to rear of field after making some early gains from the back row. Throughout the race, the rear most top points cars almost all change several positions throughout the race. Amazingly, Leah steered her v26 expertly from position 8 to the front of the field by lap 8. Granted, she was helped by some banging and crashing going on, but on the restart from that point, Leah showed great maturity, holding on for an awesomely raced victory from the rear!
The battles for the minor placing were crazy at times and at times, they were crazy good! Eventually, Hudson would take second, from Jake, Logan, Cody and Jamie...but at any stage in the last two laps, any of those drivers could have taken a podium position!
Great driving again 120’s! 🏁
Senior 160:
It was a touch slippery early before the big kids settled into a rhythm. Mallacai started off of pole in the v51 and would hold on well to win from Jayden and Jemma.
Heat 2 saw the track quickening with grip all over. The team green cars started off the front row and Chevy in the v43 would push her bro on the V1 all the way to the finish. Callan was hot on her heels with Jemma again shouting speed in 4th.
In heat 3, the track was still racy but was showing signs of drying. Again, they settled into rhythm and Jayden would race away to win from the very consistent Jemma. Chevy and Jett would take 3rd and 4th. The only real positional changes were on the back half of the field as they jostled for position throughout.
The final was going to be an interesting affair. As with all classes, the highest points were at the rear. But with the track really beginning to dry out, anything could happen..and it did!
There would be four restarts before a lap was run! Plenty of issues arose with drivers on the back trying to make the most of each start...the result was a little bit of chaos.
With rolling laps, the track would dry further, not offering much up on the outside for the first time all day. As our senior class finally got under way, Jemma would quickly make the most of the mess around her, steering the v45 into second place by lap 3...not bad starting from 8th!!
As the race progressed, there continued to be stoppages. The V1 would be put infield on lap 7 for two primary cause stoppages.
Moves were being made through the field, but progress was slow and drivers were more relying on errors rather than taking on the track.
Blake, Jemma and Callan were holding steady as the front three cars and all three were giving it their all. On a restart with a couple of laps to go, the two lead cars would come together. In a last moment of controversy for the day, both cars were restarted in their positions, and that’s how the final placings would stand. Jayden would get up the inside of Chevy with a lap to go to take 4th.
Overall, it was an interesting race with plenty going on! There was some great skills on show. But, it may be a chance to reinforce to our older drivers, that you can race aggressively, but, if you not clean you will be reprimanded!
Well done to all our place getters and top point scorers 🏁
So, that’s it for round 1 of Tornado. It was also the last round of the Daylesford track championship. Points are on our website and thanks to Daylesford Speedway for their pics of place getters on the weekend. Have a look at their Facebook page to see your kids smiling faces 👍🏻
I hope you are all ready for a big day Saturday at the Vic Title! See you all there 👍🏻👌🏻🏁