LAANG SPEEDWAY 30TH NOVEMBER 2019

I hope this disappointingly cool start to summer is treating you well enough so far.
Laang hosted our round three fixture on Saturday and we thank them for doing so.
Whilst the weather held off nicely, it remained cool throughout the day. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite stop the track from drying out too much. This would effect the racing on the day, especially with the more powerful 160 class. Drivers struggled to keep power through heats 2 and 3 and even into the finals. But overall, it was still a great days racing with rewards available for keeping your car as straight and smooth as possible.
Our Novices only had 4 competitors again this week with a late nom and a rookie allowing Stuart and Roman renew hostilities off the front row.
Stuart would take the first heat win and Roman the next two. In the third heat, Cruz and Leo would hold Stuart at bay but unable to catch Roman.
The final would see Roman tear away in front for several laps before an error and spin on the slippery track almost gave up the lead to Stuart...2 laps later another spin did see him give up first position although he did keep driving and held on for second. Leo crossed the line in third place.
In the Junior Restricted class, we had 6 very competitive cars doing battle. After the green flag dropped on the first heat there wasn’t much positional change with Chase, Jed and Holly taking the first 3 placings.
The second heat saw two cars not finish, Ryder having some mechanical issues and the V1 of Chase causing 2 stoppages abs sent infield. Jed and Holly would take out the first two placings with a determined Cruz working his way from 6th to third in a very nice drive.
The third heat saw Tyler start from pole. He had set himself a goal this season to win one heat race. He was extremely proud of himself as he held on for the ten laps for the win, with a fast finishing Chase on his tail. Holly would again take third.
The final was a little bit of a precession as the track started drying out again after the break. He’d would hold on for an all the way victory. The only place change was in the last lap. Holly was driving nicely, looking like holding on for an excellent second, but Chase wouldn’t give up, taking the place and relegating Holly to third.
Our 120 open class probably saw our most competitive pure racing of the day. There were plenty of positional changes, some excellent racing and a pinch of controversy thrown in to make it an extremely interesting class to watch.
Heat one had Leah holding Hudson at bay until the last corner. Some contact saw both drivers almost stall on the start finish line but it was all Jake needed to pounce and take the win. Arthur’s V1 was steers nicely from the rear to also make the most of the incident to steal third. Leah heldbin for second.
Plenty of positional changes at the lower end of heat two was fun to watch. But Hudson would roll away up front for a wire to wire victory. Jake’s form continued with a 2nd with Arthur again taking third.
The third heat was set to be a beauty with Arthur and Jake off the front row. Unfortunately, on the third lap Jake would throw a chain. Arthur cruised to victory. It was a cracking battle for second and third between siblings with Leah holding out Jamie all the way to the finish line.
With the track continuing to deteriorate, the front of the pack is where you wanted to be. But you still had to keep your lines smooth. Arthur jumped well from pole position and did just that...he drive away for an emphatic victory. His victory lap was definitely fun to watch also.
Behind him, Hudson seemed to not quite handle the conditions from his second place start, dropping a few positions. Other than that, no other positions changed throughout the final which was a shame. Plenty of kids were in good fighting positions but the track was becoming harder to handle lap by lap. Jack and Leah drove well and deserved their podiums.
Next are the 160’s...and as I suggested earlier...wow! What a day of racing. On a dry dusty track, the extra power the 160s bring...brought plenty of drivers unstuck! While the majority of issues came about from over racing in these conditions, they are all confident racers and want to win. You can’t begrudge them of that.
Our first heat saw almost the only race of the day with grip. It was a drive away victory for the V1 of Jett and solid passing saw placings to Zoe and Jayden “from the rear again, dad?” Lock. Jemma lost power in her v45 which would see her not finish...and those issues would continue through the heats.
The second heat brought some changing conditions. And incident on the first start caused a couple of cars to drop back in the field. Strangely, those cars were left back in the field after a full restart? Besides this, passing was becoming tricky. Chevy would control proceeding from the front, while the battle between Zoe and Jayden was fun to watch all race for 2nd and 3rd respectively.
The last heat was, frankly, carnage! Whilst damage was minimal...the heat dragged on for an eternity! With grip almost non existent, there seemed to be a stoppage every lap! Cars were spinning left right and centre. It seemed the only cars not to spin were the few that finished at the front. Callan moved well through the field to take the victory with controlled sting from Chevy and Blake seeing them in at 2 and 3.
Some water on the track in the break may have helped, but with the reversing of the schedule for finals, the track became dusty again by our feature. One place difference separates the first four cars on the grid. In an excellent sign of the development of our class structure, the top two places were held by two of this years rookies! Chevy would take pole position with Callan on her outside.
What was very obvious during the race and despite the ensuing carnage, was the battle between these top two cars, breaking away each restart while Zoe, Jett and Jayden jostled for position behind them.
So, without focusing on individual incidents, during the race, Jayden, Blake and Jett would all finish in the infield.
Callan and Riley would come together with solid front on contact damaging both cars. Bravely, both went on to finish the race.
Jemma, after making repairs to her car, would find herself in second place on what would become the last lap before, unfortunately, spinning out and the race was declared.
Meanwhile, at the front all along and controlling proceedings was Chevette! Leading from pole and taking out her maiden 160 victory in a well deserved day of smooth driving getting the rewards!
Zoe, also deserved her second place after a day of pushing the leading cars.
Amazingly, with no front right shock, Riley would cross the finish line in his v25 to take an excellent 3rd place!
Well done to all our racers today. Wether you finished on the podium or not, it was an excellent day at the track, in sometimes trying conditions. You should all be proud of yourselves!
Nearly done...
Thanks to all the girls on the infield for rotating the lap scoring, flag waving and helping Kylie stewarding through the day. Couldn’t get a racemeet done without that effort!
Also, we would like to thank Phil ‘Gav White’ Walters for his amazing commentary throughout the day. It added to the day nicely 
See you all on the 15th for Round 4 of our Championship at Avalon! 
 P.S. I had photos on my phone but I’ve lost them, sorry