Drew Close In The Westcoast
11/01/2010 4:06:50 AM - Dean Thompson

Racing returned to Avalon Raceway on Saturday the 9th of January as Team Drew Motorsport looked to defend their territory in the 33rd annual running of the prestigious West Coast Classic and it was going to be a tough ask with quality competitors such as current Australian Champion Mark Carlin and Victorian Champion Andrew Blackwell amongst the field.

The evening got away to a poor start for the team in heat one when on lap one of their first heat they spun in between turn 3 and 4 in a wet area mid track and were gently nudged by some of the field coming from behind.

A flat right rear put the team on the infield with Drew later suggesting he thought the flat might have been a result of debris from the previous weeks demolition derby held at the venue.

In the second heat the team began in fourth place behind Anthony Wilson, Carlin and alongside Gavin Catley. In an 8 lap stanza the cars of Carlin and Drew came out on top with Carlin just having a little too much for the #7 Circle Track Race Craft VZ Commodore.

The race track had slickened off considerably under the baking of the Victorian sun and the rubber laid down by the Modified Production Sedans and the Formula 500s. Team Crew Chief Damian Smith got to work on the set up for the final with hard rubber and a change to the set up of the springs decided.

“This 25 lap feature is going to be a bit of a journey. We have to come from back in 10th spot and we think if we can go with hard rubber and get a couple of stoppages it will play into our hands. Of course we also need some of those ahead of us to get the set up required wrong to further assist us. The drivers need to be gentle on the throttle on this type of surface as traction is going to be tough to achieve.” Said Smith.

Starting 10th in the feature behind Carlin, Blackwell, Mick Hetherington, Gary Ainley, Brendan Hucker, Rodney Burr, Wilson, Bryan Hart and Darren Hossack was most certainly a tough ask.

When the race got underway Blackwell got the initial good start leading Carlin until lap 6 when the Australian Champion took the lead. Early Drew had picked off a few places in moving from 10th to around 5th. The set up was looking the goods, however battling in the pack had allowed Carlin, Blackwell, Ainley and Hetherington to put a little distance between the main bunch.

Stoppages came when Hucker suffered damage breaking the rear end of the car. The tail shaft suffering significant breakage. This bunched the field up initially before a spin by Catley and a yellow brought on by debris on the race track with 5 to go. Hetherington had headed infield with power steering failure Drew had got passed Burr and Ainley and picked off Blackwell quickly at the restart. The chase was on to catch Carlin.

Whilst the team could see they were closing in on Carlin there just wasn’t enough laps to accomplish the task and Carlin took the win from Drew and Burr.

After the race Drew acknowledged that the team had the right set up. “We went hard with our tyres and it did the trick for us however we knew we would need a little luck with cautions and whilst we probably got that in hindsight we were stuck battling with Blackwell a little longer than we would have liked. It all looks good for the Victorian title at Horsham for the 30th of January.”

TDM thanks its major commercial supporters:

Damian & Sandra @ Circletrack Racecraft – (Damian Smith)
John @ Colac Toyota
Stewart @ Cunningham Plumbing
Profire Pyrotechnics and Blasting P/L
Justin Drew Plumbing
Ray @ Archibald Builders
John @ M & W Engine Services
BKM Electrical
Phil @ PDR Differentials and Drive Shafts
McCann’s Plumbing Plus
Bob & Pat @ Ipta Fibreglass
Mark Haby Motors
Pete’s Paint and Panel
Wayne @ Smooth Suspension
Phil @ Geelong Tune Up Specialists
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Written by
DMT Media
Dean Thompson
0412061208
dmtmedia@speedway.net.au

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