Wahgunyah Speedway roared back to life with an exciting season opener, entertaining a strong crowd as competitors battled for early bragging rights.
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The night’s headline event was the Victorian Super Sedan Series round, where Bendigo’s Lucas Roberts claimed a commanding victory.
Other winners on the night were Aiden Cunningham (Junior Sedans), Scott Hawkins (Production Sedans), and Danny McCarten (Goulburn Ovens Sedans).
Super Sedans
Although the Super Sedan field was small, it featured high-quality competitors. Multiple state champion Lucas Roberts was the driver to beat, and the heats produced close racing throughout the night.
In the opening heat, veteran Danny Amato narrowly defeated Travis Ramsdale by just 0.884 seconds, with all four cars finishing within 1.5 seconds of each other.
After Shane Belk’s early exit in heat two, Lionel West took the win by 0.803 seconds ahead of Roberts.
Roberts bounced back in heat three, taking a comfortable win to secure pole position for the 15-lap final.
In the feature race, Roberts led from start to finish, building solid leads on two occasions. West crossed the line second, followed by Dave Mackenzie, Ramsdale, and Belk.
Production Sedans
The track championship for Production Sedans opened with a strong win by Scott Hawkins, who led home Rodney Anderson, Andrew Cunningham, Andrew Robl, and his brother Justin Hawkins.
Michael Sayers won the opening heat after an early battle with Anderson, taking victory by 0.768 seconds.
The race was marred by a heavy crash for Brock Cunningham, whose car suffered major front-end damage.
His brother Andrew Cunningham was next to strike trouble, sliding into the turn-one fence on the opening lap of heat two and damaging the car’s front end. Nathan Hawkins also retired with power issues.
Anderson went on to win heat two, narrowly defeating Sayers by 0.437 seconds, before Scott Hawkins dominated the final heat with an emphatic eight-second margin.
In the feature race, an opening-lap incident saw Jack Bear make heavy contact with the wall, prompting a restart. Sayers led early, with Anderson close behind.
A series of incidents involving Nathan Hawkins and Andrew Cunningham led to steward interventions and warnings for contact.
The drama continued when Brock Cunningham’s car caught fire on lap five, while Brendan Brewer retired with overheating issues.
By lap ten, Andrew Cunningham had taken the lead, but it was Scott Hawkins, charging from deep in the field, who claimed victory.
Hawkins led the closing laps to take a deserved win ahead of Andrew Cunningham, with Sayers also featuring strongly.
Junior Sedans
With a growing number of new Corowa-based juniors entering the Speedway Sedans Australia division, there was plenty of excitement around the next generation of drivers making their home-track debut.
Visiting driver Cruz Abela won the opening heat by 1.5 seconds, with Kade Brockley the best of the local juniors in fourth.
Debutants Lucas Williams, Lilly Frost, and Nirvana Lavender all completed their first race laps, though Williams found the turn-four fence on lap seven, ending his night early.
Abela continued his dominant form, winning both the second and third heats ahead of the Ussher brothers, Taijan and Zade, completing a clean sweep of qualifying.
In the 12-lap final, Abela led early before Taijan Ussher retired. That left Zade Ussher and Aiden Cunningham to challenge.
Cunningham moved into second on lap eight and took the lead a lap later, eventually winning by 1.473 seconds from Abela, Zade Ussher, Brockley, and Ethan Unternahrer.
Goulburn Ovens Sedans
Corowa member and Albury resident Danny McCarten won the Goulburn Ovens Sedans.
The Goulburn Ovens Sedan Association also opened its track championship with a strong field contesting six heats before the feature event.
Daniel Joosten’s night ended early in heat one with rear differential failure, allowing Ben Schmetzer to win the first “Schmetzer brothers battle” ahead of Tommy Schmetzer by 0.654 seconds.
Nathan Shortis claimed a comfortable win in heat two, while newcomer Ryan Chant, stepping up from Standard Saloons, dominated heat three after early leader Sam Schmedje slid wide.
Shortis added a second heat win in race four, narrowly defeating Ben Schmetzer by 0.791 seconds.
Danny McCarten, a two-time state champion, outgunned Shortis in heat five, while Tommy Schmetzer took the final heat victory.
In the feature, McCarten and Shortis led the field to green, followed by the Schmetzer brothers and Marty Bassett.
McCarten led from start to finish, with Shortis second and Ben Schmetzer taking third after briefly losing the position late in the race.
The top five were McCarten, Shortis, Ben Schmetzer, Tommy Schmetzer, and Marty Bassett.
Wahgunyah Speedway’s new season is off to a flying start, with close racing, new talent emerging, and strong performances across all divisions setting the stage for an exciting year ahead.
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