BROWN WINS INAUGURAL MAGIC MAN

All pics by Peter Roebuck Photography

NEW South Welshman and Australia #2 Mark Brown signalled he will be hard to beat when the Australian Speedcar Championship is contested at the Perth Motorplex in two weeks time. Brown won the emotional Magic Man 34 tribute race on the Kwinana Beach clay after starting on the pole position and never being challenged for the 34-laps. He won from WA champion Todd Waddell who downed Dene McAllan in a classic late shootout between the two young guns. Brown topped the points going into the main event, with Waddell, Glazebrook, Lance, Geneve, Young, Smith, Wanless, McAllan and Hamilton rounding out the top 10. He was also quickest in the three-lap time trial session in 49.283 seconds from Waddell in 50.586 and McAllan in 50.811. He also won both his heats in what proved to be an ominous sign.

Brown got the jump at the start of the race from Neville Lance, Rick Geneve and Waddell. The front runners only took a few laps to get into lapped traffic with the cars spread out. Brett Matherson rolled in pits bend forcing the first restart after five completed laps. McAllan, who was fourth on the restart, slid up to third very quickly and was on Lance’s tail. The driver of the #21 machine then put a very fast slide job on Lance to take second with seven laps complete, only to see Lance fight back, before eventually giving up the spot to McAllan who opened up a buffer. Former Australian speed car and sprint car champion Todd Wanless, who flew in from Brisbane earlier that day, drive infield after his front right tyre parted company from the #Q49 machine with 25 laps remaining. On the next restart it was Brown from McAllan, Lance, Geneve, Waddell and Glazebrook. Waddell slid by Geneve for fourth quickly after the single-file restart. Matt Smith was going well and was into fifth with 21 laps remaining. Unfortunately Geneve, a cousin of the late Figliomeni, retired with 18 laps remaining after what was a great campaign in the #9 speedcar. Lance raced by McAllan for second with 15 laps remaining. Glazebrook forced the third restart when he suffered rear-end damage in pits bend with eight laps remaining. Leading away it was Brown from Lance, McAllan, Waddell, Smith, Young and Hamilton. Waddell raced into third over McAllan with a handful of laps remaining, setting up a great duel between the two drivers who traded blows right until the last corner of the last lap. Lance, who was looking good for second, pulled infield with a smoking motor with two laps remaining. But full credit to Brown who showed everyone how to tame Motorplex and demonstrate just how much of a class act he is. Speedcar notes: Time trials: Mark Brown 49.283, Todd Waddell 50.586, Dene McAllan 50.811, Scott Glazebrook 51.246, Jeremy Hassell 51.470, Matt Young 51.603, Neville Lance 51.670, Rick Geneve 51.825, Todd Wanless 52.284, Matt Smith 52.251, Dean Beagley 52.274, Kelvin Hamilton 53.766, Paul Robinson 54.091, Paul Harris 54.464, Steven Henderson 54.545, Brett Matherson 54.608, Tom Watson 54.887, Keith Giles 55.134, Rob Watson 55.337, Vaughan Manders 56.155, Ernie George 56.184, Glen Mears 56.186, Jason Roser 56.906, Chris Telenta 56.998, Robert Harvey 58.308, Ross Heywood 59.146, Tammy Telenta 1.01.43, Paul Drayton 1.03.582, Shaun North 1.04.491. Race 1: 1st Mark Brown, 2nd Neville Lance, 3rd Matt Younbg, 4th Keith Giles, 5th Kelvin Hamilton, 6th Paul Robinson, 7th Robert Harvey. DNF: Rob Watson. Race 2: 1st Todd Waddell, 2nd Rick Geneve, 3rd Jason Roser, 4th Ross Heywood, 5th Shaun North. DNF: Jeremy Hassell, Tom Watson, Paul Harris, Vaughan Manders and Dean Beagley. Race 3: 1st Scott Glazebrook, 2nd Todd Wanless, 3rd Steve Doyle, 4th Matt Smith, 5th Ernie George, 6th Glen Mears, 7th Brett Matherson, 8th Steven Henderson, 9th Tammy Telenta, 10th Paul Drayton. DNF: Dene McAllan. Race 4: 1st Mark Brown, 2nd Neville Lance, 3rd Tom Watson, 4th Steve Doyle, 5th Dean Beagley, 6th Rob Watson, 7th Paul Robinson, 8th Jason Roser, 9th Shaun North. Race 5: 1st Dene McAllan, 2nd Todd Waddell, 3rd Rick Geneve, 4th Todd Wanless, 5th Paul Harris, 6th Ernie George, 7th Ross Heywood, 8th Tammy Telenta. Race 6: 1st Matt Smith, 2nd Scott Glazebrook, 3rd Jimmy Fleming, 4th Chris Telenta, 5th Matt Young, 6th Kelvin Hamilton, 7th Glen Mears, 8th Brett Matherson, 9th Paul Drayton. DNF: Keith Giles. B Main: 1st Tom Watson, 2nd Chris Telenta, 3rd Tammy Telenta, 4th Dave McKay, 5th Shaun North, 6th Paul Drayton. DNF: Rob Watson and Ross Heywood. A Main: 1st Mark Brown, 2nd Todd Waddell, 3rd Dene McAllan, 4th Matt Young, 5th Matt Smith, 6th Kelvin Hamilton, 7th Tom Watson, 8th Steve Doyle, 9th Paul Harris, 10th Glen Mears, 11th Ernie George, 12th Tammy Telenta. DNF: Neville Lance, Scott Glazebrook, Rick Geneve, Paul Robinson, Chris Telenta, Dave McKay, Todd Wanless, Brett Matherson and Jason Roser. JUNIOR SEDANS Despite being penalised two spots in the first race for bumping a competitor female racer Bronwyn Channing topped the points in the junior sedans. She crossed the line first in the opener and was sent back to third. This was the only setback for the driver of the #94 machine as she won the next two races to dominate the show. Second overall was Kye Scroop who was second in each race. Scott Elst was third overall with a fifth, followed by a pair of thirds, while race one winner Ryan MacArthur was fourth. Junior sedans: Race 1: 1st Ryan MacAthur, 2nd Kye Scroop, 3rd Bronwyn Channing, 4th Tahyla Spicer, 5th Scott Elst, 6th Liam Dowling, 7th Jack Alfirevich, 8th Kelly MacArthur. DNF: Nathan Gilmour. Race 2: 1st Bronwyn Channing, 2nd Kye Scroop, 3rd Scott Elst, 4th Tahlya Spicer, 5th Liam Dowling, 6th Jack Alfirevich, 7th Ryan MacArthur, 8th Kelly MacArthur. DNS: Kyle Spicer and Nathan Gilmoure. Race 3: 1st Bronwyn Channing, 2nd Kye Scroop, 3rd Scott Elst, 4th Ryan MacArthur, 5th Liam Dowling, 6th Jack Alfirevich, 7th Kelly MacArthur. DNF: Tahlya Spicer. DNS: Nathan Gilmour. Points: Bronwnyn Channing 298, Kye Scroop 297, Scott Elst 292, Ryan MacArthur 291, Liam Dowling 287, Jack Alfirevich 284, Kelly MacArthur 280, Tahlya Spicer 273, Nathan Gilmoure 237. SPRINTCARS Luch Monte won the 25-lap sprint car feature race from Mark Wells, Mick Goode and American Chad Blonde. Polesitter Wells led early from David Ellement and Jamie Moon. Ben Ellement and Scott Milling were the first casualties after a handful of cars came together on the back straight after just a couple of laps. Wells lead away again from Ellement who quickly lost ground with a fast-moving Monte charging through while Goode was putting in some fast laps and was up to sixth after just five laps. After running the highline to his advantage Monte raced by Wells to ultimately set up his win. Peter Sinagra was given the black flag after there was a sizeable glow coming from the rear-end of his #29 machine. By midrace Goode was into third, but a long way back from the leading duo. Monte and Wells mostly ran the high line in the latter stages of the race and while Wells showed his hand with 10 laps remaining, it was Monte who claimed the win. Sprintcars: Heat 1: 1st Shaun Bradford, 2nd Ben Ellement, 3rd Jamie Moon, 4th Michael Goode, 5th David Hall, 6th Chad Blonde, 7th Peter Sinagra, 8th David Priolo, 9th Marshall McDiarmid, 10th Kent Roberts, 11th Luch Monte, 12th David Ellement, 13th John Liddelow, 14th Troy Lawson. Heat 2: 1st Greg Hall, 2nd Darryl Clayden, 3rd Allan Nash, 4th Carl Dowling, 5th Mark Wells, 6th Scott Milling, 7th Jamie Maiolo, 8th Jason Kendrick, 9th Kris Coyle, 10th Wayne Russell, 11th Jodi Waldron, 12th Mat Muir. DNF: Todd Davis and Scott Reilly. Heat 3: 1st David Ellement, 2nd Ben Ellement, 3rd Mark Wells, 4th David Hall, 5th Shaun Bradford, 6th Carl Dowling, 7th Scott Milling, 8th Mat Muir, 9th Marshall McDiarmid, 10th Greg Hall, 11th John Liddelow. DNF: Darryl Clayden, Troy Lawson. Heat 4: 1st Luch Monte, 2nd Kris Coyle, 3rd Kent Roberts, 4th Chad Blonde, 5th Jamie Moon, 6th Michael Goode, 7th Wayne Russell, 8th David Priolo, 9th Allan Nash, 10th Peter Sinagra, 11th Jason Kendrick, 12th Jodi Waldron. A Main: 1st Luch Monte, 2nd Mark Wells, 3rd Michael Goode, 4th Chad Blond, 5th David Priolo, 6th David Ellement, 7th Jamie Moon, 8th Carl Dowling, 9th Kris Coyle, 10th Scott Reilly, 11th Shaun Bradford, 12th Wayne Russell, 13th Greg Hall, 14th Jodi Waldron,15th Allan Nash, 16th John Liddelow, 17th Mat Muir. DNF: Kent Roberts, David Hall, Darryl Clayden, Jason Kendrick, Peter Sinagra, Scott Milling and Ben Ellement. LATE MODELS Recently crowned Australian champion Brad Ludlow continued on his good form from the national title two weeks ago by winning all three late model races on the night. Ludlow won the first race from Brad Blake and father Ben Ludlow, while he won race two from Kevin Bell and Ludlow senior. Following him over the line in the final race was Craig Vosbergen and Ludlow senior. Ben Ludlow was second overall with Bell third. Late Models: Race 1: 1st Brad Ludlow, 2nd Brad Blake, 3rd Ben Ludlow, 4th Craig Vosbergen, 5th Jay Cardy, 6th Kevin Bell, 7th Mark Matthews, 8th Matt Noakes, 9th Ryan Halliday, 10th Ron Miller, 11th Warren Minshull. DNF: Terry Chamberlain, Lee Watt, Phil Richards, Matt Nylander, Veronica McCann, David Nylander, Warren Oldfield, Clint Noakes. Race 2: 1st Brad Ludlow, 2nd Kevin Bell, 3rd Ben Ludlow, 4th Warren Oldfield, 5th Brad Blake, 6th Mark Matthews, 7th Ron Miller, 8th Matt Noakes, 9th Clint Noakes, 10th Warren Minshull, 11th Matt Nylander, 12th Ryan Halliday, 13th Craig Vosbergenj. DNF: David Nylander, Terry Chamberlain, Phil Richards and Jay Cardy. Race 3: 1st Brad Ludlow, 2nd Craig Vosbergen, 3rd Ben Ludlow, 4th Ryan Halliday, 5th Kevin Bell, 6th Mark Matthews, 7th Phil Richards, 8th Warren Oldfield, 9th Matt Noakes, 10th Clint Noakes, 11th Ron Miller, 12th Matt Nylander. DNF: Terry Chamberlain, Warren Minshull, David Nylander, Jay Cardy and Brad Blake. Points: Brad Ludlow 300, Ben Ludlow 294, Kevin Bell 290, Craig Vosbergen, Mark Matthews 284, Ryan Halliday 278, Matt Noakes 262, Warren Minshull 269, Clint Noakes 262, Warren Minshull 260, Matt Nylander 258, Jay Cardy 254, Phil Richards 252, Lee Watt 241, Veronica McCann 240, Terry Chamberlain, David Nylander 237 each, Super sedans: Race 1: 1st Dustin Higgs, 2nd Troy Brook, 3rd Marc Giancola, 4th Murray Iwanow, 5th Dean Shore, 6th Gary Higgs, 7th Kemble Aylett, 8th Michael Nash, 9th John Triplett, 10th Ken Reid. DNF: Blake Jackson. Race 2: 1st Murray Iwanow, 2nd Marc Giancola, 3rd Kemble Aylett, 4th Dean Shore, 5th Dustin Higgs, 6th Michael Nash, 7th Gary Higgs, 8th Ken Reid. DNF: Troy Brook, John Triplett and Blake Jackson.

A section of the huge crowd on hand for the tribute to Michael Figliomeni.

Thanks to Osborne Park based Optima Press thousands of MAGIC MAN 34 posters were distributed adding to the spectacle of the night.

Queenslander Jeremy Hassell found the going hot during the event.

David Priolo gives Rockinghams Jody Waldron the hurry up going into Watsons Express transport Turn 4.

One of several event images of the Magic Man 34 tribute race shown on the Southside Engine Centre Super Screen during the night.

WA young gun Todd Waddell was first West Australian racer past the post coming in at second place.

In doing so he won the Stealth chassis donated by the Figliomeni family.

It was supposed to be the Coates Caravan, Boat and Dunny Demo Derby...we got Caravans, we got Boats and yes we got Dunnys...but as an added bonus we got Horse Floats, Lawn mowers and even Thomas the Tank!

It was the most entertaining Demo Derby in a long time...and mass carnage was the result!

The General - John Day - bestowed the victors rewards upon Number 19