IT'S A LUDLOW ONE - TWO!

Brad Ludlow, flanked by father Ben and American Ron Miller won the 2008 Australian Late Model Nationals at the Perth Motorplex last night.

All pics by Peter Roebuck Photography

DESPITE a limited racing campaign in recent seasons second-generation racer Brad Ludlow won the Seventh Australian Late Model Championship at the Perth Motorplex. Ludlow started the 30-lap race on pole position and after being in second for much of the race, firstly behind American Doug Drown and then his father Ben, he pounced with five laps remaining. He ran the higher line to win from his father while American Ron Miller was third. A jubilant Ludlow then stood on the roof of his #92 machine and was embraced by Ludlow senior in a great moment for the established speedway racing family. Drown got the jump at the start and led until the half way point when his left rear tyre exploded on the back straight putting him out of the contest. Ryan Halliday lost a lot of ground at the start of the race and glanced the concrete fence in the opening turns. Defending champion Brad Blake, who struggled for much of the weekend, started from sixth and was involved in a few great battles early on. Warren Minshull spun around in pits bend after just four laps for the first restart. Blake ran down low on the restart and raced by Warren Oldfield and the pair were involved in some great moves for several laps. Jason Oldfield then drove hard to slide up to fourth, putting Warren Oldfield back to fifth and Blake back to sixth. Barry Kelleher spun around in pits bend forcing the second restart. For the next few minutes there were several attempts to complete a lap thanks to many restarts. Blake moved back up to fourth on the back straight and seconds later Miller and Craig Vosbergen spun around in pits bend while Jason Oldfield was sent infield with a flat tyre for being the cause of the incident. Halliday kept working his way forward but then spun on another restart and was sent to the rear. Warren Oldfield was looking good in fourth by this stage with Jamie Olfield involved in a great battle with Miller, Blake and Vosbergen. With 10 laps complete Drown had opened up a big lead over the Ludlows while Miller was looking solid in seventh. Three laps later Nathan Disney spun on the approach to the back straight for the next restart. Ben Ludlow then ran underneath his son and was getting set to challenge Drown for the lead when the left rear tyre exploded on the American #12. There was a lengthy delay when Jamie Oldfield’s car turned right in pits bend and was collected by the high-speed Blake, putting both of them out of the contest, seeing Vosbergen the beneficiary by moving up two spots. Unfortunately for the driver of the #8 machine his night was soon over after he pulled infield with a flat rear tyre. With the race two thirds complete Ben Ludlow led from Brad with Miller in third.

Brad ran on his dad’s tail for five laps before pushing the issue with a high-line move which ultimately set up the win for him.

Halliday was fourth, with Terry Chamberlain, Warren Oldfield, Kevin Bell, Matt Noakes, Minshull, Scott McPherson and Kelleher being the other finishers. LATE MODELS Time trials: Barry Kelleher 17.773, Craig Vosbergen 17.904, Brad Ludlow 18.068, Doug Drown 18.316, Ryan Halliday 18.499, Ben Ludlow 18.734, Scott McPherson 18.804, Darryl Grimson 18.928, Lee Watt 18.956, Warren Oldfield 18.968, Brad Blake 18.908, Rob MacGregor 19.098, Warren Minshull 19.265, Kevin Bell 19.300, Ron Miller 19.357, Nathan Disney 19.507, Bert Vosbergen 19.560, Jay Cardy 19.756, Matt Goodlad 19.860, Matt Nylander 19.885, Mark Matthews 20.004, Matt Noakes 20.019, Barry Blake 20.266, Phil Richards 20.301, Jamie Oldfield 20.312, Veronica McCann 20.689, David Nylander 21.328, Jason Oldfield NTT. Heat 1: 1st Ben Ludlow, 2nd Phil Richards, 3rd Scott McPherson, 4th Rob MacGregor, 5th Jay Cardy, 6th Jamie Oldfield, 7th Jamie Oldfield, 8th Barry Kelleher, 9th Warren Minshull. Heat 2: 1st Ryan Halliday, 2nd Craig Vosbergen, 3rd Darryl Grimson, 4th Bert Vosbergen, 5th Brad Blake, 6th Terry Chamberlain, 7th Kevin Bell, 8th Barry Blake, 9th Veronica McCann. DNF: Matt Nylander. Heat 3: 1st Brad Ludlow, 2nd Doug Drown, 3rd Warren Oldfield, 4th Ron Miller, 5th Matt Noakes, 6th Mark Matthews, 7th Jason Oldfield, 8th Nathan Disney, 9th David Nylander. Heat 4: 1st Phil Richards, 2nd Jamie Oldfield, 3rd Jay Cardy, 4th Warren Minshull, 5th Rob MacGregor, 6th Scott McPherson, 7th Ben Ludlow, 8th Barry Kelleher. DNF: Matt Goodlad. Heat 5: 1st Terry Chamberlain, 2nd Craig Vosbergen, 3rd Darryl Grimson, 4th Veronica McCann, 5th Bert Vosbergen, 6th Ryan Halliday, 7th Kevin Bell, 8th Brad Blake, 9th Barry Blake. DNF: Matt Nylander. Heat 6: 1st Warren Oldfield, 2nd Doug Drown, 3rd Brad Ludlow, 4th Jason Oldfield, 5th Mark Matthews, 6th Nathan Disney, 7th Ron Miller, 8th David Nylander. DNF: Mark Matthews. Heat 7: 1st Darryl Grimson, 2nd Brad Blake, 3rd Warren Oldfield, 4th Craig Vosbergen, 5th Kevin Bell, 6th Lee Watt, 7th Ron Miller, 8th Clint Noakes, 9th Nathan Disney, 10th David Nylander. DNF: Barry Blake. Heat 8: 1st Brad Ludlow, 2nd Bert Vosbergen, 3rd Veronica McCann, 4th Rob MacGregor, 5th Matt Nylander, 6th Ben Ludlow, 7th Barry Kelleher, 8th Matt Goodlad. DNF: Phil Richards and Mark Matthews. Heat 9: 1st Doug Drown, 2nd Jason Oldfield, 3rd Ryan Halliday, 4th Jamie Oldfield, 5th Matt Noakes, 6th Scott McPherson, 7th Warren Minshull, 8th Terry Chamberlain, 9th Jay Cardy. A Dash: 1s Brad Ludlow, 2nd Craig Vosberben, 3rd Ben Ludlow, 4th Darryl Grimson, 5th Rob MacGregor, 6th Kevin Bell, 7th Warren Minshull, 8th Scott McPherson. B Dash: 1st Doug Drown, 2nd Warren Oldfield, 3rd Brad Blake, 4th Jason Oldfield, 5th Ryan Halliday, 6th Jay Cardy, 7th Ron Miller, 8th Barry Kelleher. B Main: 1st Jamie Oldfield, 2nd Terry Chamberlain, 3rd Nathan Disney, 4th Matt Noakes, 5th Veronica McCann, 6th Matt Goodlad. DNF: Lee Watt, David Nylander, Clint Noakes and Matt Nylander. A Main: 1st Brad Ludlow, 2nd Ben Ludlow, 3rd Ron Miller, 4th Ryan Halliday, 5th Terry Chamberlain, 6th Warren Oldfield, 7th Kevin Bell, 8th Matt Noakes, 9th Warren Minshull, 10th Scott McPherson, 11th Barry Kelleher. DNF: Rob MacGregor, Craig Vosbergen, Nathan Disney, Doug Drown, Jamie Oldfield, Brad Blake, Darryl Grimoson, Jason Oldfield and Jay Cardy. FORMULA 500S Heat 1: 1st Graham Higgs, 2nd Jason Priolo, 3rd Ric Purvis, 4th Brad Warwick, 5th Mark House, 6th Ash Marriott, 7th Malcolm O’Keefe, 8th Darren Rodwell, 9th David Sinagra, 10th Colin Nelson, 11th Filomena Aracri. DNF: Peter Blight and Andrew Charles. Heat 2: 1st Jason Priolo, 2nd Graham Higgs, 3rd David Sinagra, 4th Brad Warwick, 5th Mark House, 6th Ric Purvis, 7th Darren Rodwell, 8th Colin Nelson, 9th Ash Marriott, 10th Filomena Aracri, 11th Malcolm O’Keefe. Heat 3: 1st Brad Warwick, 2nd Graham Higgs, 3rd Ric Purvis, 4th Mark House, 5th David Sinagra, 6th Darren Rodwell, 7th Colin Nelson, 8th Filomena Aracri, 9th Malcolm O’Keefe. DNF: Jason Priolo and Ash Marriott. Points: Graham Higgs 298, Brad Warwick 294, Ric Purvis 291, Mark House 289, David Sinagra 286, Darren Rodwell 282, Colin Nelson, Jason Priolo 278 each, Malcolm O’Keefe 276, Filomena Aracri 274, Ash Marriott 266, Peter Blight and Andrew Charles 237 each. SUPER SEDANS: Heat 1: 1st Murray Iwanow, 2nd Troy Brook, 3rd Dean Shore, 4th Keith Higgs, 5th John Triplett, 6th Michael Nash. DNF: Ken Reid, Terry Green and Dustin Higgs. Heat 2: 1st Rob Bawdon, 2nd Marc Giancola, 3rd Gary Higs, 4th Kemble Aylett, 5th Damon Trouchet, 6th James Holland, 7th Brent Halliday. DNF: Bert Vosbergen. Heat 3: 1st Gary Higgs, 2nd Marc Giancola, 3rd Keith Higgs, 4th Kemble Aylett, 5th Dustin Higgs, 6th James Holland. DNF: Ken Reid. Heat 4: 1st Rob Bawdon, 2nd Dean Shore, 3rd Troy Brook, 4th Murray Iwanow, 5th Damon Trouchet, 6th Brent Halliday, 7th Michael Nash. DNF: John Triplett and Bert Vosbergen. Feature: 1st Marc Giancola, 2nd Troy Brook, 3rd Dean Shore, 4th Gary Higgs, 5th Dustin Higgs, 6th Damon Trouchet, 7th Kemble Aylett. DNF: Murray Iwanow, Rob Bawdon, Keith Higgs, Ken Reid and Michael Nash. MODIFIED SEDANS Heat 1: 1st Aydan Trewern, 2nd Shane Brittain, 3rd Peter Fraser, 4th John Purser, 5th Brendan Selleck, 6th Mick Johnson, 7th Allan Mortimer. DNF: James Holland, Kevin Ellement and Shane van Daele. Heat 2: 1st Brendan Selleck, 2nd Peter Fraser, 3rd James Holland, 4th Shane Brittain, 5th John Purser, 6th Ayden Trewern, 7th Allan Mortimer, 8th Mick Johnson. DNF: Shane van Daele and Kevin Ellement. Final: 1st Brendan Selleck, 2nd Aydan Trewern, 3rd John Purser, 4th Shane Brittain, 5th Kevin Ellement. DNF: Shane van Daele, Mick Johnson, Allan Mortimer, James Holland and Peter Fraser. Points: Brendan Selleck 296, Aydan Trewern 294, Shane Brittain 293, John Purser 291, Peter Fraser 276, Mick Johnson, Allan Mortimer 267 each, James Holland 256, Kevin Ellement 254 and Shane van Daele 237.

In addition to the 7th annual Late Model Nationals the event premiered the Monster Bike - a 13 tonne monstrosity that created mayhem during the night destroying everything in it's path including 2 Brownes Coffee Chill signs leaving the venue management with some explaining to do with the Dairy company in the weeks ahead!

The Monster Bike made short work of this Gemini in the main straight and seemed to have a penchant for destroying Hippy Vans!

The next Super Speedway event is Saturday 9 February featuring the inaugural Magic Man 34 as a part of thge WA Speedcar Championships.