#32 Back in Action!
Posted: 07/03/04

After heavy rain Friday, and forecasts of scattered rain for Saturday, some thought that the Speedway in Brisbane would be cancelled, but luck was on our side once again, and the rain just held out.  For heat 1 of racing in the East Coast A' Grade section, Shane Macdonald started from position 4, with Nathan Macdonald behind him in 6th and Darren Lester in 5th.  After the field sorted itself out, Paul Zoubakin spun out, which moved most cars up one position, while Shane Hollyman dropped back through the pack, and eventually retiring after having an engine misfire.  Darren Lester had his Holden Commodore V8 running smoothly, after jumping to the lead within a few laps.  This left Shane Macdonald in car #27 in 3rd position behind Steve Conway, and Nathan back in 4th position.  After experiencing difficulties handling the track, Nathan dropped back to 5th position after Australia #1 got through on the inside.  Dennis Bullpitt put chase to car #32, but left the challenge too late, finishing in 6th position.  Final positions were: 1st Darren Lester    2nd Steve Conway    3rd Shane Macdonald.

Heat 2 saw Tony Blacker and Chris Duffel on the front row, with Dennis Bullpitt out of 3, Nathan out of 4, followed by Darren Lester and Shane Macdonald.  Tony Blacker got a good start, taking the lead, with Nathan Macdonald following him, and getting into 2nd position.  Darren Lester tried to get up the inside of Dennis Bullpitt and Shane Macdonald, with three cars wide into the first corner, but Chris Duffel got a bit offline, which forced Lester on the infield, nearly spinning out, and back to the rear.  After changing the setup of the car a bit, Nathan found to handle the track much better this time round.  Shane passed his brother up the front straight, with Nathan switching back on the inside, both cars side by side up the back straight, car #32 drifted up a bit higher around turn 3 and 4, forcing Shane to back off and both cars touched slightly.  Nathan ended up victorious, and managed to pull a few car lengths over his brother, but couldn't reel in Australian Champ Tony Blacker.  Shane was now having trouble with the handling of his car, with a few times, Macdonald coming within centimetres of the wall on a few occasions, which allowed Darren Lester to come from the rear of the field to take 3rd position.  Results: 1st Tony Blacker    2nd Nathan Macdonald    3rd Darren Lester. 

After achieving a 1st and a 3rd, Darren Lester was highest point scorer, and chose to start out of position 2 (highest point scorer allowed to choose Pole or outside pole).  This left Tony Blacker on pole, Nathan Macdonald out of 3, followed by Shane Macdonald, Dennis Bullpitt and Steve Conway to round out the top 6.  With the green light on, Tony Blacker managed to take the lead, with Darren Lester sliding into 2nd, followed by Nathan in car #32.  After a few laps, Lester drifted high around turn 1 and 2, which allowed Nathan to steal 2nd.  Macdonald now concentrated on what was in front of him.  Nathan managed to bridge the gap between himself and Blacker, when they come up to the lapped car of Chris Duffel, Blacker got tangled up with Duffel, which opened the gate for Macdonald. 

Macdonald going around the outside to obtain 1st position.  Darren Lester then pounced in the next corner, taking 2nd position, which left Blacker in 3rd.  While back in the pack, Shane Macdonald and Dennis Bullpitt had a tussle between themselves, swapping paint, with Bullpitt at one stage hitting the wall.  This forced Bullpitt to retire with a bent steering rack.  While Shane fell back to 6th position.  Steve Conway showed improvement after a lengthy break preparing his car to take 4th, followed by Pat Dennis.  Darren Lester was happy to take 2nd position, but is still chasing his first feature win in his new car, after obtaining a 2nd in the last three feature races held at Brisbane Speedway.  1st Nathan Macdonald    2nd Darren Lester    3rd Tony Blacker.