Promising result for Macdonald at
Maryborough
Tuesday January 5, 2010
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view photos from the event
It was time for
Round 2 of the Fraser Coast Modified Production Series as Shane
and Nathan Macdonald set about to head into a new year and to
Maryborough Speedway for a two night show on Friday and Saturday
Night (1st & 2nd). A big weekend was a ahead with 50 cars
nominated for Round 2.
Shane & Nathan found
themselves in their first heat together, Nathan starting from
position 2 on the outside of Greg Raymont with Shane back in
6th. Nathan slipped into 2nd place into the first corner
behind Raymont. Macdonald put chase and showed some good
car speed to reel in Raymont once he got a feel for the track.
Nathan had a look up the inside but wasn't enough to make a pass
settling for 2nd, while Shane diced with Ashley Barron and
Steven Zahl with Macdonald eventually finishing in 6th place.
Nathan's
second heat saw him start from position 8, and as the race got
underway Steven Zahl and Craig
Franz come together
up the front straight leaving Nathan nowhere to go.
Macdonald was hooked together with Franz, taking the crash crew
a while to separate the two. Fortunately both cars were
able to continue. On the restart Nathan tried to settle
into the race, passing Craig Franz and Brett Barron around the
outside with one lap to go, only to run wide and collect the
wall slightly dropping back to 7th across the finish line.
Shane had a front
row start for his second heat, taking the lead ahead of Greg
Worling and racing to victory leading the entire race.
Heat 3 saw Shane and
Nathan together in the same heat, starting beside each other on
the third row. Shane got away to a good start moving his
way into 3rd place behind Ashley Barron. Nathan found a
way past Greg Raymont for 5th to finish behind Luke Hollyman.
With the first night
of racing out of the way, Shane had collected enough points to
be sitting in 4th place
while Nathan was
back in 18th, with an added personal bonus Nathan had set the
2nd fastest lap time of the night with a 16.208sec lap behind
Todd Doyle, which was actually set in his very first heat.
Macdonald being a new driver to the Maryborough circuit, having
never raced at the venue and this being his 2nd race meeting in
the new car.
The 4th round of
heats once again saw Shane and Nathan together. Shane only
seeing 2 laps into the race when his car lost all power forcing
him onto the infield. Later discovering a relay had
"jumped out". A quick but frustrating fix. Luke
Hollyman and Peter Gray both were sent to the rear for an
altercation in the opening lap, advancing Nathan into 3rd for a
complete restart. Nathan went on to have an enthralling race
between Ashley Barron and Johnno Collins. Former QLD Champion
Collins moved into 1st with Macdonald following on to move past
Barron for 2nd. Macdonald put the pressure on Collins but
had to settle for a close 2nd with Barron in for 3rd.
The last chance for
points came in Nathan's final heat. Coming from position
three in the field Nathan passed Ashley Barron mid race, to then
apply the pressure to race leader Johnno Collins again.
Collins drive was faultless with Macdonald unable to make a pass
having to settle for 2nd with Barron in 3rd.
Shane was made to
earn his points in his final heat of the night, coming from the
back of the field running high and low as the current QLD
Champion took to the track to chase down some much need points
after he failed to finish the heat before. Macdonald
passed Greg Raymont and Glenn Pagel among others to record a 2nd
place finish behind Darryl Etherden.
Both Shane and
Nathan extremely happy to qualify straight into the A-main, with
Nathan starting the 35 lap final from position 8 with Shane
right behind him in 10th. The race got underway to a
frantic start, with Nathan and Shane falling back to 10th and
12th respectively. Nathan then fought back past Todd Doyle
and Craig Franz for 8th until the caution lights come on for a
restart, sending Macdonald back to 9th and Shane in 12th.
Unlucky to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, Nathan and
Shane had nowhere to go after Glenn Pagel and Darryl Etherden
come together on the back straight. Shane screeching to a
halt hitting Etherden head on, while Nathan threw the car
sideways just catching Pagel with the rear of the car which saw
Macdonald lose his boot, bumper and rear guards.
Fortunate for the
team both cars were able to continue with no mechanical damage.
Nathan and Shane went on to race each other for position, with
Nathan trying to find a way past Craig Franz, which allowed
Steve Price, Rodney Pammenter and Gavin Lorensen in on the
battle. Shane ran wide with 2 laps to go slamming the back
straight wall and damaging his steering. Rodney Pammenter
moved into 7th place until he also collected the concrete wall,
pulling onto the infield with a collapsed front end. Shane
then spun on the final lap. Shane managed to cross the
line with a 12th place finish, while Nathan finishing in 9th
place.
North Quenslander
Johnno Collins won a convincing race ahead of the hard charging
Dennis Shallcrosse and Ashley Barron followed by Aidan Raymont,
Gavin Lorensen, Greg Raymont, Steve Price, Craig Franz, Nathan
Macdonald, Adrian Stott, Neil Coomber, Shane Macdonald and
Travis Barron.
Whilst struggling to
go forward in the feature race, Nathan was very happy to finish
every race and to qualify directly into the A-main, up against a
quality field of 50 modified production cars.
Nathan also topped
the time charts on the second night setting the fastest lap time
of the weekend with a 16.073sec lap ahead of Todd Doyle and
fellow Toowoomba racer Rodney Pammenter.
Nathan will now be
heading to Gympie Speedway this Saturday night (9th January) for
a last chance run there before the series round and 30/30 for
Modified production in February. Then Nathan and Shane
will be racing at Charlton Raceway on Sunday night in support of
the World Series Sprintcars.
Macdonald Racing for
the 2009/2010 season is supported by -
Toowoomba Steering
and Suspension
Linmac Automotive
RCP Machining
Repco
The Speed Shop
