Maryborough Australian Open
results
Saturday
January 8, 2011
Photos
courtesy of
-
Darrell Lockhart
Click here for Darrell's Website
After
a months break from racing due to the ongoing wet weather,
Macdonald Racing headed to Maryborough for the New Year, as
Shane attempted to regain his Australian Open Crown that he won
last year. The Australian Open being the richest Modified
Production Event in Australia. The event attracted cars
from all over Australia with around 80 nominations.
The first night
started well for Shane after winning one heat and coming 2nd in
the next two heats, this left Shane tied for 2nd on points with
Aidan Raymont.
Nathan however had a
bad start, after being squeezed into the fence on two restarts,
the car not able to take anymore as Nathan pulled to the infield
with a broken tie-rod end. Nathan come home with a 4th and
5th in his heats to qualify 29th after the first nights racing.
After the second
night of heats, Shane qualified out of position 9, while Nathan
would have to come through the B-main if he was to make it to
the main race.
After being held up
by a misfiring car on the start, Nathan went to go around the
car but both went the same direction, this took Nathan back to
2nd last in the 20 car field. Nathan tried to move
forward, taking a few laps before he found a comfortable line.
Nathan ultimately finished 6th behind Shane Langton, 2 positions
short of making a transfer to the A-main.
It was all left to
Shane, qualifying his Forbes Batteries & Communications
Commodore out of 9th place. The defending champ got off to
a good start, moving forward a couple positions. The 50
lap final was sure to take its toll on both driver and car.
Shane tried to find a line he was comfortable with. 12
laps to go he found himself wedged between two other cars,
unfortunately Shane suffered steering damage as a result and
come short of a to 10 finish 12 laps from home officially
finishing in 14th place. Chris Jensen went on to win the
event after coming through from the B-main, Aidan Raymont was
2nd followed fellow Toowoomba racer Rodney Pammenter who drove a
hard fought race for a much deserved podium.
Macdonald Racing for
the 2010/2011 season is supported by -
Toowoomba Steering
and Suspension
Forbes Batteries & Communications
Linmac Automotive
RCP Machining
Mac Graphix
Repco Toowoomba
