IN his first ever race at the Perth Motorplex, Victorian Tim Van Ginneken claimed the WA Sprintcar Championship on Saturday night from Jamie Maiolo and Daryl Clayden.

After only winning his first 410ci sprintcar feature race on the east coast only a few weeks earlier, Van Ginneken flew to WA to drive the W56 owned by Steve Crabbe from Mandurah.

He started from P3 for the 30-lap final that was scheduled earlier in the show than usual after the threat of rain.

Corey Hunter and Jason Pryde were the first casualties, out in the first lap after they came together when the field bunched up in front of them and they had nowhere to go.

Carl Dowling started on pole after he set quick time at the start of the night and also claimed a win in the heats.

Shaun Bradford started alongside Dowling for the main event after he also won a heat race.

Unfortunately for Bradford he struggled to get away on the start and fell back very quickly.

Jason Kendrick, who started P11, spun to the infield in high-speed fashion to avoid the carnage in front of him.

He managed to continue, albeit from the rear, on the restart.

Trent Pigdon, who was in his first drive in the Diamond Bay Motorsport W26, also headed infield as the field regrouped.

Ryan Farrell went into the fence in turn two on lap eight and as he tried to pull down to the infield and out of harm’s way, he was collected by Mitchell Wormall on the back straight.

Farrell then threw his steering wheel at Cameron Gessner who was rolling around in third.

Lee Redmond forced another restart with 10 laps remaining after he spun the #13, his first drive for the Wormall team.

Shaun Bradford attempted a massive slide job in pits bend soon afterwards but came up against slower cars that saw quite a few hit and damaged.

Dowling, who was still in a podium position, headed infield before the field raced away again.

Gessner was also out of the show after blowing a left-rear tyre with nine to go.

Ben Ellement was on a charge and back up to second, challenging Van Ginneken for the lead when he went into the fence hard, flipped and was out of the contest.

Jamie Maiolo, who started from P9, dug deep in the latter stages and crossed the line only 0.955 of a second behind Van Ginneken.

Clayden, who started from P12, did well to claim a podium position.

Callum Williamson put in a wormanlike effort, starting from P25 to get his way to fourth.

Taylor Milling started P8 and finished fifth, ahead of Aldo De Paoli (started from P24), Troy Lawson (from P19), Redmond and Scott Chatwin.

Jacob Lucas didn’t even make it past the heats, pulling a massive wheelstand and as the care came back down, flipped violently.

Qualifying: Carl Dowling 12.942, Tim Van Ginneken 13.166, Shaun Bradford 13.169, David Priolo 13.188, Cameron Gessner 13.249, Ryan Farrell 13.271, Brad Maiolo 13.300, Taylor Milling 13.327, Trent Pigdon 13.343, Ben Ellement 13.364, Jason Kendrick 13.368, Jamie Maiolo 13.403, Daryl Clayden 13.424, Mitchell Wormall 13.470, Scott Chatwin 13.507, Corey Hunter 13.526, Lee Redmond 13.537, Kye Scroop 13.538, Lee Nash 13.545, Jason Pryde 13.568, Andrew Priolo 13.585, Troy Lawson 13.624, Aldo De Paoli 13.676, James Inglis 13.687, Jacob Lucas 13.698 and Callum Williamson 13.704.

Heat 1: 1st Carl Dowling, 2nd Ben Ellement, 3rd Brad Maiolo, 4th Lee Nash, 5th Daryl Clayden, 6th Troy Lawson, 7th Corey Hunter. DNF: David Priolo and Jacob Lucas.

Heat 2: 1st Cameron Gessner, 2nd Tim Van Ginneken, 3rd Jason Kendrick, 4th Taylor Milling, 5th Mitchell Wormall, 6th Jason Pryde, 7th Callum Williamson, 8th Aldo De Paoli, 9th Lee Redmond.

Heat 3: 1st Shaun Bradford, 2nd Jamie Maiolo, 3rd Kye Scroop, 4th Trent Pigdon, 5th Ryan Farrell, 6th Scott Chatwin, 7th James Inglis, 8th Andrew Priolo.

Final: 1st Tim Van Ginneken, 2nd Jamie Maiolo, 3rd Daryl Clayden, 4th Callum Williamson, 5th Taylor Milling, 6th Aldo De Paoli, 7th Troy Lawson, 8th Lee Redmond, 9th Scott Chatwin. DNF: Andrew Priolo, Kye Scroop, Ben Ellement, Cameron Gessner, Shaun Bradford, David Priolo, Lee Nash, Carl Dowling, James Inglis, Jason Kendrick, Mitchell Wormall, Ryan Farrell, Bradley Maiolo, Trent Pigdon, Jason Pryde and Corey Hunter.