KERRY Madsen made it two feature race wins in a row when he claimed the combined World Series Sprintcars/Maddington Toyota Sprintcar Series round at Bunbury Speedway on Saturday night.
It was round 12 of WSS and Rd13 of the Maddington Toyota-backed series and he survived a last lap lunge by James McFadden for the win, with McFadden settling for second, ahead of American Lucas Wolfe third.
It was a drama-filled night that ended with Madsen clouting the infield concrete barrier on the way to the scales before the presentations.
Madsen, who started from pole, said it was tense in lapped traffic in the final sectors of the race and when McFadden had a lunge late, he had made up his mind not to leave the bottom line open, saying he had been caught out like that previously.
When asked what the issue was with the car hitting the fence post-race, he replied with “something fell off on lap 31”.
The win for Krikke Motorsport was the second of the weekend, after they also won the previous night at Esperance Speedway.
McFadden, who started from P7, was happy with second in the end after saying he dug himself a pretty big hole earlier in the night.
He said the red lights in the feature race hurt his momentum and disappointed he was not able to keep it going.
Wolfe, who started from P6, said he was happy to have a good result and said he was ultimately able to move forward in tricky conditions in the feature race, and was looking forward to two big nights of racing at the Perth Motorplex next weekend.
Madsen elected to start on the inside for the feature that was reduced from 35 laps to 30 and very quickly he pulled away while Brooke Tatnell, who started from P3, went low and slid into second over Jason Kendrick who started on the front row with Madsen.
They held these positions for the first 10 laps before Andrew Priolo and Glen Sutherland came together on the back straight to force a restart.
McFadden got the jump on the next restart and was all over the back of Murcott before he claimed third and with 16 laps to go he was on the back of second-placed Tatnell before Matthew Cross spun, forcing another restart.
The next time away it was Madsen from Tatnell, McFadden, Murcott and Kendrick but the race failed to gain momentum with Sutherland pulling up on the back straight.
Again the field got rolling around but again there was a delay, this time a red-light stoppage when Kris Coyle had steering issues and Andrew Priolo had nowhere to go, going for a wild ride in turn one, flipping the #8 over the concrete barrier and heavily damaging the fence in front of the popular Bunbury bar.
Officials called an open red to allow crews onto the field as the track staff had the massive job of repairing the fence.
On a lengthy restart it was Madsen who led away from Tatnell, McFadden, Murcott, Wolfe, Kendrick and Goodyer.
McFadden went for the higher line on Tatnell on the restart with Wolfe not far away in fourth, before the 17 claimed third.
With 10 laps remaining there was another red light with Rusty Hickman rode a wheel and rolled over in pits bend,
Tatnell crossed the line in fourth ahead of David Murcott who started from P8, Kendrick and Callum Williamson who won the Hard Charger award for his seventh after starting from P18 and having to qualify for the main event after coming out of the B Main.
Tasmanian Jock Goodyer, who started P4, finished eighth from Brock Hallett who was ninth after starting from P11, while budget racer Todd Davis took a well-deserved 10th after starting from P15.
They were followed over the line by Mitchell Wormall (from P10), Ben Butcher (from P17 to P12), Jason Pryde (from P19 to P13) and Matthew Cross (from P20 to P14).
Earlier in the night in the heat races, McFadden won the first heat race after starting from P3, while the second heat went to Murcott who started from P4 and inherited the lead after Hickman, who started from p2 and was the early leader, blew a left rear tyre when out in front with three laps remaining.
Just after the restart Brad Maiolo had contact with another car, in only his second race of the season and backed the W77 into the pits bend fence, ending his night.
The red lights came in three laps into the third heat after AJ Nash had an oil fire and then on the last lap Cross spun around for a green/white/checker scenario with victory going to Hallett who started from pole.
The fourth heat went to Hickman who made amends for the first round let down, while the fifth heat went to Goodyer who started from P2.
The final heat went to McFadden who started from P4 while Cross had a tough night when he lost a left rear tyre at the end of the race and he hit the pits bend fence.
Kendrick was the quickest in qualifying from Madsen and Priolo.
Next Friday and Saturday night at the Perth Motorplex it will be the final two rounds of WSS and the third and second last rounds for the Maddington Toyota Sprintcar Series.
RESULTS
Qualifying: Jason Kendrick 13.947, Kerry Madsen 13.951, Andrew Priolo 14.141, Lucas Wolfe 14.157, Brad Maiolo 14.191, Brooke Tatnell 14.228, Jock Goodyer 14.238, David Murcott 14.247, Daniel Harding 14.299, Mitchell Wormall 14.345, Taylor Milling 14.353, James McFadden 14.384, Kris Coyle 14.435, Rusty Hickman 14.485, Jason Pryde 14.507, Brock Hallett 14.532, Todd Davis 14.545, Glen Sutherland 14.556, Callum Williamson 14.593, Ben Butcher 14.625, AJ Nash 14.635, Matthew Cross 14.761, Cameron McKenzie 15.221, Daniel Hartigan NTT.
Heat 1: 1st James McFadden, 2nd Kris Coyle, 3rd Glen Sutherland, 4th Jock Goodyer, 5th Brooke Tatnell, 6th Jason Kendrick.
Heat 2: 1st David Murcott, 2nd Kerry Madsen, 3rd Todd Davis, 4th Taylor Milling, 5th Ben Butcher, 6th Cameron McKenzie. DNF: Brad Maiolo, Rusty Hickman.
Heat 3: 1st Brock Hallett, 2nd Daniel Harding, 3rd Lucas Wolfe, 4th Andrew Priolo, 5th Mitchell Wormall, 6th Jason Pryde, 7th Matthew Cross. DNF: AJ Nash.
Heat 4: 1st Rusty Hickman, 2nd Brooke Tatnell, 3rd Brock Hallett, 4th Kerry Madsen, 5th Taylor Milling, 6th Daniel Harding, 7th Ben Butcher.
Heat 5: 1st Jock Goodyer, 2nd Jason Kendrick, 3rd Glen Sutherland, 4th Mitchell Wormall, 5th David Murcott, 6th Cameron McKenzie.
Heat 6: 1st James McFadden, 2nd Lucas Wolfe, 3rd Andrew Priolo, 4th Todd Davis, 5th Jason Pryde, 6th Callum Williamson, 7th Kris Coyle, 8th Matthew Cross.
Bronze shootout: Jock Goodyer 14.659, Brooke Tatnell 14.660, James McFadden 14.762, David Murcott 14.144.
Silver shootout: Jock Goodyer 14.496, Brooke Tatnell 14.907, Andrew Priolo 1.017, Lucas Wolfe 15.072.
Gold shootout: Kerry Madsen 14.477, Jason Kendrick 14.647, Brooke Tatnell 14.890 and Jock Goodyer 14.890.
B Main: 1st Ben Butcher, 2nd Callum Williamson, 3rd Jason Pryde, 4th Matthew Cross, 5th Matthew Cross.
A Main: 1st Kerry Madsen, 2nd James McFadden, 3rd Lucas Wolfe, 4th Brooke Tatnell, 5th David Murcott, 6th Jason Kendrick, 7th Callum Williamson, 8th Jock Goodyer, 9th Brock Hallett, 10th Todd Davis, 11th Mitchell Wormall, 12th Ben Butcher, 13th Jason Pryde, 14th Jason Pryde, 15th Kris Coyle. DNF: Daniel Harding, Rusty Hickman, Andrew Priolo, Glen Sutherland.
