| Aceways Autogear Racing Leave Wa Inside Wss Top Ten | ||||
|
|
The Aceways Autogear Racing team of Todd Wanless and Robbie Farr competed in the opening Rounds of the 2006/07 World Series Sprintcars (WSS) Championship in Kalgoorlie and Perth on November 8/10/11, with both drivers leaving WA inside the top ten in WSS points ahead of the next round of the Series at Speedway City in Adelaide this coming Saturday night, November 18. Racing against some of the best sprintcar drivers from Australia and the US, Todd and Robbie's quest for WSS glory was never going to be an easy one but the two former National Champions acquitted themselves well by qualifying for each night's main event. Farr was particularly unlucky not to finish on the podium at Kalgoorlie, leading the points after the Heat races in the #7 Aceways/ABC Auto Group Cool and running second to eventual winner Brooke Tatnell in the Feature before slipping to fourth at the flag. Wanless' run in the A-Main at Kalgoorlie ended mid-race when he rolled his #61 Cool racer while running inside the top twelve after earlier grabbing the final transfer spot in the B-Main to start 18th in the night's Feature event. "Kalgoorlie was a tough night for us" Todd explained. "There was very little between the top fifteen in time trials and I missed the Dash and had to make my way into the Feature through the B-Main. We were moving forward until a mistake cost us what should have been a top ten finish. The boys had some work to do ahead of the race at Kwinana but that's the nature of this game and they did a great job in getting the car ready for us." Rain and intermittent showers greeted the team at the wide open spaces of the Perth Motorplex at Kwinana and night one of the double-header was shortened to complete the program on time. Todd and Robbie both qualified for the Preliminary main event, Todd making the race on the back of a Heat race win over local hot-shoe Ken Satori while Robbie timed in fourth quick in a field of thirty-eight cars and finished sixth in his qualifying Heat race. With little in the way of passing opportunities due to the locked-down, high speed freight train manner of the racetrack, the two finished 10th and 4th respectively behind race winner Max Dumesny. Night two's race format offered two more qualifying Heat races, two Dashes and C, B and A-Mains. Robbie qualified on the front row of the the A-Dash alongside 2006 World of Outlaws Champion Donny Schatz, running second to the American to set up a second row start for the Feature while Todd again made the field through by finishing 5th in the B-Main to start 17th. However, the thirty lap Feature was a contrast for the two with Robbie slipping to 7th at the chequers while Todd made his way past six cars to finish 11th. "Kwinana was a terrific place to race a sprintcar, everything I expected and more." Todd commented after the race. "I had raced there before in the midget at the Australian Title a few years back but that was my first run there in a sprintcar. It's disappointing it rained on the first night but they did a great job to get the track ready again to race and the crowd were very supportive of their efforts. Our guys again gave Robbie and I great cars and my car got better as the race went on, running against guys like Brooke, Donny, Max and (Jason) Johnson you really need to be on your game from the outset. But that's what makes us better racers and if you want to win, you may as well try to win against the best." With the opening rounds of the 2006/07 Series completed, Robbie sits 4th in the standings on 1149 points (equal with Max Dumesny) and Todd's haul of 807 points has him placed 9th of the Series contracted and part-time drivers heading into the next Round at Speedway City on November 18. |