Queenslanders Dominate Top Sportsman

Queenslanders Dominate Top Sportsman

By Mark Humphrey

Willowbank, Qld/Aus. 19^th June 2015. Queenslander Daniel Morris picked up the Winter Nationals Top Sportsman win at last weekend’s Fuchs 2015 Winter Nationals at Willowbank Raceway in Queensland Australia beating home another Queenslander in Tony Agius. In fact it was an all Queensland finals series with Steve Somer and Terry Seng lining up in the semi-finals.

Coming into the event the national series was up for grabs with Victorian Stu McBain sharing the lead with New South Welshman Steve Fowler. Both drivers were capped on 160 points and looked to have a fair say in the weekend’s proceedings. Just back a touch from the pair was South Aussie pilot in Paul Russo driving a wicked Chevy Belair. Although the Winter Nationals crown was on offer the series plate held just as much importance for these teams with any of the 3 teams in the mix to take out the national series.

Enter round 1 of eliminations and the very first heat. Stu McBain up against Terry Seng in his street driven Brock Commodore. Seng competed in the inaugural Street Machine “Speed Week” last year in the car which is capable of running in the 160 - 180mph bracket over the distance. This should have been reasonably comfortable for McBain as Seng was still trying to find some consistency in the car. Although Seng had put down some big passes over the weekend his times were all over the shop during qualifying which should have suited McBain who is noted for his super consistency. Both cars staged to take the start and you wouldn’t believe it, McBain pulled a big cherry ending his national crown campaign. Russo was next in line 2 heats later and amazingly he too fell over leaving Steve Fowler with the task of winning his round 1 heat to take out the national crown. Fowler had it all before him and the big cubed Pontiac didn’t let him down taking out the heat win and in doing so the Top Sportsman national crown. Good on Steve for taking out the crown but I would have expected the other boys to have made it a bit harder for him. Man that was so easy but that’s what the pressure of a Winter Nationals can place on a driver. Fowler made it to the round of 16 but was beaten by Harry Somer.

Seng had reached the semi courtesy of wins against Pete Anastasopoulos and David Morris and faced off against Agius who was there courtesy of round 16 solo pass and a quarter final win against Neil Maxwell. Agius got the start in the semi with Seng stranded on the line for more than half a second. The race was over before it started with Agius posting an 8.058 on a 7.97 dial in. Seng posted a 10.814 on a 7.41 dial in. In the other semi-final Daniel Morris was up against Steve Somer who managed to take out the Donnelly entry in the round of 16 and then Ronald Allgood in the quarters. Morris was there courtesy of a round 16 win against Troy Daniel following that up with a quarter final win against Harry Somer. Morris got the better of the starts and maintained his advantage throughout the race posting an 8.309 on an 8.26 dial in. Somer was off the pace from the get go and finished his campaign with a 9.929 on an 8.22 dial in.

The final was a tough affair with both drivers locking in low 8’s. Morris dialled in with an 8.29 moving it out slightly from his 8.26 semi dial in while Agius had also backed out his dial in from a 7.97 semi-final dial in to a more comfortable 8.03 dial in. Morris picked up the start by a whisker and held the advantage mid track. Agius had to hustle for the win and in the end posted an 8.019 on an 8.03 giving the win to Morris who drove a superb race posting an 8.320 on an 8.29 dial in to take out the win. The team was ecstatic with Morris’s win as they now go into the history books as the first ever winners of the Winter Nationals Top Sportsman bracket.

Although it was a shortened season the experiment by ANDRA with the category was a huge success with full fields of quality sedans in all rounds.

The Summit Sportsman series heads to Alice Springs next month for round 1 of the 2015/16 season. Sportingscribe.com will be there to catch all the action over the 2 day round along with the entire Summit Sportsman series. If it happens in Summit racing chances are sportingscribe.com will catch it on film.

For more info on the Summit Sportsman Series go to:  http://http://andra.com.au/series/calendar/2015-16-calendar.html

For more info on the Willowbank Summit round go to: http://www.willowbankraceway.com.au/

ANDRA Top Sportsman Video Package

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