WATTS WINS HOME TRACK 40TH ANNIVERSARY EVENT

WATTS WINS HOME TRACK 40TH ANNIVERSARY EVENT

Mitch Watts did his home club of Leeton proud when on April the 30th he went on to defeat his 

father in law and current Victorian champion Ross Maclean in a last lap pass as he crossed the line in 

first place on a special 40th anniversary race night, Maclean second and Dave Walton finished in 

third place. 

With big events on the program for Super Sedans & Production Sedans the Goulburn Ovens Sedan 

Association played the third string role on the card and in reality had the closest finish of the night in 

their final. 

Watts (# 54 Ace Smash Repairs – Commodore) began the evening in heat one with a victory over 

Frank Gordon, Wally Dewar, Walton & Maclean. A six lap race on the 917 metre long track finished 

with just over two and a half seconds between first and second at the finish line. Scott Callander 

finished in seventh ahead of Mark Pollard, Jamie Atkins & Stuart Balins whilst Mick Pettit (# 6 MP 

Sheds – Commodore), Mick Quinn & Mark Gordon were all non-finishers.

Off the front row Callander (# 24 Jindera Automotive – Falcon) took the early lead in heat two and 

after starting from position four it took Maclean until lap three to hit the front and go on to record 

the fastest time for a heat race for the night with six laps done in two minutes 58.732 seconds. 

Watts moved ahead of Callander & into second on lap five finishing just over three seconds behind 

Maclean (# 1 Macleans Storage Corowa – Commodore). Pettit was fourth with Walton, Frank 

Gordon, Pollard, Dewar, Quinn, Atkins & Mark Gordon a lap down finishing behind the winner. Balins 

didn’t finish.

Making it two wins in the heat races and securing pole position for the final, Maclean took the lead 

from Pollard (# 18 BB Freight – Commodore) on lap two, Pollard held strong in second until lap five 

when he spun in turn one and out of the race.

Watts assumed second place behind Maclean after starting back in seventh place, Pettit moved into 

third with Walton (# 43 Maverick Boats – Centura) & Callander from the very back of the field next in 

line as Maclean took the .742 of a second win. Quinn finished in sixth spot with Dewar, Atkins & 

Balins the others to finish. Frank Gordon missed the start and Mark Gordon (# 91 Menzplant – 

Commodore) who had a new engine in the car was having issues which didn’t allow him to start the 

first heat either.

A ten lap final at Brobenah Raceway Leeton is like a twenty to twenty two lap final at most other 

regular size speedways & the drivers thrilled the crowd, especially Maclean & Watts out front. 

Maclean got the lead on lap one from Watts, Callander held onto third place with Walton chasing.

On lap seven Walton moved into third ahead of Callander, Mark Gordon dropped out of the race yet 

again with his engine not right whilst earlier in the final Quinn (# 17 KMA Signs – Commodore) 

copped a whack from Mark Gordon and that put him out of the race.

On the very last lap Watts took the lead in front of parochial home crowd to bring his Leeton 

registered race car to a win with Maclean just .088 of a second behind. The race went green to 

chequered flag without a stop and a four minute and 50.544 second race time. Walton was third five 

seconds back with Callander, Frank Gordon, Dewar, Pettit, Pollard, Atkins & Balins (# 22 QA Kitchens 

– Commodore) the finishers. 

Goulburn Ovens Sedan Association would like to thank the sponsors.

Max’s Motor Museum – Corowa

Maverick Boats – Corowa

Elle Mae Hair & Beauty – Corowa

Corowa Kitchens & Cabinets

Psychic Tina – Leeton

Wahgunyah Rock Yard – Wahgunyah

Stevo’s Painting Services

Cornelius Classic Panels – Corowa

Ace Smash Repairs – Leeton

MP Sheds – Leeton

Corowa Glass – Corowa

Dunkley Paint & Panels – Corowa

Sf photo graphix - Mulwala

Written by

Dean Thompson

DMT Sports Media

For Goulburn Ovens Sedan Association

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