Amca national v8s go on show v8 racers put on spectacle

Alan Kennedy | 11th January 2009

RAN OUT OF TRACK: Gold Coast’s Aaron Van Zeeland has a visit to the safety wall after he and Kev Stow got too close for comfort during V8 AMCA Nationals racing on Saturday night.

SPEEDWAY: A mate once told me that watching a V8 AMCA National race was like viewing a procession; let's hope he's changing his mind after Saturday nights spectacular action at the Rockhampton Showground.

Admittedly the crowd was treated to the best drivers in this class of racing, but nevertheless the action was fast and furious.

It was a night of spectacular changes of fortune as the lead changed continually as cars fought for supremacy and the opportunity to wear the plates of the Queensland Number One.

Not only was the night's racing memorable for skilful, high-speed driving, but also a number of spectacular departures as cars veered off the race track, to the refuge of the central area, shrouded in smoke and steam as drivers attempted to race their vehicle's engine to the maximum.

Driver Jason Dreaver even provided a moment of deja vu as he was nudged up the wall in the same spot as a Super Sedan at the last meeting which also landed on its roof following impact.

The 30-lap feature race had just about everything as drivers like Adam Wallas and Adam King fought out a remarkable battle for number one only to become a victim of the “engine blowing syndrome” that was such a big part of the racing.

This problem is best judged from the racing of that feature event.

At the start there were 20 vehicles throbbing their way around the track waiting for the green light for racing to commence.

By the time a squally shower forced stewards to call an end to racing after 25 of the scheduled 30 laps there were just five cars left in contention.

Not all had blown engines or suffered some form of structural damage, but a high proportion of the vehicles were emitting excessive amounts of smoke from exhausts or engine compartments.

Adding to the confusion the winner was not on the race program.

Tasmanian Number One Marcus Alexander literally sailed to the championship victory under the radar.

Alexander's entry was not registered in time to be included in the program and during the feature race he was always just a few car lengths away from the battle being waged at the front of the field.

Consequently the Tasmanian stayed out of trouble and therefore when the smokescreen cleared from the dramatic departure of both Wallas and King it was Alexander who serenely drifted through the chaos to claim the race lead.

Not all drivers positioned on the dais had enjoyed such an incident free evening.

Queenslander Aaron Van Zeeland finished second in the feature, but spent the night flirting with disaster, twice finding the wall and needing plenty of assistance to get his car back on its feet.

Former Queensland Number One, Mick Sauer from the Gold Coast, was the third-place-getter.

Local racers knew it would be tough but two, Dean Ballard and Ben Genrich, battled their way through to the Feature, by recording victories in heats.

The battle for the B Main race to gain qualification to the feature was a tremendous race

Queenslander Daniel Thomas was on the second row at the start and managed to stay with the leaders going into the final lap of the 15 lap event.

However, in what was the story of the night's racing Kev Stow pulled out as his car was engulfed in steam and smoke as it seemed he would lead the pack home gifting Thomas the race win.

While the AMCA Queensland Titles was the main event of the night the support racing of the Super Sedans, Fender Benders and Super Stockers provided plenty of entertainment.

A report on their racing will appear in Tuesday's edition of the Morning Bulletin.