Drouin drives for Dougo

by Dean Thompson
Drouin Speedway Club held its latest race meeting on Saturday with the Victorian Junior Standard Saloon title up for grabs, the 'Race for Dougo' for open standard saloons and a mini feature for street stocks along with some freestyle motocross performances.
Southeast Melbourne racer Hunter Carey claimed top honours in the state title with Jack Yeomans winning the Drive for Dougo and Leigh Gooding claiming victory in the street stocks.
The crowd was entertained by the freestyle MX riders with high flying jumps and flips and twists bringing new people to the speedway complex on Jindivick Road in Drouin West, a place many people new to Drouin were still unaware of.
Junior standard saloon competitors each competed in three of the four qualifying races to earn points to determine their starting position for the title race.
Catani racer Nathan Miles got his meeting off to a great start, leading every lap on his way to defeating his teammate Hunter Carey and greater Bendigo based racer Tylor Claridge. Miles set a new 10-lap record for the category on his way to a near 10-second win.
Earlier contact between Liam Callanan and Ethan Start resulted in Callanan coming under the scrutiny of stewards for the incident.
Coming from the second row in heat two, Miles again led every lap in a much closer affair as Will Hickey finished less than a second behind him.
Ethan Start and Elouise Bruce were two of a number of drivers who hit the concrete wall during qualifying - Start's car was the complete opposite of the driver's name after hitting the wall in the first race and their day was over.
The race was the second to run start to finish without a caution period in succession. Without Miles in the second heat Carey was able to get the better of Hickey to earn himself a qualifying race win, and his team's third win out of three.
Hickey then won the final heat race, getting the better of Carey in the closing laps of 10 and winning by half a second with Miles back in third.
A 20-lap title race awaited 10 starters and unfortunately for Miles, his race would last just over a lap before a flat tyre outed him from the title chase, leaving Hickey leading the first five laps with Carey, Drouin member Cooper Irons, Nikolas Pritchett, and Liam Ingram in the top five positions.
Ingram and Claridge passed Pritchett on lap nine with Carey taking the race lead at the halfway mark where he led Hickey, Irons, Ingram, and Claridge.
On lap 11 Claridge moved up two spots, passing Ingram and Irons, and with five laps to go, Carey still led Hickey and now Claridge.
Carey held a small margin on Hickey, however he looked comfortable to get to the end in front. Carey then crossed the line to claim Victorian title honours with Hickey crossing the line second.
Unfortunately for Hickey, a technical infringement disqualified him from the race, seeing Claridge elevated to second and Bunyip racer Cooper Irons into third. Ingram and Pritchett rounded out the top five spots.
After the race, the new Victorian champion Hunter Carey acknowledged his team owner, his fellow competitors for their results, his supportive family, the Victorian Speedway Council and Drouin volunteers and officials as he also passed on his empathy to his teammate Nathan Miles and fellow racer Will Hickey.
Carey is soon to be overage and won't be able to run with the Victoria number one plate as he moves into open aged racing.
Open standard saloon competitors in the Drive for Dougo race were honouring Stephen Douglas, the late friend of many and cherished late husband of Sandra who passed away in race competition a few seasons back now.
Local club member Matt Leek got the racing underway with a victory ahead of Kane Gibson in a race ran without stoppage.
Jack Yeomans then won the closest race of the day winning by just 0.004 of a second from Andrew Miles, taking the lead at the latest possible moment.
Yeomans then won the very next qualifier ahead of Brodie Robertson with Andrew Miles, the youngest of four brothers that compete in the class, winning the last qualifier.
A 20-lap distance in the Drive for Dougo final began with Miles the first competitor to suffer mechanical issues and pull out of the race.
Yeomans led Robertson and Owen Cecil at the five-lap mark. At the ten and the 15-lap stage of the race Yeomans still led Robertson, Cecil, Leek, and Gibson.
Robertson had a serious attempt at trying to snatch the victory, however Yeomans won by 0.419 of a second with Cecil in third, Leek fourth and Gibson fifth.
Street stocks held a small feature with Neerim racer Leigh Gooding the pre-event favourite.
Gooding finished the first of three qualifiers across the line only two be hit with a penalty for a race infringement, handing the win to Matthew Bishop.
Gooding then secured the win in the next two races to set up the 10-lap final, where Gooding secured the days feature win in front of Stephen Brook, Dylan Wilikinson, and Stacie Riches.
Drouin Speedway returns to action on April 12 when the Ladies Standard Saloon Victoria title will be held, along with limited sportsmans visiting, open and junior standard saloons and the ramp racing returns.