Drouin Speedway goes off with a bang

by Dean Thompson
Drouin Speedway held its latest race meeting on Sunday with two headline events for sports sedans and the women's standard saloons supported by racing from the junior 1200cc sedans, junior standard saloons and open standard saloons.
Cameron Dike took victory in the sports sedans after Damien Miller who led the majority of the race, finished infield with a flat tyre.
Tahlia Campbell continued on her successful season when she won the third round of the Victorian series for women's standard saloons.
Sports sedan competitors had the second of two feature events paying terrific money in Gippsland across the weekend. The night before they raced at Nyora Raceway in South Gippsland and then travelled across to West Gippsland for the second event.
Damien Miller dominated the feature event at the front whilst both Cameron Dike and his father John Dike set slightly faster laps than Miller stuck in behind him.
Further back in the field Inverloch racer Braidan Webster was even faster than the front three.
After Miller headed infield with a flat tyre, Cameron Dike went on to secure his second victory locally in three weeks. John Dike finished in second, Drouin registered racer Troy Glassborow crossed the finish line in third with Webster and then Gavan Dorain rounding out the top five.
Winners of the heat races were Will Leeson, Braidan Webster and Miller.
The women put on a terrific feature event also with Maddison Miles from Catani the early feature race leader, before Latrobe Valley woman Tahlia Campbell snuck on past and into the race lead.
Some of the favoured racers such as Bronwyn Miles, Stacey Sheedy and Bree Walker ended infield without a race finish.
Campbell raced on to the win ahead of Maddison Miles, Tasharni Murray, Melissa van Strien and Shana Hilsdon.
Four heat races were run earlier with Campbell winning the first, Bronwyn Miles the second, Walker the third and Maddison Miles the last.
Victorian champion Bryce Leek led a Drouin member one, two and three in the junior 1200cc sedan class with most competitors in Datsuns and Toyotas.
Leek claimed victory in front of Ella Sheedy of Bunyip and Chase Doherty with Victoria number two racer Xander Baxter fourth to finish in front of Dayne Murdoch.
Leek won two of the four heat races with Sheedy and Brad Marshall winners of the others.
Kacey Ingram completed a back-to-back weekend for himself after claiming feature race honours at Nyora the night before.
He went on to lead from the front each of the fifteen laps at Drouin in the class final with Matt Leek less than half a second behind him.
Josh Kokshoorn, Chris Miles, and Kane Gibson rounded out the top five. Winners of the six qualifiers were Ingram, Jack Yeomans, Andrew Miles, Yeomans a second time, Gibson and Chris Miles were the winners.
Chase Ingram continued to show that he on paper at least should figure strongly in the upcoming junior standard saloon title at Bairnsdale Speedway by winning the junior standard saloon final at Drouin.
Ingram defeated another recent feature race winner Hunter Carey with Cooper Joynson in third spot.
Zoe Hunt and rookie race driver Cooper Irons rounded out the top five placegetters.
Carey, Ella Sheedy, Bryce Leek, and Ingram were all winners of the four qualifying races leading to the final.