Gessner Wins At Archerfield, In Box Seat For Tri - City Crown
Author : Archerfield Speedway
Beaten narrowly by David Muir in a race for the line just twenty-four hours earlier, Cameron Gessner set the record straight with a convincing win in the thirty lap Tyrepower Feature at Supercheap Auto Archerfield Speedway on Easter Saturday night to lay down his claim for the overall East Coast Logistics Qld Sprintcar Tri-City Shootout with one night remaining.
Gessner was never headed nor really troubled throughout the Feature event, getting the jump on Tyrepower Dash winner Robbie Farr and then setting the pace of the field as battles for position raged behind him. What began as a bit of a stop-start affair with the early retirements of Todd Wanless and Pete Thorley who both found the front straight wall through no fault of their own and then Kevin Titman who also found the turn four wall after jumping the cushion, turned into quite a good and entertaining race once it settled in.
The battle for the minors between Farr and Reidy was especially good early on, and when Farr got over the cushion in turn four it opened up an opportunity for Reidy to chase down the leader. Gessner was comfortable in front and while Reidy did close within a couple of car lengths in lapped traffic, it was to no avail when he returned the favour to Farr and also got too high in three and four. Farr pounced and reclaimed second but with laps quickly running out, it was only ever going to be a mistake by Gessner that would change the leader, and that mistake never came.
Friday night winner David Muir was the link between the top three and the battle for a top five spot between 2012 Classic winner Ian Loudon and KRE Race Engines Sprintcar Track Championship point leader Bryan Mann, Loudon finally getting the upper hand with around five to go to post his second fifth place finish of the weekend.
Earlier in the night, Todd Wanless sent a reminder that he can be quick in qualifying by stopping the clock at 11.708s to record his first Sprintcar Fast Time award of the season, something he accomplished on six occasions last season. Wanless' time was quicker than Gessner's (11.842), Mark Pholi's (11.900), Farr's (11.933), Muir's (11.937) and Paul Rooks' run of 11.945s.
Heat race wins went to Reidy (2), Mann, Pholi, Thorley (2), Titman and Andrew Scheuerle. Rarely do you see Scheuerle in the B-Main at Archerfield but when you do, it's even rarer to see him not make the transfer to the A-Main. Andrew ensured that little statistic continued with a drive to the front of the "B", taking over the front spot when Luke Oldfield flipped in turn one and going on to win the fifteen lapper from Paul Rooks, Steven Johnson and Ben Hilder with Ronnie Barber narrowly missing the transfer in his second race back following a lengthy layoff.
The third and final night of the Easter Speedfest is in Toowoomba tonight (Sunday) and given his record at Charlton Raceway, it's fair to say that Cameron Gessner is in the box seat to win the East Coast Logistics Qld Sprintcar Tri-City Shootout and Crispy Memorial double for 2012 and the lion's share of the spoils that go with them.
East Coast Logistics Qld Sprintcar Tri-City Shootout - Night 2 Feature:
Cameron Gessner, Robbie Farr, Danny Reidy, David Muir, Ian Loudon, Bryan Mann, Peter Lack, Andrew Scheuerle, Darren Jensen, Richard Morgan, Paul Rooks, Brent Kratzmann, Steven Johnson, Ben Hilder. DNF - Kevin Titman, Mark Pholi, Pete Thorley, Todd Wanless.
East Coast Logistics Qld Sprintcar Tri-City Shootout - Night 1 Feature (Maryborough):
David Muir, Cameron Gessner, Danny Reidy, Todd Wanless, Ian Loudon, Kevin Titman, Robbie Farr, Peter Lack, Matthew Butler, Pete Thorley, Paul Rooks, Rob Muscat, Darren Jensen, Steven Johnson, Richard Morgan. DNF - Brent Kratzmann, Andrew Scheuerle, Bryan Mann.
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