Peter Nicola Powers to Avalon NSSS Win
Peter Nicola Powers to Avalon NSSS Win…15/01/07…NASR/ASCF Media Release
Peter Nicola scored an emphatic win in round four of the 2006/2007 National Super Sedan Series at Avalon Raceway on Saturday, January 6, becoming only the second driver in history to clean sweep the program at a NSSS event. Having qualified his AKZ Engineering Pontiac Grand Prix on pole position after taking out both his heats and the A Dash, Nicola spent the early laps of the feature chasing defending series champ Wayne Randall before blasting around the outside and clearing away to score a career best result and become the first Victorian to win a NSSS feature.
Randall qualified alongside Nicola on the front row for the 30-lap feature event and finished in second spot to emerge as the new series leader at the halfway stage of the eight-round competition, with fellow Queenslander Wayne Miles also scoring his best ever result with a third-place finish in his first season of Super Sedan competition.
Wayne Belk was also very impressive in finishing fourth aboard his International Protective Coatings Dodge Charger to secure his best result of the 2006/2007 series thus far, while John Leslight annexed fifth after a mid-race penalty of two positions for persistent use of the infield. A rejuvenated Brett Hignett bounced back from a mid-week engine rebuild to snare sixth ahead of Michael Gee, who picked up both the Sport Engines Hard Charger and the AFCO Shock Doctor Lucky Sevens in addition to the Oval Express Best Presented Car and Crew Award. John McGeorge was next best, followed by Wayne Brims, Paddy Ward and Michael Hickey, who advanced from 19th to finish 11th, with Tony Barklimore rounding out the top twelve. After qualifying strongly inside the top ten, a spin proved costly for Bill Miller and he ultimately finished 13th ahead of Tasmania’s Brad Smith. Likewise, Steve Jordan seemingly had 4th place secured before he spun infield with just three laps remaining and was credited with 15th overall.
In front of a large and vocal crowd who braved some terrible weather conditions, Nicola made his intentions clear from the outset when he charged around the outside of the field to win his opening heat and then duplicated the performance in his next outing. Other heat winners were Miles, McGeorge, Ward, Jordan, Brims and opening round winner Darren Kane, who was an early casualty in the feature with a flat tyre. Randall snared runner-up results in each of his heats and his scrap with Michael Tomkins in heat six was a cracker – the duo running two-wide throughout in one of many highlights from another great night of competition.
Michael Nicola took out the B Main ahead of Gee, Smith, Dave Gartner, David Nichols, Tomkins and Lionel West, who was the best of the small local contingent taking on the series regulars for the K-Rock Cup. Belk triumphed in the JD Couriers B Dash over Leslight, Jordan, Miller, Hignett and Ward. The Speedway Sedan Digest A Dash saw Peter Nicola outpace Randall, Miles, Kane, Belk and Leslight to secure pole position for the feature race.
A Main 1. Peter Nicola, 2. Wayne Randall, 3. Wayne Miles, 4. Wayne Belk, 5. John Leslight, 6. Brett Hignett, 7. Michael Gee, 8. John McGeorge, 9. Wayne Brims, 10. Paddy Ward, 11. Michael Hickey, 12. Tony Barklimore, 13. Bill Miller, 14. Brad Smith, 15. Steve Jordan, 16. Dave Gartner, 17. Michael Tomkins, 18. Darren Kane, 19. Michael Nicola, 20. Lucas Roberts
B Main 1. Michael Nicola, 2. Michael Gee, 3. Brad Smith, 4. Dave Gartner, 5. David Nichols, 6. Michael Tomkins, 7. Lionel West, 8. Jack Childs, 9. Michael Hickey, 10. Michael Doblo, 11. Wesley Hose, 12. Ashley Bergmeier, 13. Daniel Miller
Contingency Awards:
Oval Express Best Presented Car and Crew: Michael Gee
Sport Engines Hard Charger: Michael Gee
AFCO Shock Doctor Lucky Sevens: Michael Gee
Speedway Sedan Digest Pole Winner: Peter Nicola
2006/2007 National Super Sedan Series progressive pointscore (top twenty): Wayne Randall 3522, John Leslight 3408, Steve Jordan 2876, Darren Kane 2823, Michael Gee 2450, Peter Nicola 2165, Wayne Brims 2090, Wayne Miles 1847, Dave Gartner 1839, Matthew Williams 1748, Brad Smith 1741, Wayne Belk 1707, Michael Nicola 1688, Paddy Ward 1661, Brett Hignett 1553, Bill Miller 1483, Steve Vaughan 1445, Gary Pagel 1347, Michael Hickey 1302, Tony Barklimore 1215
The 2006/2007 NASR/SSA National Super Sedan Series is proudly supported by the following sponsors: Speedway Racing News, Sport Engines, Art by Mickey, AFCO Shock Doctor, Aussie Trackwear, Speedway Sedan Digest, Weatherall Prestige Autobody, Performance Wholesale, JD Couriers, Race Hard, Oval Express, Bilstein Shock Absorbers, McCall Communications, Ian Boettcher Race Parts, Speedway Sedans Australia (ASCF), National Association of Speedway Racing (NASR)
