Tim Atkin Takes NSW Production Title 2015

15/02/15…Pam Franz….courtesy of www.speedwaysedans.com

Australian Champion, Tim Atkin, has last night at the Grafton Speedway, added the New South Wales Production Sedan crown to his impressive list of victories, with a narrow victory in the 20 lap Championship decider.

Atkin now holds the Queensland, Victorian and New South Wales titles, along with his Australian Title crown, with just the West Australian Title missing from his list of achievements.

Atkin won all three of his qualifying heats, to start from pole position for the title decider. Courtesy of winning two heats, Stuart Fawcett would join Atkin on the front row, with Jim Cowley and Neil Keldoulis starting on row two.

The opening lap took a while to complete, with a three car pile up involving Josh Crange, Selina English and Daniel Henshaw, taking a while to clear, with cars crashed into the fence.

Once the race got underway Atkin took control, but never had a large lead, with Fawcett, Cowley and Keldoulis in close proximity.

Fawcett was forced to withdraw with eight laps remaining, elevating Cowley and Keldoulis, who were in battle for the minor placings, and ultimately for the lead, as they joined Atkin.

Atkin would prevail, winning by a car length, with a similar margin to Keldoulis in third, behind Cowley.

In a race that had many casualties, only nine drivers completed the distance.

OFFICIAL RESULTS

:: Production Sedans

Heat 1 – 8 Laps: 1. A1 Tim Atkin, 2. G23 Adrian Stott, 3. L72 Nick Chilcott, 4. G25 Selina English, 5. G10 Daniel Henshaw, 6. G8 Andrew Corbett, 7. SC10 Russell Cowley, 8. L54 Jackson Graham, 9. Gil71 Lindsay Foster (2 laps). Time: 2.24.596, Winning Margin: 3.378, Fastest Lap: 17.515 A1 Tim Atkin

Heat 2 – 8 Laps: 1. SC61 Jim Cowley, 2. L65 Stuart Fawcett, 3. L82 NIck Smith, 4. SB2 Josh Crange, 5. L61 Mykel English, 6. L49 Mark Quirk, 7. L83 Chris Besseling, 8. C36 Tim Smith (4 laps), 9. G777 Neil Keldoulis (3).  Time: No Time, Winning Margin: 0.417, Fastest Lap: 17.310 SB2 Josh Crange

Heat 3 – 8 Laps: 1. L65 Stuart Fawcett, 2. SC10 Russell Cowley, 3. G25 Selina English, 4. G777 Neil Keldoulis, 5. L72 Neil Chilcott, 6. Gil72 Lindsay Foster, 7. L83 Chris Besseling, 8. L82 Nick Smith, 9. L54 Jackson Graham (6 laps). Time: No Time, Winning Margin: 3.813, Fastest Lap: 17.217 L65 Stuart Fawcett

Heat 4 – 8 Laps: 1. A1 Tim Atkin, 2. L49 Mark Quirk, 3. SB2 Josh Crange, 4. SC61 Jim Cowley, 5. G10 Daniel Henshaw, 6. L53 Ashley Graham, 7. G8 Andrew Corbett, 8. C36 Tim Smith, 9. G23 Adrian Stott (3 laps). DISQ: L61 Mykel English (3). Time: No Time, Winning Margin: 1.291, Fastest Lap: 17.387 SB2 Josh Crange

Heat 5 – 8 Laps: 1. L65 Stuart Fawcett, 2. G777 Neil Keldoulis, 3. C36 Tim Smith, 4. SC10 Russell Cowley, 5. SC61 Jim Cowley, 6. G23 Adrian Stott, 7. G25 Selina English, 8. L82 Nick Smith. Time: 2.20.889, Winning Margin: 3.844, Fastest Lap: 17.351 L65 Stuart Fawcett

Heat 6 – 8 Laps: 1. A1 Tim Atkin, 2. L53 Ashley Graham, 3. L72 Nick Chilcott, 4. SB2 Josh Crange, 5. L61 Mykel English, 6. Gil71 Lindsay Foster, 7. G8 Andrew Corbett (4 laps), 8. G10 Daniel Henshaw (2), 9. L83 Chris Besseling (0), 10. L49 Mark Quirk (0). Time: No Time, Winning Margin: 1.195, Fastest Lap: 17.698 L61 Mykel English

A Main – 20 Laps: 1. A1 Tim Atkin, 2. SC61 Jim Cowley, 3. G777 Neil Keldoulis, 4. C36 Tim Smith, 5. L49 Mark Quirk, 6. G23 Adrian Stott, 7. SC10 Russell Cowley, 8. L83 Chris Besseling, 9. Gil71 Lindsay Foster, 10. L72 Nick Chilcott (12 laps), 11. L65 Stuart Fawcett (12), 12. L53 Ashley Graham (9), 13. G8 Andrew Corbett (9), 14. L82 Nick Smith (7), 15. L54 Jackson Graham (6), 16. L61 Mykel English (2), 17. G10 Daniel Henshaw (0), 18. G25 Selina English (0), 19. SB2 Josh Crange (0). Time: No Time, Winning Margin: 0.323, Fastest Lap: 17.469 G777 Neil Keldoulis