Wayne Brims Blitzes NSSS Round in Brisbane
03/01/11…NASR National Office
Wayne Brims was unstoppable at Brisbane International Speedway last night (Sunday, January 2), streeting the field to win round three of the Carline Mufflers National Super Sedan Series at Brisbane International Speedway. On a night that will perhaps be remembered for all the wrong reasons, Brims put on an emphatic display in difficult conditions to win the Monroe Shock Absorbers-sponsored feature event.
Tasmania’s Brad Smith enjoyed an overdue return to form, leading the opening laps of the shortened 30-lap race before ultimately bringing his Little Transport Insane-Chevrolet Impala into second spot ahead of Steve Jordan, Trent Wilson and Tony Barklimore. Lucas Roberts was next in line in advance of Steve Pearce and Colin Hockley, who did a mighty job to make the field after crashing in his final heat. Lenny Black and a luckless Kevin Purton rounded out the top ten, with Graeme Elliott the only other driver still circulating when the chequer was unfurled.
Series leader Darren Kane was an early casualty in the feature event, heading infield as the field gridded for the start. He was soon joined by Jarrod Harper, who qualified on the outside front row but hooked a rut in turn one at the first attempt to get the race underway. Unfortunately, the subsequent restart resulted in a pile-up in the back straight that left several more contenders out of action, including defending champ Matt Pascoe, Michael Nicola, Sam Hughes, Bill Miller, Shane Best and Des Korn.
Immediately after the resumption, pole qualifier Jamie McHugh joined the infield contingent as the track continued to take its toll, leaving Smith to assume an early lead. Brims wasted little time reeling in Smith and assuming control of the race, seemingly at ease in the conditions. Purton was the big mover through the early stages of the event, surging into second spot before a flat tyre intervened and sent him spiralling back through the field.
Heat wins were shared between McHugh, Smith, Nicola, Korn, Miller, Hughes, Wilson and Harper. South Australia’s Dave Gartner suffered a suspected back injury when his Castrol Dominator-Mustang landed heavily after launching off the bumps through turn two in heat six. A lengthy delay ensued as he was carefully extracted from his car before being transported to hospital.
Despite failing to take the green in the feature, Kane secured enough points to win the Brims Coastal Cement Queensland Cup and maintain a narrow advantage in the championship standings. However, the pointscore is now extremely close with less than 100 points separating the top seven contenders as the teams head south for the start of the Ian Boettcher Race Parts Tri-City Challenge at Mount Gambier’s Borderline Speedway on Friday night (January 7).
Contingency Winners
Shock Doctor Lucky Sevens: Steve Pearce
Supercharge Hard Charger: Colin Hockley
Oval Express Best Presented Car and Crew: Jarrod Harper
Brims Coastal Cement Queensland Cup (contracted): Darren Kane
Brims Coastal Cement Queensland Cup (non-contracted): Wayne Brims
Results
Heat 1: 1. Q44 Trent Wilson, 2. N111 Wayne Brims, 3. Q36 Darren Kane, 4. A1 Jamie McHugh, 5. T4 Sam Hughes, 6. Q3 Graeme Elliott, 7. Q2 Steve Pearce, 8. Q37 Lenny Black. DNS – Q47 Barry Craft
Heat 2: 1. S23 shane Best, 2. V3 Micael Nicola, 3. N17 lachlan onley, 4. V0 Lucas Roberts, 5. S77 Bill Miller, 6. N63 Tony Barklimore, 7. Q15 Matt Pascoe, 8. Q17 Colin Hockley. DNF – N44 Bernie Roberts
Heat 3: 1. T2 Jarrod Harper, 2. S8 Dave Gartner, 3. Q61 Des Korn, 4. Q10 Steve Jordan, 5. T6 Brad Smith, 6. V24 Dave Mackenzie, 7. Q68 Adam Bradford, 8. Q24 Jack Childs. DNS – T25 Kevin Purton
Heat 4: 1. T4 Sam Hughes, 2. A1 Jamie McHugh, 3. Q2 Steve Pearce, 4. Q37 Lenny Black, 5. N111 Wayne Brims, 6. Q44 Trent Wilson, 7. Q3 Graeme Elliott. DNF – Q36 Darren Kane, Q32 Wayne Randall
Heat 5: 1. S77 Bill Miller, 2. Q15 Matt Pascoe, 3. N63 Tony Barklimore, 4. V0 Lucas Roberts, 5. S23 Shane Best, 6. Q17 Colin Hockley, 7. V3 Michael Nicola, 8. N17 Lachlan Onley. DNS – N44 Bernie Roberts
Heat 6: 1. Q61 Des Korn, 2. T2 Jarrod Harper, 3. T25 Kevin Purton, 4. V24 David Mackenzie, 5. Q24 Jack Childs. DNF – Q68 Adam Bradford, S8 Dave Gartner, Q10 Steve Jordan, T6 Brad Smith
Heat 7: 1. A1 Jamie McHugh, 2. N111 Wayne Brims, 3. Q2 Steve Pearce, 4. Q37 Lenny Black, 5. Q36 Darren Kane, 6. Q44 Trent Wilson, 7. Q32 Wayne Randall, 8. T4 Sam Hughes, 9. Graeme Elliott. DNS – Q47 Barry Craft
Heat 8: 1. V3 Michael Nicola, 2. N63 Tony Barklimore, 3. Q15 Matt Pascoe, 4. V0 Lucas Roberts, 5. S77 Bill Miller. DNF – Q17 Colin Hockley, S32 Shane Best, N17 Lachlan Onley. DNS – N44 Bernie Roberts
Heat 9: 1. T6 Brad Smith, 2. Q10 Steve Jordan, 3. T25 Kevin Purton, 4. Q68 Adam Bradford, 5. Q61 Des Korn, 6. T2 Jarrod Harper, 7. Q24 Jack Childs. DNS – V24 Dave Mackenzie, S8 Dave Gartner
Monroe Shock Absorbers Feature Race: 1. N111 Wayne Brims, 2. T6 Brad Smith, 3. Q10 Steve Jordan, 4. Q44 Trent Wilson, 5. N63 Tony Barklimore, 6. V0 Lucas Roberts, 7. Q2 Steve Pearce, 8. Q17 Colin Hockley, 9. Q37 Lenny Black, 10. T25 Kevin Purton, 11. Q3 Graeme Elliott. DNF – Wayne Randall, Adam Bradford, Jamie McHugh, Jarrod Harper, Michael Nicola, Des Korn, Bill Miller, Shane Best, Matt Pascoe, Sam Hughes. DNS – Darren Kane
The 2010/2011 Carline Mufflers National Super Sedan Series progressive pointscore (top ten): Darren Kane 853, Jamie McHugh 848, Brad Smith 835, Trent Wilson 833, Lucas Roberts 828, Steve Jordan 779, Mat Pascoe 756, Tony Barklimore 693, Wayne Brims 636, Kevin Purton 611
For the latest updates and information, visit the series website www.nationalsupersedanseries.com or phone 0410 500571.