Gavin Fletcher Not Ready to Abdicate
25/01/16…Pam Franz….courtesy of SSA Media Jason Crowe
Gavin Fletcher is still the King after winning the Kings Royal IV at the Lucas Oils, Kingaroy Speedway on Sunday night, in front of a big crowd.
Fletcher would start the race on the outside of Greg Worling, who is also a previous winner of the race, while Brett Barron and Wayne Gilroy would start on row two.
Fletcher started better than Worling, taking the lead on the opening lap, a lead which ultimately saw him not surrender at any stage.
Worling would chase Fletcher through the opening five laps, in which time Glenn Pagel and Ashley Parkinson would retire.
The first major move of the race would come from former Australian Champion, Justin Drew of Victoria, who started on the fourth row of the grid, and found himself in second place on just lap six, demoting Worling to third.
A heavy crash between Ty Galley and Shane MacDonald, would see the pair retire from the 50 lap A Main after just eight laps.
On the resumption, Fletcher continued to lead Drew, Worling and Shannon Blackburn, while Quintin Clarke had moved to third.
Placings remained unchanged amongst the top five until lap twenty one, when Aidan Raymont relegated Clarke back to sixth.
Shannon Blackburns’ race ended soon after, joining Johnno Collins on the infield as the race reached half way.
Aidan Raymont who started on the sixth row, moved to fourth, as Russell Harris moved to sixth behind Clarke with twenty laps remaining.
Fletcher had a handy lead over the opposition as the race moved into the final quarter of the race. Aidan Raymonts race ended on lap thirty six, elevating Clarke and Harris to fourth and fifth respectively, and then with ten laps remaining, the race took another turn when Justin Drew retired, allowing the ever consistent Worling back to second place.
Fletchers lead had increased over his opposition in the concluding stages, and found himself a quarter of a lap in front at the Showgrounds venue.
Throughout the race, there was one other driver, driving a brilliant race, that being Gary Pagel. Pagel started from the back row of the grid after finishing fourth in the B Main. Systematically he picked up positions throughout the race, and with ten laps to go, Pagel was fourth. In a great finish, Pagel passed Russell Harris on the last lap to finish third, while Rodney Pammenter and Darren Baldwin finished together, finishing fifth and sixth respectively with Tim Smith and Quintin Clarke right behind that pair as the only other drivers to complete the full 50 laps.
Fletcher though was too good, finishing well clear of former ‘Royal winner Worling, who inturn finished along way ahead of Pagel after a gruelling 50 laps.
Preceeding the A Main, the B Main was a field worthy of a National Final, with Australian Champion Mark Carlin, Victorians Brody Chrystie and Victorian Champion Martin Hawson all failing to qualify for the main race.
OFFICIAL RESULT
A Main – 50 Laps: 1. Q42 Gavin Fletcher, 2. N3 Greg Worling, 3. Q68 Gary Pagel, 4. Q69 Russell Harris, 5. Q8 Rodney Pammenter, 6. Q3 Darren Baldwin, 7. Q14 Tim Smith, 8. Q81 Quintin Clarke, 9. V62 Jordan Biviano (49 laps), 10. Q19 Wayne Gilroy (48), 11. Q111 Kerry Lack (47), 12. Q32 Nathan Macdonald (47), 13. V7 Justin Drew (39), 14. Q28 Aidan Raymont (36), 15. Q27 Mark Raymont (29), 16. Q11 Gavin Lorensen (24), 17. Q22 Shannon Blackburn (22), 18. Q21 Johnno Collins (22), 19. Q12 Brodie Boss (11), 20. Q48 Brett Barron (8), 21. Q88 Ty Galley (8), 22. Q27 Shane Macdonald (8), 23. V5 Ashley Parkinson (4), 24. Q4 Glenn Pagel (3). Time: No Time, Winning Margin: 3.852, Fastest Lap: 16.899 N3 Greg Worling