Petrolheads light up Carnarvon Speedway for North West Annual Championships

If it had four wheels there was a good chance it was racing in Carnarvon on the weekend as the local speedway held the annual North West Championships.

More than 100 racers belted up to take part in the club’s biggest event across nine categories of ranging from junior new stars up to Limited Sprincars racing.

Held across two nights competitors raced across five heats culminating in feature racers on Sunday with perpetual trophies and prize money on the line.

The Carnarvon Speedway committee was pleased with the event which was a huge undertaking for the club.

“Our little speedway that resembled a small town across the weekend,” it said.

“From travelling drivers and families to travelling officials and volunteers it really is the people that make us keep coming back to experience the highs and lows of this sport.

“We as a club would like to thank each and every person that came along this weekend or supported us to make it happen. From quiet workers in the lead-up to sponsors and of course the racers themselves.”

For some just making it to the feature was an achievement, with plenty of incidents thinning the fields out on night one.

In the featured sprinters, 13 cars made it to the start line but only nine would see the chequered flag as Trent Lyall won out in a battle with Joel Ettridge by just 0.663 seconds.

Both had been impressive in the heats though Chad Pittard was the favourite with two wins and a second place before engine trouble saw him unable to continue past the fourth heat.

Nathan Davis had also been impressive with two heat wins but disaster struck when he and Clayton Dickinson came together on lap 11 ending both of their night prematurely.

With Glenn Dickinson unable to convert his heat pace on race day Lyall and Ettridge were in a two-man battle with Lyall having the better pace at the back end to claim the win.

Only nine cars of the original 16-strong production field made it to the end of their feature with Josh Fraser victorious in an epic battle with Geraldton’s Baker boys Ashley and Mitchell.

Fraser had been consistently faster throughout the heats and so it would prove in the feature though only by the barest of margins crossing the line 0.132sec. ahead of Ashley Baker with Mitchell only 0.670sec. behind at the end of the 20th lap.

Jace Kempton completed a dominant weekend with a dominant performance in the street stocks feature crossing the line more than five seconds clear of Wade Mason who was in a tight three-way battle with Ben Norman and Craig Clayton as they all crossed the line within less than four-tenths of a second between them.

Glenn Harper took the Modifieds feature win edging out Michel Ricetti by 0.756sec. after Peter Katona, who was the fastest man on track retired after four laps with mechanical failure.

There was no competition in the junior new stars category as Jacob Lathwell smashed the field by more than seven seconds to claim the title.

Michael Binning claimed the top stars Juniors feature ahead of Vince Lindsay and Jett Downs while Jason Urwin was the super sixers champion ahead of Lynon Morley and Luke Mateljan.

Mark Shepard won all five heats in the supermods category while Brandon Sharpe was the wingless champion holding off Heydon Hicks and Cam Holla by less than 2sec.