THERE was plenty of excitement on offer at Hamilton’s Western Speedway last Wednesday night with the Formula 500’s and Super Sedans entertaining a large crowd.

Hamilton’s Brock Atkins took out his first feature win in the V21 machine, leading Jamie Collins and Dave McKenzie to the podium in the 20-lap final of the Victorian Super Sedan Series round.

Atkins had scored pole position in the final, but it was Collins who jumped to an early lead, setting up a healthy gap between himself and Atkins, however during the closing stages, as the pair moved into lapped traffic, Atkins pounced, taking the lead and the win, with Collins on second spot on the podium.

The Formula 500 Speedweek racing was not without its dramas, with plenty of pace, a couple of rollovers, and several cars retiring to the infield due to structural or mechanical issues during the night, however the F500s once again treated the fans to an action packed program of racing, with the feature event going to Dylan Beveridge (T71 ) Jordan Rae (V9) and Dylan Willsher (V6).

The Formula 500 Junior racers are certainly the stars of the future, turning on the action with plenty of wheel-to-wheel racing throughout their events.

The feature race was won by Tyler Maggs, followed by Zoe Pearce and Koby O’Shannessy, and from the race craft shown by the very talented drivers coming forward in the junior ranks at the moment, the future of the Formula 500 class seems assured. 

The fourth and final round of the series was held at the Southern 500 Speedway and saw Jac Laneyrie taking the win ahead of Dylan Beveridge and James McDonald, while the Junior F500 section saw Zoe Pearce take the win ahead of Tyler Maggs and Cooper Norman.

Results from the overall F500 Speedweek Series saw Jordan Rae picking up the crown of Speedweek Champion, along with a cheque for $2000, as well as a test and tune Sprintcar session, Dylan Beveridge took out second spot, also collecting some serious cash and James McDonald came in a valiant third, again collecting a major prize for his efforts.

Pearce was named the Junior Speedweek Champion, with Mitch Saunderson in second spot, and Dakota Luckett in third place.

While the F500 Speed Week is done and dusted for another year, there is yet a lot of racing to come, with the local Limited Sportsman drivers heading to Bairnsdale this weekend to contest the VSC Victorian Title for their class, while the Modified Sedans will be off to the Blue Ribbon Raceway at Horsham to contest the a round of the VMPA Series, and the Super Sedans will be heading to Avalon for the Annual K Rock Cup. 

Racing will return to Hamilton on January 29, when a large contingent of Street Stocks from Victoria and South Australia are expected to contest a round of the MJS Street Stock Series.

They will be joined by the very popular Super Rods and the rumble of the V8 Trucks will be heard again at Western Speedway after a very lengthy absence.

As the speedway season moves into the second half of the season, there is still plenty more action planned for Western Speedway in early 2022.

For further information and club updates, you can check out the Western Speedway website or Facebook page.