HAMILTON has a new national champion after Brock Atkins won the National Modified Sedan Title at Moama last weekend.
The 23-year-old had struggled for much of the weekend, but came up with the goods when it mattered most to claim his first senior national title.
Atkins said it was a mix of emotions, but was relieved the hard work had paid off.
“Excited, but a bit of relief,” he said.
“We won the junior sedans when I was 16 then the following season I moved up to seniors and have been trying ever since.
“I have been in a couple of positions where we have led national titles but then had mechanical failures and things like that, so it was good to finish one and finish on the top step.”
The conditions made passing difficult, but Atkins backed himself and eventually got to the front, holding on to win the 40-lap race.
“We struggled for most of the weekend with passing cars, the track was pretty narrow,” he said.
“I started at six then by lap 19 or so we hit the front.
“There was a challenge for lead with 10 laps to go, but I hung on.”
A change of mindset going into the 2021-22 national title also played a role, as the 13-year speedway driver took a more relaxed approach to the event this year.
“Normally in the past I put a lot of pressure on myself, and perhaps mentally not being in the right frame of mind,” he said.
“So I tried to go in there with no expectations and just try and enjoy the moment this time.”
Todd Atkins also had a successful outing, finishing fourth.
He started one spot behind his brother, but got caught up in traffic throughout the race, before eventually pushing through to collect a spot on the five-step podium.
It comes just a couple of months after success at Queensland’s Kings Royal, where Brock won the feature race.
Brock said to both finish in the top five made it even more special, not only as brothers but because they do everything themselves behind the scenes.
“Especially that we do everything in house, we build our cars, suspension, shocks and with some help we build our own motors, so it is pretty rewarding that out of 86 cars, the two of us are in the top five in Australia,” he said.
Despite changing classes, Atkins will stick to modified sedans for the time being, along with racing his super sedan, which he will do next at the South Australian titles on April 2.
“Modifieds are probably the most competitive sedan class in Australia, we had 68 entries there on the weekend,” he said.
Atkins has already committed to defending his national title next year with the event set to be in Albany, Western Australia.