IT was a rare May meet at Western Speedway, but Bairnsdale’s Dillon Siely made it count, winning the Victorian Limited Sportsman’s Title on Saturday night.

There was a local flavour to the win, with Siely driving the HA38, typically driven by Katelyn Worthy, with the meet’s new date ruling out the local from competing.

The 27-year-old told The Spectator the win, his fourth Victorian title, wouldn’t have been possible without the Worthy family.

“Pretty happy picking up the win, especially for the Worthy family,” he said.

“They’re the ones keeping this class running, his daughter normally runs this car, and she had a few other things on this weekend … Pete gave me the opportunity to jump in the car this weekend.

“If Pete didn’t give me the opportunity to race his car, I wouldn’t have been racing this weekend.”

It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Siely, who had tyre issues, which played a part in how he drove during the final.

With the laps tally reduced for the final, Siely was one of the main beneficiaries.

“We’ve been through two tyres tonight, we had two flat tyres, so was driving a bit more defensive and not as hard, as I was worried about doing a third,” he said.

“I was happier to see 20 laps there to hold on to, the less laps the better.

“If I was going to run second, I’d happily run second to Bones (Craig Ansell).

“I knew not to get off the pole line and knew it would have been hard for him to go around at that pace.”

It was a family affair for Siely, with his dad also contesting the title.

Had mechanical issues not intervened, it would have been a Siely front row.

“My old man actually qualified on pole and I qualified in number two, but his car broke after winning his last heat, so put him out of the final,” he said.

“It would have been awesome to race against dad, being on the front row together, that is a reason I thank Peter even more, giving me an opportunity to race against dad.”

The win was the 27-year-old’s sixth state title, a haul which includes two South Australian titles, with the Hamilton track a happy hunting ground.

“I won my first Vic title here in Hamilton when I was 17, and my dad actually won it here 23 years ago,” he said.

It was an impressive outing from Siely, who started the final on pole, and held off Hamilton’s Craig Ansell from the start with the two drivers settling into a rhythm, as Siely gapped Ansell early on before the local was able to reduce the deficit nearing the halfway point of the 20-lap final, reduced the initially scheduled 30 laps.

With seven laps to go, Ansell poked his car up the inside, but wasn’t able to make the move stick, with Siely going on to win the title ahead of Ansell and third-placed Thomas Baker, fourth-placed Daniel Hurley and fifth-placed Rod Hetherington.

Ansell said he was happy with his performance, but disappointed he couldn’t win on his home track.

“The race was good, he got the jump on me early, I think I was a bit better down the bottom end and he was a bit better up the top end, but in the end he was in front and that’s all that mattered,” he said.

“I got under him, but I couldn’t hold it down, the car just kept drifting out instead of going forward, so I just couldn’t quite pull the move off.

“There was just a little bit of water down low up that end and that is why he ran wide in the first place and I managed to get under him.

“Then mine was going sideways and he got grip and I didn’t.

“A couple of times I pulled a tear-off and he got away on me, then I had to wind him back in, the car was good and I can’t complain about that.

“He drove really good and he deserved to win.”

It would have been the 59-year-old’s second state title, having won in Horsham during the 2010-2011 season.