THE CALIFORNIA KID CLAIMS MAIDEN WORLD SERIES WIN
Hirst wins in Perth
Monte Motorsports’ Kyle Hirst has claimed his first Enzed World Series Sprintcars round win in dramatic fashion as the left rear tyre of the Milwaukee Power Tools #17 exploded just 50 metres before he crossed the finish line.
Hirst held off the Hoosier Hard Charger Steven Lines who raced from fifteenth on the grid to a phenomenal runner up result, ahead of Brooke Tatnell who started in ninth, Jamie Veal and Shaun Bradford.
WSSC Podium
Just eight cars greeted the chequered flag after tyre degradation claimed a number of scalps including front runners, David Murcott, James McFadden, Luke Dillon and Jason Kendrick, while the remaining finishers all proved to be down to the final threads of their rubber to make it across the line, shining even more light on Hirsts miraculous victory.
“To finally get a win is just awesome,” the Californian beamed, “because we’ve been fast and got podiums but never able to finish it off, but to get the monkey off our back now is such a relief. There’s so many good people that we get to race against over here and it’s just so cool.”
Luke Dillon cemented himself as a repeat offender in qualifying, claiming his sixth Revolution Racegear Quicktime for the season over Murcott and Hirst, but after heats and the Top 8 Shootout, started out of the third row beside Jason Kendrick.
Jamie Veal was the early leader in the 30 Lap final but after three stoppages from separate incidents that included Callum Williamson, Daniel Harding and a collision with Ian Madsen and Lee Nash, Hirst pounced on the restart to get under Veal and extend his lead, before a nervous collision with Kye Scroop left the Hirst fans nervous as to whether the Milwaukee Power Tools entry at sustained any damage as immediately after, the race came to a stop for a single car rollover for Andrew Priolo with only six laps remaining.
However the stars finally aligned for Hirst as his tyre exploded as he exited turn four on the final lap, crossing the line just three tenths of a second ahead of Lines and a further two seconds back to Tatnell in third.
The touring circus now heads to Albany next Friday and Bunbury the following night, with Jamie Veal now leading the series by just five points over Brooke Tatnell, and a further 191 points back to Steven Lines. Fourth placed James McFadden’s title hopes received a terrible blow with his DNF leaving him now 379 points behind Veal and in the clutches of Murcott and Dillon in the battle for the minor championship placings.
Photos: Peter Roebuck – Press release World Series Sprintcars
