Michelle Byron
The 2020/21 Microsprint Australian Title was held at Hi Tech Oils Speedway in Toowoomba on a sunny Mother’s Day afternoon.
17 cars were entered for the event, however due to a licensing issue for Rhys Marchant, only 16 took to the track.
Heat 1 saw Ben La Pla and Chris Tunnah on the front row, Eddie Schwela and Matt Hanford on row two with Kaitlyn Field and Darren Salmon on the third row with Cameron Munro and Jacko Isaacs on the last row. La Pla held onto first place from the drop of the green. Salmon had a few gremlins and was unable to make an impact on the field. Isaacs made his way through the pack and, at the end of the heat, finished in third place behind La Pla and Schwela followed by Field, Hanford, C Munro and Salmon. Tunnah was relegated to the infield and was unable to finish the heat.
Heat 2 saw defending Australian Champion, Shane Munro on pole with Jason Glynn alongside him. Pete Challen and fellow New South Welshman, Jason Summers made up row two with Adam Jack and Ernie Havas on row three with Jacob Lynd and John Lawson on row four. Munro led the pack while Summers jumped into third place with Havas working through the field to third while Challen was in fourth. Jason Glynn suffered steering problems, seeing him hit the wall, bringing out the yellow flag. From the restart Havas got the jump on the field shooting into first with S Munro in second and Summers in third. As the chequered fell, it was Havas from Munro. Summers, Glynn, Lynd, Challen, Jack and Lawson.
Heat 3 saw Lawson and C Munro on the front row followed by Havas and Field with Summers and Schwela in the third row and Glynn and La Pla rounding out the field. In a rather messy heat start, it was Lawson who got out in front of Havas and Schwela. Summers and La Pla exchanged some paint as they battled for the minor places. At the fall of the chequered it was Lawson from Havas, Schwela, La Pla, Summers, Field, Glynn and C Munro.
The fourth and final Heat saw Isaacs and Lynd on the front row, Salmon and Jack on the second row, Hanford and Challen on the third row with Tunnah and S Munro at the back of the pack. Isaacs took the lead from Lynd from the get go, both holding their positions until the end. S Munro had an epic drive, weaving through the pack from 8th position to take third followed by Tunnah, Challen, Salmon, Hanford and Jack.
The feature saw all 16 cars starting with New South Wales dominating the front row with Havas on pole and Isaacs in P2. S Munro and Schwela were in row two, Le Pla and Lynd row three with Summers and Field making up the fourth row. Behind them were Challen and Glynn, then Hanford and Salmon while C Munro and Lawson lined up behind them and Tunnah and Jack rounding out the pack.
Havas took the lead from the green from Isaacs and S Munro. On the third lap, Tunnah took a little spin in turn 2, bringing out the yellow and sending him to the rear for the restart. Once again, Havas took the lead from the restart from Isaacs, Schwela, S Munro and La Pla rounding out the top 5. Isaacs and Schwela spent some time rubbing tyres together as they battled for second place. Tunnah went for another spin on turn 2 during lap 6, bringing out the yellows and relegating Tunnah to the infield and ending his night.
From the restart the track became a battlefield with Havas and Isaacs fighting for the top spot and La Pla and Schwela vying for third.
With 5 laps to go, C Munro spun then with 2 to go, Lawson tapped the wall bringing out the yellow again. During the stoppage, La Pla rolled into the infield, ending his night.
With a 2 lap sprint to the chequered, Havas was in front of Isaacs, Schwela, Lynd and S Munro. Havas was in the lead coming into turn 1 when Isaacs made contact with Havas, bringing Havas to a stop and ending his chance of taking his second Australian Title. Schwela and Lynd made contact at turns 3 and 4, allowing S Munro and Glynn to take the lead. The yellows were out once again due to the stoppages and Shane Munro was declared race winner from Jason Glynn and our very own Peter Challen taking the final podium position.
We would like to thank the promoters, track curators, crash crew and all staff at Hi-Tec Oils Toowoomba Speedway for hosting our 2020/21 Australian Microsprint Title.