NEWS ARCHIVE
2006/2007

Darran Lester crowned new Australian Champion for East Coast A Grade
Sunday, 30 April 2006

The Australian Title for East Coast A Grade was held at Kingaroy Speedway on Saturday the 29th of April, with a good field of 11 cars turning up for the prestigious event.  Darran Lester was the story of the night, debuting his brand new BA Ford Falcon, qualifying on pole and winning the title.  Darran is awaiting on his V8 engine to put in, so just to make up numbers he put a 6 cylinder in the car.

The starting order for heat 1 was - Peter Rogers on pole, followed by Peter Campbell, Nathan Macdonald, Troy Richards, Martin Cross, Pat Dennis, Darran Lester, Shane Hollyman, Chris Duffel, Peter Gray and Rob Bennet.  As the race got underway, Peter Rogers ran wide letting Nathan Macdonald into the lead and Martin Cross into 2nd.  Shane Hollyman charged through from 8th spot in 3rd with Rogers back in 4th.  The yellow lights come on after Chris Duffel made contact with the wall, forcing him out.  The race got underway, as Macdonald lead the field away.  Martin Cross spun onto the infield while running 2nd, lucky not to get cleaned up by the freight train of cars behind. 

Shane Hollyman started chasing down Nathan Macdonald for the lead, as he come up on the back of Macdonald, he run out of tear offs, reducing his visibility and ended up spinning onto the infield.  This let Darran Lester into 2nd place, while Nathan Macdonald won heat1, with Peter Rogers finishing in 3rd place, Peter Gray 4th, followed by Martin Cross, Pat Dennis, Shane Hollyman, Troy Richards and Peter Campbell. 

Heat 2 was a reverse grid from the first heat, as Peter Gray and Chris Duffel started off the front row, with Shane Hollyman in 3, Darran Lester 4, Pat Dennis 5, Martin Cross 6, Troy Richards 7, Nathan Macdonald 8, Rob Bennet 9, Peter Campbell 10 and Peter Rogers at the rear.

The first corner saw carnage central as Shane Hollyman and Chris Duffel come together, Duffel ended up stopping on the track as Hollyman kept going.  The entire field swerved to avoid the chaos but Peter Campbell just side-swiped duffel, which resulted in both cars suffering suspension damage with Duffel being forced out for the night, and Campbell retiring in heat 2.  Darran Lester moved up to the front row beside Peter Gray.  As the racing action started again, Peter Gray kept the inside run into the lead, with Lester sliding into 2nd.  Peter Gray lead the race from start to finish, but was under fire from Darran Lester.  Lester finishing in 2nd with Shane Hollyman in 3rd.  Nathan Macdonald ended up 4th with Troy Richards 5th, followed by Pete Rogers Martin Cross and Rob Bennet.  Pat Dennis pulled out after his right front tyre was flat.

Darran Lester hit the track in form after a lengthy absence, qualifying the DMV Electrical sponsored Falcon on pole, with arch rival Nathan Macdonald on the outside.  Peter Gray was to start from 3rd, followed by Pete Rogers, Shane Hollyman, Martin Cross, Peter Campbell, Pat Dennis and Rob Bennet.

The start was going to be an important factor, as the field got the green light Nathan Macdonald tried to keep on the outside of Lester into the first corner, but had to slip back into 2nd as Lester took the lead.  Peter Gray was running 3rd until he retired on the infield.  Martin Cross was in 3rd place, with Pat Dennis up to 4th, Shane Hollyman 5th, Peter Campbell 6th, Peter Rogers 7th and Rob Bennet 8th. 

Macdonald took chase to Lester, trying to reel him in.  But both cars were evenly matched, keeping one or two car lengths between themselves.  As Lester come upon some lapped traffic, Macdonald knew this would be his only chance to make a move, but the yellows were brought on as Peter Rogers front wheel had departed from the car.  Lester continued his lead, as only a few more laps were done until Shane Hollyman's exhaust had fallen on the track, as the officials stopped the race to remove it. 

As the cars rolled around, Macdonald felt water spraying over his helmet.  Lester's car had a radiator hose come off, losing all the coolant.  The race had only a few laps to go.  This didn't seem to affect Darran as he steamed away to win the Australian Title for 2006.  Nathan Macdonald come in for 2nd, with Martin Cross 3rd, Pat Dennis 4th, Shane Hollyman 5th, Peter Campbell 6th and Rob Bennet 6th.

By the time Lester got back to the pits, the car was not sounding good at all, another lap and the car may not have made it.  Darran Lester exstatic with the win, "I honestly didn't expect to win tonight, I just wanted to try and finish each race and get the car set up" Lester said.

This was the last night for Seasonal Points for A Grade.  The final race for the season is at Bundaberg on the 10th & 11th June for our QLD Title.

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