Final Shakedown Success For Oldfield

Warren Oldfield cemented in favouritism for this weekends coming Australian Championship with a dominating display in the Late Model finale at the Perth Motorplex last Saturday night.

Oldfield adapted well to a track that was primarily one lane on the night, heading above the cushion during the final race, which others found difficult on the night. The way he was able to pull away from the rest of the field in his Morley Ultra Tune machine at each yellow light re-start was simply brilliant, and would have filled the young hard charger with plenty of confidence leading in to this weekend’s event at Manjimup.

He would take out the evenings point score with 298 points from Michael Holmes (290), Jeremy Hale (289) who would score a well earned third, with Jay Cardy (274) next and Keith Gorman rounding out the top five with 267 points.

While Oldfield looked good, others who are expected to do well this coming weekend either had a terrible night, or didn’t race at all.

Former Australian Champion Brad Blake had a night he would rather forget. Handling issues plus damage from contact with other competitors left Blake with a DNF in the opening race and the final too. He may be well scratching his head at what he has to do to return to form for the title, but with his highly experienced crew led by father Allan right behind him, you can be sure that the Blake Auto Centre #0 will bounce back to hunt down another coveted Australian crown.

Another who had a poor night was Brad Ludlow, who many expected to be a major challenger with his new beast, but keeps experincing minor hiccups that continue to affect his run towards the front. After a promising run at the recent sedan muster many thought he had overcome those woes, but a couple of spins and handling issues mixed in with a win in race two will have the Ludlow team working hard in the workshop during this week.

Others who had a quiet night included Jay Cardy who didn’t look on the pace he usually has but still managed to make it through with a third overall, while South Australian visitor Mat Crimmins gradually gained speed and finished the night off with a strong drive in the final race.

It was also worth noting how many didn’t race on Saturday night to save their cars for the big title event. Current Australian Champion Marc Giancola, former title holder Ryan Halliday, Jamie Oldfield and the TVR duo of Craig and Bert Vosbergen were noticeable absentees from the action on the night. Speaking to a couple of them on the night the general opinion was that the title is to big an event to risk major damage to their machines and wanted to make sure it was a easy week in the shed prior to heading down to Manjimup for the title.
            It promises to be a huge couple of nights of sedan racing on the big ‘Manji Clayway’ over the two nights, so if your heading to the picturesque southwest corner of Western Australia for some R&R, make sure you head to Manjimup for the premier event on the Late Model calendar, the DiCandilo Steel City Australian Championships.
Australian Championship Timetable:
Thursday Dec 31 From 9.00am
Fan Appreciation Day In Main Street
cars on display, giveaways, drivers

Thursday Dec 31st From 6.00pm
Drivers Meet & Greet & Calcutta Auction.
Manjimup Speedway clubroom, Tickets At Door $10.00 includes BBQ plate & Salad, Refreshments on sale, Title items on sale also
celebrate new years in style with all the contenders for the 2010 title
everyone welcome

Friday January 1st, 2010
Night 1 Di Candilo Steel City
Australian Late Model Championships Night 1
Hot Laps, 2 rounds of heats plus full supporting program of Street Stocks, Production Sedans & Juniors.

Saturday January 2nd, 2010
Night 2 Di Candilo Steel City
Australian Late Model Championship Night 2
Hot Laps, 1 round of heats, @ Dashes, B Main & Title Final plus full supporting program of Street Stocks, Production Sedans & Juniors.

Late Model Racing Australia would like to thank the series sponsor RACIN Tyres & Accessories suppliers of Hoosier Tires & R2C Performance Air Filters as well as series support sponsors Hot Shot Settlements, Duralite Trailers, Holmes & Associates, Able finance, Norring Grain, MOTOfoto, Battery King, AJN Transport, JT Transport, Litchfield Motorsport, Xtreme Pix, Kings 4 Cars, Roads 2000, Western Pacific, MOTOsport Management, Hutch Contracting, Dragon Industrial, Snap On Tools by Trevor Williams, Team Lucas, SAS Project Management, JD Premier Fitouts, BCM Motorsports Marketing & Promotions,


Visit www.latemodelracingaustralia.com for more details.

Release From the Office Of BCM Motorsports Marketing WA
Info By FRMS
bear@bcmbear.com