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Pro Dirt Series PR
ALBANY, West Australia (February 19) - He had claimed the crown once before and now Craig Vosbergen has done it again, winning the 2011 King of the Ring at Albany's Atwell Park Speedway last Saturday night.
Round 11 of the R2C Competition Filters Pro Dirt Series didn't begin well when a downpour prior to heat one slowed down the nights proceedings. After some enormous work by the track crew the meeting got underway after a delay of approximately an hour.
The heat racing proved to be frantic as the track was one lane early on due to the rains and passing was going to be tough. Points were at a premium as twenty plus of the LMRA's best fought it out to try and claim wins during the heat races.
Craig Vosbergen proved to be the one to catch in the opening heat taking the win in his WCM/Ductworks/Valvoline #8 Rocket in what was a brilliant display of driving.
Former Australian Champion Brad Ludlow (DiCandilo Steel City/Lucas Oil Products #92 GRT) continued his good form during his first heat taking out a fine win before damaging his pristine red racer in his second, proving costly in his chase for points. Bunbury racer Jason Moyle won heat three and showed he was up to the challenge in his Moyle Engines/Valvoline #6 Rayburn beating all the stars of the LMRA in a calculated drive.
Heat four proved to be the race of the night as the top four battled it out wheel to wheel, many saying it was worth the price of admission alone. Vosbergen, Jay Cardy, Brad Blake and Ryan Halliday showed what Late Model racing is all about, thrilling the crowd on hand. When the chequered flag fell Vosbergen had claimed his second heat win of the night.
Others to impress during the heats were Jason Oldfield in the Litchfield Motorsports/JT Transport #55 Masterbuilt, Halliday (Colonial Transport/Stirling Low Loaders #99 GRT), Cardy (BBT Steel/TL Dozing #52 Cardy Chassis) and new Australian Champion Blake in his self sponsored #1 Rocket (Blake Auto Centre).
Vosbergen had looked the best during the heats but it was Halliday who would shine in the A-Dash. This proved to be another ripper as Vosbergen grabbed the lead as the green flag fell until Halliday made a brilliant move around the top to wrestle the lead away from the R2C Pro dirt Series point's leader and drove away to a fine win, with Jason Oldfield hanging on to their tails for third.
Halliday would be the one to catch during the A-Main and led the rest of the field away and showing his time out of the seat recently has rekindled his desire to show the form that won him an Australian Championship only a handful of years ago.
He was under plenty of pressure during the final due to a number of restarts that continued to bunch up the field behind the leader, but he handled that pressure brilliantly. The rest of the field continued to put on a show as the likes of Oldfield, B-Dash winner Cardy, Blake, Jeremy Hale (Western Process Control/Trailstar Caravans #77 GRT), Brad Ludlow and Michael Holmes in the OzMine Drill Consumables/Holmes & Associates #91 Rocket played out a titanic struggle.
Both Holmes and Cardy felt the wrath of the Chief Steward and at different stages of the thirty five lap finale were sent rear of field and had to work their way through traffic to make their impressions on the leaders. As the race went on a number of the front runners fell by the wayside with Ludlow, Oldfield and Blake all finishing the final on the infield with mechanical woes.
Halliday looked set to take the win until three laps from home when he unfortunately started to run out of fuel, giving Vosbergen the opportunity to take the lead, which he grabbed with both hands. He took out an exciting win over Cardy, followed by Holmes and Hale who had their best results in an A-Main finishing third and fourth respectively, with the luckless Halliday holding on to round out the top five.
"We are over the moon to finally get a win" said the winner with a grin like a Cheshire cat afterwards. "It's been overdue as we have been constantly in the top five all year so this is just reward for my team and our sponsors.'
"Ryan (Halliday) did a brilliant job out front, but we were able to run with him and with the harder tyre on we just got stronger and stronger all race. Actually we passed him at one stage to be sent back to second thanks to the caution lights. We then had to do it all again, and from all accounts it was one hell of a race to watch. The final was the cream on the cake for us after the heat wins, a great way to end the night."
The King Of The Ring has been one of the highlights of seasons past and once again proved to be that in 2010/11. The season championship is going down to the wire and this red hot battle will continue in a couple of weeks when it continues at Collie Speedway for the Western Australian Championship.
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