Briggs Doing It for Dad
Just six months after the passing of his father Rick, who was his biggest supporter, Jake Briggs has achieved a major career milestone last Saturday night at Solo Hobart Speedway, winning his maiden AMCA Nationals feature race.
It was an emotion-charged victory for the 23-year-old racer, whose fifth season with the class is also his first without his dad by his side, after Rick lost his battle with brain cancer in April, three and a half years after being diagnosed with the disease.
Big Season Plans for AMCA Nationals
With AMCA Nationals continuing to display consistent competitor numbers throughout each state, the class is looking very forward to the upcoming 2017-18 season, which will feature five hotly-contested state titles and the coveted Australian Title.
Interstater Sweeps NT Title
After delivering a faultless performance, it was interstate invader and veteran racer Shane Newstead who claimed top honours in Saturday night’s Austec Irrigation Northern Territory AMCA Nationals Title at Darwin’s Northline Speedway, scoring his second state title crown in the process.
A dominant force from the outset, the Northern NSW-based driver could not be stopped throughout the duration of the event, winning each of the three heat races and going on to lead each of the 15 laps in the NT Title-deciding feature race to take what was a momentous victory, having achieved yet another a major career milestone.
AMCA Nationals in the Spotlight
Tim Reidy certainly brought the AMCA Nationals class to the fore on Saturday night, while also making a name for himself, when he achieved a new career highlight by being named Modified Competitor of the Year at the 2017 Australian Speedway Awards at Novotel Melbourne on Collins.
Moore Continues to Progress
Jeremy Moore certainly enjoyed an encouraging 2016-17 season, having gained a wealth of knowledge and experience since stepping into AMCA Nationals last season and coming away with some pleasing performances.
After a turbulent start to the season, which was interrupted by three months on the sidelines, the 47-year-old racer from Kybybolite in the south-east of South Australia, threw himself in the deep end for his first race back, travelling to Kalgoorlie International Speedway in Western Australia to contest the Australian Title against some of the country’s best.
Brooks Holding His Own
In an AMCA Nationals class that’s dominated by the Panther brand of race car, Daniel Brooks has certainly held his own throughout the 2016-17 season, showing great speed aboard his custom-built Evolution car.
After making the decision to build his own custom race car with good friend and crew chief David Harrison, a project that was 12 months in the making, the Bothwell, Tasmania-based driver managed to debut his new car at the beginning of this season. Off the back of achieving an impressive hat trick of Tasmanian Titles at Carrick Speedway, Brooks then chose to travel to the mainland in order take on the best of the best at a number of blue-ribbon events.
More Qld Title Success for Hardy
Following a rain delay in Saturday night’s Queensland AMCA Nationals Title at Rockhampton’s Rocky Speedway, it was last season’s Australian Champion Matt Hardy who managed to master the tricky track conditions by claiming a hard-fought victory and a successful defence of the event.
With Mother Nature threatening to cancel this season’s running of the event, they were lucky to run their Queensland Title-deciding feature race, which saw Matt Hardy line up on pole position, despite being the second highest point scorer having scored three second-place finishes in his earlier heat races.
Pankhurst’s Positive Season
Thanks to his improved consistency and competitive pace throughout the 2016-17 season in the AMCA Nationals class, Terry Pankhurst has enjoyed one of the best seasons he’s had for some time.
Despite not having competed in all of the NSW Club Championship rounds and therefore being out of contention for the Championship, Pankhurst’s performance throughout the season has been a strong one, with the Central Coast-based racer impressively managing to visit the podium in seven of the eight race meetings he’s contested.
Page 5 of 9