Exceeding even his own expectations in the recent Australian AMCA Nationals Title at Ballarat’s Redline Raceway, Paul Sullivan couldn’t have been happier to come away with a somewhat surprising podium result.

Having had a fairly quiet start to the 2017-18 season, off the back of a similarly quiet off season with little car preparation completed, Sullivan certainly didn’t expect to be standing on the Australian Title podium after the recent running of the event, with his runner-up finish delivering him with a new career highlight.

Taking the week off work prior to the event to fine-tune his Vic # 28 R & C Niba's Performance Engines backed Panther car in order to give himself the best chance of achieving a strong result, Sullivan was lucky to discover an oil pressure issues in his new engine during Thursday’s practice, replacing it with his old engine, which ultimately proved to be a positive decision for him.

Lining up on the outside of the second row for the 40-lap Australian Title-deciding feature race, after placing fourth, first, first and fifth in his four heat races, which were condensed to Saturday’s schedule with Friday night being rained out, the 47-year-old driver’s race almost ended where it began, being turned around by contact with former Australian Champion Matt Hardy in lap two.

Thankfully sustaining no damage, Sullivan resumed his race in fourth place, before later being elevated to second place during the middle stages due to a collision between the two front-runners. Doing well to retain his position aboard his 253ci-powered car amongst a number of Chev engines, Sullivan went on to greet the chequered flag as the new Australia # 2, achieving what was a popular result amongst his fellow competitors.

7 2 2018 Paul SullivanPhoto: Rock Solid Productions

“I couldn’t have been more excited to cross the finish line in second place and to me, it honestly felt like I’d won it,” enthused Bacchus Marsh, Victoria-based Sullivan, whose previous best result in an Australian Title was ninth place at Carrick Speedway in the 2014 running of the event, having also contested three other Australian Titles at Hamilton’s Western Speedway, Murray Bridge Speedway and Sydney’s Valvoline Raceway.

“I was hoping just to finish inside the top-five, so to improve on that and do much better than I thought I would was just an incredible feeling.

“It was definitely a challenging day dealing with the condensed schedule in the extreme heat, but I amazingly didn’t get too nervous. I just set myself goals in each race and focused on them. The car was also very easy to drive, so I have to say a huge thank you to my crew chief David Taylor for his amazing efforts on the setup.”

Joining the competitive racing circuit in the late 1980s at the age of 19, Sullivan began his career in the Daylesford Speedway B Bash class, where he ran for about two seasons, before moving into the Modified Productions track class, where his few seasons were highlighted by winning a club title.

Later stepping into VSC Sedans, followed by Marsh Modifieds, Sullivan eventually purchased a car from 410 Sprintcar racer Paul Solomon and made the move into AMCA Nationals, where he relished the challenge of having to relearn his race craft, with the cars being left-hand drive as opposed to sedans, along with running in the opposite direction he had been used to.

Deciding to upgrade his car after his first two seasons, which saw him set a B main record at Geelong’s Avalon Raceway and place fourth in an SA Title at Bordertown’s Tolmer Speedway, Sullivan purchased a brand-new Panther chassis and was once again forced to adjust his driving style to suit the car that he has now been running ever since.

Having enjoyed a consistent campaign in the class so far, regularly running inside the top three throughout Victoria, Sullivan’s highlights prior to his Australian Title result included winning a Victorian Country Series and placing second in a South Australian Title at Mount Gambier’s Borderline Speedway to Timmy Reidy by the narrowest of margins and fourth-place finish in a NSW Title at Lismore Speedway.

For his next appearance, Sullivan plans to contest the two-night All Stars Series at Mildura’s Timmis Speedway over Easter, which will be run in conjunction with the South Australian Title on night one (March 30) and the fifth Action Series round on night two (April 1), followed by the remainder of the 2017-18 season Victorian schedule.

Sullivan would like to thank his 2017-18 season sponsor, R & C Niba's Performance Engines - Bacchus Marsh, for their support. Special thanks go to former sponsors Container Fumigation Services and Tammy Melts, whose assistance helped Sullivan considerably throughout his career, along with his family, his partner Tammy Jones, his crew chief David Taylor, and the Hardy family for all of their continued support.