Over the weekend, Dean Heseltine certainly had plenty of reason to celebrate at Mildura’s Timmis Speedway when he managed to break through to win his maiden state title victory in the South Australian AMCA Nationals Title, while also taking out the overall All Stars Series win.
Having always shown strong pace during state title events, with his best previous result being a fifth-place finish in a Victorian Title, Heseltine had not yet been able to clinch the top spot; however, that all changed when everything came together for him on Friday night on a track that he described as both fast and rough.
While his opening heat race didn’t quite go to plan, with Heseltine placing fifth after getting caught up in traffic, the 33-year-old racer didn’t let that worry him, keeping his composure and well and truly making amends in his second heat race to take the win, before coming home second in his third and final heat race.
Learning that he had the nerve-racking task of starting from pole position for the South Australian Title-deciding feature race – the first major event pole position of his career – Heseltine understood that he would need to drive a smart race and hit each of his marks to take the early lead and hold on to it.
Doing just that from the drop of the green flag, Heseltine was a force to be reckoned with throughout the 30-lap distance amongst what was a significantly competitive field of drivers. It wasn’t until the final lap when Heseltine felt the presence of another car close on his tail, heading into turn three slightly sideways and allowing former Australian Champion Matt Hardy to show his nose.
Putting his head down and setting his sights on the chequered flag, Heseltine did well to retain his lead, crossing the finish line in first place and clinching what was a well-deserved victory.
Photo: Wade Aunger Photography
“I’ve won feature races before, but never something as big as title event, so it was a huge relief and also extremely exciting when I realised that I’d won the South Australian Title,” enthused Heseltine, who showed promise aboard his Vic # 93 Hair By Denae supported Panther Chassis in the Australian Title back in January, but unfortunately experienced some bad luck throughout the event which saw him place 10th in the feature race.
“All I wanted to do after the win was celebrate with my crew, because this result is as much theirs as it is mine and it’s great to have been able to reward them. We’ve always wanted to win a race at Mildura, let alone a state title, so it really shows that you just have to be persistent and not give up.”
Backing up his form on Sunday night during the second and final All Stars Series round, also at Timmis Speedway, Heseltine certainly proved that his South Australian Title victory was no fluke, immediately taking the feature-race lead from his outside front-row starting position and going on to survive multiple stoppages to claim his second win for the weekend, despite experience another last-lap challenge, this time from Tasmanian Champion Daniel Brooks.
“Being able to back up the South Australian Title with another win, as well as taking out the All Stars Series, was a massive confidence boost for the whole team,” added Heseltine, who is currently contesting his fifth season in AMCA Nationals.
“We’ve always known that we had the ability to achieve these results, but we’d struggled previously to make it happen, so it’s an unbelievable feeling to be able to prove that we have what it takes and to see all of our hard work pay off.”
The Lancefield, Victoria resident is now focused on continuing his momentum in the upcoming NSW Title at Sydney’s Valvoline Raceway on April 14, where he hopes to come away with another pleasing result.
Heseltine would like to thank the following 2017-18 season sponsors for their support: Hair By Denae, S&S Tyquin Bulk Haulage, Kouda Signs, Heseltine Haulage, Rylude Haulage, MRL Contracting, MSR Engines, Panther Race Cars, and Hush Designs. Special thanks go to his wife Mena, Beau, Sam, Kyran, Ryan, Luke, Mark ‘Manners’ Lincoln and Brett Petrou.