Race fans at the Goulburn Valley Auto Club’s Rushworth Speedway will enjoy “Double Dipping” with not just one, but two major Feature Events to be run and won on Saturday, April 30th.

This will be the first appearance for several seasons of the “full specification” Speedcars - not to be confused with “Compact Speedcars”. The extremely quick and popular SDAV Hot Rods will also return, following their Ray Welsh Memorial event at Rushworth earlier this season.

With their ancestors dating back to the 1950s and before, the Speedcars were always part of the early speedway calendar, together with solo motorcycles and stock cars. In those days, grey motor Holdens engines were popular and in plentiful supply, competitive until the introduction of the American Offenhauser motors.

Things have changed a lot since those early days, and the old single roll-bar and lap belt has been replaced with full roll cages, with high-tech engines and with full safety equipment.

Very basically, current Speedcars have an engine capacity limit of 3000cc but this may vary significantly depending on engine specifications such as number of valves, cams, etc. Forced induction is allowed with a reduction in capacity. The minimum weight of the car plus driver is 476kg, potentially delivering a great power-to-weight ratio.

Because it has been some time since the Speedcars have competed at Rushworth, a lot of interest will lie in seeing just what lap times they can put in. No doubt comparisons will be made to their cousins, the Compact Speedcars & GP Midgets and the larger Open Wheelers such as V8 Dirt Modifieds and Sprintcars.

A field of at least ten Speedcar competitors from all over Victoria is expected. Ashley Booker, a name familiar to fans as a former GP Midget Victorian and Australian champion will be one driver to watch. Also look Nick Parker ex Kart racer with seven state titles to his credit, who is in his rookie season in Speedcars and Ian Jones, 2013 Compact Speedcar Champ.

Jack Day was rookie of the year for 2013/14 & Grant Patton will be driving a newly-acquired South Australian entry.

For the SDAV Hot Rods this is a major event – “The Legend’s Cup”. Many Hot Rods are running 350ci motors, by way of comparison to the Speedcars. Current Victorian Champion and “Ray Welsh Memorial” winner Dean West must start as race favorite. However, Shepparton driver Steve Robertson will be anxious to win in front of a home crowd after leading the Welsh Memorial race at one stage.

Add veteran racers Phil Jenkins and Russell Hovey, ex-Victorian Champ Shannon Meakins, Stan Marco and a host of others. Trevor Perry of GP Midget fame, who last drove a Hot Rod at Rushworth over twenty-five years ago, will make an appearance. Fourteen SDAV entries will greet the flag.

Once again, GV Open Saloons, GV Production Sedans, GV Ladies and GV Juniors will complete the program. Local classes are not only building in competitor numbers with a record fifty three nominations overall, but also in popularity as the club nears the end of the 2015/16 season in May. For the first time, the twenty nominations from GV Opens will exceed the GV Production Sedans, promising great racing.

It is interesting to note that around half of the nominations come from Bendigo, several from the Goulburn Valley area, and others from as far afield as Castlemaine, Murrabit and Melton.

At the last Rushworth meeting, we saw Phil Lamb taking out the GV Open Saloons, Rachel Pratt the GV Production Sedans, and Debbie Pratt the GV Ladies. In all cases, these drivers started from pole position for their class, an indicator that they also dominated the heats.

So we ask: “What challengers are out there to beat these top drivers?”

In the GV Opens the immediate answer may be “Team Provac”, with Adam Box and Peter Fitzpatrick filling second and third places in the final and Box posting a time of just 0.003 seconds behind Phil Lamb.

Champion Compact Speedcar driver Mark Cecil has again nominated his Torana in the Opens. Cecil had an intriguing battle with Lamb last time he raced in the class. Rahmon Rivero rejoins the ranks of racers together with Peter Welch and we have three new starters in Ben Naismith, Josh Brown and Mark Hanson.

GV Production Sedans also offer several possibilities. Two meetings back, Wayne O’Keefe put his car on Pole for the final ahead of Phil Lamb, but unfortunately withdrew due to a broken axle. Leigh Jeffery, Ash Brown, Warren Alexander, Geoff Lee and Troy Britten all have the pace to take consistent placings, and a full field of sixteen Productions will deliver many others who can challenge Rachel Pratt.

Chloe Lamb has been the top performer in the Ladies events of late, and Natalie Thompson has had some interesting tussles with Debbie Pratt in the past. Jacquie Fitzpatrick, Leanne Hodge, Amy Eade and Ally Moore are all contenders, and perhaps are just in need of favorable draws in the heats. There are twelve nominations for the GV Ladies.

So there we have it, as we approach the “pointy end” of this season and the battle for points hots up. One thing is for sure, and that is that the home-grown and popular GV classes will be extremely entertaining over the remaining races. GV Juniors are also on the program with five entries.

Gate prices: Adult $20.00, kids 12 - 16 $10.00, kids under 12 free. Aged pensioners $15.00. Family ticket (2 adults, 2 kids) $50.00. Club members: $10.00 Adult, kids 12 -16 $5.00.

Racing at Rushworth Speedway starts at 4pm on Saturday April 30th with gates open from 12 noon.

GVAC Club contact number for further information is 0409 386805.
Nominations this weekend:

GVAC thank the following supporters:
Super Balance – Shepparton ( Dennis Myers)
WG Panels – Rochester (Wayne Gilsenan)
Goulburn Valley Oil Supplies – Shepparton (Russell Pell)
Provac – Bendigo (Nigel Box) (Juniors all season sponsor)
Bourke Fencing – Bendigo (Pat Bourke)
CleanAway – Shepparton
R.Collie Earthmoving P/L – Kyabram ( Rob Collie)
Kyabram Motor Wreckers – Kyabram (Bernie Duncan)
The Rushworth Hotel – Rushworth (Andy & Maz McCallum)
Kyabram Bearings – Kyabram
Autobarn – Shepparton
IPTA Fibreglass – Geelong ( Scott Whittle)
Gary Smith Auto Care – Echuca (Kane Chapman)
Ross Adams Cartage Contractor – Rochester (Ross Adams)
Rushworth Bakery – Rushworth (Dave & Nicky Chillingsworth)
Maxam Printing – Shepparton
Game Traffic & Contracting – Shepparton
Michel Signs – (Chris Mann) –Shepparton

You will see a new feature of listing the local nominations is we are listing home towns for local competitors, this helps the newspapers figure out who is local to them & gives those fan support groups around the track an opportunity to support those local to them.

VICTORIAN SPEEDCAR DRIVERS ASSOCIATION - CLUB POINTS SCORE
VIC 3 Brad Day
Vic 8 Jack Day
SA 11 Grant Patton
Vic 29 Jessica Moulden
Vic 39 Nick Parker
Vic 55 Toby Smith
Vic 57 Ian Jones
Vic 59 Ashley Booker
Vic 88 Craig Smith
Vic 96 Keith Astrella

SDAV HOT RODS - LEGENDS CUP
Sdav 1 Shannon Meakins
Sdav 2 Stan Marco
Sdav 3 Phil Jenkins
Sdav 4 Dean West (Current Victorian SDAV Champion)
Sdav 5 Michael Coad (Current Victorian Super Rod Champion)
Sdav 8 Jamie May
Sdav 12 Vaughan Mathey
Sdav 22 Kali Hovey
Sdav 23 Mick Lee
Sdav 25 Russell Hovey
Sdav 28 Dylan Linehan
Sdav 43 Trevor Perry
Sdav 69 Steve Robertson (Shepparton)
Sdav 88 Graeme Briggs
Sdav 99 Glenn Lawless

GV LADIES SALOONS
11 JACQUIE FITZPATRICK (Bendigo)
21 AMY EADE (Lockington)
25 CHELSEA HODGE (Bendigo)
26 ALLY MOORE (Heathcote)
35 MADDIE NAISMITH (Echuca)
45 NATALIE THOMPSON (Bendigo)
51 LEEANNE HODGE (Bendigo)
54 PAULINE MARTIN (Bendigo)
74 CHLOE LAMB (Bendigo)
77 KELLY NADORT (Bendigo)
84 NICOLE GAPES (Numurkah)
94 DEB PRATT (Echuca)

GV OPENS SALOONS
1 PHIL LAMB (Bendigo)
6 MARK CECIL (Shepparton)
8 PETER WELCH (Bendigo)
13 GAVIN COOPER (Castlemaine)
19 MARK HANSON (Castlemaine)
22 BEN NAISMITH (Echuca)
27 ADAM BOX (Bendigo)
30 CORY BICE (Bendigo)
32 KEITH SIMMONDS (Murrabit)
33 CALLAN MADILL (Tongala)
39 BRAD SIMMONDS (Bendigo)
45 SHAUN THOMPSON (Bendigo)
47 RAHMON RIVERO (Kyabram)
52 ROD BURCHETT (Castlemaine)
53 WAYNE GILSENAN (Rochester)
72 JOSH BROWN (Bendigo)
75 PETER FITZPATRICK (Bendigo)
78 TOMMY AHEARN (Bendigo)
84 GARRY GAPES (Numurkah)
94 MICK PRATT (Echuca)

GV PRODUCTIONS SEDANS
5 GEOFF LEE (Bendigo)
9 WAYNE O'KEEFE (Wunghnu)
10 SHANE HUTCHINS (Rochester)
18 BEVAN HUTCHINS (Kyabram)
29 LEIGH JEFFERY (Melton)
31 MARK BERGMAN (Bendigo)
41 TROY BRITTON (Bendigo)
48 MATT WALKER (Tongala)
50 SCOTT BURCHETT (Castlemaine)
54 AARON BACON (Bendigo)
58 SCOTT SMITH (Skye)
57 COREY GREGSON (Kialla)
64 WARREN ALEXANDER (Kilsyth)
68 ASH BROWN (Kyabram)
93 RACHEL PRATT (Echuca)
98 SHANNON PRIME

GV JUNIOR SEDANS
5 THOMAS CONBOY (Bendigo)
6 JOSH CECIL (Shepparton)
11 LACHIE FITZPATRICK (Bendigo)
51 ISSIAH HODGE (Bendigo)
77 MADDY NADORT (Bendigo)

Written by
Ray Read
DMT Sports Media
For Goulburn Valley Auto Club t/a Rushworth Speedway

Dean West returns with his SDAV Hot Rod this weekend to Rushworth (C) CBM Photography / Craig Mitchell