Refusing to place any added pressure on himself, Chris Bellman certainly kept his cool during his King of the Bridge defence at Murray Bridge Speedway in South Australia last Saturday night, with his composure rewarding him with an impressive back to back victory in the Formula 500s event.

Focused on treating the prestigious King of the Bridge like any other race meeting, so as not to overwhelm himself, the Warrnambool, Victoria-based racer’s strategy heading into the event certainly paid off.

Having secured the pole position start for the 20-lap feature race, by virtue of winning the Top-Eight Dash, after finishing third from ninth in his opening heat race and winning heat-race two, Bellman delivered a flawless drive. Managing to navigate the lapped traffic, he was able to find the best racing line, going flag to flag to clinch the win and retain his place on the throne.

“The King of the Bridge is such a great event and one of those races that you really look forward to on the calendar, so to have been able to score back to back wins is an amazing feeling,” expressed the current Northern Territory Champion, who recently had a challenging run in the South Australian Title at Mount Gambier’s Borderline Speedway, having to qualify via the B main for the feature race, where he came from the rear of the field to finish seventh.

“I had confidence in the car heading into the event, despite having some difficulties during the South Australian Title recently, so it was just a matter of putting it all together and hitting our marks, which we were able to do.”

Bellman will now turn his attention to the upcoming Speedweek Series, which is set to take place over seven rounds during the Christmas-New Year period, commencing on December 27 at Simpson Speedway, followed by round two at Borderline Speedway the following night. Round three on December 29 will see Bellman travel to Hamilton’s Western Speedway, before heading to Horsham’s Blue Ribbon Raceway on December 30 for round four.

Ringing in the New Year with the fifth round of the series on January 1 at his home track, Warrnambool’s Premier Speedway, Bellman will then have a few days break, before contesting round six at Laang Speedway on January 4, with the Speedweek finale being held at Portland’s Southern 500 Speedway on January 6.

“Every track during the Speedweek Series is so different, so consistency is definitely going to be the key to a strong overall result,” added Bellman, who finished runner-up in the Speedweek Series during his debut season with the class some five years ago, and who placed fourth overall last season.

“It’s not so much a matter of pace, you just need to not get too far ahead of yourself and do the best you can, because it can all turn around in an instant!”

Bellman would like to thank the following 2017-18 season sponsors: RnR Contracting, Autosmart NT / Vic, InAction Photos, C.I.C Racing Wheels, PBI Australia, and R & J Batteries. Special thanks go to his mum and dad, Ros and Roy, his brother Dion, his girlfriend Karli, and his crew members Ash and Jett.

To find out more about Bellman and his team, LIKE them on Facebook by searching Bellman Motorsports.

Photo credit: Savage Shots Photography

Photo credit: Savage Shots Photography