After trying to win the Victorian Super Sedan Title for fifteen years, South Australian Dave Gartner has finally succeeded at Redline Raceway on Saturday night, defeating Mick Nicola Snr and Brad Wicks.

Gartner, who previous to his maiden victory, had finished second in the event a record seven times.

The thirty five lap final would see Gartner and Mick Nicola Jnr start on the front row, with Ash Bergmeier and Brad Wicks starting on row two.

Gartner immediately went to the lead followed by Wicks, while Nicola Jnr slipped to third in the early stages.

In a closely run affair, positions remained unchanged until an incident between Gartner and Wicks, which saw Wicks take the lead and Gartner spin, resulting in a stoppage. Officials put both drivers back in their positions, giving Gartner back the lead.

The stoppage would not be kind for Wicks, who was attacked by both Nicola Junior and Senior, resulting in Wicks dropping to fourth with fifteen laps remaining. Wicks and Nicola Senior would trade third place for the next ten laps, and then ultimately with four laps remaining for second place, as Nicola Jnr retired in sight of the finish.

All the while the battle which was transpiring for the minor placing, was right behind Gartner, with nothing separating the lead group.

Gartner would prevail by a car length with just 0.829 separating the three drivers as they crossed the line. Trent Wilson and Neil Witnish literally crossed the line together for fourth and fifth respectively, only a car length being the lead trio.

For Gartner it would be his sixth State Title victory to go with his four South Australian Tiltes and his West Australian victory in 2015.


:: Super Sedans Victorian Title

Heat 1, 10 Laps: 1. V17 Brad Wicks, 2. Q44 Trent Wilson, 3. V23 Mick Nicola Jnr, 4. S93 Kym Jury, 5. V16 Ash Bergmeier, 6. V71 Lionel West, 7. V4 Sean Lister, 8. V25 Adam Box, 9. V24 David Mackenzie (7 laps). Time: No Time, Winning Margin: 1.651, Fastest Lap: 14.731 V23 Mick Nicola Jnr

Heat 2, 10 Laps: 1. V56 Neil Witnish, 2. S8 Dave Garnter, 3. V41 Ben Faulkhead, 4. V3 Mick Nicola Snr (9 laps), 5. V27 Anthony Nicola (9), 6. V72 Ian Page (9), 7. V26 Gavin Cooper (8). Time: 2.35.001, Winning Margin: 0.653, Fastest Lap: 14.968 V3 Mick Nicola Snr

Heat 3, 10 Laps: 1. V3 Mick Nicola Snr, 2. V23 Mick Nicola Jnr, 3. Q44 Trent Wilson, 4. V25 Adam Box, 5. V56 Neil Witnish, 6. V27 Anthony Nicola, 7. V72 Ian Page, 8. V24 David Mackenzie (6 laps). Time: No Time, Winning Margin: 0.156, Fastest Lap: 14.845 V23 Mick Nicola Jnr

Heat 4, 10 Laps: 1. V16 Ash Bergmeier, 2. S8 Dave Gartner, 3. V17 Brad Wicks, 4. V71 Lionel West, 5. V41 Ben Faulkhead, 6. S93 Kym Jury, 7. V4 Sean Lister, 8. V26 Gavin Cooper. Time: 2.30.415, Winning Margin: 0.850, Fastest Lap: 14.743 S8 Dave Gartner

Heat 5, 10 Laps: 1. V23 Mick Nicola Jnr, 2. V17 Brad Wicks, 3. V71 Lionel West, 4. V25 Adam Box, 5. V27 Anthony Nicola, 6. V26 Gavin Cooper, 7. V41 Ben Faulkhead, 8. S93 Kym Jury, 9. V72 Ian Page. Time: No Time, Winning Margin: 0.422, Fastest Lap: 14.744 V23 Mick Nicola Jnr

Heat 6. 10 Laps: 1. S8 Dave Gartner, 2. V16 Ash Bergmeier, 3. V3 Mick Nicola, 4. Q44 Trent Wilson, .5 V56 Neil Witnish, 6. V4 Sean Lister. Time: No Time, Winning Margin: 0.946, Fastest Lap: 15.029 S8 Dave Gartner

A Main, 30 Laps: 1. S8 Dave Gartner, 2. V3 Mick Nicola Snr, 3. V17 Brad Wicks, 4. Q44 Trent Wilson, 5. V56 Neil Witnish, 6. V16 Ash Bergmeier, 7. V41 Ben Faulkhead, 8. W27 Anthony Nicola, 9. S93 Kym Jury, 10. V26 Gavin Cooper (34), 11. V25 Adam Box (32), 12. V72 Ian Page (32), 13. V71 Lionel West (31), 14. V23 Mick Nicola Jnr (31), 15. V4 Sean Lister (11). Time: No Time, Winning Margin: 0.666, Fastest Lap: 15.045 V17 Brad Wicks