Dave Gartner has successfully defended his South Australian Super Sedan Title at the Borderline Speedway on Saturday night, his fourth successive title victory and his sixth in total, making him the most successful driver in the history of the South Australian Super Sedan Titles.

The event was a re-run of last seasons title which was washed out at the same venue, and attracted several Victorians from across the border, but it was Gartner and Ryan Alexander who dominated proceedings, winning two heats apiece going into the thirty lap finale.

Gartner immediately took the lead, but as predicted was hounded instantly by Ryan Alexander as Lucas Roberts succumbed after just three laps on the back straight.

Upon the resumption, Gartner and Alexander again drove away from the field, as the pair ran side by side through laps six and seven.

There was a second stoppage on lap eight when a four car incident occurred involving Mick Nicola Snr, Lionel West, Kym Jury and Mick Nicola Jnr, with all cars able to rejoin.

With twelve laps remaining, Gartner and Alexander who were half a lap ahead of third place Jamie Collins found themselves in heavy traffic, but both made light work of passing Jury, West and Nicola Snr in the matter of a lap.

Gartner was constantly on the look out for the next move from Alexander, with the margin three car lengths with seven laps to go. With four laps to go, the duo would race side by side down the back straight, before coming up on Mick Nicola Jnr with three laps remain. Nicola Jnr nearly rolled in front of Gartner exiting turn two, with Peter Nicola who finished fourth, lapped on the final lap.

Gartner would go on to win by 1.106, and become just the third driver in Speedway Sedans Australia history to win four successive State Titles. Alexander finished second for the third time in four years, while for Collins it is the first time the Victorian has finished on the podium.

BORDERLINE

Super Sedans 2017/2018 State Title Re-Run

Heat 1, 10 Laps: 1. S1 Dave Gartner, 2. V2 Peter Nicola, 3. V0 Lucas Roberts, 4. V3 Mick Nicola Snr, 5. S47 Ryan Alexander, 6. V34 Jamie Collins, 7. S71 Lionel West, 8. Q77 Sam Roza, 9. S93 Kym Jury. Time: No Time, Winning Margin: 0.543, Fastest Lap: 13.512 S1 Dave Gartner

Heat 2, 10 Laps: 1. S47 Ryan Alexander, 2. V3 Mick Nicola Snr, 3. V23 Mick Nicola Jnr, 4. V2 Peter Nicola, 5. V0 Lucas Roberts, 6. S5 Trevor Ware, 7. S22 Paul Blenkiron, 8. S93 Kym Jury, 9. Q77 Sam Roza. Time: 2.27.737, Winning Margin: 2.386, Fastest Lap: 14.055 S47 Ryan Alexander

Heat 3, 10 Laps: 1. S47 Ryan Alexander, 2. S1 Dave Gartner, 3. V34 Jamie Collins, 4. S5 Trevor Ware, 5. S22 Paul Blenkiron, 6. V0 Lucas Roberts, 7. V23 Mick Nicola Jnr, 8. S71 Lionel West, 9. S93 Kym Jury. Time: No Time, Winning Margin: 2.642, Fastest Lap: 13.706 S47 Ryan Alexander

Heat 4, 10 Laps: 1. S1 Dave Gartner, 2. S22 Paul Blenkiron, 3. V34 Jamie Collins, 4. Q77 Sam Roza, 5. V23 Mick Nicola Jnr, 6. S5 Trevor Ware, 7. V71 Lionel West, 8. V2 Peter Nicola (5 laps), 9. V3 Mick Nicola Snr (0). Time: No Time, Winning Margin: 2.947, Fastest Lap: 13.854 S1 Dave Gartner

A Main, 30 Laps: 1. S1 Dave Gartner, 2. S47 Ryan Alexander, 3. V34 Jamie Collins, 4. V2 Peter Nicola (29 laps), 5. V23 Mick Nicola Jnr (29), 6. V71 Lionel West (29), 7. S5 Trevor Ware (29), 8. Q77 Sam Roza (29), 9. S93 Kym Jury (29), 10. V3 Mick Nicola (19), 11. S22 Paul Blenkiron (8), 12. V0 Lucas Roberts (3). Time: No Time, Winning Margin: 1.106, Fastest Lap: 13.804 S47 Ryan Alexander

Photo: Dave Gartner nearly rolloing over during heat race (Corey Gibson Photo)

Photo: Dave Gartner below on way to victory (Linda Savage Photo)