Anthony Beare leads after the opening night of an action packed, AVEG WA Street Stock State Title, at the Tyrepower Manjimup Speedway.

Beare went through the night undefeated, and will be looking to become the first driver in history to win the event five times.
Manjimup driver, Jack Favero and Bunbury’s Michael Hamon are tied on 100 points in second and third respectively, while Justin Brumfield from the Northern Territory is fourth.

The night started on a very wet race surface which took a substantial amount of time to get to a position of being able to race on, but once racing commenced, it would be hotly contested, leading to numerous relegations, disqualifications and on track incidents.

The opening heat would go the way of Jack Favero, who after starting from position five, would find himself in front by lap four, opening up a handy lead in tricky conditions. Paul Briggs would finish second, well clear of Kyran Bridges.

Heat two would see Anthony Beare and Justin Brumfield on the front row, with a quality field to start behind them, including 2018 State Champion, Hayden Norman, and Friday’s quickest driver, Shane Whild. A close race for the lead didn’t eventuate, with Beare proving too good, downing Brumfield, while Wade Rigney finished third.

Josh Davies Title lasted just two laps, being the first casualty of the weekend, when he slammed into Lachie Dellar on the back straight in heat three. Once the race resumed, Jamie Oldfield and Michael Hamon put on an outstanding racing, swapping the lead numerous times throughout the first six laps. Oldfield would end up against the fence in turn two and subsequently was sent to the rear of the field, leaving Hamon to record a comfortable win. Colin Metcalfe and Evan Wakefield would fill the minor placings.

Defending Champion, Jack Barnewall would win heat four, but the stewards were far from happy with a passing move during the race, with Barnewall relegated to third after the race. Jace Kempton would take the win, while Josh Martinelli would finish second as a result of the relegation.

Craig Clayton would win heat five, and win comfortably, with David Padmore finishing second. The drive of the race undoubtedly would come for Zane Humphrys, who came from the back of the field to finish third.

Jason Batchelor would win heat six, with Clint Hadley and David Fall completing the placings in a race of ever changing fortunes. Travis Moynihan was fighting for the lead but ultimately wouldn’t finish, with Justin Melhuish and Linton Dickerson didn’t finish.

Heat seven was an outstanding race, with three different leaders. Zane Humphrys would lead the early laps, with Jack Barnewall leading the middle stages, before Jace Kempton took the lead late, to record a great win. Only 1.004 separated the trio at the end on ten laps.

Damien Amato and Jack Favero traded the lead numerous times in heat eight, with Amato making a great outside pass with four to run, to take the win. Brodie Dunn completed the top three.

Heat nine was eagerly awaited, with three National Champions in the field, but the much anticipated race, ended up being a mundane affair with Beare winning comfortably, with Michael Hamon a distant second, while Ben Norman finished even further back in third place. Jamie Oldfields horror run continued, watching the last seven laps from the infield.

Four drivers failed to finish heat ten, while a fifth, Wayne Thomson was disqualified for causing two stoppages, in a lengthy race. Eventually, the race found a rhythm with Shane Whild having a good battle for the lead with Jason Batchelor, with Whild getting the upper hand late. Freddy Kinsella would finish third.

Ethan Genev may have cruised to an easy win in heat eleven, but the same can’t be said about the minor placings, with a great battle between Kyran Bridges, Hayden Norman, Damon Lyall and Paul Briggs, with less than a second separating the quartet throughout the race.

Mother Nature started to have an impact, with un-forecast drizzle hitting the venue, which lasted until the end of the night.

Potentially the drive of the night would come from Justin Brumfield, who won heat twelve. Brumfield would start from the back of the field, and with some great driving found himself in front with four laps remaining. Clint Hadley and David Fall completed the first three positions.

Damon Lyall got the upper hand early in heat thirteen, holding off the continual challenges from Wayne Thomson. Ethan Genev finished third after starting from the fourth row.

Hayden Norman would win heat fourteen, with a small margin to Cody Avins who was pressured throughout by Jack Barnewall, with Avins holding second.

Jack Favero would record his second victory of the title in heat fifteen, when he held off the challenges from Jamie Oldfield and Justin Brumfield. Oldfield was lucky to finish, after an incident at the start, which saw Paul Bowman slam into the fence, while Oldfield would have no panels on the right side of the car.

Anthony Beare would start on the third row of the grid for heat sixteen and found himself infront by lap four. Beare didn’t have it all his own way, with Shane Whild finishing just 0.552 behind Beare, with Mick Comley in excess of six seconds behind in third.

The night started to take its toll, with light rain still falling, two drivers would fail to start and a further two would fail to finish, as Paul Briggs recorded a narrow win over Kyran Bridges and Evan Wakefield.

Michael Hamon would win the final qualifying heat of the night, but not without a fight from Mark Jennings who challenged Hamon all the way. Damien Amato would finish third.

Racing commences at 6pm tomorrow night

Points After Night One
1. S46 Anthony Beare 108
2. WA18 Jack Favero 100
3. WA7 Mick Hamon 100
4. NT5 Justin Brumfield 87
5. W99 Kyran Bridges 79
6. WX12 Paul Briggs 77
7. W4 Ethan Genev 76
8. WA81 Damien Amato 76
9. WA1 Jack Barnewall 74
10. W6 Hayden Norman 72
11. W55 Jace Kempton 72
12. W46 Jason Batchelor 69
13. W2 Shane Whild 67
14. W16 Clint Hadley 64
15. W27 Damon Lyall 61
16. W35 Craig Clayton 59
17. WA21 Evan Wakefield 59
18. W7 Josh Martinelli 58
19. W31 Cody Avins 55
20. W318 Freddy Kinsella 53
21. W29 Jake Hoath 51
22. W39 Zane Humphrys 51
23. WA16 Colin Metcalfe 51
24. WA10 David Fall 50
25. W25 Bradley Roberts 50
26. W69 Paul Joss 47
27. WA26 David Padmore 46
28. W15 Wayne Thomson 41
29. W0 Jamie Oldfield 41
30. WA44 Brodie Dunn 41
31. WA14 Wade Rigney 41
32. S21 Mark Jennings 39
33. W10 Damon Thomson 38
34. W28 Brenton Bridges 36
35. W94 Robert Dunbar 35
36. W75 Mick Comley 35
37. W36 Joe Wilson 30
38. W81 Lincoln Coleman 29
39. WA19 David Linthorne 29
40. W71 Scott Hunter 29
41. W18 Daniel Stanley 29
42. W66 Ben Norman 28
43. W195 Lachie Dellar 27
44. W12 Ryan Penfold 25
45. W19 Stevie O’Dowd 24
46. W44 Peter Herbert 24
47. W97 Glenn Chinnery 22
48. W95 Lourens Lamprecht 22
49. W14 Barry Roberts 21
50. W83 Linton Dickerson 20
51. WA31 Mitchell Hamel 19
52. W52 Paul Bowman 18
53. WA12 Kade Helms 18
54. W11 Greg Hall 17
55. W5 Jeff Rogers 17
56. W38 Trevor Dace 13
57. W21 Courtney McKean 12
58. W23 Matt Lowe 11
59. W20 Clinton Waldron 10
60. W26 Brendan Fagan 8
61. W51 Justin Melhuish 7
62. W33 Travis Moynihan 5
63. W3 Barry Rewell 4
64. W43 Josh Davies 3

Photo - Aidan Skraha, Article by Jason Crowe