South Australian hero Luke Dillon stormed home to victory on Saturday night to claim round four of the Speedcar Super Series at Murray Bridge’s Riverview Speedway ahead of Sydney’s Mark Brown and ex-pat Kiwi hard-charger Mark Cooper!

After streaking away from West Australia’s Dene McAllan in the Pole Shuffle to claim pole position for the 35 lap A-Main after McAllan suffered from a broken driveline, Dillon looked set to sizzle in what was expected to be one of the closest battles of the season.

But at the drop of the green it was Dillon who shot away from the field swiftly followed by Brown, McAllan, Jason Gates in the Troy Jordan NSW76 Breka/Ed Pink machine, QLD’s Grant Draney and SSS Round 3 winner Troy Jenkins!

McAllan was the man on the move, slipping past Brown for second until the yellows were flown for a spun John McKay, resulting in contact with Victoria’s Peter Ghent Jnr and QLD’s Ken Stanaway which saw all three eventually retire from the race.

A wheel-standing restart from the first three indicated action was back underway, with Dillon leading McAllan, Brown, Gates, Draney, Jenkins and Cooper. McAllan began his campaign for the lead five laps later as he searched all available lines for a way past the favoured South Aussie, but instead came unstuck after running too wide around lapped traffic through turns one and two allowing Dillon to shoot ahead once more with only fourteen laps remaining.

But in a surprising turn of events, it was McAllan who then came unstuck through turns three and four, bringing on the yellows and forcing the 2nd runner rear of the field, with Dillon still leading to Brown, Draney, Cooper, Gates, Jenkins and QLD’s Jeremy Hassell. Yet back under green with McAllan pushing his way from the back of the pack; the young-gun West Australian found himself around and the yellows once more.

On the restart Sydney’s Mark Brown began his assault for the lead on the smooth styling of Dillon; challenging into turn one but unable to make the manoeuvre stick!

As it was, Luke Dillon took the win from Brown, Cooper, Draney, Gates, McAllan, Jenkins, Sydney’s Rod Bright and Peter Bourke, with South Australia’s Norm Moore rounding out the top ten.

The Speedcar Super Series next returns north to Toowoomba’s Charlton Raceway over the Australia Day long-weekend for the final round and SSS 40 Lap Masters event!

Time Trials:

TheSpeedwayShop.com.au QUICK TIME = Dene McAllan W21

1. W21 Dene McAllan - 13.38
2. N76 Jason Gates - 13.65
3. S9 Luke Dillon - 13.69
4. Q15 Grant Draney - 13.78
5. N70 Ben Wiese - 13.84
6. V3 Peter Ghent Jnr - 13.85
7. S46 Luke McKay - 13.96
8. N11 Mark Brown - 13.99
9. N26 Tony Abson - 14.00
10. Q29 Ken Stanaway - 14.18
11. N27 Peter Bourke - 14.20
12. N78 Troy Jenkins - 14.22
13. N65 Mark Cooper - 14.43
14. S10 Norm Moore - 14.45
15. Q2 Jeremy Hassall - 14.47
16. N5 Rod Bright - 14.48
17. S11 Rory Gilbert - 16.32

HEAT 1:
1. Tony Abson, 2. Troy Jenkins, 3. Luke Dillon, 4. Jeremy Hassall, 5. Peter Ghent Jnr.

HEAT 2:
1. Mark Brown, 2. Jason Gates, 3. Peter Bourke, DNF Ben Wiese, Norm Moore, DNS Rory Gilbert.

HEAT 3:
1. Mark Cooper, 2. John McKay, 3. Dene McAllan, 4. Grant Draney, 5. Rod Bright, 6. Ken Stanaway.

HEAT 4:
1. Luke Dillon, 2. Tony Abson, 3. Peter Bourke, 4. Jeremy Hassall, DNS Rory Gilbert.

HEAT 5:
1. Troy Jenkins, 2. Peter Ghent Jnr, 3. Grant Draney, 4. Ken Stanaway, 5. Rod Bright.

HEAT 6:
1. Mark Cooper, 2. Mark Brown, 3. Dene McAllan, 4. Jason Gates, 5. John McKay, 6. Norm Moore.

POLE SHUFFLE:

Q15 Grant Draney Vs N78 Troy Jenkins Winner – Troy Jenkins

N78 Troy Jenkins Vs N65 Mark Cooper Winner – Mark Cooper

N65 Mark Cooper Vs N26 Tony Abson Winner - Tony Abson

N26 Tony Abson Vs N11 Mark Brown Winner – Mark Brown

N11 Mark Brown Vs N76 Jason Gates Winner – Mark Brown

N11 Mark Brown Vs W21 Dene McAllan Winner - Dene McAllan

W21 Dene McAllan Vs S9 Luke Dillon Winner – Luke Dillon (for pole)

A MAIN:
1. Luke Dillon, 2. Mark Brown, 3. Mark Cooper, 4. Grant Draney, 5. Jason Gates, 6. Dene McAllan, 7. Troy Jenkins, 8. Rod Bright, 9. Peter Bourke, 10. Norm Moore, 11. Jeremy Hassall, 12. John McKay, 13. Peter Ghent Jnr, 14. Ken Stanaway, DNS Ben Wiese, Tony Abson, Rory Gilbert.
 

Pictures by Stephen Pickering.