WET WEATHER CREATES CLOSE HEAT RACING AT PRO TOUR DUBBO

Dubbo’s treacherous wet weather conditions continued from Friday practice into qualifying and the heat races with monsoonal rain dragging many drivers off-track and forcing the postponement of the final heat for DD2, however sunny conditions forecast for Sunday will be a welcome sight for the finals.

Adam Hunter was the quickest of all DD2 Masters drivers in qualifying, securing pole position with a 1:00.312, just 0.06 ahead of Steve Ellery, while Danny Wright secured third being only 0.1 behind Ellery. Victorian Hamish Leighton completed the second row with fellow statesman Daniel Richert and Canberra’s Jose Ruiz comprising the third row. In an impressive performance in the wet conditions, Hunter remained unstoppable for all three heat races by taking a clean sweep of victories. Consistency from Danny Wright in taking two third place finishes and a fourth has helped progress him to second for the pre-final with Daniel Richert and Jose Ruiz set to make up the second row. Trevor Whitby was able to secure two fifth places to help him start fifth for the pre-final with Leighton to start from sixth.

Following his impressive performance on debut at Pro Tour Melbourne, West Australian Brooke Redden took pole position in the Sodi Junior Max Trophy Class with a 1:02.230. Redden finished ahead of Glen Ormerod with Ryan Pike and Liam Ford making up the second row for the heat races. Dubbo local Blake Fardell secured the fifth quickest time and shared the third row with New Zealand’s Madeline Stewart. A string of heat race wins by Brooke Redden was interrupted in heat three, though he managed to cement his place on pole position for the pre-final by taking victory in heat one and two. Redden shared the spoils with Ryan Pike who took the heat three victory and finished second in both heat one and two. The pair will start from the front row in the pre-final, with Glen Ormerod’s three third place finishes giving him a place on the second row for the pre-final alongside Hudson Heath, while Shane Kubacki and Chris Bregonje comprise the third row.

Sydney’s Pierce Lehane remained unstoppable in Rotax Light by taking pole position with a 1:00.439 in one of his final events for the year in Australia. Queenslander Ryan Kennedy backed up from his podium in Albury to secure second and start alongside Lehane, with Brad Jenner and Andrew Carey both following up to their Todd Road podium to start from the second row. After switching to Rotax Light, Thomas MacDonald finished fifth in qualifying handing him a third row start alongside Bret Mullavey. Lehane’s lap time consistency again played a key role in his ability to snare two heat race victories, sharing the wins with Kennedy. The pair remained the only two to finish in first and second for the day, handing them the front row for the pre-final. Andrew Carey and Brad Jenner engaged in an enthralling battle right throughout the day, dicing and changing position on countless occasions and sharing third and fourth place finishes with the pair set to continue their battle into tomorrow starting from the second row ahead of MacDonald and Reece Davidson.

After his round winning performance in Melbourne, Jayden Ojeda stepped up to again impress the Junior Max field by taking pole position with a 1:01.879, just 0.01 ahead of Cody Gillis. Thomas Prascevic made an impressive start to his Saturday by securing third with Isaac Vaccarella in fourth, while Callum Walker and Jack Black started from the third row. Ojeda’s ability to break out to an early lead and hold down his position helped him greatly in securing all three heat race victories. The Sydney driver finished ahead of Prascevic in two of the three races, with the pair set to make up the front row for the pre-finals. Cody Gillis experienced mixed results of second, third and fourth across the three races which hands him third for the pre-final alongside Callum Walker with Vaccarella and Black to make up the third row.

On the back of his come from behind round win in Melbourne, Jason Pringle again made his mark on the DD2 field by taking pole position as the only driver to secure a time below one minute, with a 59.755. Pringle’s nearest challenger was Jaie Robson who returned following injury at the Todd Road event to take second. Travis Millar and Glenn Croxford both impressed in the eight minute session to take third and fourth respectively, while James Macken and Jordan Boys locked out the third row. Pringle’s impressive performance continued into the heat races by taking victory in the two races run, ahead of Travis Millar and James Macken. Mason Barbera improved greatly from his qualifying performance of 25th to take fourth in heat one ahead of Trent Moore and Jaie Robson. Macken improved further in the second race by taking second behind Pringle, switching places with Millar who finished third. After finishing 12th in the first heat, Adam Lindstrom stepped up to secure fourth over Robson and Barbera.

Heat three for DD2 was postponed to Sunday morning due to the wet weather.

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