The Melbourne Mini Sprint Club held their Victorian title at the exciting Redline Raceway in Mount Buninyong on Saturday the 27th of February under Lightning Sprint rules and guest driver Shane Cooper from New South Wales showed a clean set of heels in the flag to flag final to win from three time state champion Ryan McKenna and hard charger Steve Trewin.

With numbers affected by a current transition period the category is moving through in adapting to Lightning Sprint rules those that were in a position to hit the track put on a stella performance that impressed all at Redline and will see the category return next season.

Four heats were run beginning with Cooper (# N21 Maxim Tool Boxes) in pole position in the first race being caught quickly by McKenna. McKenna burst out to a huge lead only to run lean on fuel in the closing laps. Cooper and Stuart Ferguson both passed and McKenna crawled to a third place having run out of fuel due to misjudged calculations prior to hitting the track. Youngster Amy Phillips was unable to complete race distance after her coil lead came off and the bottom end bearing broke on Kevin Bomfords (# 26 Elite Metals) car ending his night and Owen Milton’s broke a float level and the engine flooded.

Eleven time Victorian Mini Sprint champion Wayne Milburn had plenty of drama’s just getting to the track when his transport trailer lost a wheel along the way up the highway but eventually he hit the track in the ‘antique’ that was the car he last raced in the 1996 season. In heat two he and Phillips (# 54 Autobarn Cranbourne) managed to bang wheels with Milburn spinning and being sent rear of field. At the restart Trewin went on to win by a comfortable margin ahead of McKenna and Cooper with McKenna now having fuel pump problems whilst completing the end of the race. Newcomer Wayne Herford (# 7 True Blue Signs) pulled infield with a flat tyre during the race.

In the third qualifying heat race things still were not quite right for the McKenna (# 12 LP Gas 1) team and whilst a win was obtained the crew quickly put the race car up on blocks and set about changing spark plugs and giving the wiring a thorough check out after the third heat. Trewin claimed second and Danny Milton (#21 Solid Axle Industries) had his first start of the evening to finish third.

Leaping from the second row Cooper got past Phillips and Danny Milton quickly in the final heat and lead all the way to defeat Milton and Trewin (# 89 Pro Finish Concreting) and finalise the feature field in the order of Cooper, Trewin, McKenna, Ferguson (# 68 Bass Valley Accounting), Danny Milton, Phillips, Herford and Owen Milton(# 11 Genore Tractors & Machinary).

The ‘Victorian Mini Sprint Title’ then ran flag to flag over 25 laps with Cooper blasting away at the drop of the green to lead every lap passing everybody from fifth place back. Initially Cooper led by some distance with a great start and McKenna started to reel Cooper in a little towards the end as traffic and fitness played a part. Cooper’s win was his second ever feature win, his first title win and a pleasure to watch.

Second home came McKenna, then Trewin, Ferguson, Danny Milton, hero bushfire survivor Jason Lynn (# 24 Warrick Taylor Motorsport) and Phillips.

After the race Cooper thanked all for a great night. “Regardless of winning or not tonight I would like to thank my brother Ross for his support and persistence as always. I would like to thank all involved with the Melbourne Mini Sprint club for the welcome and the camaraderie tonight and Belmont Speedway Drivers Club for the way they ran this race meeting at Redline. I have nothing but praise for how you all have ran tonight. I look forward to being back in Victoria racing very soon.”

The ‘Melbourne Mini Sprints’ thank the following sponsors for their support of a wonderful title:

Bass Concreting
Solid Axle Industries
Cranhaul Transport
C & J Milton Excavations
DP Blasting
Bass River Motors
Victory Lane Racegear
Kool Freighters P/L
John Fautley Motors
Elite Metals

Written by Dean Thompson
DMT Media
0412061208

Victorian Champion - Shane Cooper (C) Shane Belk www.shanebelk.com

Shane Cooper with Flag (C) Shane Belk - www.shanebelk.com

McKenna, Cooper and Trewin (C) Shane Belk www.shanebelk.com