Track action sizzles as year starts with a bang

The first event of the year at Geraldton City Speedway was packed with plenty of action.

Speedway committee president Peter Dowie said the Production Sizzle on January 3 and 4 set the scene for the biggest race on the calendar, the King of The Hill on January 25.

“Oh my goodness, what a massive weekend,” he said of last weekend’s event.

“The event started off on the first night with a bit of a bang.

“The track was a little bit of a handful for the first night.”

Dowie said the Speedway committee was looking forward to the sprint car feature, and events in the lead-up to the race will be announced once these are confirmed.

“There’ll be action aplenty,” he said.

“Sprint cars fall over so easy. There’ll be crashes and bashes, and obviously some good racing, and a full support program.

“It’s going to be pretty entertaining. The sprint cars are our biggest event.”

He said this event was a good curtain raiser.

“It was a great night, a lot of action,” he said.

“The last five laps were absolutely astonishing.”

Rick Musarra beat fellow Perth driver Barry Rose to first place by 0.118 of a second, while former Geraldton resident Shane Brittain placed third.

Geraldton’s Ashley Baker won the Hard Charger award for most places gained, after dropping back to 20th and finally finishing in 10th spot, according to official results.

“The crowd was phenomenal,” Dowie said.

“Biggest crowd I’ve seen in a long time. I couldn’t be happier with how it went.”

The King of the Hill will be run over 50 laps and feature a pit stop in the middle.

Feature races are normally 30 laps.

In the Sizzle, Drew Ogle from Manjimup and Cain McDermot from Perth were tied on 100 points each from the first heat.

“The second night the track staff turned the track around tenfold and it was an absolutely beautiful surface to race on,” Dowie said.

Baker moved forward several places in the pole shuffle, a two-lap dash for the top six cars.

That allowed him to start on the outside row off the front with Ogle.

However a challenge forced Baker to spin out, and he had to go to the rear of the field.

That allowed five-time winner Rod Musarra to take command of the field, but a blown power steering hose forced him to retire.