Fraser pockets $5k for South Coast Classic

Young gun Branden Fraser won a titanic battle with Nathan Penn to claim the third edition of the rich South Coast Classic at Attwell Park Speedway last Saturday night in one of the best races seen at the venue in many years.

Fraser and former Albany resident Penn were involved in an extremely close race over the concluding stages, with just 0.061sec. separating the pair on the line.

Clint Noakes put plenty of pressure on Fraser, who started from pole position, in the early stages before Penn was finally able to wrestle second place from him midway through the 30-lap final.

Fraser and Penn then had a momentous battle as the race came to a conclusion, racing side by side to the chequered flag — but it was Fraser who prevailed to claim a memorable triumph.

It was a night of firsts for Fraser as he secured his first pole position following a win in the top-six shootout and then claimed an emotional first feature race win, becoming $5000 richer in the process.

Penn threw everything he had at Fraser in an attempt to pinch victory and finished a gallant second while Albany’s Matt Kata rounded out the podium.

Noakes was running strongly in third place but on lap 29 he encounter motor dramas, forcing him painfully to exit the race and join a long list of retirees on the infield, promoting Kata to third as a result.

Earlier, Fraser won two heat races while the other preliminaries went to Noakes, Kata, State champion Anthony King, and Penn.

Albany Speedway Club also hosted round 5 of the Super Sedans WA Summer Series, which was dominated by Gary Higgs.

Higgs won two of the three heat races to start on the front row of the grid and was too strong in the 20-lap final, crossing the line 0.393sec. ahead of Mt Barker’s Chris Pavlovich, and Kevin Bell was further back in third place.

A full program of support divisions provided great racing throughout the night, with visitor Blake Iwanow showing he will be a strong contender at the upcoming WA Junior Sedan Title.

Iwanow won the junior sedan feature race by more than 3sec. and is among the 49 entries for the title that will be held in Albany from January 18-20.