Tatnell Wins Night 1 of Australian Sprintcar Nationals
ADELAIDE – Brooke Tatnell and the Krikke MotorSport Team have taken out Night 1 of the Australian Sprintcar Nationals at Adelaide’s Speedway City on Friday 15 February 2008.
The three-time and current Australian Sprintcar Champion started Heat 1 from the inside of the third row. Tatnell powered his Toyota Genuine Parts/Maxwill Motors/Cool machine into third in the opening laps, before staging a side-by-side battle for second, until a yellow light stoppage near half-race distance. Following the restart, he made an inside move to take second, and set about chasing down the leader, before a further yellow light stoppage late in the race halted his charge. He maintained his second placing following the final restart.
The Krikke MotorSport driver started Heat 2 from the outside of the third row, and moved into fourth off the start. On the opening lap, he powered around the high line to take second, before a yellow light stoppage. Tatnell was forced to restart in third, and quickly regained second after an inside move on difficult track conditions. He made a late charge on the final lap, finishing side-by-side at the line, and was classified second.
Tatnell was the night’s highest point scorer, which saw him start the 20-lap Preliminary A-Main from pole. Starting from pole allowed the Toyota Genuine Parts/Maxwill Motors/Cool driver to take control of the race, opening up an early gap over the field. Tatnell was quickly catching lapped traffic, before a yellow light stoppage allowed him a clear road ahead. He again opened up a gap following the restart, before a red light stoppage. The open red allowed the Krikke MotorSport Team onto the infield to work on the Australia #1 machine. Again following the restart, Tatnell opened up another gap over the field before a final caution period. When racing resumed, he was soon into lapped traffic, weaving his way through the slower cars, to take his second Speedway City win for the season.
Happy with his win, the Krikke MotorSport driver said, “We had a good night. We just need to keep plugging away for tomorrow night. It’s 40 laps, with another heat race and all that to go. So you know, the boys did a good job; the car rolled around the corners free. I don’t think there was any time that we were ever in doubt of how strong we were going to be tonight. We came here with a mission to race hard and not have to worry about anything. Anyone that wants to criticise that we haven’t been on top of our game this year, I think tonight proved it.”
Krikke MotorSport Team Owner Shane Krikke commented, “It was a very good way to start the weekend off. I mean tomorrow night, the big bucks are up and it’s 40 laps. Tonight was still good. We haven’t been racing for a little while after the rain from all around the countryside, so it was good to get back to the racetrack and have a bit of winning form. I think the boys did a really good job in tough conditions tonight. You know, Shane Finch got the right sort of tyre choice and Pete Caporn had the super-tune on it, and of course, Brooke is always very good at what he does, so that’s why he’s number one in the country right now, so it was good. We’ll come back tomorrow night and hopefully grab the big bickies.”
Brooke Tatnell and the Krikke MotorSport Team will return to action at Night 2 of the Australian Sprintcar Nationals at Adelaide’s Speedway City on Saturday 16 February 2008.
Krikke MotorSport merchandise is now available on-line or direct from the Team Transporter at each venue.
Brooke and the Krikke Team again thank their valued sponsors, who are ready to support them for another Australian Sprintcar Nationals campaign: Bunbury Toyota, Toyota Genuine Parts, Terry Shields Toyota, PWR, Mega Motors, Maxwill Race Engines, Cool Chassis, Mercure Hotel Parramatta, A1 Sign Shop, A. Lucas Spraypainters, GT Aluminium, Revolution Racegear, BR Motorsports, Vortex Wings, Valvoline, Fortron, Alberts Car Stereo Bunbury, and BCM Motorsports Marketing.
16 February 2008 – Jane Alexander – KMS East Coast Correspondent |
