Krikke MotorSport Season in Review Part 1
The Krikke MotorSport Team have completed another successful Australian Sprintcar Season, taking out the World Series Sprintcars Championship, the President’s Cup, the Australian Sprintcar Nationals, and Night 1 of the Nanovich “King of Wings”, together with a second-placing at Outlaws Down Under V.
Their third year together, the Brooke Tatnell/Krikke MotorSport Toyota Genuine Parts/Maxwill Motors/Cool Chassis combination again proved to be a winning formula, taking six wins, six podium finishes, five top-5 finishes and six top-10 finishes, giving the team 23 solid results from 28 nights of racing.
The season kicked off in the West, with the first three rounds of the Wanless World Series Sprintcars Championship. Krikke MotorSport started the season off with a win in Round 1 and third at Round 2, both at the Perth Motorplex, on 9 and 10 November 2007, before heading across to Kalgoorlie Raceway on 14 November 2007, where Tatnell finished second.
Krikke MotorSport took out Round 4 of Wanless World Series Sprintcars at Adelaide’s Speedway City on 17 November 2007, before heading up to Brisbane International Speedway for Round 5 on 24 November 2007, where Tatnell was seventh. After a long absence, World Series Sprintcars returned to Tatnell’s home track in Sydney at Parramatta City Raceway for Round 6 on 1 December 2007, where he finished tenth.
Rounds 7 and 8 were both held in Tasmania, which proved to be a successful journey for the Krikke MotorSport Team, taking third at Hobart International Speedway on 8 December 2007, and second at Mountain Dew Ice International Speedway in Latrobe on 15 December 2007.
A two-week break in the schedule allowed the team to prepare for the gruelling Speed Week trip between Christmas and the New Year. Speed Week began at Adelaide’s Speedway City on 26 December 2007, where the Krikke MotorSport Team finished ninth. The following day saw a short journey up the freeway to Murray Bridge Speedway, where Tatnell finished eighth. After a day off, the team headed to Borderline Speedway in Mt Gambier on 29 December 2007, where the Toyota Genuine Parts/Maxwill Motors/Cool Chassis combination finished fourth. Tatnell secured his first Speed Week podium on 30 December 2007, with a third at Avalon Raceway in Lara. As is tradition, the Speed Week finale was held at Premier Speedway in Warrnambool on 1 January 2008, where the Krikke MotorSport Team finished fifth.
Maintaining their World Series Sprintcars points lead after Speed Week, the Krikke MotorSport Team headed back to Sydney for the $50,000 to Win Sprintcar International held over two nights at Parramatta City Raceway on 4 and 6 January 2008. Tatnell was fifth on Night 1 before bad luck struck on Night 2, which saw him unable to finish.
The Krikke MotorSport Team ventured north to Brisbane International Speedway for the two-night Wanless World Series Sprintcars final on 11 and 12 January 2008, with the sole aim of taking out the Championship, and they did just that. Tatnell finished seventh on Night 1, and fifth on Night 2, to win his sixth and Krikke MotorSport’s second World Series Sprintcars Championship.
With the World Series Sprintcars Championship wrapped up, the Krikke MotorSport Team went looking for race wins, no longer having to play the “points game”. The rain-affected Outlaws Down Under V was next on the calendar, which was held at Sydney’s Parramatta City Raceway on 17 and 20 January 2008, where Tatnell was seventh on Night 1 and second on Night 2, finishing ahead of the visiting American World of Outlaws drivers.
Tatnell and the team then headed south for the big-money events over the Australia Day long weekend, beginning with taking out the President’s Cup at Avalon Raceway in Lara, on 23 January 2008, before the 36th running of the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic at Premier Speedway in Warrnambool on 26 and 27 January 2008. Night 1 of the Classic brought heartache for the Krikke MotorSport Team, after being the innocent victim of an accident, which damaged the Toyota Genuine Parts/Maxwill Motors/Cool machine. Tatnell fought back on Night 2, and finished a solid fourth.
The Krikke MotorSport Team then returned to Sydney for the Australian Sprintcar Title at Parramatta City Raceway on 31 January 2008 and 2 February 2008. The Title was severely rain-affected, which saw a significantly shortened program and no feature races were run. The Title was rescheduled to 29 March 2008, however Tatnell has now returned to the United States and unfortunately will be unable to defend his National Title.
After the disappointment of the Australian Sprintcar Title, the Krikke MotorSport Team headed down to Adelaide for the two-night Australian Sprintcar Nationals at Speedway City on 15 and 16 February 2008. The Toyota Genuine Parts/Maxwill Motors/Cool Chassis combination was the one to beat, dominating the Nationals by taking out both nights.
The Krikke MotorSport Team headed home to Bunbury for the Krikke Boys Shootout at Bunbury City Speedway on 1 and 2 March 2008. Tatnell’s first Krikke Boys Shootout was a heartbreaking weekend for him and the team. After starting the Preliminary A-Main on the front row, Tatnell was comfortably leading the race before becoming the innocent victim of an accident whilst lapping slower cars, which damaged the Toyota Genuine Parts/Maxwill Motors/Cool machine. Tatnell started the night two A-Main from the fourth row, and suffered a similar incident, again being unable to finish.
The final race for Tatnell and the Krikke MotorSport Team was the two-night Nanovich “King of Wings” Race at Perth Motorplex on 7 and 8 March 2008. Tatnell took the Preliminary win on Night 1, and took the lead in the Night 2 A-Main, before being caught in an incident which damaged the Krikke MotorSport machine and ended their race.
Nevertheless, the 2007/2008 season proved to be an extremely successful and rewarding one for Team Driver Brooke Tatnell, Team Owners Shane and Jodie Krikke, Director Peter Krikke, Crew Chief Pete Caporn, and Team Members Ryan Krikke and Shane Finch.
Krikke MotorSport merchandise is still available on-line. Stock is getting low, so don’t miss out on your Krikke MotorSport gear.
Brooke Tatnell and the Krikke MotorSport Team thank their valued sponsors, who have provided invaluable support throughout the 2007/2008 season: 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.
Jane Alexander – KMS East Coast Correspondent |
