James McFadden took the WSS Speedweek finale in Warrnambool ahead of Grant Anderson and Cory Eliason (Corey Gibson Photography) (Video Highlights from SpeedShiftTV.com)
James McFadden’s win at Warrnambool’s Sungold Stadium for round five of QSS World Series Sprintcars last night has netted the Monte Motorsport driver a $20k payday, as he sealed the Speedweek title in the process.
McFadden’s win was not without controversy however, as a slide job on leader Kerry Madsen on lap six of the main event made contact with the front of the Krikke Motorsport #W2 and ended his race.
“I honestly thought I was well past him,” McFadden said in victory lane, “because he stuffed up his run with a lapped car coming out of four so I thought I had a run on him, so I apologise to Krikke Motorsport but I really thought I was clear.”
Madsen entered the event with a 46-point lead over McFadden and Eliason who were tied on points, and amazingly, after Madsen claimed Revolution Racegear Quicktime in qualifying ahead of Eliason in second and McFadden in fifth of their respective flights, all three drivers had earned 67 points after the addition of their first heat results.
The trio were in separate heats throughout the night with McFadden bagging a 1st and 5th, Madsen claiming a 4th and a 2nd while Eliason finished 3rd and 2nd.
It was Grant Anderson however who had achieved the highest points, tallying 91 ahead of Madsen’s 89, Eliason’s 86 and McFadden’s 82 before the Gold Shootout shuffled Anderson and Eliason to the second row of the grid with Madsen and McFadden sharing the front row.
From the drop of the green flag Madsen was in command, opening up a menacing lead and meeting the tail end of the field within only five laps. While negotiating the traffic however, he made contact with Jake Tranter in turn four, opening the door for McFadden to dart to the bottom in an attempt to pass on the main straight, only to make right-rear contact with the #W2 left-front on the exit of turn two to end Madsen’s race.
The restart produced no change in the podium order despite the best efforts of Eliason who made bold approaches on Anderson on occasion, however the order of the remainder of the field received a sizable overhaul.
Corey McCullagh advanced from 9th to 4th while Brooke Tatnell kept his championship hopes alive climbing from a 10th place start to 6th behind Jack Lee. Jordyn Charge was impressive in his run from 13th to 8th however Lockie McHugh claimed his second American Racer Hard Charger Award ascending from 18th to 7th.
McFadden now leads the series on 1283 points ahead of Eliason on 1237, with Madsen on 1184. Despite not contracting to the series, Brock Hallett has nominated all of the Queensland rounds and will continue his campaign in fourth on 1107 points with Brooke Tatnell staying in touch in fifth on 1021.
The series now embarks on a two-thousand-kilometre journey north for the first of four Queensland rounds at Brisbane’s Archerfield Speedway on Saturday ahead of Toowoomba on Sunday and Maryborough on the following Tuesday.