TREVOR PERRY WINS THUNDER AT THE MURRAY FOR GRAND PRIX MIDGETS

The Victorian Grand Prix Midget Association was very proud to be asked to be a support division at the recent Australian Production Sedan title at Wahgunyah Speedway with ten competitors willing to commit to the two night show run on a Friday and Saturday with the format being top points after seven heat races to be declared the winner.

After the seven heat race’s Trevor Perry came out on top despite missing the first heat race due to a late arrival at the venue. Jason Crawford finished in second with Lisa Chalcraft, Paul Perry & Chris Fowler rounding out the top five results.

Sean Denning (# 52 AR Suburban Fencing – Suzuki) heat one alongside Crawford on the front row however the field lost Travis Florimell as the green flag unfurled when he dropped a chain on his engine which is chain driven.

Crawford led Chalcraft, Louis Rodriguez (# 47 Promac – R1 Yamaha), Greg Campbell and Denning on lap one, a couple laps later sixth placed Fowler pulled infield and out of the race discovering later that a lose wire caused his engine to short out.

Over eight laps Crawford went on to win from Chalcraft, Rodriguez, Campbell ((# 9 Guardline Security – Suzuki), David Bacon & Denning.

Florimell in the break between races fixed his machine ready to start from pole position in heat two with Fowler alongside. Florimell fired up his Yamaha powered racer and led lap one from Fowler, Rodriquez trailed Fowler then Chalcraft and Crawford with Trev Perry back in sixth.

Everything was very much straight forward until lap five when Chalcraft moved into fourth spot as Rodriquez dropped back whilst David Bacon pulled out with mechanical issues.

At the chequered flag Florimell won from Fowler, Chalcraft (# 15 Gulf Western Oils – Suzuki), Rodriguez, Crawford, Trev Perry, Paul Perry, Campbell and Denning.

Ending the first night of racing Australian Champion Paul Perry ((# 6 Phantom Stickers & Signs – Suzuki) picked up his first win on what will be the track that he has to defend the title on this season in a couple months time. Trev Perry jumped from fourth and into the lead position on lap one of heat three with his brother Paul behind him then Campbell, Florimell and Fowler.

The Australian champ then took the lead over his brother on lap three and Fowler passed Campbell into third place. In the run to the chequered flag the brothers had complete control taking the one, two result with Paul and Trev then Fowler, Crawford, Florimell, Campbell and Denning. The field lost Rodriguez for the weekend as he broke the sprocket on the driveshaft whilst Bacon didn’t complete this one tearing the thread out of a torsion arm. Chalcraft was a non starter.

Night two would be much busier for the teams with less racing from the Production Sedans meaning the Grand Prix Midgets would compete in four heat races, putting some pressure on crews with less time between races to prepare for the next one.

Bacon (36 DB Cleaning & Kanga hire – Yamaha) began heat four from the pole position with Chalcraft alongside him and the eventual heat winner way back in eight spot, Trevor Perry.

Chalcraft led lap one from Florimell (# 81 TM Lineboring – Yamaha), Crawford and Trev Perry who had already gained four spots with Campbell in fifth. On lap three Trev Perry started his quest for victory when he passed Crawford to take third, the next lap he passed Florimell to take second and finally passed Chalcraft for the lead on lap five with three more laps to run. Crawford passed Florimell on the final lap to take third as Trev Perry careered away for the win from Chalcraft, Crawford, Florimell, Paul Perry, Campbell, Fowler, Bacon and Denning.

Denning and Bacon again started at the front, this time in heat five. Florimell from sixth spot led lap one with Paul Perry behind him and Denning in third on lap one, Crawford and Chalcraft were behind in fourth and fifth.

On lap two Crawford (# 50 Pitstop Mowers – Yamaha) assumed second spot whilst Trev Perry moved into third on lap three then past Crawford into second on lap four. Paul Perry and Glen Campbell both failed to finish with mechanical problems and Florimell continued on his way over the last four laps to win from Trev Perry, Crawford, Chalcraft, Fowler, Bacon and Denning.

Heat six put the chief steward into play with a couple of race incidents to contend with. With Paul Perry and Bacon on the front row and Crawford, Trev Perry (# 55 Perry Bros Chassis – Suzuki) and Florimell at the back of the field, it was going to be a frenetic start to the race with Florimell’s car damaged as Trev Perry made contact with the rear of the 81 car on turn two lap one. Campbell dropped a chain and with only one more race to go, decided to put his car on the trailer to avoid further damage.

Paul Perry led lap one from Fowler, Chalcraft, Crawford and Trev Perry when the race restarted. Crawford moved into second on lap two passing both Fowler and Chalcraft whilst on lap three Trev Perry moved into third.

On lap six Trev Perry passed Crawford and then he and Crawford passed Paul Perry on lap seven and Trev Perry greeted the chequered flag with Crawford, Paul Perry, Fowler (# 13 Ballistic Performance Parts – Suzuki), Chalcraft, Bacon and Denning the finishers. The chief steward then deemed that Trev Perry had made to much contacted during the race and put him back two places at fourth place giving the win to Crawford. The decision was explained that there was the contact with Florimell, contact with Crawford and Chalcraft through the race and hence the penalty.

Finally the two day weekend was set for a conclusion with heat seven. Once again Denning and Bacon had found their spots at the front of the field. From fourth spot Trev Perry moved into the lead on lap one with Denning, Crawford from seventh starting position, Chalcraft and Paul Perry rounding out the top five on lap one.

Crawford moved to second on lap two whilst Chalcraft moved to third as they whizzed past Denning. Trev Perry held a commanding lead and Crawford was on track for an overall win for the weekend however fate would play its part as he dropped a chain on the final lap coming into turn three tearing the teeth of the sprocket. If only he could have rolled that massive distance of around 250 metres to the finish line, he would have finished the race and won the weekend.

As it was he picked up no points for the final heat and Trev Perry despite missing the first heat of the weekend, picked up the last heat win and the overall win and the Thunder on the Murray spoils with Chalcraft finishing the last race in second then Paul Perry, Fowler, Bacon and Denning rounding out heat seven results.

The Victorian Grand Prix Midgets association thank Club Supporters:

Ballistic Performance Parts

Oil Hydraulics

Jacobsons

Automotive Super Balance Shepparton

Pitstop Mowers

Rock Solid Productions

Written by

Dean Thompson

DMT Sports Media

For Victorian Grand Prix Midget Association