MYERS MASTERS AVALON AS LAP RECORDS SMASHED IN WALLY ANSKAITIS CUP

4 days ago
3 min read

The 2026 edition of the Wally Anskaitis Cup & round 2 of the VGPMRA Masters Series produced a high of intense racing, with Alex Myers coming out on top of a nonstop feature that saw multiple lap records be broken.

The event saw eleven drivers roll into the pits to support the Victorian Super Sedan Title livestreamed on Clay-Per-View & was a prime opportunity to showcase the underrated speed of the GP Midgets, with lap times between the two classes near identical throughout the night.

Drivers drew for starting positions in heat 1 with Alex Myers & Mark Blackeby off the front row. Chris Fowler & newly crowned Australian Champion Mark Cecil were in behind them followed by Travis Florrimell, Paul Perry, Terry Brown, Locky Robotham & Daniel Meredith - newcomers Warrick Spooner and Lily Bullock were rear of field for the event.

Myers quickly got the jump and didn't look back as he lead all 8 laps to victory but a heated battle was on between Chris Fowler, Travis Florrimell & Mark Cecil for the minor placings. A bold move by Cecil on the very last corner saw him prevail in 2nd by mere hundreths of a second ahead of Fowler, followed by Florrimell, Perry, Robotham, Brown, Spooner & Bullock. Daniel Meredith pulled infield on lap 1 with engine issues and Mark Blackeby soon followed in the final laps of the race that would sideline them both for the remainder of the night. The fastest lap of 15.068 from Mark Cecil was to be a new 1 lap record.

Heat 2 had the field inverted (sans Spooner & Bullock) - Locky Robotham and Terry Brown on the front row saw Bear made a quick getaway and run for the hills with the charging pack behind him as a five (yes, FIVE) car battle erupted for 2nd place. Travis Florrimell would hold down 2nd place for 7 & 3/4 laps only to see him pickpocketed not only by Mark Cecil but also Chris Fowler to cross the line in 4th place. Myers & Perry were also less than a second behind them, then Spooner, Bullock & Brown. A first win for 'Bear' was capped off by lowering Cecil's 1 lap record to 14.630 and claiming a new 8 lap record of 1:59.514.

A fifteen lap final awaited the remaining nine competitors for the Wally Anskaitis Cup final and as a blue ribbon event saw highest qualifiers starting from the front - Mark Cecil & Alex Myers set an all-Myers Race Team front row, Locky Robotham & Chris Fowler were in row 2 followed by Florrimell, Perry, Brown, Spooner & Bullock.

Cecil was able to get the jump into turn 1 as it went 3 wide between Florrimell, Myers & Robotham before Myers found his way around Cecil at the line to lead lap 1, only to see Cecil slip back past on lap 2 after a mistake. Paul Perry made the most of his third row start being the big mover in the opening laps to settle into 3rd and Chris Fowler in 4th. Lily Bullock's feature would end on lap 2 with a steering box issue.

The following 10 laps would see a tense 4 way battle between Cecil, Myers, Perry & Fowler nose to tail. Perry was the quickest of the 4 setting yet another new 1 lap record with a 14.369, but would be left to rue what could have been as it gave up the ghost on lap 9 and retired infield. After laps of building up enough momentum on the top of the racetrack, Myers would seize the lead from Cecil on lap 11 and lead home the final 5 laps to win his first Wally Anskaitis Cup. Cecil would hold off a fast charging Fowler to fill out the podium. Florrimell, Robotham, Spooner & Brown were the other finishers.

A nonstop feature saw a new 15 lap record set with the stopwatch stopping at 3:43.776. A big thank you to Avalon Raceway and everyone involved for their efforts in the leadup and on race night to produce a fantastic racing surface. Preparations are now on for the 2026 running of the Victorian GP Midget Title at Rushworth Speedway on March 28.

Victorian Grand Prix Midget Racing Association would like to thank the following for their ongoing support for the 2025/26 season: