The Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship saw its Eastern Conference come to an exciting close at Willowbank Raceway where the chase was well and truly on for not only the conference victories, but also prestigious Gulf Western Oil Winternationals event wins.
The sportsman racers well and truly delighted the packed house across the event’s four days, lining up alongside Top Fuel, XPRO Nitro Funny Cars, Top Doorslammers, Pro Alcohol, Pro Stock Motorcycles, Top Fuel Motorcycles, Pro Stock, and FuelTech Pro Mod, who were enjoying the final round of their NDRC season.
The Eastern Conference final winners and runners-up – those with the most points within that conference at the close of the Winters – have now secured their place at the invite-only Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship Grand Final, as have the Gulf Western Oil Winternationals event winners and runners-up*.
These invitees will be joined at the prestigious finale, to be held in October, by a to be determined number of invitees of the top racers for each category (based on the cumulative points of each racer’s best four events across the season across both conferences)
MODIFIED BIKE
Dean Jamieson was pleased to secure his second conference win this year at the weekend, with the Suzuki Hayabusa racer also taking out the Western Conference titles at the Riverbend Nationals in April.
Jamieson secured the Eastern Conference win over runner-up Nick Thompson, and also took a round one win against Phil White during the weekend’s racing, even though Eric Redman knocked him out in round two. Thompson’s conference and event hopes were also dashed in round two, being knocked out by eventual Winternats event winner, Brain Alvisio.
Alvisio made it all the way through to the final with a third round win over Bryan Shepard and round four win over Top Qualifier Alan Annis Jr, before the Kawasaki racer dispatched Dale Marshall in the final. Marshall had secured his finals berth by taking victories from Alex Redman (round one), Sean Ricketts (round two) and Eric Redman (semis).
“I am pretty happy with myself because we have now won the Western and the Eastern Conference. The event was well worth the 22 hour drive from where I live. It was pretty tight there with only one round of racing between Nick and Cheryl (Beddoes) and I,” Jamieson said.
“It was my first time at Willowbank Raceway. It is an amazing track, a really nice spot, especially when the sun is setting over the top.”
For Alvisio, it was his third Winternats win.
“I have actually won the Winternationals twice before and this one was pretty cool with a bit of a bigger field,” Alvisio said.
“I did benefit from two red lights in the other lanes, including the final which I thought was rather nice of him,” he laughed.
“In the semi-final I had one of the closest races I have ever had, if not the closest, winning by four thousandths of a second against a bloke who is a former national champion and a very good racer (Alan Annis Jnr). So that was pretty cool!
“In the last five years, I have basically raced everywhere in Australia that there is to race and have been in finals everywhere, but there is absolutely nothing like winning the Winters, it is still the holy grail. And the new track is sensational!”
JUNIOR DRAG BIKE
Adam Jordan made it to round two of the Gulf Western Oil Winternationals on his way to claiming the Eastern Conference win. He had started the weekend’s racing strong with a win over Scarlett Mansfield-French in round one, but eventual Winternats runner-up Jaidyn Schofield got the win in round two when Jordan hung a cherry on the tree.
Schofield had earlier dispatched Jetayah Chalk (round one) and enjoyed a bye in the semi before lining up against Winternats winner Marcus McDonald. McDonald meanwhile had earlier taken wins over Xavier Mansfield-French in round one, before besting Top Qualifier Lillian Hagan in round two and Eastern Conference runner-up James Lowday in round three.
Earlier in the weekend, Jordan had also claimed the runner-up honours in the delayed Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs Junior Drag Bike final, which was held during Thursday’s qualifying, with that win going to Lowday.
“I feel great! It was really surprising to me to be the Eastern Conference winner; it is great to see all my work and travelling pay off. I was very excited to find out I had claimed it, and I very much enjoyed the racing. The Winternationals was a great experience also and I really enjoyed it,” Jordan said.
“I also was part of the Nitro Champs delayed final on the Thursday, and it was unfortunate that I didn’t win that, but it was still good to come away with two trees, one for the Eastern Conference and one for the Sydney event runner-up.”
McDonald struggled to find the words to accurately describe how he was feeling after taking out the Winternationals win.
“This is my first year racing, and it was my first time at the Winternationals, so it is just crazy to have won it. There are people out there that have been doing this for 40 years and spending lots of money and time and haven’t been able to win, and this little kid from a country town comes and wins one, it is pretty amazing to me,” 14-year-old McDonald said.
“It was a really good event, and it was cool that most of the other Junior Drag Bike competitors had a crazy experience too in that we got to go to the pits and check out all the Top Fuel Motorcycles!”
Stay tuned for parts two and three of this feature, to be posted Wednesday 12 June and Friday 14 June.
The Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship will now head to its Grand Final in October.
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