Nyora Raceway held a successful meeting on Saturday night with the visiting Formula 500s sharing top billing with a Victorian title race in Unlimited Sedans and the Standard Saloons.
Pakenham’s Travis Ramsdale secured the Unlimited Sedan state title; with wins to Jac Laneyrie in the Senior Formula 500s and Rusty Ponting in the Junior Formula 500s
Nyora members Jaylen Knight, Tamieka Simpson and Kacey Ingram also claimed victories in New Star Junior Sedans, Top Star Junior Sedans and the Standard Saloons feature respectively.
Warrick Taylor from Keysborough won the first of six heat races in the Unlimited Sedans, with Peter Cox winning the second before the pair repeated the dose in the next two heats.
In the final, Cox and Taylor started on the front row ahead of brothers Travis and Corey Ramsdale, Lennie Bonnici, and Kent Davey as the top six starters in the field of 11.
Taylor took control of the 30-lap final from the start, but on lap-18 he and Bonnici exited the race with mechanical issues.
This turned the top five upside down with Trav Ramsdale leading Cox, from Corey Ramsdale, Davey, and Brendon Eames.
The chequered flag unfurled with Trav Ramsdale winning from his brother Corey.
During the win Ramsdale set a new one-lap record of 15.506 for the class.
Victoria’s Formula 500 Association was in town for Senior and Junior Series racing with seven drivers living within an hour of the track.
Four heat races for the seniors had wins shared by Aaron Cook, Bailey Stephens, Jac Laneyrie, and Jack Nolan, ahead of the 20-lap feature.
Laneyrie from New South Wales claimed victory from Stephens and Hart.
Stephens set a time of 14.142 to register the single-lap track record, while Laneyrie set a mark of 2:24.807 for the 10-lap journey.
In the juniors, Hugo Chivell, Matilda Farrell from Pakenham Upper, Paddy Lewis and Koby O’Shannassy all won heat races before a 15-lap final.
With a non-stop race from green to chequered flag, Ponting set a new race record of 3:55.258.
O’Shannassy set a blistering one-lap time of 14.906 to set a new one-lap record.
In the Top Star category Tamieka Simpson and Tasmania Tyler-Smith took victories in qualifying before Simpson moved from fourth to first quickly in a reversed grid start over 10-laps to win the final from Tristan Jarred.
Nyora member Jaylen Knight and Luke Morrison won the two heat races in the New Star category in juniors before an eight-lap final.
Brad Marshall made a fast start before Jaylen Knight went on to secure a terrific win.
Competing in the Miles Cup – honouring the South Gippsland and Pakenham based families of the Miles clan – some of the best Standard Saloon competitors hit the track for points on offer in the state series.
Jack Yeomans from Moe won the first of six qualifiers followed by Wayne Sheerman, Jack Braz, Rhys Lansdown, Jay Miles, and then his older brother Mark Miles from Catani.
After a long evening a 20-lap feature event for the Standard Saloons took place with Kacey Ingram starting in pole position.
Braz, Harry Cecil and his brother Owen Cecil, Jay Miles and Mark Miles were the top six qualifiers for the feature line-up.
Ingram claimed victory by less than half a second from Harry Cecil, Owen Cecil, Mark Miles, and Brodie Robertson to round out the top five.
Dirt Modifieds competed over three heat races with Daryl Hickson winning all three heat races.
Hickson set a new eight lap record for the class of 2:06.406.
The top three on points were Hickson from Shane Ardley and Rodan Blackman.
Nyora will next see racing on March 2 with the Super Sedans and Sports Sedans competing in the ‘Robert Bickham Memorial’ leading the show.
