WHEN David Clark won his first Australian V8 Dirt Modified Championship back in 2014 at Lismore Speedway, he never thought his next one would take so long to achieve. However, at Bundaberg’s Carina Speedway, the Brisbane, Queensland-based racer ended his 10-year drought by winning last night’s 2024 Australian Championship.
Rescheduled following the postponement of the event late last season, due to the wet weather, the 2024-25 season kicked off with the Australian Championship, and every driver in the 20-car field had one thing in common, it was their first outing of the new season – and what an event it was to commence the season with.
In between Australian Championship wins, Clark had always been right amongst the front runners – including minor podium finishes in the 2016, 2018 and 2019 Australian Championships – and heading into last night’s Australian Championship he was once again one of the favourites. In the two events held at Carina Speedway last season leading up to the Australian Championship, Clark had won both of them in strong fashion, so he proved that he had a good handle of the 460-metre track aboard his Qld # 5 Bicknell, but last night, he went to another level, and it rewarded him with his second career Australian Championship victory.
Clark was the form driver throughout last night’s Australian Championship, after he had started the night by finishing third in his opening heat race, before he went on to remain undefeated for the rest of the night by virtue of winning his second heat race, the Silver Dollar Shootout (odds) and the Australian Championship feature race. After starting the feature race from pole position, Clark saved his best performance of the night until last, when he paced the field for the entire 35-lap journey and scored a comfortable win of over six seconds ahead of his closest rival. Despite a handful of stoppages throughout the feature race, Clark was able to withstand all of the pressure from his rivals and was a thoroughly deserving winner.
After nearly 12 months away from V8 Dirt Modified competition, defending Australian Champion Mitchell Randall looked like he had never left, and he finished in second place behind Clark. The Casino, NSW-based racer, who had started from position four, threw everything he had at Clark to try and keep his Australian Championship crown in the final 10 laps, but in the end, he fell just one spot shy of doing so.
Chris Corbett, from Coffs Harbour in NSW, completed the podium finishers in third – repeating his Australian Championship result at Rockhampton Speedway back in 2017. Like Randall, Corbett left nothing in the tank throughout the feature race, which saw him start from position six, as he battled amongst the front runners. He held down second spot for most of the race, before he dropped back in the latter stages to eventually go on to finish in third.
With a total of nine Australian Championships between them, Kevin Britten (Qld) and Mark Robinson (NSW) were left disappointed with their feature race performances that saw them finish in fourth and fifth place respectively. Britten had started from position three and Robinson had shared the front row with Clark out of position two, but they weren’t able to build on their qualifying form and consequently left them unable to challenge for the win.
The top 10 finishers were completed by youngster Ryley Smith (NSW), Dale Corbett (NSW), Kyle Armstrong (NSW), Phillip Roberts (Qld) and Mitchell Haynes (NSW). Brenton Bennie (NSW) was the 11th and final finisher.
1993 Australian Champion Andrew Pezzutti (NSW) headed the list of feature race retirements, which also included veteran Ray Klarich (Qld), Joshua Rose (NSW), Brock Armstrong (NSW), Mick Turner (NSW), Sam Bruggy (Qld) and Brad Bennie (NSW). Due to problems encountered earlier in the night, Geoff Phillips (Qld) and Scott Quirk (NSW) were unable to take their feature race places.
In the night’s qualifying action, the Silver Dollar Shootout dash wins went to both Clark (evens) and Robinson (odds). Clark had defeated Britten and Pezzutti, while Robinson outpaced Randall and Chris Corbett. Clark’s Silver Dollar Shootout win earned him the annual Silver Fox Award for pole position that was presented to him by four-time Australian Champion Steve Robinson who the award is in honour of. Before that, the heat race wins were shared between Robinson, Britten, Chris Corbett and Clark.
At beginning of the event, the 2024 Australian Championship best presented car was awarded to Klarich.
The Dirt Modifieds Australia committee would like to thank all of the competitors for their support and conduct throughout the 2024 Australian Championship, along with a big appreciation to all of the officials and the Carina Speedway track promotion.
With the 2024 Australian Championship now run and won, the 2025 Australian Championship will be fought out at Warrnambool’s Premier Speedway in the south-west of Victoria on February 21 and 22.
Dirt Modifieds Australia would like to thank the following 2024-25 season supporters:
• JBR Motorsport / Troyer Dirt Cars Australia
• Absolute Diesel Services
• Herne’s Security
• Bicknell Racing Products Australia
• ML Automotive Repairs
To find out more about Dirt Modifieds Australia, LIKE their Facebook page by searching DMA V8 Dirt Modifieds.
Photos: CH Images
