DESPITE the Australian V8 Dirt Modified Championship at Bundaberg’s Carina Speedway being just under a month away, the excitement for this May 4 and 5 event is building up as nicely as the level of competition is.
Located in the Wide Bay region of Queensland, the 460-metre Carina Speedway track, which is set to host the Australian V8 Dirt Modified Championship for the very first occasion, is set to host what is set to be a wide open Australian Championship where there is shaping up to be in excess of 10 potential winners.
So far in the 2023-24 season, the form driver has been 2014 Australian Champion David Clark, which has seen him win both of the feature races held at Carina Speedway this season, as well as taking out the Queensland Title, the Victorian Title, the Mr Modified Series point standings and is the current leader of the 5 Star Dirt Series point standings. Although it’s been a decade since his one and only Australian Championship win, the Brisbane, Queensland-based racer has been close to adding another on a few occasions, but this season shapes up as one of the Qld # 5 Bicknell pilot’s best chances.
Aside from Clark, there has been five-time Australian Champion and fellow Queenslander Kevin Britten is hungry to create more Australian Championship history by becoming the event’s first six-time winner. When it comes to this season’s form, Britten has collected the $5,000 to Win Dirt Modified Classic at the beginning of the season, last month’s NSW Title spoils, most recently took out the feature-race spoils at Grafton Speedway, currently sits second in the 5 Star Dirt Series point standings and has finished second behind Clark in both Carina Speedway feature races. It’s also interesting to note, Britten won his 2022 Queensland Title that was held at Carina Speedway ahead of Mitchell Randall and Chris Corbett.
Andrew Pezzutti, who is regarded as one of the veterans in the V8 Dirt Modifieds, recently over the Easter Long Weekend at Lismore Speedway came out on top in the inaugural Bruce Maxwell Classic in impressive fashion by defeating both Britten and Clark in second and third place respectively. This victory has no doubt filled Pezzutti with added confidence as he aims to try and capture another Australian Championship to add to his 1993 victory.
It hasn’t been the best of runs this season for Mark Robinson, but as a four-time Australian Champion, the Lismore, NSW-based racer is confident he can turn his form around during the Australian Championship weekend and get his NSW # 9 Castrol supported car on the top step of the podium.
As one of the hard-luck stories of last season’s Australian Championship at Lismore Speedway, where he was only a handful of laps away from victory until he was sidelined due to a flat tyre, Chris Corbett, from Coffs Harbour in NSW, is determined to make amends and challenge again for his very first Australian Championship win. He has won the Super Dirt Week over the Christmas-New Year period at Grafton Speedway, came narrowly close to pipping Kevin Britten for the win in the $5,000 to Win Dirt Modified Classic at the beginning of the season and finished third in the Victorian Title, so he is certainly going to be one to watch at the pointy end of the field.
Other drivers to look out for heading into this season’s Australian Championship are youngsters Ryley Smith and Blake Eveleigh, along with the likes of Zac McDonald, Joshua Rose, Steve Milthorpe, and Andrew and Taylah Firth.
Following its introduction three years ago, the CT525 engines have been a growing success within the V8 Dirt Modifieds class, where the list of drivers currently running these engines include names such as David Clark, Kevin Britten and Andrew Pezzutti. In total, there are nearly 10 drivers using the CT525 engines at the moment, which started off as a trial three years ago but has gone from strength to strength ever since.
In the lead up to the Australian Championship at Carina Speedway on May 4 and 5 there will be the $5,000 to Win Champion of Champions at Hi-Tec Oils Toowoomba Speedway on the Saturday night of April 27.
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