Racing dirty: Burger King Pro Dirt Super Saloon series Round Five

12 December 2018

With round four of the Burger King Pro Dirt series rained out in Wellington, the teams were given plenty of time to dial in the cars for round five. It would take place 8 December at Stratford Speedway, which was long overdue for some Super Saloon action — the event marked the first time the series had ventured to Stratford.

The track measures in at just 380 metres long, the straights are huge, though lead into a 10 metre wide corners. Unfortunately the water truck burst a hose while preparing the track for racing, leaving turn three and four looking a little worse for wear, and it took the cars a while to dry the track out.

Quicktime went to Dan Corrin (124M), who also won Heat One, though his driving would be over for the night when oil pressure was dropped and the call was made to call it quits — understandably he didn’t want to kill another engine like the one that went at Baypark. As you are reading this, Dan and crew likely have the engine pulled down and will be back for the next round.

Driving the thing like he stole it, Mark Osborne has had incredible car performance, proving to be the fastest on the track when all is going well. But there’s a monkey on his back and it doesn’t want to leave, this time seeing him winning Heat Two by a long way, only to hit the wall at turn one in the A Main race.

Serious racers and brothers, Chris and Steve Cowling. Chris (27M) took out second on the night.

Burger King-sponsored driver Steve Flynn (5B) definitely knows his way around a dirt track, winning the B Main race.

In his Burger King Pro Dirt series rookie season, Brodie Abrahamson (49M) already has several years of saloon car ranks behind him. In the A Main 30 lap race, turn one wall took him out with severe front end damage, though prior to the hit the car was proving a lethal combination. He finished third in the B main race.

The oldest of the drivers in the series, having won many a championship event in previous years and pedalling a very serious car, a win is long overdue for Mic Quinn (23P).

Winning the 30 lap feature, Sam Waddell (2NZ) needed a blanket thrown over him at times as he was on fire. Chris Cowling (27M) followed in second place, making for some very close racing.