Oldfield Takes Ray Tulk Memorial
In what started out as a hot afternoon out at Ellenbrook Speedway and Warren Oldfield showed how hot he could be behind the steering wheel of his Ultratune Morley/Carahaul #51w machine with an enthralling win in the 2010 Ray Tulk Memorial. Oldfield came from behind to beat home Craig Vosbergen (Worldwide Construction Machinery/Ductworks Australia #8 Rocket), with veteran Ben Ludlow bringing his DiCandilo Steel City/Lucas Oils #9 GRT home in third.
Earlier in the day the opening round of the R2C Competition Filters Pro Dirt Series heat racing proved to be fantastic as Brad Blake showed just what he could do in his Blake Auto Centre #0 Rocket as he raced away to two heat wins and earned pole for the all important A- dash.
Brad Ludlow (DiCandilo Steel City/Lucas oils #92 GRT) took out a lucky and unlucky win in the opening heat when he inherited the lead after Matt Goodlad had his #18 Diversified Contracting/JRH Signs Rocket damaged under the yellow lights by Ludlow’s father Ben. That was the lucky bit for the younger Ludlow as he then had motor problems heading back to the pits and ended his evening early.
The final heat was taken out by the current Motorplex track champion Jay Cardy driving his BBT Steel/TL Dozing #52 Cardy Chassis, showing impressive speed that he carried through to the A-Dash where he took another win over pole sitter Blake. Bunbury based racer Michael Hamon turned his day around after a number of spins to win the B-Dash driving his ex –Doug Drown Valvoline/ACDC Welding Rocket.
The 35 lap finale proved to be both a battle to the end and a battle of attrition as both of the top two qualifiers, Blake (flat tyre) and Cardy (driveline), succumbed to mechanical woes early on in the A-main.
Veteran Ben Ludlow took over the lead and used all of his experience to drive on the drying Ellenbrook circuit with a right rear tyre that was loosing more and more grip with every lap. Hamon looked to be closing until he once again spun and had to resume towards the rear of the field.
As Ludlow struggled to pass lapped traffic and the rest of the field closing in like a pack of dogs on a three legged cat, the forty year veteran only gave them one chance and that’s all Oldfield and Vosbergen needed. Oldfield’s run was perfectly timed as he passed both of his fellow Late Model competitors with brilliant and precise moves that gave him the lead and the eventual win.
Following him home were Vosbergen, Ludlow, Hamon, Michael Holmes (OzMine/Holmes & Associates #91 Rocket) and rookie Bryan Haythornthwaite in the AJN Transport/Striking Signs #54 AJN Chassis rounding out the field.
Naturally Oldfield was impressed with his car, especially in the closing laps of the A-Main. “We sort of planned it as we put on harder tyres than what we run in the heats hoping that it would come on strong towards the end. I don’t know if we got it exactly right or if everyone else missed it a little. Maybe it was a combination of both and we got the job done.” The elated winner said afterwards.
This was an important win for Oldfield as he would need all the points possible due to the fact he would miss the next couple of rounds of the Pro Dirt Series competing in the Australia vs. New Zealand challenge on the east coast over the next couple of weekends. “Hey we will miss a few shows so that means we wont be in the points at the end of the year, but its nice to get wins and take home some money and pay for our fuel to get over east” he said with a smile.
So the opening round of the R2C Competition Filters Pro Dirt Series has been run and won in what will be a long tough series. Now it’s time for all the drivers to get ready and focus on the next round of the series, this Saturday night as part of the opening meeting at the Perth Motorplex.
