By Perth Motorplex PR (Kwinana Beach,WA, Australia) Dec 26, 2012 — AMERICAN Steve Francis will be the man to beat when the Peard Real Estate Late Models return to the Perth Motorplex on Thursday night after he convincingly won the 25-lap feature race on Wednesday night from Jamie Oldfield and the second American in the field – Devin Moran.
Francis set up his strong showing in the feature race by winning by his heat races to start from pole.
He opted to start on the outside of the front row, next to 18-year-old Moran.
Francis was pretty happy with the way the car ran but admitted there was a little concern with an oil line coming loose late in the event.
He used all his experience to win the main event by 2.012 seconds.
“The track got a little bit rough there towards the end,” Francis said.
Oldfield was pleased to get some good results from his new car which he admitted he was having some issues with.
“That was great fun, anytime you can run against these guys is a bonus,” Oldfield said.
Moran said it was good fun and was looking to turn the tables on Oldfield who had enjoyed a good duel with.
“I guess I have to redeem myself tomorrow night,” Moran said.
“Tonight wasn’t bad, I stayed out of trouble.”
Francis was into heavy lapped traffic after just five laps as Jac Dolmans, who won the first heat race of the show, slide infield dramatically, putting him out of the event.
Vosbergen, who started third, was caught up with South Australian Mat Crimmins at midrace distance but managed to free the #8 machine just before there was a restart.
Jamie Oldfield, after harassing Moran for a few laps, slipped into second with nine laps remaining and held onto the spot.
Michael Holmes slammed into pits bend, damaging the front-end with eight laps remaining, forcing another restart.
Warren Oldfield attempted a big move on the restart but came unstuck when in fourth, losing a heap of ground.
Qualifying group 1: Craig Vosbergen 17.476, Warren Oldfield 18.001, Michael Holmes 19.346, Clint Noakes 19.389, Peter Macpherson 19.712, Ben Ludlow 20.282. Group 2: Jamie Oldfield 18.236, Devin Moran 18.280, Jay Cardy 18.435, Jac Dolmans 18.658, David Nylander 19.927, Ryan Ludlow 20.216. Group 3: Jeremy Hale 18.692, Ben Nicastri 18.846, Matt Crimmins 19.180, Brad Blake 19.391, Matt Noakes 19.524, Dean King 19.723. Group 4: Steve Francis 17.266, Matt Goodlad 17.836, Brad Ludlow 18.272, Mark Matthews 18.756, Matt Nylander 19.254, Koran Atkinson 19.336.
Race 1: 1st Jac Dolmans, 2nd Devin Moran, 3rd Craig Vosbergen, 4th Matt Goodlad, 5th Michael Holmes, 6th Jeremy Hale, 7th Mark Matthews, 8th Matt Noakes, 9th Matt Crimmins, 10th Koran Atkinson. DNF: Ryan Ludlow. DNS: Peter Mapherson.
Race 2: 1st Steve Francis, 2nd Brad Blake, 3rd Brad Ludlow, 4th Jamie Oldfield, 5th Jay Cardy, 6th Ben Ludlow, 7th Ben Nicastri, 8th Matt Nylander, 9th Clint Noakes, 10th Dean King, 11th Warren Oldfield. DNF: David Nylander.
Race 3: 1st Steve Francis, 2nd Craig Vosbergen, 3rd Warren Oldfield, 4th Brad Blake, 5th Matt Nylander, 6th Michael Holmes, 7th Dean King, 8th Brad Ludlow.
Race 4: 1st Devin Moran, 2nd Jamie Oldfield, 3rd Jay Cardy, 4th Matt Goodlad, 5th Jeremy Hale, 6th Jac Dolmans, 7th Koran Atkinson, 8th Mark Matthews, 9th Ben Ludlow, 10th Matt Crimmins. DNF: David Nylander.
Feature: 1st Steve Francis, 2nd Jamie Oldfield, 3rd Devin Moran, 4th Craig Vosbergen, 5th Matt Goodlad, 6th Warren Oldfield, 7th Ben Nicastri, 8th Koran Atkinson, 9th Mark Matthews, 10th Jeremy Hale, 11th David Nylander, 12th Matt Crimmins, 13th Ben Ludlow. DNF: Brad Ludlow, Clint Noakes, Michael Holmes, Matt Nylander, Jay Cardy, Matt Noakes, Brad Blake, Dean King, Jac Dolmans.