A Local Affair – GasDash Day Two


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The second and final race day of the 2015 Kickstarters Gascoyne Dash has taken in place in warm and sunny conditions this morning. Facing a final loop of approximately 210 kilometres, the leading competitors were looking to consolidate hard-won position from day one, while for others it would be a day to try and claw back some time after day one delays.

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Having completed day one with a solid lead of just over seven minutes, Shane Elphinstone was looking to continue his dominance of the weekend so far. Taking off from the line at 7am, Elphinstone pushed hard early and was setting a cracking pace before clutch failure ended their day earlier than planned. Starting out of sixth position after a tough first day, Greg Pickersgill in the #425 Chevy Extreme 2WD picked his way through the field, managing to pass a number of stricken cars and took out first position for the day. This was a great effort by the team who had to make repairs to the front suspension overnight in order to start the day.

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Brad Cooper’s tough weekend continued, further issues with the power steering system on the Bat Racing Pro buggy leading to another difficult day for the team, however they pushed on and made it home in second position for the day, a great reward for perseverance. Another team making a huge charge through the field was the #790 Performance 4WD of Graeme Bentik and Daniel Smith. After a rear suspension change overnight, the crew stormed through the field to take third for the day in their first event in this vehicle. Having started the day in second position, Brett Renton was having issues of his own in the #74 Jimco, alternator failure resulting in a stop at one of the checkpoints in order to fit a replacement unit. With the new unit in place the team pushed hard in order to make up for lost time before having the engine stopped altogether after one of the wires leading to the alternator broke and shorted out. This necessitated a further stop for quick track side repairs before pushing on to the finish in fourth position.

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In the Moto section, it is doubtful that any other competitors saw the dust of Cody Upton for the whole weekend, the local Honda rider putting in another stunning day on the bike to complete a dominant weekend of riding. Having won the prologue and topping the timesheets at the end of day one, Upton could be forgiven for taking it easy today, however that wasn’t to be the case and he stormed home to win the day by over 9 minutes. Second on the day was the #27 KTM of veteran class rider Rob Pollard, with the #301 KTM of Matt Lettey rounding out the top three. Having started the day in second position, the #121 Yamaha Quad of Brad Smith was out with mechanical failure, leaving the #921 KTM of John Iuliano to take out the class win for the day ahead of Richard Maxted’s Honda.

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At the end of two days of gruelling racing on what many competitors felt was once of the toughest, yet rewarding GasDash tracks, it was an all local affair at the top of the leader board. The King Of The Dash in the Auto section was the #74 Jimco of Brett & Kevin Renton, while King Of The Dash in the Moto section was the #2 Honda of Cody Upton.

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The overall results for each division were as follows:

 

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Auto Outright Positions

  1. Brett & Kevin Renton 5:30:32.8
  2. Brad Cooper & Tony Pitassi 5:36:09.4
  3. Greg Pickersgill & Greg Finlay 5:47:43.1

Extreme 2WD

  1. Greg Pickersgill & Greg Finaly
  2. Darryl Hardman & Bob Smith

Extreme 4WD

  1. Mark Murray & Lee Coupe
  2. Russell Cullen & Daniel Fahey
  3. Scott Overstone & Clifford Hills

Pro Class

  1. Brett & Kevin Renton
  2. Brad Cooper & Tony Pitassi
  3. Shane & Curt Elphinstone

Performance 4WD

  1. Graeme Bentik & Daniel Smith
  2. David Michelmore & Gary Kirkwood
  3. Alan Gibbs & Rory Gibbs

UTV

  1. Neville Yeatman & Rod Otten

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Moto Outright Positions:

  1. Cody Upton 4:27:15.8
  2. Matthew Hart 4:57:12.2
  3. Matt Lettey 4:59:23.1

Moto Class 1

  1. Marshall Whitehall-Holla

Moto Class 2

  1. Cody Upton
  2. Daniel Games
  3. Tom Parry

Moto Class 3

  1. Matthew Hart
  2. Matt Lettey

Moto Masters

  1. Brock Johnson

Moto Quad

  1. John Iuliano
  2. Richard Maxted
  3. Paul Zuchetti

Moto Seniors

  1. James Doherty
  2. Dean Richards
  3. Nathan Vince

Moto Veterans

  1. Rob Pollard
  2. Peter Massey