At the start of the season one of Joe Chalmers’ aims was to win a main event at the Perth Motorplex and on Saturday night he achieved that aim, claiming Round Three of the Pro Dirt Series, proudly presented by Maddington Toyota and CanningVale Toyota.
Early in the night heat wins were shared by Luke Halliday, Brent Vosbergen, Jason Oldfield and Rod Musarra, with Vosbergen and Jamie Oldfield doing enough to start the 30-lap feature race from the front row.
Vosbergen got the jump as the race got underway, hugging the pole line with Jason Oldfield doing the same to slot into second from the third starting position.
Jamie Oldfield persisted with the highline and ran third, with Musarra also right behind them in fourth but the lap would not be complete as Freddy Kinsella came together with Jay Cardy in turn one, Chris Barrow also getting involved with Abbey Pickering to bring out the yellows.
Jason Oldfield got a cracker restart and dove right through the inside on Brent to take the lead through turns one and two, and though Brent tried to fight back, he was unable to get back by.
The yellows came on shortly after the lap was complete with rookie Ryan Huxtable spinning to a stop.
At the same time, Vosbergen got involved with another car, but was able to keep going in his position as the yellows were already on.
The restart saw cars go four wide yet somehow everyone managed to keep their machines straight to get back underway, with Jason racing away, Vosbergen in hot pursuit.
Chalmers was the big mover at this point and went outside both Jamie Oldfield and Vosbergen, latching onto Jason’s tail. On lap five he would then draw alongside him for the lead and take it by 0.064 seconds.
Jamie Oldfield was clear in third at this point, having passed Vosbergen, who was now coming under threat from Tasmanian visitor Brad Smith, while Warren Oldfield and Musarra were right behind them.
Lapped traffic would come into play over the next few laps, seeing Chalmers, Jason and Jamie bunch up more in the battle for supremacy, but again Chalmers was able to pull away.
Jamie went high on lap 13 and clipped the turn three wall, which was enough of an opportunity for Vosbergen to get back by him for third as they crossed the line, but Jamie simply powered back by to retake the position. Unfortunately for Jamie, the yellows came on just as he did it, seeing the lap not count and on the restart he would revert to the fourth position.
Chalmers would lead them away this time, with Jason on the high line and Vosbergen low behind him.
He again held strong, but this time Warren Oldfield would make the most of the restart, coming from the clouds to grab third, the order now Chalmers, Jason, Warren, Smith, Musarra, Jamie and Vosbergen at the halfway point.
The front two drivers would split from the rest of the field, but again the yellows came on, this time for Peter Seaton and Peter Walker who were parked up the top of turn one.
While under the yellow conditions Vosbergen went infield with a flat let rear tyre.
After an aborted attempt at the next restart with cars going every which way, the field would go single file with seventeen laps to go, Chalmers to lead away Jason, Warren, Smith and Musarra.
Chalmers was away and clear quickly, while Jason would come under pressure from Warren over the next few laps, but was able to hold strong.
Smith had a half spin on lap twenty-five, with Musarra left nowhere to go but into his side, somehow both able to keep going without causing a stoppage, but the incident allowing Jamie Oldfield to get back by both of them for fourth.
Back up front Chalmers was tentatively holding his high line as he moved around the lapped traffic and was ultimately able to go on and take the win, defeating Jason Oldfield and Warren Oldfield in what was a stoppage filled but entertaining race.
After three weeks in a row of racing action, the Late Models now have a short break before returning to the track for a massive double header, rounds four and five of the Pro Dirt Series at Kalgoorlie and Esperance Speedways on Nov. 22 and 23, respectively.