By Scott Beattie
On a night that celebrated 300 rounds of the Pro Dirt Series it was Australian champion Joe Chalmers who destroyed the opposition to win every race he started, including the main event at Western Australia’s Perth Motorplex.
As the big shows begin to come into focus, Chalmers is showing he is in form at the right time, starting off pole position after being undefeated in the heat races to go on and grab the win, even if he didn’t lead every lap of the main event.
Chalmers and Rod Musarra would start on the front row together for the 30-lap main event, the duo side-by-side down the front straight and into turn one, Musarra making the most of the outside to jump into the lead ahead of Chalmers as Jason Oldfield moved into third.
Over the first five laps Musarra would set about building up a gap on Chalmers, who in turn put some distance between himself and Oldfield while Tasmanian Brad Smith was holding off a determined Warren Oldfield just behind.
Lap eight would see lapped traffic come into play, with Chalmers able to close the gap and begin looking for a way through on Musarra while further back Smith was under siege from both Warren and Jamie Oldfield, both able to get by on lap 21.
Chalmers would run the outside and collect the wall, and despite slowing him momentarily he was able to catch Musarra once again, moving around the outside in turn two to lead lap 11.
Chalmers was now the leader and quickly set about building his own gap as Musarra sat in second ahead of Jason, Warren and Jamie Oldfield.
Jamie Oldfield was on a mission and moved into third on lap 13, passing both his brothers in the process.
At the halfway point Chalmers was really stretching his legs, pulling away from Musarra while Oldfield was doing his best to close the gap on Musarra.
Lap 19 saw Oldfield draw alongside Musarra as they crossed the line, but Musarra held strong and was able to stay in second.
For the next few laps Oldfield would try and try again to get by Musarra while up front Chalmers was over five seconds ahead with eight laps to go.
With five to go, Musarra shifted up track to get around a lapped car and this gave Oldfield the opportunity to get by on the inside. Musarra fought back but couldn’t take back the position.
Up front though it was all Chalmers, grabbing the win in a dominant night of racing, with the 30-lap feature running nonstop, and 22 of the 24 starters finishing the race.
Oldfield would come home in second and in turn claim the Hard Charger award while Rod Musarra was third. Jason and Warren Oldfield rounded out the top five.
Teams now have around a month off before returning to action, and they will certainly need the time to prepare as the next show kicks off a run of huge events, the Western Australian Title to be decided at Perth on Feb. 15.
Feature Finish (30 Laps)
1. Joe Chalmers, 2. Jamie Oldfield, 3. Rod Musarra, 4. Jason Oldfield, 5. Warren Oldfield, 6. Craig Vosbergen, 7. Brad Blake, 8. Kodee Brown, 9. Michael Holmes, 10. Brad Smith, 11. Veronica McCann, 12. Matt Goodlad, 13. Luke Halliday, 14. Jay Cardy, 15. David Boyes, 16. Freddy Kinsella, 17. Peter Walker, 18. Damian Hudson, 19. Peter Seaton, 20. Greg Horan, 21. Jay Bassinelli, 22. Nathan Richards. DNF: Brendan Hucker (14), Mat Robins (5). Total Time: 9.03.528. Winning Margin: 9.070. Fastest Lap: 16.915, Rod Musarra
