Logan Seavey continued the American stronghold on the ‘Magic Man’ on Wednesday at Perth Motorplex when he drove his Travis White Racing No. 38 entry to a hard-fought win in the feature event in Western Australia.
On a night that saw a world class field fighting it out and records lowered, Seavey stood tall when it mattered. Though he certainly didn’t have it all his own way in an event that was doubling as the final hit out for the division ahead of this weekend’s Mobil 1 Australian Speedcar Championship.
The night began with Seavey’s fellow countryman Justin Grant, aboard the Dyson Motorsport No. 99 machine, setting the quickest time in qualifying and in the process resetting the record books, knocking off the previous Dayne Kingshott record set in 2019.
Heat wins were shared by Grant, Kiwi driver Michael Pickens and Kaiden Manders, while Manders would win the A Dash (also in record time, resetting a 23-year-old record) for the right to start on pole in the feature race and Seavey the B Dash to start alongside him.
Americans Daniel Whitley and Jade Avedisian, both in their first events at the Perth Motorplex and indeed in Australia, would then win the Mid Pack Dash and Last Chance Qualifiers.
Feature Overview
Manders got the jump as the feature went green, but Seavey and Grant were right on his tail, one high, one low, as they looked for a way through.
Seavey got past Manders on the line by 0.002 seconds to lead lap one, and the next lap the battle really heated up with Grant right in there with the top two, but it would all come to a halt as a number of cars came together back in the pack, resulting in Patrick Watson rolling over coming out of turn two.
The restart saw Seavey fire away from Manders with Grant, Pickens and Tom Payet ready to pounce.
Lap four saw Manders dive low through turn three to pass Seavey for the lead, but Seavey was up to the task, passing Manders back and moving away while Grant took his opportunity to also move past Manders.
Seavey and Grant would now fight side-by-side for the lead, but the yellow flag came out again, this time for Jake Robinson who spun in turn two, with Avedisian also relegated to the rear after passing a car before on the cone at the previous restart.
Grant and Seavey would immediately pick up their battle on the restart, Seavey just able to hold the lead while Manders was now under siege from Pickens, Pickens getting by on lap eight but Manders fighting right back to retake third on lap nine by 0.013 seconds.
Lap after lap, Seavey and Grant would fight it out, pulling away from Manders who by now had put a gap between himself and Pickens.
Behind them was a three-car battle between Payet, Daniel Harding and another American visitor in Alex Bright for sixth.
Lapped traffic came into play on lap fourteen, but it made no difference at the front as they maintained their position and continued to battle hard.
In the end, it was all Seavey as he raced away to a solid win, giving him his second memorial win at Perth this season having previously claimed the John Day Classic in what was the best possible lead in to this weekend’s Australian Championship.
Grant would have to settle for second while Manders was pleased to finish on the podium.
Feature Finish (20 Laps)
1. Logan Seavey, 2. Justin Grant, 3. Kaiden Manders, 4. Michael Pickens, 5. Tom Payet, 6. Daniel Harding, 7. Alex Bright, 8. Kaidon Brown, 9. Daniel Whitley, 10. Keenan Fleming, 11. Nicholas Rowe, 12. Alfonso Guadagnino, 13. Lee Austen, 14. Declan Minchin (19), 15. Glen Mears (19), 16. Joel Watson (19), 17. Zoe Pearce (19), 18. Aron Sharp (19), 19. Cory Smith (19), 20. Matthew Jackson (19), 21. Rob Golding (19), 22. Jake Robinson (19), 23. Robert Heard (19). DNF: Jade Avedisian (16), Cody Nash (10), Patrick Watson (1). DNS: Beau Doyle. Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: 0.579. Fastest Lap: 16.549 Logan Seavey.