WA EP Interclub Series final round – Report

After a brief hiatus, due to many major events taking place in Western Australia during the last few months, the final round of the WA EP Interclub series was only held recently at the RRC track in Belmont, WA on a quirky little astroturf circuit built on an unused bowling green, with some great features. The initial date for the event was abandoned and the club had the event re-run just last weekend. Many battles which had been shaping up at the front of the fields would come down to the final races. In 4WD Modified it was Josh Pain showing his usual style, dominating qualifying without challenge, with Steve Smith and Jarrod Smith following suit into the finals. The series long battle between Jarrod Smith and Chris Mitchell seemingly swinging in favour of Smith, with Mitchell staring down in 7th. In the finals it was once again Josh Pain dominating each leg, with Steve Smith in 2nd and Jarrod Smith in 3rd, rounding out the podium and allowing Jarrod Smith to jump to 3rd in the series standings on an equal points tie with Chris Mitchell. Steve Smith would end the series in 2nd and Josh Pain took the trill.

In 2WD Modified once again Josh Pain dominated, Steve Smith and Jarrod Smith both hanging in there. Taking TQ and the win to round out a perfect score was Josh Pain, followed by Steve Smith in 2nd and a surprise podium for Tom Jenner, showing his prowess on the astroturf surface. Overall series results were Pain taking the win, from Steve Smith in 2nd and Jarrod Smith in 3rd.

4WD Stock was shaping up to be a huge battle with the series-long rivalry between Cody Ireland and recently crowned 4WD Stock WA State champ – Riley Papalia. A very recent chassis change for Ireland seemed to have him on the back foot, as he was placed with problems during qualifying. But a song performance from relative newcomer Alex Senior, proving he has the speed to take on the front, gave the spectators some hope for good battles in the finals. Finals time and it was Dan Anderson finally catching a break, bringing home the overall win ahead of Papalia in 2 and Senior in 3 – enough to give Papalia the series win, with Anderson securing enough points to jump into 2nd overall, pushing Ireland down to 3rd.

2WD Stock saw once again a small field, and right from the gate was Alex Senior showing pace early on in qualifying, going on to take TQ. In the finals however some aggressive driving allowed Dan Anderson to take the fight to senior in all three legs, granting the crowds some great battles to watch. A last lap dive by Anderson on the second to last corner stunned the onlookers, but to fire things up even further Senior managed to throw his buggy on the inside of Anderson on the final corner an slip by to take the overall win by the narrowest of margins. Overall results for the round were Alex Senior 1st, Dan Anderson 2nd and a solid result for young Jordan Defillipis with a great drive to take 3rd. This meant enough points for Anderson to take the series win, Kristian Godchild 2nd and Reece Hendy 3rd.

4WD SCT was as usual brilliant fun for all, with Kyle Francis dominating from start to finish in all qualifiers to take TQ, then converting that into wins in the mains taking the overall win, with Brayden Miller in 2nd and Dan Anderson 3rd. Kyle Francis took the series win ahead of Fabio Silvi and Brady Piggot.

In EP8 the organisers saw the smallest field of the season, still splitting into two groups of A and B drivers, and it was Kyle Francis once again at the front but it was Jarrod Smith taking TQ from him. However vengeance for Francis as he took the overall win in the finals ahead of Smith in 2nd and Gabriel Mikhail making an appearance out of a long hiatus to take 3rd overall. Ultimately Francis would be taking the series win ahead of Smith and Mikhail. Rounding out the event, and the series were some light hearted trophy presentations, allowing all the round and series winners to reap the rewards of their success, with Riley Papalia winning “Top Junior” for the series (under 16) and Steve Smith winning “Top Senior” for the series (over 35).

Thanks to Christopher Mitchell for the report.