Australian Sprintcar star Robbie Farr proved to be too good for the classy international Sprintcar field at the  Powerbuilt Speedway in Christchurch last night  when he took out the $20,000 Powerbuilt International Classic.

The evenings racing did not start well for the Sydney based driver when the motor on his Scorpion Racing Concut Maxim suffered terminal problems in the opening heat. Team owner, Steve Duff, of Christchurch, who was set to race in heat two, climbed out of his Jack Daniels J&J , and turned the car over to Farr for the rest of the programme.

Heat one started in spectacular fashion when local driver, Greg Clemence in the RBR  Maxim, crashed his machine heavily down the back straight after riding a wheel on the opening lap. Clemence climbed unhurt out of his badly damaged car which had flipped  50 metres down track. Auckland’s Jamie McDonald took out the restart from American, Ricky Logan and Carl Wilson (Auckland). Heat two also started with a crash on the opening lap when the defending Classic titleholder, Craig Dollansky of the USA in the Salter Cartage Maxim, clipped Aucklander Brad Mosen in the Dickies Maxim as the field hurtled into the first turn. Dollansky’s  car rolled into the concrete safety fence. Feverish activity in the pits by the Salter Motorsport crew saw the car repaired and able to take the grid in Dollansky’s next heat.

Aussie Trevor Green in the Powerbuilt Maxim secured heat two after a great battle with Farr, who finished in second place, while Hamilton’s Dean Brindle, in another of the Salter Motorsport Maxims came home in third.

Eight time New Zealand Champion Allan Wakeling in the Koken Tools J&J proved to be too good in the third heat, with young Christchurch driver Glen Everett putting up a great drive to finish second in front of Green.

The final heat showed that all the hard work in the pits had not been in vain as Dollansky powered away to take a handy lead, however Farr had now adapted to ‘his new ride’ and started whittling away at the Americans lead. Farr then dug deep on the final lap and blasted around Dollansky to take out the win, with current New Zealand Champion Kerry Jones third.

The top six drivers then took part in the pole shuffle which ended up as a duel between the two Australians who treated the big crowd to a great display of racing, with Farr eventually taking it out and getting the choice of starting position for the thirty lap feature.

Green made an impressive start to the race, getting the jump on his compatriot. Farr then managed to get his nose in front briefly before Green covered that move to regain the front position.

American Ricky Logan spun on the third lap, bringing out a yellow . He was able to restart off the back of the field, however at this point Farr took over the lead when Green retired his car onto the infield with a tyre bleeder problem.

From the restart Farr totally dominated and was into lapped traffic by lap eight. The main interest swung back to the battle for the minor placings with Wakeling and Brindle swapping second placing several times. Wakeling eventually gained control of that, and was starting to hunt down Farr, but the Australian was maneuvering through the traffic with great skill.

Kerry Jones came into the reckoning after a clash in heavy traffic saw Brindle, and Michael Pickens in the Accessman Schnee both forced out of the race.

Farr went on to win from the kiwi legends Wakeling and Jones, while the Americans Logan and Dollansky rounded out the top five.

In a post race interview Farr revealed that there was little left of his right rear tyre and that he was thankful that the race finished when it did.

“We just love getting over to Powerbuilt for the Classic. It’s a great race, and the track was awesome tonight. I knew that Wakeling was close, but I was confident that we could bring the Jack Daniels car home for Steve Duff.”

$20,000 Powerbuilt International Classic

Ht 1. Jamie McDonald (Auck) 1, Ricky Logan (USA) 2, Carl Wilson (Auck) 3.

Ht 2. Trevor Green (Aust) 1, Robbie Farr (Aust) 2, Dean Brindle (Hamilton) 3.

Ht 3. Allan Wakeling (Auck) 1, Glen Everett  (ChCh) 2, Green 3.

Ht 4. Farr 1, Craig Dollanski (USA) 2, Kerry Jones (Auck) 3.

Pole Shuffle. Farr 1, Green 2, Wakeling 3, Logan 4, Jones 5, Brindle 6.

Classic Feature. Farr 1, Wakeling 2, Jones 3, Logan 4, Dollensky 5, Wilson 6, McDonald 7, Kevin Freeman (Nelson) 8.

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