January 29, 2014
Who is the King of Kingaroy? Well, it’s a Lismore driver called Greg Worling who went home $10,000 richer – and a whole lot muddier – after the massive Kings Royal speedway meeting at Kingaroy at the weekend.
A big crowd turned out at the Lucas Oil Kingaroy Speedway across the three nights to watch some of Australia’s best drivers compete across a number of race categories.
But the big one was the “Kings Royal” for Modified Productions with 77 competitors vying for positions in the final field of 24.
Worling – who looked a tad stunned when the King’s cloak and a crown were placed on his head on the victory dais – took out the 50-lap final of the “King’s Royal” late on Sunday night after working his way through three days of qualifying races, hot laps and heats.
It’s his second big cash win in a row after winning $5000 in the Modified Sedan Masters feature at the Toowoomba Speedbowl the previous weekend.
Accepting his cheque, Worling said he hadn’t even realised the race was over.
“I was ready to do another 10 laps,” he said.
In second place was pre-race favourite Aidan Raymont, from Gympie, who admitted he simply hadn’t driven fast enough to catch Worling.
Third was Victorian driver Ashley Parkinson.
First home of the South Burnett contingent in the final was Brett Barron who had a strong weekend, recording the quickest times during qualifying on Friday night. Barron finished in 5th position.
After last year’s washout, organisers of the 2014 King’s Royal speedway meeting were hoping the rain would hold off this year … and it almost did.
They would have been a tad worried on Saturday morning as the skies opened but the rain stopped in time and everyone pitched in to clear the track of mud to get it ready for a night of lightning fast racing, albeit delayed for several hours.
The Modified Productions crown wasn’t the only competition running across the weekend.
In the Australian Grand Prix for Production Sedans, Gympie driver Tim Atkin took out the top spot in the final ahead of Josh Crang (Gympie) and Kent Shelford (Maryborough).
In the Ollies Towing Peanut Crown for 4 cylinders, local favourite Ben Stead recorded the fastest lap time in the final and was looking strong until he was pushed and hit the wall in the 12th lap of the 20-lap A Main. Eventual winner was northern NSW driver Trent Dhu just 0.056 seconds ahead of Brisbane driver Jack Kay with Mark Kelly (Brisbane) taking out the minor position.
In the Junior Sedans (the South Burnett Junior Nationals), James Kennedy (Brisbane) came in ahead of Patrick Brennan (Gympie) and Carter Armstrong (Caloundra).
In the Microsprint feature raced on Friday night, Tom Norton (Brisbane) took the chequered flag from Greg Paynter (Beenleigh) and Steve Thompson (Brisbane).
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Kings Royal A Main Results
1. L3 – Greg Worling
2. A1 – Aiden Raymont
3. AV5 – Ashley Parkinson
4. Q1 – Shane MacDonald
5. SB48 – Brett Barron
6. SB12 – Mark Carlin
7. G25 – Mark Raymont
8. BB81 – Dennis Shallcross
9. CR32 – Nathan MacDonald
10. G11 – Gavin Sorensen
11. L15 – Max Clarke
12. SB12 – Brad Stein (49 Laps)
13. V32 – Brody Chrystie (48 Laps)
14. SB83 – Josh Harm (44 Laps)
15. SC22 – Shannon Blackburn (42 Laps)
16. C12 – Luke Hollyman (40 Laps)
17. V88 – Bryan Galley (36 Laps)
18. C94 – Steve Jordan (32 Laps)
19. G29 – Jessica Raymont (19 Laps)
20. CR8 – Rodney Pammenter (15 Laps)
21. G5 – Brett Baxter (13 Laps)
22. SB44 – Ashley Barron (13 Laps)
23. M18 – Brendan Bayfield (11 Laps)
24. N1 – David Jacobi (2 Laps)
- Detailed results of all races and heats are available on the MyLaps website
