by Geoff Rounds
ROBBIE Farr is coming back to Avalon Raceway this weekend and is desperate to reverse his finish in one of Australia’s more unique sprintcar events.
The 40-year-old hard charging Western Australian-based driver is looking to haul home the $10,000 first prize in the fifth annual Combined Waste Sprintcar Jackpot Invitational this Saturday night.
Avalon track specialist, David Murcott of Point Cook showed a patient drive and took advantage of lapped traffic to snooker race leader Farr and win last year’s race. Farr is desperate to reverse the scenario in Victoria’s opening sprintcar event of the busy 2013-14 season.
“Last year I should of won the race. Most definitely I want to win it this weekend. I do with every race I go in. I want to tick it off the list and win the ten grand. This is an event that can help us as a team lay a good foundation for the whole season,” Farr said.
“A race which has $10,000 to win this early in the season is really worth chasing and to win.
Farr’s record at Avalon during his 20 years in sprintcars is plentiful and has included a jaw-dropping tie for victory last season with Warrnambool’s Stephen Bell in the Victorian Sprintcar Championship, Farr is also one of only three drivers to win both a national sprintcar and speedcar championship, the latter at Avalon in 1998.
His start to this current season has seen the East Coast Pipeline Racing Team on the podium in all features but an A-Main win has proved elusive for Farr.
“We should’ve of won at Mackay but the motor stopped with a magneto problem and we were leading on a yellow-caution with 10 laps to go, so that was little disappointing,” Farr said.
“Then at Toowoomba and Brisbane we’ve had three seconds in the features, so the car speed is there and we’ve had some little issues with tyres and then sometimes you just run second.
“We’re certainly coming to Avalon to not only support the race and the Drew Family but to win, we’re certainly overdue.”
Murcott’s win last year is alongside inaugural winner Max Dumesny’s in 2009 and they are the only two to win the Jackpot as the other two years have been washed out.
This format for this unique event has every heat race and feature race winner from last season’s Sprintcar events invited to Avalon to race, which features 32 drivers which includes wildcards.
The “lottery” of the event then begins, with each driver’s crew chief invited to draw a sealed envelope to determine starting positions for the pair of 25-lap qualifiers where one must finish in order to advance to a semi final. From there, the top 12 across the line in the Semi race off against the clock with only the fastest 10 taken to a mad 12-lap dash for cash.
Of this year’s wildcards is Warrnambool youngster Will Carroll who is ecstatic to be invited to race in the lucrative Jackpot.
“I’m looking very forward to this, a lot more than other seasons. It’s because it’s what I love to do, that’s race,” Carroll said.
“This event I hope will help my aim and that’s to run well, try for a top five in SRA Series and to get on the podium. I also want to prove I can run really well with some of Australia’s best.”
*Avalon Raceway will hold a pit walk between 3-4pm, admission gates will open at 3pm and engine starts are from 6pm and racing from 7pm.
The always entertaining V8 Dirt Modified’s will support the sprintcars in what will have the national spotlight firmly on Geelong with Australia’s finest sprintcar racers in town for one of the country’s more unique events.
Admission:
Adults $30
Child 12-16 $10
Child Under 12 Free
Website: www.avalonraceway.com
For more info contact Jeff Drew 0418 160 985 / Geoff Rounds 0413 024413.