Leonie Knight is thoroughly enjoying her first full season racing speedway, after the Brisbane, Queensland-based racer joined the AMCA Nationals class late last season in honour of her late father, Phil Mutton’s legacy.

With five race meetings already under her belt in the 2016-17 season, Knight has proved that she can get amongst her rivals, coming away with a career-best result earlier this month, when she finished just off the podium in fourth in a feature race at her home track: Archerfield Speedway.

Tim Reidy took an emphatic feature-race win at Redline Raceway on Saturday night, in what was the first round of the 2016-17 AMCA Nationals Barry Reidy Memorial Series.

Reidy, based in Darwin, flew in and claimed the win in the event, named in honour of his grandfather, after starting down in 12th place on the grid. Second home was the in-form Dean Heseltine, who put in a strong performance to chalk up another feature-race pole position and his fourth feature-race podium finish in a row. Heseltine led the way for much of the feature race before Reidy, who made quick work of moving through the field, executed his move for the lead.

The 2016-17 season winning ways for Deano Heseltine continued in last Saturday night’s second Country Cup Series round for AMCA Nationals at Rosedale Speedway and his winning tally is now at three wins from as many starts.

Heseltine, who has this season upgraded to a 350 Chev engine and quick-change differential package, has been surprised by his start to the season and counts his Rosedale Speedway win on Saturday night as his most pleasing so far.

Queenslander Gavin Wootton put in an incredible performance on Saturday night to win the Northern Territory AMCA National Title at Darwin’s Northline Speedway, which also turned out to be his feature-race win.

Wootton, who has been racing AMCA Nationals for just over one season, impressed spectators and drivers alike when he managed to steer his Qld # 66 Domino’s Pizza-backed car from the back of the field to victory to clinch the NT Title, ahead of Jacob Belcher and Dale Roberts in second and third respectively.

Mills Brothers Racing had much to celebrate at the Victorian AMCA Nationals presentation night on Saturday, coming away with no less than 14 awards between the team’s drivers, Mathew and Jamie Mills.

The younger of the two brothers, Jamie, was crowned champion of the Barry Reidy Memorial, a highly prestigious series for AMCA Nationals.

“To take out the Barry Reidy Memorial and get my name on the perpetual trophy is a huge honour and means a lot to me,” expressed the 26-year-old after receiving the trophy.

The Victorian AMCA Nationals celebrated a successful 2015-16 season with their presentation night at the Sunbury Bowls Club on Saturday.

Congratulations to all of the award winners listed below, as well as all drivers, crew, organisers, sponsors and supporters involved in AMCA Nationals racing in Victoria, for making the 2015-16 season such a fantastic and memorable one.

 

Australian Champion Matt Hardy has achieved his second Title in just a fortnight, after winning last Saturday night’s Queensland AMCA Nationals Title at Brisbane’s Archerfield Speedway.

Qualifying on pole position for the Queensland Title deciding feature race, Hardy was never bested and led the 30-lap distance from start to finish. The Queensland-based racer took the chequered flag in a commanding win, ahead of former Australian Champion and veteran Jim Knight (NSW) and recently-crowned NSW Champion Daniel Brooks (Tas) in second and third place respectively. For Hardy, he became the first Queensland-based winner of the event in seven seasons.

Current and two-time Tasmanian Champion Daniel Brooks last Saturday night won the NSW AMCA Nationals Title at Narrabri's Newton Park Speedway.

Like the majority of the field, racing for the first time at Newton Park Speedway, a particularly difficult track, and off the back of a disappointing Australian Title result, Brooks, from Hobart in Tasmania, qualified on pole position for the 30-lap NSW Title-deciding feature race, alongside veteran Shane Newstead (NSW). Brooks managed to get the jump off the start, retaining his lead for the remainder of the race throughout multiple stoppages and restarts.