Up against some of the country’s toughest drivers, Jason Molle was rapt to come away with a third-place finish in last Saturday night’s NSW AMCA Nationals Title at Gilgandra Speedway.

The Gold Coast-based racer was in the best possible form in the early stages of the night, winning his opening heat race and setting the fastest lap of the heat races, before finishing third and sixth, placing him out of position six for the 30-lap NSW Title-deciding feature race.

Immediately making his way up to fourth by the completion of the opening lap, Molle maintained a steady pace aboard his Qld # 77 Valley Head Services - Performance Engine Building / Command Digital Signage supported Real Chassis machine, owned by Richo McQuaigue. Eventually, Molle worked his way into a podium spot during the middle stages, which was a position he held down for the remainder of the distance to impressively claim the final place on the podium in third.

“To come away with a podium finish in the NSW Title up against such strong competition is a huge honour,” expressed Molle, who was happy with his car’s performance, with the team having struggled in lead up events, due to a failed component they discovered, which was quickly repaired.

“To finish third behind guys like Matt Hardy (Australian and Queensland Champion) and Jamie Collins (Victorian Champion) is definitely nothing to be ashamed about, and it’s also proof again that we have what it takes to mix it with the best drivers in the country.”

Commencing his speedway career just five years ago, the 38-year-old racer spent a season racing the Ford vs Holden track-based class, before spending a season on the sidelines. In the 2012-13 season, he was contacted by car owner McQuaigue, who asked him to take over driver duties for the remainder of the season, when his driver at the time had stepped away from the driving duties.

Well and truly in the deep end, Molle travelled to Brisbane’s Archerfield Speedway to contest the 2012-13 Australian AMCA Nationals Title, which remarkably saw him win a heat race before qualifying 16th for the feature race, where he ended up an impressive ninth in only his third ever race meeting in the class. Running a Kempy Chassis in his first full season, Molle finished fourth overall in the 2013-14 season Archerfield Speedway Track Championship, going on to win the Track Championship the following season and running third in the Queensland Series point score, as well as achieving his maiden feature win, along with numerous heat-race wins and minor podium feature-race results.

Having only contested half a dozen shows last season after the team, including McQuaigue and team mate Darren Gower, spent six months building a new custom AMCA chassis named Real Chassis, Molle’s season was highlighted by the 2015-16 season Australian Title at Lismore Speedway (NSW), where he showed plenty of pace by qualifying 13th and then putting in a hard-charging drive to finish one spot shy of the podium in fourth.

Regularly racing between Lismore Speedway and Archerfield Speedway tracks, the 2016-17 season has so far seen Molle continue to go from strength to strength, achieving a second feature-race victory at Archerfield Speedway, a handful of minor podium finishes and most recently his NSW Title podium finish.

Currently running inside the top three in the Lismore Speedway Track Championship, Molle’s main focus for the season will be continuing to build on his consistency in order to ensure a strong result, along with the Queensland Title, which is set to be held at McCosker Rocky Speedway in Rockhampton on the Saturday night of May 6.

For his next appearance, Molle will this Saturday night head to Lismore Speedway.

Molle would like to thank the following 2016-17 sponsors: Valley Head Services -Performance Engine Building, Command Digital Signage, Gulf Western Oil, Bremner Visual and Evans Waterless Coolant. He would also like to give special thanks to Richo McQuaigue, his wife Kate and daughter Evie, Shelley Jones, Darren Gower, Caren Alderton (mum), Rod Alderton (stepdad) and Jason Dwyer.

To find out more about Molle and his team, LIKE them on Facebook by searching Valley Head Services Racing.