Queensland’s Matt Hardy made the long trek to Darwin’s Northline Speedway extremely worthwhile after winning all 3 nights of the Darwin Cup and backing it up with a win in the Northern Territory Title.

Night 1 of the Darwin Cup saw Hardy pick up 2 heat wins to qualify the Q15 Panther off pole however it was Darwin’s Mark Allcorn who would get the jump and lead the first 4 laps until Hardy made a pass for the lead and go on to be unchallenged at the fall of the checkers. Allcorn would finish second in his NT55 machine followed by the N39 Sniper Chassis of Shannon Singleton in third.

Night 2 saw the addition of Tony Blanch in the N24 Panther after missing the first night due to work commitments. Hardy and Blanch picked up a heat win each and went on to share the front row in the 25 lap final. Once again it was Hardy missing the start allowing Blanch to lead the first 3 laps until a pass for the lead would see Hardy go on to score a convincing win. Blanch finished in second with Shannon Singleton rounding out the podium.

The third and final night of the Darwin Cup saw the Q3 of Nathan Tomkins try to apply some pressure to the dominance of Hardy. He would do that straight away after winning both of his heats to start the 25 lap journey off pole. Hardy and Blanch would share the other heat wins and qualify second and third respectively. Tomkins led from the drop of the green flag until just after mid race distance when Hardy made a pass for the lead on lap 15 only to be relegated 2 spots at a restart 3 laps later. Tomkins resumed the lead with Hardy making quick work of Blanch and set his sights on Tomkins. A lapped car would cause Tomkins some indecision and allow Hardy to squeeze through on the inside to regain the lead on lap 24 and go on to score his third win. Tomkins and Blanch would round out the podium.

The fourth and final night was the all important Northern Territory Title and it was Hardy again putting himself in a good position after winning all three heats to secure pole position for the 30 lap decider. Tomkins would score two heat wins to start out of position two with Blanch and Singleton sharing the second row. Hardy controlled the start of the race with Blanch making a move on Tomkins on lap 3 for second place. Hardy was getting slower on the bottom of the racetrack as Blanch was working the top and ultimately moved into the lead on lap 16. Hardy and Tomkins then switched lines as they followed Blanch through lapped traffic. A good run coming off turn 2 allowed Hardy to make a move for the lead as he threw a slide job in turn 3 to take back the lead. A stoppage shortly after was where it all ended for Blanch as he threw a power steering belt on the restart. This allowed Hardy to go on unchallenged and pick up his 5th State Title. Nathan Tomkins and Shannon Singleton filled the podium with WA’s Sean Mazzuchelli and Mark Allcorn rounding out the top 5.

Darwin Cup Results

1st Q15 Matt Hardy

2nd N39 Shannon Singleton

3rd NT55 Mark Allcorn


NT Title Results

1st Q15 Matt Hardy

2nd Q3 Nathan Tomkins

3rd N39 Shannon Singleton