Last night saw the Easter Trail wrapped up at Premier Speedway. So far the Trail had been plagued with rain and had seen the first two rounds abandoned as a result, so all points came down to the final round. It was doubtful if last night would even run as Warrnambool was hit with showers.
The officials at Premier Speedway ended up rearranging the schedule so that Sprintcars had the best chance of success. Despite this, time trials were held off for the first rain delay of the evening.
The track was fast as the cars rolled out for time trials, as some cars were able to record lap times within 9s. Unfortunately, Waters and team were unable to capitalise as they just missed the set-up. Waters set a time of 10.424s, putting him 7th fastest in group 2. While disappointed to not qualify higher, Waters had benefitted by making the top 8 invert for the heat, putting him out of 2nd in Heat 2.
The team made significant changes to the car ahead of the heat, changes that paid off as Waters was able to return to the winning pace demonstrated in Avalon just two days prior. Waters, quick off the line, got the first position where he stayed for the duration of the heat. A two-heat format for the evening, Waters was set to start out of 7th in Heat 4 before the second rain delay of the night.
Some minor changes were made to the car before Heat 4, where Waters was able to make a couple of passes to finish 5th.
The points racked up so far had qualified Waters to start out of 11th for the A-Main. It too would be delayed for rain, and support categories were sent out instead to try and get the track in better conditions for sprintcars.
The A-Main was hectic, with multiple red flags and restarts, only 5 cars finishing on the lead lap and of course a rain delay 10 laps in. Waters was good enough to be one of those top 5. Narrowly missing the carnage, and having the strong pace to make the passes he needed to move up from 11th all the way to 5th. Waters finished by battling with Tim Hutchins in the v7 and Daniel Pestka in the s27 before crossing the line in 5th.
Driver's Quote:
"So, Easter Trail done, even though we only really got one drive in. Yeah, had a lot of pace during the Easter Trail, and won a couple of heats which was cool. Tonight, we time trialled a bit poor but got the car good for the heats and moved forward, which put us out of 11th for the A-Main. The car was really good again, chipped away at it to move my way up to 5th, which was really good. I can't thank my team enough, and to Dave [McFadden] for stepping up as crew chief for the end of the season. Hopefully, we'll race again soon, and just keep getting better."
Gallery:
Photos by Ebony McQuinn