Auckland racer Brad Mosen raced from mid-pack to a $5000 victory in the Seamount Racing Bay 51 Midget Car feature on Saturday night.
Auckland racer Brad Mosen raced from mid-pack to a $5000 victory in the Seamount Racing Bay 51 Midget Car feature on Saturday night.
Auckland racer Brad Mosen drove from deep in the field to score a commanding win in Saturday night’s big-money Seamount Racing Bay 51 Midget Car Spectacular at Baypark Speedway.
The former NZ champion built on a recent run in winning form to claim the $5000 victory ahead of Michael Pickens and Peter Hunnibell.
While Pickens and Hunnibell started from the front row of the grid in the 51-lapper, Mosen was back on the fifth row of the grid after qualifying 10th and missing the A-Dash for the top eight qualifiers.
“We didn’t qualify well. It was a bit greasy when I went out, which surprised me. We were stuck in the B-Dash, and that was a bit of a worry,” said Mosen.
The qualifying format meant the best position Mosen could start in for the main event was ninth, and he nailed that down by winning the B-Dash.
“After the B-Dash, I felt we had a car that could win, and 51 laps is a long way,” Mosen said.
Mosen made steady progress up to fifth position in the first 10 laps as Pickens led the way from Hunnibell. Mosen was fourth at the first caution on lap 12 and then began to pressure Pickens.
There was a portion of the race, just before the 20-lap mark, when Mosen and Pickens swapped the lead three times in two laps, but by mid-distance Mosen had control of the lead.
“At the start, I didn’t feel we were that quick, but the car got better and better as the race went on,” Mosen said.
Pickens was 4.8 seconds behind at the finish, with Hunnibell just holding off Jayden Worthington for the third spot. Worthington drove an impressive race from grid 19 to threaten for the podium, while promising rookie Campbell Stewart was fifth.
It’s the second big win for Mosen in recent weeks following a North Island title success last month in his Toyota-powered Clark Performance CP3X racer, and has built his confidence ahead of the NZ title at Stratford on April 1.
“It gives us a bit of confidence. Our car is quick and the team is in a good place,” he said.
Rodney Wood, 51, races past Jamie McDonald to win the Sprint Car feature race.
Sprint Cars have had seven nights on the Baypark Speedway programme this summer, and top local driver Rodney Wood has been a threat to win on most of those occasions. He secured his first home-track win of the season with a late-race pass on Jamie McDonald (Auckland), and Dean Brindle (Hamilton) completed the podium.
Auckland’s Corbin Anderson was the class of the F2 Midget field, and raced to a clear win in the 15-lap feature race ahead of Brynn Jackson and Troy Jeffries.
The next meeting at Baypark Speedway is the Bay Invasion night, scheduled for Saturday, March 25.
