As the sun set over Mildura’s Atlantic Oils Sunset Strip, round six of the ANDRA Regional Sportsman Championship heated up the track Saturday evening to determine the winners of the coveted ANDRA Christmas Tree trophies.

The final qualifying session of the weekend kicked off Saturday’s on-track activities, where the following racers took home the Top Qualifier Medallions, presented by New Gen Business Park, for their respective brackets: Edge Mallis (Lectron Australia Competition Bike), Davydd Estcourt (Huntsman Racing Supercharged Outlaws), Vlado Turic (Top Sportsman Competitors Top Sportsman), Adriana Cartledge (Gallagher Modified), Tony Miskelly (Super Sedan Competitors Super Sedan), Dean Jamieson (Ballistic Performance Parts Modified Bike), Dean Doolan (Goodyear Racing Super Street), Graeme Spencer (The South Australian Drag Racers Association Super Gas), and Brock Furlanetto (Langtree’s Machinery Services Junior Dragster).

With qualifying complete, attention then turned to the racing runs, with the following racers emerging victorious in their respective brackets: Edge Mallis (Lectron Australia Competition Bike), Davydd Estcourt (Huntsman Racing Supercharged Outlaws), Leon Davies (Top Sportsman Competitors Top Sportsman), Adriana Cartledge (Gallagher Modified), Tony Miskelly (Super Sedan Competitors Super Sedan), Derryn McGregor (Ballistic Performance Parts Modified Bike), Andrew ‘Chicka’ Waight (Goodyear Racing Super Street), Adrian McGrotty (The South Australian Drag Racers Association Super Gas), and Taylor Horton (Langtree’s Machinery Services Junior Dragster).

Also celebrating at the end of the day were the runners-up in each bracket: Cheryl Beddoes (Lectron Australia Competition Bike), Brendan Carr (Huntsman Racing Supercharged Outlaws), Jason Young (Top Sportsman Competitors Top Sportsman), Cory Dyson (Gallagher Modified), Kevin Bowker (Super Sedan Competitors Super Sedan), Dean Jamieson (Ballistic Performance Parts Modified Bike), Stefan Lainas (Goodyear Racing Super Street), Warren Smith (The South Australian Drag Racers Association Super Gas), and Lucas Sparrow (Langtree’s Machinery Services Junior Dragster).

Also on track this weekend was the local non-championship Street Car bracket, with Lisa Trezise top qualifying before going on to take the win over runner-up Danny Wilson.

In Huntsman Racing Supercharged Outlaws, Davydd Estcourt converted his Top Qualifier Medallion into the win over runner-up Brendan Carr. To get to the final Estcourt first took the win over Mark Hunt in round one, before a successful pairing against Shane Baxter in round two, while Carr also took wins over Jason Keily in round one and Tim Stewart in round two.

Estcourt couldn’t have asked for a better weekend, reaching a major milestone in lifting his first ANDRA Christmas Tree trophy.

“The weekend went pretty well,” Estcourt said before the presentation.

“We actually came up here with a fresh engine and looked at the weekend as a bit of a testing session. This is my first ANDRA Championship round of the year and my first ANDRA Christmas Tree.

“We had a couple of teething issues during qualifying and only did two sessions, just general things after rebuilding an engine.”

After the seven-and-a-half-hour drive to Mildura this weekend, Estcourt is grateful for the support of his crew, family and sponsors who helped make the weekend happen.

“I’d like to thank my crew – especially my dad Rodney and Uncle Greg – Alex from Motor 1 for rebuilding the engine, and my sponsor Australian Truck and Trailer Repairs.”

In Top Sportsman Competitors Top Sportsman, Leon Davies claimed victory over runner-up Jason Young to lift the ANDRA Christmas Tree, first with wins over Shane Wynd and Top Qualifier Vlado Turic in rounds one and two, respectively. Runner-up Young meanwhile took wins over Sam Cardinale (round one) and Michael Rouhan (round two) to get to the final.

While the weekend may have gotten off to a rocky start for Davies, he was able to turn his fortunes around to secure the win on Saturday night.

“Yeah well, to be honest, the weekend started off not the best. I was using data from the last time I was here and just kept getting red lights. The car was consistent, but the driver wasn’t getting the lights,” Davies laughed.

“We did our final qualifier today and I was still a little concerned with how it was going to go. But I just took the chance, and we got some really good lights. Our quickest run was the last one of the day.

“My wife Lisa and I are a two-person crew, and it was just great to have a good weekend. We wouldn’t be here this weekend without the support of our sponsors Slape Crash Repairs, EP Windscreens, CK Custom Kitchens, and Rick Daniel Recycling.”

Gallagher Modified Top Qualifier Adriana Cartledge took the win over round five winner and this weekend’s runner-up Cory Dyson in the All-Run format this weekend. Across the four rounds, Cartledge took wins over Dyson both times they faced off, first in round two before the final run. Cartledge also enjoyed a win over Ashley Johnson in round three. Dyson meanwhile enjoyed wins over Ashley Johnson in round one and Kenny Stewart in round three.

Cartledge is very happy with how this weekend unfolded, with mechanical issues during Friday’s qualifying threatening to end the weekend early.

“Our weekend didn’t start off that great, to be honest,” said Cartledge

“We broke the power glide input shaft during the first qualifier, so we had to take the auto out of the car. So this time last night, we actually thought we were done for the weekend.

“We ended up getting our brother Corey to meet us halfway from Melbourne with a piece this morning, and we got the auto back in today to our last qualifier, and then, yes, ended up winning the meeting.”

The recovery made the win even more special, especially since this was their first race back after a break. “I’ve just had 10 months off because I just had a baby. Our son’s 11 weeks old now, and we jumped back in the car, and he’s out at the track with us.”

Cartledge credited family and sponsors for their support: “I’d like to thank my husband Luke, Mick, and my mother-in-law Kylie for looking after the baby. I’d also like to thank our sponsors ProStreet Towing and Transport, ACS Race Fuels, Race Max Direct, and Wild Ink.”

In Lectron Australia Competition Bike, today’s Top Qualifier and round five winner Edge Mallis went back-to-back with a win over runner-up Cheryl Beddoes. Running the All-Run format this weekend, the pair lined up twice over the four rounds of racing, with Mallis getting the better of Beddoes in round two as well as the final. Mallis also took wins over Rob Church in round one and Nick Stewart in round three. To get to the final, Beddoes also enjoyed wins over Stewart (round one) and Church (round two).

In Super Sedan Competitors Super Sedan, Top Qualifier Tony Miskelly took home the ANDRA Christmas Tree over runner-up Kevin Bowker. Miskelly got to the final thanks to wins in rounds one and two over Brian Keane and Deb O’Connell respectively before a bye in round three and the final match-up against Bowker. Bowker, meanwhile, raced through all three rounds to get to the final pairing, winning over Alex Gkroidis in round one, Mick Piscioneri in round two, and Tony Tedesco in round three.

In Ballistic Performance Parts Modified Bike, Derryn McGregor claimed victory over runner-up Dean Jamieson after four rounds of All-Run racing. To get to the final McGregor took wins over Jason Rattray in round one and Matthew Jones in round three before a second match-up against Jamieson in the final. Jamieson meanwhile took wins over Jones in round one, McGregor in round two and Rattray in round three.

In Goodyear Racing Super Street Andrew ‘Chicka’ Waight took the win over runner-up and round four winner Stefan Lainas in the final. Waight made it through to the final with wins over Neil Mellett (round one), Dutchy Holland (round two), and Malcolm Todd (round three) before lining up against Lainas in the final. Lainas also raced through all three rounds on his way to the final, first facing off against John Kalantzis in round one before dispatching Top Qualifier Dean Doolan in round two and then Dean Cleary in round three.

In The South Australian Drag Racers Association Super Gas, round five winner Adrian McGrotty went back-to-back with a win on Saturday night over runner-up Warren Smith. McGrotty first successfully lined up against Mark Calus in round one before sending Darryl Stephen and Colin Griffin packing in rounds two and three, respectively. To get to the final, Smith got the better of Brodie Tedesco in round one before knocking out Top Qualifier Graeme Spencer in round two before enjoying a bye in round three.

In Langtree’s Machinery Services Junior Dragster, round five runner-up Taylor Horton went one better this weekend to claim the win over runner-up Lucas Sparrow. The day started for Horton with wins over Sophia Kuchel in round one and Luca Lamattina in round two, before a bye in round three and another win in round four, this time over Archie Florrimell in the semi-final. Sparrow meanwhile successfully raced through the first three rounds of racing, claiming wins over Bailey Hawke (round one), Zayne Condello (round two), and Andriana Florrimell (round three) before a bye in round four. Top Qualifier Brock Furlanetto made it through to round three only to be dispatched by Archie Florrimell in that round.

For the full qualifying and race results from day two of round six of the ANDRA Regional Sportsman Championship, please visit www.andra.com.au/series/results

ANDRA thanks the Sunraysia Drag Racing Association and all of its volunteers and sponsors as well as all of the ANDRA officials and volunteers for an outstanding racetrack and a well-run event.

For more from ANDRA, visit www.andra.com.au

Photos thanks to Scott Halfyard