Rising star Blake Iwanow claims second straight WA wingless sprint title, Kye Blight romps to late model win

WA wingless sprints rising star Blake Iwanow claimed back-to-back State titles after a dominant display at Albany’s Attwell Park Speedway over the Easter weekend. Iwanow came into the event as the defending champion and he hardly put a foot wrong, leading from start to finish in the 30-lap championship decider. The WA Wingless Sprint Title attracted 21 cars, all of which started Sunday night’s final but they were unable to unsettle Iwanow down low as he controlled a stoppage-heavy first few laps. Iwanow successfully defended his WA crown, crossing the line 1.096sec. ahead of former Albany resident Brandon Sharpe who threw everything at the leader. Four-time State champion Matt Iwanow rounded out the podium while Travis Armstrong and Heydon Hicks enjoyed strong weekends to claim top-five placings. Blake Iwanow and Sharpe started on the front row but the early part of the race was marred by a big crash involving four cars. Tommy Britton rode over the top of Brendon Wedge while Riley Phillips rolled heavily trying to avoid the carnage in front of him and Brad Mitchell also got caught up in the opening lap incident. Former Albany resident Kurt McKain was well established inside the top 10 when he made contact with another car and spun, and was sent to the rear as a result. Sharpe poured the pressure on Blake Iwanow in lapped traffic but he was unable to make a move for the lead stick. There were a number of stoppages late in the race but Blake Iwanow continued to power away at the restarts on his way to successive WA titles. Jordan Johnson was sixth ahead of Blake Scarey while Daran Humfrey, Geoff Underdown and McKain rounded out the top 10. Armstrong, Sharpe, Matt Iwanow and McKain won heat races on night two. Blake Iwanow led the points after night one of the title on Saturday from Hicks and Wedge. Two heat wins on night one for Blake Iwanow set up his title while the other preliminaries went to Matt Iwanow, Britton, Wedge and Hicks. The Late Model Easter Grand Prix was also contested over the two nights, with lucrative prize money on offer. Australian champion, Albany’s Kye Blight, won both nights of the event dominating from start to finish. Blight won the preliminary feature on Saturday night by more than three seconds over Joe Chalmers with David Nylander in third after topping qualifying and winning both his heat races. On Sunday night Blight replicated that feat with the fastest time in qualifying, two heat wins and then victory in the 30-lap final. He crossed the line more than 9sec. ahead of Nylander while Chalmers, Darren Ahearn and Peter Walker rounded out the top five. Broome’s Phil Barton was the winner of the super sedan feature, downing Warren Minshull and Ian Wright after 20 laps on Sunday.