Brien And Carroll Take Out Australian Junior Quarter Midget Championships
10/03/2009 11:58:25 AM - Daniel Powell
The 2009 Australian Junior Quarter Midget Championship was run and won last Sunday (March 8) at Gunnedah Speedway (North Western NSW) and it resulted in Mitch Brien and Danny Carroll claiming the winning spoils in their respective classes.
Brien, who was the 2007 Australian Champion, claimed back his crown by defeating Billy Carroll and defending champion Daniel Burleigh in second and third place in the 160cc class.
16-year-old Brien drove with plenty of class during the Australian Championship deciding feature race and was kept honest by both Carroll and Burleigh who are both from Victoria. Defending champion Burleigh led the majority of the feature race only to be passed by Brien and then shortly after by Carroll and ended up finishing back in third. Outside the podium finishes were Ben Walsh and Rylee Walsh in fourth and fifth place.
For Brien this is his final season in Junior Quarter Midgets before he steps up to the Senior ranks of Speedway. Brien is also the current NSW Champion for the 160cc class.
In the 120cc it was Victorian Danny Carroll that managed to claim back-to-back Australian Championship victories by taking out the feature race honours ahead of Jordyn Charge and Clayton Small.
For Charge this was the second occasion in 12 months that he has finished runner up in a major event after finishing second in the NSW Championship. Meanwhile Small, whom resides from the nearby town of Tamworth in North Western NSW, finished third for the second year running in the Australian Championship. Rounding out the finishes in the 120cc feature race were Luke Dingley, Ellie Small, Jessica Morris and Kemble Walsh. Walsh recovered well to finish the feature race after suffering a rollover in an earlier heat race.
The heartache of the Australian Championship feature race in the 120cc class was Jayke Brien, the younger brother of Mitch. Brien was challenging Carroll for the lead on the final lap of the feature race only to break a chain and fail to finish. As one could imagine the 10-year-old was devastated with the cruel blow that he had received but it has now made him even more determined to come back and attempt to win next year’s Australian Championship.
Special thanks must go out to the sponsors of the 2009 Australian Junior Quarter Midget Championship for all their generous support:
NASR – www.nasr.com.au
Coastal Driveline Specialists
Central Coast Manual Gearbox and Diffs
Fire Service Plus – www.fireserviceplus.com.au
Dave Brien Performance Race Engines
Westside Honda – www.westsidehonda.com.au
Further information about the 2009 Australian Junior Quarter Midget Championship can be obtained by contacting Helen Brien on 0418 535 435 or visiting the official Junior Quarter Midget Association (JQMA) website: www.jqma.com.au
-ENDS RELEASE-
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# 1 Mitch Brien
# 1 AUS Danny Carroll
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