Andrew Priolo has continued his winning ways over the weekend, this time claiming the opening round of the West Coast Series for Formula 500’s at Geraldton Speedway.

Despite not having it all his own way throughout the night, he took control when it mattered and raced away to a good win in the feature race ahead of the very impressive Steven Ellement and Thomas Davies.

The night started with hot laps and unfortunately it was Andrew brother Jason Priolo who had engine issues. He missed his opening heat before going out in his second and finishing, but once the race was over, no matter how much work the crew put in, the car just wasn’t right and the team was forced to park the machine before the feature began.

Despite Jason’s misfortune the racing continued and the opening heat was taken out by last years rookie of the year troy Johnson ahead of Thomas Davies and Adrian La Macchia. Heat two went the way of Matt Brown ahead of Andrew Priolo and Adrian Fogliani while the third heat saw Thomas Davies claim the win ahead of Brock Nanovich and Johnson. The final heat of the night then went to Andrew Priolo over Ellement and Brown.

The six highest point scorers across the heats then went into a series of two car, two lap dashes. Steven Ellement was fifth on points and faced sixth place Brock Nanovich in the opening battle, winning and Matt Brown. Ellement again won the dual, this time by a tiny margin of 0.224 seconds, then went on to face and defeat both Troy Johnson and Thomas Davies. Andrew Priolo was highest point scorer and the final car out as the two battled for pole position. Ellement continued his dominance of the pole shuffle and won the final race and pole position by just 0.281 seconds.

Despite Ellement dominating the Pole Dash events, it was fellow front row started Andrew Priolo who raced away from the rest of the pack early, leaving the battle for the minor spots between Ellement, Davies and Johnson. With fifteen laps to go the caution lights came out as Fogliani spun, bunching the field up once more for a restart. Priolo again pulled away, leading Ellement Davies, Johnson and Nanovich. As the leaders caught to lapped traffic they bunched up, enabling Nanovich to pass Johnson for fourth, but it had no effect on Priolo as he crossed the line first ahead of Ellement and Davies.

The Formula 500’s have no rest this week as the second round of the West Coast Series happens this weekend at Manjimup Speedway. Stay tuned for a pre release with all the event details and drivers in the next few days.

Release by DTN Media.

Official Results
Heat 1 – 1. Troy Johnson, 2. Thomas Davies, 3. Adrian La Macchia, 4. Brent Lockwood, 5. Jamie Pages, 6. Todd Broadwood, 7. Bill Richards, 8. Brooke-Louise Sharpe.

Heat 2 – 1. Matt Brown, 2. Andrew Priolo, 3. Adrian Fogliani, 4. Steven Ellement, 5. Brock Nanovich, 6. Aaron Fullgrabe, 7. Trystan Caley. DNF: Jeremy Saffin. DNS: Jason Priolo.

Heat 3 – 1. Thomas Davies, 2. Brock Nanovich, 3. Troy Johnson, 4. Jason Priolo, 5. Brooke-Louise Sharpe. DNF: Aaron Fullgrabe, Todd Broadwood, Jamie Pages. DQ: Adrian Fogliani.

Heat 4 – 1. Andrew Priolo, 2. Steven Ellement, 3. Matt Brown, 4. Trystan Caley, 5. Adrian La Macchia, 6. Bill Richards. DNF: Brent Lockwood. DNS: Jeremy Saffin.

Top 6 Shootout -
Race 1 – 1. Steven Ellement, 2. Brock Nanovich.
Race 2 – 1. Steven Ellement, 2. Matt Brown.
Race 3 – 1. Steven Ellement, 2. Troy Johnson.
Race 4 – 1. Steven Ellement, 2. Thomas Davies.
Race 5 – 1. Steven Ellement, 2. Andrew Priolo.

Mid-pack Scramble – 1. Adrian La Macchia, 2. Trystan Caley, 3. Adrian Fogliani, 4. Aaron Fullgrabe, 5. Brent Lockwood, 6. Todd Broadwood, 7. Jamie Pages, 8. Brooke-Louise Sharpe, 9. Bill Richards. DNS: Jason Priolo, Jeremy Saffin.

A Main – 1. Andrew Priolo, 2. Steven Ellement, 3. Thomas Davies, 4. Brock Nanovich, 5. Troy Johnson, 6. Todd Broadwood, 7. Aaron Fullgrabe, 8. Adrian Fogliani, 9. Bill Richards. DNF: Adrian La Macchia, Brooke-Louise Sharpe, Jamie Pages, Trystan Caley, Matt Brown, Brent Lockwood. DNS: Jason Priolo, Jeremy Saffin.