Matt Brown is once again the toast of the town tonight as he claimed the fifteen lap Boxing Day Bonanza feature race at the Perth Motorplex.
Brown, who recovered well from upending the car in a big way last weekend, responded in the best possible way, grabbing the feature victory in the closing laps ahead of ‘Showtime’ Troy Johnson and Tom Hooper.
Johnson was the early leader for the feature after starting on the front row, while his fellow front row starter Brown settled into second. They were followed by Tom Hooper, while Matt Higgs at the early stage was a distant fourth.
The order up front remained mostly unchanged throughout, but as the top three moved into lapped traffic with just two laps remaining, Brown was able to close on Johnson and grab the lead in a spectacular move.
Hooper also attempted to pass Johnson, but Johnson fought back, but it was too late for the leading battle as Matt Brown was well away and recorded a spectacular win over Johnson and Hooper.
From the podium Matt was clearly happy, but took the time to wish event sponsor Adrian Haywood well after being injured in an earlier heat race accident.
The opening heat saw CraigBottrellsimply not able to accelerate on the start, with chaos throughout the field. JeremySaffinheaded infield, his night over early, with James Dawson and event sponsor Adrian Haywood making contact, leaving Haywood in the turn one wall and his night too ended early as he was taken away in the ambulance. Reports through since say that Adrian is in good spirits, but disappointed to be missing the show that his business Plus Fitness, was sponsoring!
On the restart of heat one Brown lead Shane Andersson and Chris Dymock early, with the reds coming on again shortly after as Ash Kent rolled over in turn three. Again the race restarted, withBrown leading Andersson, whileDymockwas under pressure from Hooper and Ellement. Andersson grabbed the lead on lap six but Brown passed back immediately and went on to claim the win.
The second heat sawMatt Higgs leading Jamie Nardini early, with Troy Johnson quickly into third. The yellows then came on for Craig Bottrellwho’s rotten night continued as he came to a stop in turn three.
On the restart Johnson threw everything at Higgs, the duo side by side with Nardini right behind them and eventually it paid off as Johnson was able to duck through and grab a solid heat win.
The Formula 500’s next event is the annual Sprintcar Muster at the Perth Motorplex on the 2nd of January, and with it being one of the most popular events of the season, you won’t want to miss it!
Release by DTN Media.

Official Results
Heat One – 10 laps: 1. Matt Brown, 2. Tom Hooper, 3. Shane Andersson, 4. Chris Dymock, 5. Troy Johnson, 6. Steven Ellement, 7. Brock Nanovich, 8. Matt Higgs, 9. Luke Nardini, 10. Cameron McKenzie, 11. Carl Phillips, 12. Jeff Ross, 13. Jamie Nardini, 14. Brent Lockwood, 15. Ashleigh Oldfield, 16. David Carstairs. DNF: Ash Kent, Adrian Haywood, James Dawson, Jeremy Saffin, Craig Bottrell. DNS: Bill Richards. Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: 2.090. Fastest Lap: 16.746 Matt Brown.
Heat Two – 10 laps: 1. Troy Johnson, 2. Jamie Nardini, 3. Matt Higgs, 4. Luke Nardini, 5. Brock Nanovich, 6. Tom Hooper, 7. Matt Brown, 8. James Dawson, 9. Brent Lockwood, 10. Shane Andersson, 11. Carl Phillips, 12. Chris Dymock, 13. Jeff Ross, 14. Steven Ellement, 15. Ashleigh Oldfield, 16. David Carstairs, 17. Cameron McKenzie, 18. Bill Richards. DNF: Craig Bottrell. DNS: Ash Kent, Adrian Haywood, Jeremy Saffin. Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: 0.651. Fastest Lap: 16.334 Jamie Nardini.
Feature – 15 laps: 1. Matt Brown, 2. Troy Johnson, 3. Tom Hooper, 4. Matt Higgs, 5. Luke Nardini, 6. Steven Ellement, 7. Brock Nanovich, 8. Jamie Nardini, 9. Chris Dymock, 10. Carl Phillips, 11. Jeff Ross, 12. Brent Lockwood, 13. David Carstairs, 14. James Dawson, 15. Cameron McKenzie, 16. Bill Richards. DNF: Shane Andersson, Ashleigh Oldfield, Craig Bottrell. DNS: Ash Kent, Adrian Haywood, Jeremy Saffin. Total Time: 4.12.594. Winning Margin: 0.452. Fastest Lap: 16.473 Matt Brown.