For the second time in as many years, Troy Johnson has tonight won the annual Perth Motorplex Muster event for Formula 500’s.
Johnson looked strong all night, racing through the field from the rear in his opening heat to record a strong finish, dominating his second to take the win, then starting on the front row of the feature and leading every lap to take the win from Tom Hooper and Steven Ellement.
For the second time on the night,Johnson and Matt Brown shared the front row, this time for the feature, with Johnson again getting the jump while Tom Hooper was able to move into second ahead of Brown. With three laps complete the yellows came on after Nick Bishop came to a stop in turn two, Jai Dillon incredibly lucky not to tip his machine over as he avoided the incident.
Johnson led away the restart, with Hooper joining him as the duo began to pull away from the rest of the field. As this happened Brown slowed, heading infield, letting Steven Ellement inherit the third place position, with Cameron Mckenzie and Shane Andersson fighting hard in fourth and fifth respectively.
Brown pulling infield seemed to set off a chain reaction as first Craig Bottrell headed infield, then Mckenzie who had been in a strong position. Jeff Ross was the next to slow, but with three to go the field continued to race as he circulated slowly.
Despite Hooper’s best efforts in the closing stages, where lapped traffic played a part, Johnson was able to win by just over half a second, with Hooper second and Ellement recording a fine third place. Shane Andersson and Chris Dymock rounded out the top five finishers, with both having put in another solid nights racing.
Earlier in the night, the opening heat saw Shane Andersson and Jeff Ross share the front row, with Andersson getting the jump while Ash Kent moved into second place. Matt Higgs was quick to pounce and grabbed second on lap two, while Carl Phillips also began to make his move. Behind them Tom Hooper, the two Nardinis and Matt Brown were also making their moves through the field. At half race distance Andersson held a 1.3 second lead while Higgs, Hooper and Phillips were fighting for position behind him.
Phillips unfortunately was forced infield shortly after, while Brown and then Troy Johnson (who had worked his way into sixth from the rear) set the quickest laps of the race. Despite their fast time, it didn’t matter as up front it was all Andersson in a strong drive who took the win from Higgs and Hooper.
Heat two saw Craig Bottrell and Ryan Higgs sharing the front row, with Bottrell leading the pack away while Hooper passed fourteen cars in the first lap to be sixth. Bottrell held strong at the front with Brock Nanovich moving into second with Steven Ellement and Tom Hooper the top four after three laps. Bottrell had a 3.3 second lead lap by the halfway distance, while the infield began to resemble a carpark with drivers pulling off everywhere. Bottrell was simply too good though in the end, defeating Nanovich and Ellement by over 3.5 seconds.
The final heat saw an epic front row of Troy Johnson and Matt Brown, with Johnson getting the immediate lead. While Johnson slowly built his lead lap after lap, behind him was a battle with Chris Dymock and Cameron McKenzie going at it for third place behind second placed Brown. In the end Johnson ended up crossing the line first, some 2.7 seconds ahead of Brown, while McKenzie was back in third.
Courtesy of his feature win, Johnson has extended his lead in the Perth Motorplex Track Championship, now leading second placed Tom Hooper by 38 points. Luke Nardini is in third place, just four points clear of his brother Jamie in fourth, while Chris Dymock rounds out the top five.
The Formula 500’s now have a fortnights break, with their next show back at the Perth Motorplex a two night affair on the 15th and 16th of January, 2016.
Release by DTN Media.
Official Results
Heat One – 10 laps: 1. Shane Andersson, 2. Matt Higgs, 3. Tom Hooper, 4. Jamie Nardini, 5. Matt Brown, 6. Troy Johnson, 7. Ash Kent, 8. Luke Nardini, 9. Chris Dymock, 10. Jeremy Saffin, 11. Cameron McKenzie, 12. Jai Dillon, 13. Jamie Pages, 14. Jeff Ross, 15. Brent Lockwood, 16. Brad Pages, 17. Graham Mitchell. DNF: Carl Phillips. Total Time: 2.59.918. Winning Margin: 1.083. Fastest Lap: 17.453 Troy Johnson.
Heat Two – 10 laps: 1. Craig Bottrell, 2. Brock Nanovich, 3. Steven Ellement, 4. Tom Hooper, 5. David Carstairs, 6. Jamie Nardini, 7. Matt Higgs, 8. Shane Andersson, 9.Nick Bishop, 10. Ashleigh Oldfield, 11. Jeff Ross, 12. Graham Mitchell (9), 13. Jai Dillon (9). DNF: Brad Pages (7), Ryan Higgs (5), Ken Worroll (1), Ash Kent (0). Total Time: 2.54.465. Winning Margin: 3.558. Fastest Lap: 17.088 Craig Bottrell.
Heat Three – 10 laps: 1. Troy Johnson, 2. Matt Brown, 3. Cameron McKenzie, 4. Chris Dymock, 5. Jamie Pages, 6. Jeremy Saffin, 7. Steven Ellement, 8. Brent Lockwood, 9. Luke Nardini, 10. Carl Phillips, 11. Nick Bishop, 12. Ryan Higgs, 13. David Carstairs, 14. Brock Nanovich, 15. Craig Bottrell, 16. Ashleigh Oldfield. DNS: Ken Worroll. Total Time: 2.44.391. Winning Margin: 2.717. Fastest Lap: 16.357 Troy Johnson.
Feature Race – 15 laps: 1. Troy Johnson, 2.Tom Hooper, 3. Steven Ellemen, 4. Shane Andersson, 5. Chris Dymock, 6. Matt Higgs, 7. Jamie Nardini, 8. Brock Nanovich, 9. Jeremy Saffin, 10. Ryan Higgs, 11. Jamie Pages, 12. Luke Nardini, 13. David Carstairs, 14. Brad Pages, 15. Nick Bishop, 16. Ash Kent, 17. Graham Mitchell. DNF: Ashleigh Oldfield, Jeff Ross, Cameron McKenzie, Craig Bottrell, Matt Brown, Jai Dillon, Brent Lockwood, Ken Worroll, Carl Phillips. Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: 0.522. Fastest Lap: 16.271 Troy Johnson.