Troy Johnson yesterday survived a rough and tumble night of racing to return to the top step of the podium, recording the feature win at the Perth Motorplex.
Johnson has given himself the best possible result in final preparations for the upcoming WA Formula 500 Title to be held at the same venue in a fortnight’s time, but there are a number of other competitors who also stepped up and will be real threats come title time.
Johnson led every lap of the fifteen lap feature, but he was pressured throughout by impressive youngster Jamie Nardini. Nardini put up a great fight, but couldn’t quite grab the lead, closing on Johnson but coming home second across the line.
Matt Brown was never far behind in third place, a position he held throughout the entire race, while behind him Glenn Carstairs and Tom Hooper swapped positions for fourth before Luke Nardini also got in on the action, Hooper coming home fourth ahead of Luke Nardini and Carstairs.
Chris Dymock, Cameron McKenzie, Shane Andersson and Brock Nanovich rounded out the top ten finishers.
Earlier in the night a war of attrition began the evenings racing, with only ten of the original seventeen starters finishing in heat one. The biggest incident was when Ashley Grant rolled over, getting stuck with Nick Bishop to bring out the red lights. In the end it was Tom Hooper who grabbed the win from Brown and Johnson.
The second heat was all about Jamie Nardini as he grabbed a huge win, crossing the line nearly four seconds ahead of nearest rival Trystan Caley, while Shane Andersson came home third. The final heat was taken out by Johnson over Carstairs and Chris Dymock, but ended on a sour note when Ashleigh Oldfield lost a wheel after the finish, leaving Brock Nanovich nowhere to go but to launch into her, leaving Oldfield unable to start the feature.
The Formula 500’s now have a short break before the big one: the WA Formula 500 Title to be held across two nights on the 26th and 27th of February at the Perth Motorplex, so stay tuned up for all the details in the leadup!
Release by DTN Media.
Photos courtesy Peter Roebuck.

Official Results
Heat One – 10 laps: 1. Tom Hooper, 2. Matt Brown, 3. Troy Johnson, 4. Cameron McKenzie, 5. Jeff Ross, 6. Chris Dymock, 7. Glenn Carstairs, 8. Gavin Connelly, 9. Ashleigh Oldfield, 10. Glenn Holdaway. DNF: Jamie Pages (6), Brad Pages (6), Brent Lockwood (6), Ashely Grant (1), Nick Bishop (1), Lizz Plummer (1), Ash Kent (0). Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: 1.143. Fastest Lap: 16.539 Tom Hooper.
Heat Two – 10 laps: 1. Jamie Nardini, 2. Trystan Caley, 3. Shane Andersson, 4. Matt Brown, 5. Brock Nanovich, 6. Luke Nardini, 7. Tom Hooper, 8. Brent Lockwood, 9. Cameron McKenzie, 10. Glenn Holdaway, 11. Jeff Ross, 12. Brad Pages, 13. Ben Stockdale, 14. Ash Kent, 15. Daniel Beamish, 16. Troy McAuliffe (9). DNS: Jamie Pages. Total Time: 2.43.667. Winning Margin: 3.940. Fastest Lap: 16.056 Jamie Nardini.
Heat Three – 10 laps: 1. Troy Johnson, 2. Glenn Carstairs, 3. Chris Dymock, 4. Luke Nardini, 5. Jamie Nardini, 6. Ashleigh Oldfield, 7. Brock Nanovich, 8. Shane Andersson, 9. Trystan Caley, 10. Gavin Connelly, 11. Nick Bishop, 12. Ben Stockdale, 13. Daniel Beamish, 14. Lizz Plummer (8). DNF: Troy McAuliffe (5). Total Time: 2.46.427. Winning Margin: 1.819. Fastest Lap: 16.362 Jamie Nardini.
Feature – 15 laps: 1. Troy Johnson, 2. Jamie Nardini, 3. Matt Brown, 4.Tom Hooper, 5. Luke Nardini, 6. Glenn Carstairs, 7. Chris Dymock, 8. Cameron McKenzie, 9. Shane Andersson, 10. Brock Nanovich, 11. Brent Lockwood, 12. Jeff Ross, 13. Gavin Connelly, 14. Ben Stockdale, 15. Nick Bishop, 16. Glenn Holdaway (14). DNF: Brad Pages (13), Trystan Caley (11), Troy McAuliffe (10), Ash Kent (8), Ashley Grant (1). DNS: Daniel Beamish, Lizz Plummer, Jamie Pages, Ashleigh Oldfield. Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: 0.529. Fastest Lap: 16.390 Troy Johnson.