HAVING driven the Patriot Motorsport FG Ford Falcon to numerous feature-race wins and impressive results last season, the 2017-18 season has seen Street Stock racer Mark Jennings make a return to the track aboard his own SA 21 FG Falcon.
With every intention of driving his own car and being in the process of building it before last season, Jennings’ machine was almost race-ready when the opportunity arose to pilot the Reg and Kat Corbett-owned Patriot Motorsport car, with the team going on to accrue a handful of victories, including the annual Street Stock 1000 and Street Stock Stampede, along with multiple MJS Series rounds.
This season marks the first time Jennings has filled the driver’s seat of his own car in the past three seasons, excluding three shows during the 2015-16 season when he competed in the two qualifying meetings and the National Title in his BA Ford Falcon.
While his first shakedown run at Ballarat’s Redline Raceway earlier this month did not deliver the results he was hoping for – with a disappointing DNS in the feature race due to a faulty spark plug – it is clear the veteran racer is still as hungry as ever to succeed.
“I’m definitely still as motivated to push myself for strong results,” Jennings said.
“It’s been a while since I have been in my own car.
“A lot of people have been involved in making that a possibility for me, including Adam Holt and Jake and Daniel Drewett, who helped me put the car together.
“I have to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported me, especially my wife Natalie and our daughter Demi, who continue to put up with the busy racing schedule.”
Going into the busy Christmas to new year period, Jennings’ main focus will get as many laps under his belt as possible before the national title at Adelaide Motorsport Park in February, in hopes to give himself the best chance of regaining the crown, having taken out the 1995 running of the event.
Jennings placed fourth in last season’s national title at Kingaroy Speedway in Queensland and he will be out to better this result in 2018.
“We’re not really going to be satisfied with anything less than top three in the national title,” he said.
“We scored a clean sweep at Adelaide Motorsport Park at the end of last season, so hopefully we can carry that form into the national title come February.
“In the meantime, we just need to focus on being as consistent as possible.”
Jennings’ first hit out of the season was at Adelaide Motorsport Park in the Street Stock Stampede on Tuesday night.
The next meeting will see his first visit to Swan Hill’s Sonic Speedway for the Mallee Masters on Saturday, followed by a race at Mildura’s Timmis Speedway on Sunday, before he travels to Hamilton’s Western Speedway next Friday for the SSS feature, which he won last season.
On January 6 Jennings will contest the Blue Lake Classic on his home soil at Mount Gambier’s Borderline Speedway, a track he has not competed at in five years.
This will be followed by the Duo Mobile Eliminator event at Redline Raceway on January 13, before he returns to Adelaide Motorsport Park for the third MJS Street Stocks Series round.
The national title will then take place from February 15-17, followed by the South Australian Title at Murray Bridge Speedway from February 23-24.
With a busy time ahead, Jennings would like to give special thanks to his wife and daughter, along with all his 2017-18 sponsors for their continued support.
