AMERICAN Donny Schatz came in and swept drivers off their feet in his first round of the World Series Sprintcar title race at Archerfield Speedway in Brisbane.
The USA15 car won its first heat, before finishing sixth in his second in what was Round 6 of the overall series.
He was a class above the rest in the 30-lap feature event, leading every lap and starting in pole position.
Schatz was ahead of Luke Oldfield – who put in a solid performance, moving from fifth to second – and Tasmania driver Shaun Dobson.
While it was a night of celebration for Schatz it was quite the opposite for Mount Gambier drivers Steven Lines and Glen Sutherland.
For Lines, it was a matter of what could have been.
A front end failure in the A-main at Warrnambool caused the NQ3 car to crash.
As a result Lines was unable to line-up on Wednesday night in Brisbane and will aim to find his feet in tonight’s round.
On the otherland, Sutherland did take to the track, but bad luck came his way early.
He started out of position two in his first heat, but a wheelstand popped his tyre off the rim, which put him back to 10th.
Starting from pole in his second heat, Sutherland finished a credible third, which gave him sixth position on the grid in the C-Main.
With just two drivers advancing through to the B-Main, Sutherland had his work cut out.
He was involved is a crash where both of his wings were damaged, but was able to restart and finish seventh, missing out on a transfer position to the B-Main and ending his night.
The overall World Series Sprintcar standings are still led by Australia one Kerry Madsen.
He edged further ahead of James McFadden on Wednesday night, while Jamie Veal sits in third.
Tonight and tomorrow night will see drivers gear up for the Australian Sprintcar Open, which runs in conjunction with the world series again at Archerfield Speedway in Brisbane, Queensland.
A-Main results: Donny Schatz USA15; Luke Oldfield Q17; Shaun Dobson VA21; Jamie Veal W2; Carson Macedo N99; Lucas Wolfe 5W; James McFadden W17; Logan Schuchart USA1; Daniel Harding W12; Sam Walsh N92; Callum Walker Q33; Brad Keller S19; Bryan Munn Q16.
