IT was a mixed weekend for speedway ace Brooke Tatnell in the Scott Darley Challenge at Sydney.
In his first race back in Australia for the season and on board the Scotts Motorsports sprintcar out of Mount Gambier, Tatnell was always up against it, but managed solid results among a star-studded field.
Friday night saw some issues that resulted in a 17th place finish after starting out of 13th, but Saturday night showed more of what the car/driver combination is capable of.
Starting out of 16th, Tatnell worked his way up to eighth place when the chequered flag came down on the A Main feature.
With Tatnell back in the country and his first look at the car only last week, the results were certainly credible.
From the outset Tatnell showed plenty of pace, with Friday night’s time trials returning a 10th ranking, ahead of several other top-name competitors.
In his heat, Tatnell started out of fourth and worked his way up to third, providing a 13th place start in the A Main feature.
However, after a re-start, Tatnell pushed too high, losing valuable places to cross the line in 17th.
For other Limestone Coast drivers, Steven Lines managed an 11th place, while Jake Tranter was unable to make the A Main feature.
Saturday night saw a slower time trial, but a front row start in his heat resulted in a first place finish, to start 16th on the grid.
A top-10 finish would be no easy feat, with reigning Australian champion Kerry Madsen out of first place, Americans Logan Schuchart and Jason Johnson in two and three, with a long list of top drivers ahead of Tatnell, including Jamie Veal, Robbie Farr, James McFadden and Lines.
But in his usual style, Tatnell pushed hard, crossing the line in eighth for a popular finish.
Lines dropped a couple of positions to finish in 15th, while Tranter made the A Main to come home in 21st.
Despite a solid result from the meeting, Tatnell was making no excuses about his performance.
“I’m a professional, this is what I do,” he said.
“We had a brand new shock go bad in the feature race, so that hindered our progress on the first night.
“But in the same token, I’m the first to tell you, the responsibility falls on my head, no one else, it falls back on me.
“I got over excited.
“We were running in that 12th bracket and I still wanted to have a crack and figure out how I could get a shot at winning.
“Most of the guys were being consistent around the bottom and the ledge was dangerous, it had torn up a lot of cars.
“I said, I can make five or I can lose five.
“I was willing to take the gamble.”
Tatnell said a positive to come from the weekend is the car speed in the number 55 machine.
“When you are struggling and not getting results, trying to find car speed is sometimes the hardest part,” he said.
“We have a lot of car speed, we have all the ingredients, now we just have to bake the cake.”
Tatnell said his passion and desire to win had not diminished over the years, with the weekend’s racing testament to that.
“It is 30 years of doing this for me,” he said.
“If I’m still that excited to get in a race car for the first time, we are doing something right.
“I am under no illusions about how tough we have made it coming straight into the majors, but I thrive on that.
“I thrive on the pressure of the Classic, the pressure of the title.
“I am very excited, I have a good bunch of guys around me, we are all here believing in each other and we are all here to have fun.”
All eyes are now on the King’s Challenge Thursday night, along with the Australian title next week, with Tatnell harbouring one simple desire – to win.
