Picture: ASH DUMIGAN
MOUNT Gambier sprint car driver Steven Lines had mixed results in the opening rounds of the Darwin “Chariots of Thunder” series on the weekend.
Night one on Friday saw Lines claim the win in the feature race, in a positive start to the coming season.
He posted the quickest time of his class in qualifying and placed second and fourth respectively in his heats to carry pace into the feature event.
Those results booked a start on the second row of the grid in the A Main.
Starting in fourth position, Lines jumped to third before a flat tire to second-placed James McFadden drew him from the race.
From there Lines trailed Jamie Veal, until the latter crashed out on lap 13.
“James fell out with a flat tire on the restart and then Jamie Veal got caught up in a crash going through lapped traffic, which opened the door for me,” Lines said.
Lines took control of the race from there and was unthreatened all the way to the chequered flag.
He was pleased with the result, but said it would have been good to see the result if his two competitors had remained in the race.
“It would have been interesting to see how we finished if that had not happened, but this time of year we’ll take whatever we can get,” Lines said.
“I am pretty happy to finish strong there at the end.”
Night two on Saturday did not run as smoothly, but still showed some positive signs for the season ahead.
Car issues set him back early in the night and he was forced to battle his way through both the C and B Mains.
He did so in impressive fashion and qualified 18th for the feature race, but a hiccup in the A Main saw him drop out and finish 20th.
“We had a little bit of engine drama in one of our heats,” Lines said.
“That put us in the C and then we had to transfer it through the C and through the B.
“In the A (Main) I thought we were going to be okay, but I just made a bit of a driver mistake – I got caught up behind someone on a restart – but that’s the way it goes.
“I was a bit disappointed to finish that way, but obviously we had a good result on the first night.”
Fellow Mount Gambier driver Glen Sutherland was also present at the event and recorded some credible results.
On night one he made it into the A Main and finished 10th.
His consistency continued into the second night, where he made the A Main again, finishing just inside the top 10 in ninth position.
Lines said he now looks ahead to this weekend’s final two nights of the series, where he will be eager to have some more time behind the wheel before the season kicks off properly.
“It was good to get back in the car and get a few laps under our belt after a few months away for the off-season,” he said.
“It is good just to blow the cobwebs out and get everyone back together as a crew.
“To come out and be competitive straight away is always a good sign.
“Hopefully we can have a decent result this weekend and really get things moving.”
