By Trevor Jackson
MOUNT Gambier Wingless Sprint driver Kirby Hillyer kept his opening-season form going with a podium finish Saturday night at Murray Bridge Speedway.
It came on the back of a win in his first hitout at the same venue, but Hillyer had to jump a few hurdles just to make the big show this time around.
Car troubles through the heats saw him start down in eighth place for the feature race, but he worked his way into contention and crossed the line third, while challenging for the next step.
“I wasn’t really expecting it, but it was pretty good coming from eighth,” Hillyer said.
“Any of the the top 10 could have won, so it was not easy to get up.”
In the opening heat Hillyer suffered power steering problems, an issue which first surfaced in the opening round.
Despite that setback he pushed on from fourth on the grid to claim third place and set his night up.
The second heat threw up a whole new scenario, with the car failing to perform at its best, although he still managed another third place.
“We had two tough heats which didn’t make it easy to get through,” Hillyer said.
“The second heat we had a battery that failed on us so it was coughing and spluttering.
“We just lost power and the longer it went on the worse it got so we were a bit wounded and had to keep going.”
At the time Hillyer said he was unsure of the exact problem, but went to work prior to the feature race and made a some changes in the hope to improve the performance.
“We didn’t know it was the battery at the start and changed a few things,” he said.
“We rolled out in the feature and it was going well so I thought we might have been in with a chance.
“We were quick and kept passing cars, but with the cautions we kept getting put back where we were.”
Hillyer stuck with it and began to make inroads into the leaders.
He said he simply focused on his own race and looked to place his car in space.
As it panned out it was a good plan, which paid dividends in the 20-lap event.
“As the race went on the track came to me,” he said.
“I was going from the bottom to the top and passing cars, which was working well.”
By the time the final lap arrived Hillyer challenged for second place, but was shut out and had to settle for the third step of the podium.
However, he said he was still pleased with the outcome considering the issues he faced.
“It is good knowing we can be up front and running with the front guys consistently,” Hillyer said.
“I am excited to see what the rest of the season can bring.”
That includes the SA Wingless Sprint Title at the Borderline Speedway in early December, where he hopes to put in another top performance.
He said with some improvement to his heat races, he should be in a good position to challenge in the title event.
“It has been good rolling on from last year,” he said.
“We just have to work on our heats a bit more and we should be better off.
“I probably won’t do any other meetings until Mount Gambier but I am looking forward to racing in front of the home crowd and to have some sponsors out there.
“The Borderline is a good little tight track which makes it hard to pass sometimes – I enjoy it.”
