Daum Wins The Final Magic Man!

Photo by Peter Roebuck

American Zac Daum has come to Perth and swept all before him as he raced his way to victory in the 34 lap Magic Man Michael Figliomeni Tribute Race tonight at the Perth Motorplex.

Courtesy of his win in time trials and a win and a third place in the heats, Daum started off the front row alongside fellow countryman Justin Grant in what would be a fitting finale to the race, with emotions running high throughout.

One of the pre-race favourites, Dayne Kingshott, who was scheduled to start out of position three in the feature, found trouble in the four wide salute and try as he might, was unable to refire the car and was forced infield, joining the hapless Golding brothers Dan and Rob as the others who were unable to get their cars to go.

The initial green light saw Grant jump into the lead ahead of Daum, while Neville Lance (from position five), Chris Telenta (from position six) and Kaiden Manders were quickly following them. Telenta put pressure on Lance, moving into third on lap three, while Manders was looking for a way through behind them.

Davey Ray then made his presence felt, moving into fifth place by lap five, before closing on Manders. The two touched as Ray went underneath Manders, seeing Kaiden ride a wheel before continuing on.

Ray then set out after Lance, the two touching on the main straight which allowed Manders to once again close in. Lance went sideways, Ray nudged into him and Manders went straight past both to grab fourth again. Ray fought back though and reclaimed the position just as the yellows came on for Alfonso Guadagnino who had spun in turn four after blowing a tyre, seeing the race go back to the last completed lap.

Eight laps were in the books, with twenty six still ahead and the field was fighting hard as they took the green again, none more so than leaders Daum and Grant who touched, seeing Grant roll heavily going into turn one. He landed awkwardly on Davey Ray, with yet another American in Alex Bright also becoming involved.

There were some interesting and heated moments under the red light as Grant confronted Daum, but in the end only Bright and Daum were able to restart, Daum leading the field away.

Behind him was Telenta, having one of the best nights of his career, while Manders would restart behind him in third. As the race went under green flag conditions once again Manders would move around Telenta to claim second as Daum began to pull away. Telenta fought back on Manders, with the two side by side, while Lance was right behind in fourth waiting for an error to be made. Manders set about closing the gap on Daum while Lance looked around the outside of Telenta for third.

On lap nineteen the make-up of the race changed again as Manders suddenly slowed and headed infield, just as Lance got around Telenta. Shortly after rookie driver Keenan Fleming slowed and headed infield, causing some nervous moments for Telenta as he only just got by on the low line. Two laps later the yellows would come on again as Nick Rowe stopped in turn four.

With thirteen to go and twelve cars remaining the race restarted once again. Lance took his opportunity and began challenging Daum for the lead, looking underneath and the duo going side by side. Alex Bright also went high in fourth place as he looked for a way around Telenta, then with three to go Bright made his move and grabbed third.

As if the race wasn’t thrilling enough, the final lap reached crescendo status, with Lance attempting to pass Daum, Telenta sliding past Bright for third and Glen Mears going up in a plume of smoke and fire only to power through it and finish the race.

In the end though, it was Daum who claimed his first win in the event, defeating Lance, Telenta and Bright. Ryan Condren, Mears, Jamie McKinlay, Steven Henderson, Jai Dillon, Keenan Fleming and Shaun North rounded out the other finishers.

Earlier in the night Zac Daum set quicktime in the time trials, while the opening heat saw cars going five wide before Daum took the lead from Ray and Kingshott. Unfortunately Ray slowed and bought out the cautions with Daum then racing away at the restart to grab the win from Kingshott and Lance.

The second heat saw the biggest incident of the preliminaries, with Chris Griffiths slowing as the field went green, seeing Daryl Clayden hit him, spin in front of the field and somehow avoid going upside down before Ryan Condren got involved, was hit by Nick Rowe and sent Condren upside down. A complete restart ensued and it would be Grant who defeated Telenta and Guadagnino.

Davey Ray won heat three from Manders and Daum while the final preliminary saw Rowe and Lee Redmond battling it out, closely followed by Kingshott and Chris Griffiths. Unfortunately Griffiths went high and clouted the wall hard, then the following restart saw cars go every which way. Grant would go on to claim the win.

The Magic Man race has now come to its fitting conclusion and it was a mammoth effort by the Figliomeni effort and of course the Perth Motorplex to organize it all. Thankyou to all involved for putting on an event to pay such a wonderful tribute to an amazing man.

The Speedcars only have a short break this week as they now look to prepare their cars for the two night show this Friday and Saturday nights at Manjimup and Margaret River Speedways respectively. We look forward to seeing you all there!

Release by DTN Media.
Pictures Courtesy Peter Roebuck.

Official Results

Time Trials – 1. Zac Daum 16.126, 2. Justin Grant 16.286, 3. Dayne Kingshott 16.346, 4. Chris Telenta 16.483, 5. Davey Ray 16.686, 6. Glen Mears 16.690, 7. Dan Golding 16.721, 8. Alfonso Guadagnino 16.750, 9. Kaiden Manders 16.760, 10. Chris Griffiths 16.792, 11. Neville Lance 16.806, 12. Jamie McKinlay 16.819, 13. Todd Waddell 16.832, 14. Nick Rowe 16.943, 15. Lee Redmond 17.055, 16. Ryan Condren 17.135, 17. Alex Bright 17.242, 18. Daryl Clayden 17.246, 19. Keenan Fleming 17.386, 20. Jai Dillon 17.746, 21. Angelo Karoussis 17.868, 22. Steven Henderson 17.988, 23. Rob Golding NTT, 24. Shaun North NTT, 25. Aaron North NTT, 26. Les North NTT.

Heat One – 10 laps: 1. U14 Zac Daum, 2. W24 Dayne Kingshott, 3. W14 Neville Lance, 4. W21 Kaiden Manders, 5. W52 Lee Redmond, 6. W55 Todd Waddell, 7. U4 Alex Bright, 8. W17 Dan Golding, 9. W26 Keenan Fleming, 10. W89 Aaron North (8). DNF: U71 Davey Ray (4). DNS: W15 Rob Golding, W18 Angelo Karoussis. Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: 1.777. Fastest Lap: 16.335 W24 Dayne Kingshott.

Heat Two – 10 laps: 1. U38 Justin Grant, 2. W12 Chris Telenta, 3.W6 Alfonso Guadagnino, 4. N42 Jamie McKinlay, 5. W10 Daryl Clayden, 6. W40 Chris Griffiths, 7. W11 Jai Dillon, 8. W19 Steven Henderson, 9. W7 Nick Rowe (9), 10. W27 Shaun North (9). DNF: W23 Glen Mears (7), W28 Ryan Condren (0). Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: 2.323. Fastest Lap: 16.045 U38 Justin Grant.

Heat Three – 10 laps: 1. U71 Davey Ray, 2. W21 Kaiden Manders, 3. U14 Zac Daum, 4. W28 Ryan Condren, 5. N42 Jamie McKinlay, 6. W6 Alfonso Guadagnino, 7. W12 Chris Telenta, 8. W55 Todd Waddell, 9. U4 Alex Bright, 10. W11 Jai Dillon, 11. W27 Shaun North (9), 12. W89 Aaron North 98). DNS: W18 Angelo Karoussis. Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: 0.801. Fastest Lap: 16.230 W21 Kaiden Manders.

Heat Four – 10 laps: 1. U38 Justin Grant, 2. W14 Neville Lance, 3.W24 Dayne Kingshott, 4. W7 Nick Rowe, 5. W23 Glen Mears, 6. W10 Daryl Clayden, 7. W19 Steven Henderson. DNF: W52 Lee Redmond (9), W26 Keenan Fleming (4), W40 Chis Griffiths (4). DNS: W15 Rob Golding, W17 Dan Golding, W98 Les North. Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: 1.118. Fastest Lap: 16.313 W24 Dayne Kingshott.

Feature – 34 laps: 1. U14 Zac Daum, 2. W14 Neville Lance, 3. W12 Chris Telenta, 4. U4 Alex Bright, 5. W28 Ryan Condren, 6. W23 Glen Mears, 7. N42 Jamie McKinlay, 8. W19 Steven Henderson, 9. W11 Jai Dillon, 10. W26 Keenan Fleming (33), 11. W27 Shaun North (29). DNF: W10 Daryl Clayden (28), W7 Nick Rowe (21), W21 Kaiden Manders (18), W52 Lee Redmond (12), W89 Aaron North (6), U38 Justin Grant (8), U71 Davey Ray (8), W6 Alfonso Guadagnino (8). DNS: W15 Rob Golding, W17 Dan Golding, W18 Angelo Karoussis, W40 Chris Griffiths, W55 Todd Waddell, W98 Les North. Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: 0.549. Fastest Lap: 16.159 U38 Justin Grant.

Photo Peter Roebuck