Pickens wraps up third in track championship

Pickens wraps up third in track championship

BSL Racing’s Michael Pickens has taken out a close fought third place in the 2011/12 Western Springs Speedway track championship, only one point off second place after a fourth place finish on the final night of the season.

It was Pickens’ team-mate Scott Buckley who was the first of the BSL Racing cars to hit the track in heat racing, starting the #25 Iscar Spike Esslinger from grid two, however mechanical problems meant he was out before a lap had run.

Pickens started his first heat race from pole position in the 1NZ Auckland SsangYong backed Breka Esslinger, taking a comfortable victory on the slick track.

Buckley got a chance to make amends in his second heat, although he would have to start from grid nine. Having worked his way up to sixth by the second lap, Buckley was hit by a spinning car and again recorded a DNF, meaning he would have to qualify for the feature through the B-main.

Pickens’ second heat saw him starting from 10th on the grid, working his way up to fifth place on the track that was becoming increasingly slick and hard to pass on, meaning Pickens would start the feature from grid five.

Buckley started the B-main in seventh place, but took only a lap to move into the crucial fourth place that would see him transfer into the feature.

When the feature got underway, Pickens made two places early while Buckley got caught up in another accident, ending up on his side on lap two, but was able to restart from the rear. On the restart, Pickens tried everything to get into second place however with only one line on the race track, he was unable to make progress and dropped to fourth trying to pass on the highline, a position he held to the flag. Buckley meanwhile drove well to get back up to tenth place.

The results meant Pickens took third in the track championship for the season, only one point off second, while Buckley took seventh.

ENDS

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