LONDONDERRY’S Nathan Dicker has taken out a wingless sprintcar title in a race series held in the Northern Terrotiry over thweekend.
Dicker had a rough start to his weekend in the opening round of the Top End Challenge for Wingless Sprints on Saturday night at Darwin’s Northline Speedway in the Northern Territory
However, despite the poor start he bounced back in a big way the following night, emerging victorious in the Darwin Title.
Dicker made a 44-hour trek from his home in Londonderry to compete in the race for the third consecutive season.
Dicker made a long 44-hour trek from his home in Londonderryto Australia’s Top End for the third consecutive season.
He has only had a handful of race meetings in Wingless Sprints under his belt so far this season, having stepped into 410 Sprintcars last season, but it didn’t hinder him one bit, as he showed plenty of pace at the weekend.
He grabbed a win and pair on third in the heat races on Saturday, earning him a pole position for the 15-lap feature race.
Unfortunately, an error in the car set-up saw him go backwards in the race, where he ended up finishing in seventh.
On Sunday night he raced for the Darwin Title, which doubled as the second Top End Challenge round.
With several setup changes, the 32-year-old racer placed second, fourth and first in his heat races to once again claim the pole position start for the 15-lap feature race.
Experiencing an early battle with good friend and fellow NSW driver Troy Carey, it was Dicker who came out on top on lap six, eventually managing to create a decent gap from his rivals and going on to lead home what was a NSW-dominant podium and take a convincing win.
“After Saturday night’s feature race disappointment, it was great to be able to bounce back and make amends the following night to take out the Darwin Title,” said Dicker, who has raced wingless sprintcars for about a decade.
“I knew where we went wrong with the setup the previous night in the feature race, so I made sure we didn’t make the same mistake twice, and I was able to come away with the best possible result.
“This is the third consecutive year that I’ve raced up in the Northern Territory, and I love racing up there, the people are great and the hospitality from everyone is without a doubt second to none.”
The weekend’s racing was not a once off for Dicker either.
Dicker will be back in the Northern Territory on June 29 and 30, for the third and fourth rounds of the Top End Challenge, where he sits on top of the standings.
