David Murcott will be attempting to join Robbie Farr with the Australian 410 and 360 Title double (Phil Michell Photo)

Will The Open Domination Continue In The 360 Title?
Author : SCW Media

A new 360ci Australian Sprintcar Champion will be crowned this weekend at the Perth Motorplex with defending National Champion Jamie Veal electing not to defend the title he won at the same venue last season and the question is will the recent 410ci driver domination continue? When you look at the most recent winners of the National Championship the last regular “weekly” 360ci competitor to wear the #1 is 2014 Champion Chad Ely, although at the time he too raced 410ci races when his schedule allowed.

Since this time the podium has been full of regular open racers with Ryan Farrell, Luke Dillon and Jamie Veal winning with Dillon recoding a further podium result along with the likes of Ben Atkinson, Matthew Reed, Daniel Harding, Cameron Gessner, Shaun Bradford and Jason Kendrick.

When you look at the 39 drivers who will contest the Championship this Saturday and Sunday night it is hard to see the recent trend being broken with some of the best 410ci drivers in Australia satisfying the qualification requirements to be eligible to compete.

Among the line up at the Perth Motorplex will be South Australians Luke Dillon, the 2016 Champion and current Australia #2, and Chad Ely (2014 Champion), Victorian David Murcott, who will be hoping to join Robbie Farr as a 410 and 360 National Champion, and Western Australian hot shoes Jason Kendrick, Shaun Bradford, Jason Pryde, Kaiden Manders, James Inglis, Jamie Oldfield and Mitchell Wormall.

If everything goes to plan you would expect to see the winner of the National crown come from that list of drivers with the most likely winner to be either Dillon, Murcott or Kendrick.

Luke Dillon will be reuniting with the Diamond Bay Motorsports Team headed by Steve Stathy with Dillon already finishing on the podium this season driving the W26 with a runner-up at the recent Krikke Boys Shootout at Bunbury.

Jason Kendrick will enter the event full of confidence having wrapped up the AHG Sprintcar Series in Western Australia in addition to winning the World Series Sprintcars Grand Final at the Motorplex in late February.

Victorian standout David Murcott will once again pilot the Matt Eastham Victory Lane #88, the team that he has driven for all season throughout the World Series Sprintcars Championship recording a top 5 overall result. Murcott also won the opening round of the Australian 360 Allstars Series at Mildura late last year.

Other contenders in good for include Shaun Bradford, who finished second at the WSS Grand Final, James Inglis, who was impressive throughout his recent East-Coast campaign, Jason Pryde, who will substitute for the injured Daniel Harding and Chad Ely, who been extremely fast this year in South Australia without enjoying much luck.

The 2018 Di Candilo Steel City Australian 360ci Sprintcar Championship will be held at the Perth Motorplex, Kwinana Beach on Saturday March 17 & Sunday March 18, 2018.