The NSW Grand Prix Midget Racing Assoc kicked off it’s 2025-26 racing season, at the beautifully scenic Cullen Bullen Raceway for round one of the NSW Super Series championship. A long season is ahead with and Australian title in the associations backyard and support in the heat of Sydney at the impressive Sydney International Raceway amongst some of the race dates to look forward to. The Super Series is back bigger and better, this year, the championship is proudly sponsored by Valvoline Global in combination with the impressive Six String Brewery.
Starting the season, In all nine drivers made it to the Portland Speedway Drivers Club event with the return of a recent national champion in Anthony Lea, along with Adam Buckley, Riley Bowyer, Allan Black, William Lucas, Dylan Lees & Jay Hall (NSW #6 – Central Coast Motor Group). Also, in terrific news for the class Wayne Harrison-Watt purchased the White Ant Racing Midget that he was previously hiring last season and was now driving his first race as a car owner. Lots of interest also focussed on Association President, Gary Bowyer, debuting his new car.
New for the drivers was a changed-up point score system. The system now offers up passing points for the feature race towards the championship based on starting position compared to finishing position with each position gained earning an extra point towards the overall season point score.
In line with association rules, grid draws for the heats were formatted by the race day committee, starting with a pill draw for heat one for both the B and A grade competitors and then further heat positions drawn based on the original pill draw, with highest point scorers from the heats to the rear of field for the feature race.
Drivers competing for the B grade point score such as Harrison-Watt (NSW #25 – Turtle Motorsports), Black & Lees would be drawn to start at the front of the grid draw for all the heats and also the feature race, with the A grade drivers then lining up behind based on the earlier committee draws.
Lining up in heat one was Lees (NSW #24 – AOK Trophies), Harrison-Watt, Black, Hall Lucas, Lea, Gary Bowyer, Riley Bowyer and Buckley. In a terrific start to showcase the class, heat one went green to chequer, however without Harrison-Watt greeting the starter due to fuel pressure issues discovered during warm-up laps.
On a watered track, conditions were racy yet damp with Lucas stamping his authority early, leaping from fifth to the race lead within a lap of starting and putting space between himself and the following pack. William’s experience driving a 410 Sprint Car was quite evident, no tiptoeing around, he dominated this first heat.
Lea found a way to put a scratch on the awesome looking, newly decaled race car finding the wall and pulling infield during the heat for a DNF. Hall and Gary Bowyer both moved forward and finished in the top three, while Riley Bowyer and Buckley seemed content to move ahead of Lees & Black (NSW #55 – Tyrepower Gateshead) to finish mid-pack.
Finishing positions were Lucas, Hall, Gary Bowyer, Riley Bowyer, Buckley, Black and Lees. A race time of 2:19.194 was set for this non-stop race with Lucas circulating at a fastest time of 16.601, .6 of a second faster than the next fastest in the race Buckley.
Starting positions for heat two were shuffled a little to have Black lead away, Lees Harrison-Watt, Gary Bowyer Riley Bowyer, Buckley, Hall, Lucas and Lea (NSW #8 – Panther Smash Repairs).
The pace was blistering at the start of heat two. Down the back straight Buckley (NSW #14 – Infinity Finance Solutions) got caught on the outside of the field attempting to round up three competitors in one swift move, however he was pushing high and connected with the wall bending the rear axle, ending his race night.
Lea encountered his own issues with his car feeling very loose, he pulled infield for another non-finish result. Up at the front of the field on lap one, Lucas again surged into the lead, however the stoppage caused by the damaged Buckley car allowed Gary Bowyer to move in real close on Lucas.
The new Bowyer car has already been coined the ‘Dick Dastardly’ and is sure to be a favourite with fans through the season. Lucas and Bowyer went at it, producing awesome racing, with Bowyer making a clean pass up the inside of Lucas with a few laps remaining to claim victory.
The result for heat two being Gary Bowyer, Lucas, Riley Bowyer, Hall, Black, Lees, and Harrison-Watt. In his limited laps, Lea set the fastest one lap time of 16.236 despite his handling issues.
Lining up for the final qualifier of the evening was a field led by Black, Lees, Lea, Riley Bowyer, Lucas, Gary Bowyer and Hall.
Seven starters made the call for heat three and came out onto a track that had settled down nicely with numerous sedan and the AMCA national class smoothing it down through the program. For the third time, Lucas burst to the front within a lap, while Lea’s night continued to frustrate pulling infield once again with handling gremlins and losing a chain giving him three non-finish results in qualifying.
Challenging Lucas on this occasion was young gun Riley Bowyer who pinned his ears back and set about chasing down Lucas upon the restart after Lea’s demise. In a similar fashion to his father in the preceding heat, Riley moved up on the rear of Lucas, applying pressure and after a few laps of fantastic racing moved ahead to take the race lead spot.
Finishing positions in heat three were Riley Bowyer, Lucas, Hall, Gary Bowyer (NSW #00 – Arjan Motors), Black, and Lees. Riley Bowyer almost broke into the fifteen second bracket during the heat setting a fast time of 16.048.
Harrison-Watt’s night was rough and with a potential front row start in the final alongside Lees awaiting him, fuel issues again stopped him from making it out onto the racetrack. Lees, Black, Lea, Hall, Gary Bowyer, Riley Bowyer and Lucas would then make up the seven-car line-up.
With a planned fifteen-lap distance, the first feature race of the season got underway. First to strike trouble was Lea once more and he pulled infield within the first few laps of the race. As the race unfolded, the pace of front runners Gary Bowyer, Lucas and Riley Bowyer (NSW #50 – White Ant Racing) was plain to see, with Gary Bowyer at the front of the pack. The lead two surged to a half lap lead over Bowyer Jnr (Riley) who was another quarter lap in front of fourth placed Hall.
During the race the distance dropped down to twelve laps. Bowyer Snr (Gary) and Lucas began catching a passing the back markers. With three laps remaining, Bowyer Jnr clipped the rear of the car of Black while attempting a fast pass down the back straight, sending him into a 540 spin and putting a hole in his engine casing, for a DNF.
The race restart saw Bowyer Snr and Lucas fly away once again and with a lap remaining, they once again caught the back markers. In an exciting climax to the race, as Bowyer Snr moved around the outside of Black in turn four, Lucas slipped up the inside and with better drive got ahead of Bowyer down the front straight moving into first.
The two then raced to the chequer, with William Lucas (NSW #30 – Kellys Heavy Haulage) picking up his first ever feature race win, in any speedway category. This brought wild cheers from the pit wall, with his father Graham Lucas ecstatic that William had finally produced a result that was only a matter of time and that we all knew was capable of.
Final positions in the feature were declared as William Lucas, Gary Bowyer, Jay Hall, Allan Black, and Dylan Lees. Lucas set the fastest one lap time of the night with a 16.002. Along the way Lucas earnt seven passing points towards his championship total whilst Bowyer Snr earnt four and Hall two.
Here is the Super Series Drivers Point Score following round one;
William Lucas 94
Gary Bowyer 78
Jay Hall 71
Riley Bowyer 56
Allan Black 52
Dylan Lees 45
Anthony Lee 30
Adam Buckley 24
Wayne Harrison-Watt 16
The NSW GP Midget Association would like to thank it’s sponsors and supporters.
Valvoline Global
Arjan Motors
AOK Trophies
Six String Brewery
Infinity Finance Solutions
White Ant Racing
Thanks to Full Throttle Publishing for the use of images for promotional purposes.
The next event is the New South Wales title at Goulburn Speedway.
Written by
NSW GPMRA representative,
Edited by Dean Thompson Speedway Media
For NSW Grand Prix Midget Racing Association
