By DEAN THOMPSON
ALEXANDRA Speedway Club driver Kellie Latham became a stock car champion when she left Rosedale Speedway in central Gippsland on Good Friday evening, picking up the prized Victorian Ladies Standard Saloon title.
Latham came out on top after an enthralling battle with the likes of Kelly McDermott, a multiple state champion and home-track favourite, as well as Tracey Ingram and Hannah Domburg.
In order to qualify for the main race, the girls were each put through three heat races.
While qualifying comfortably, staying out of trouble on track was also significantly important.
Latham converted a first heat sixth place start into a first place finish, when she took the lead on lap four and was initially chased by Ingram before holding off McDermott by .603 of a second at the finish-line.
The second heat also finished as a win to Latham, leading every lap and this time winning by just .673 of a second from Domburg with Sheena Bishop some seven plus seconds behind them.
This was followed by another battle with McDermott where Latham had to settle for second by .027 of a second with Bishop, right alongside also in an extremely enthralling finish to the final heat of the night as they tried to chase down McDermott who led all the way.
A gruelling 30-lap final pitted both Latham and McDermott up against each other.
They gave the crowd wonderful action with McDermott leading, Latham chasing and getting closer each lap before hitting the lead on lap 10.
Two laps later, while chasing Latham, McDermott lost a back wheel and was out of the race with a damaged car.
Thankfully, McDermott was fine afterwards.
After a red-light stoppage for the McDermott rollover, Latham went on to storm to victory by more than 11 seconds to Portland’s Domburg, local driver Ingram, Bishop and Nicole Vaughan from Portland also all on the lead lap of the race.
It could have been so much different, though – as she found out after taking a quick visit back into the pits during heat races.
Her car owner Dale Morrison and Scott Randall were underneath the XF Falcon race car fiddling with the steering.
Later, Latham found out the steering broke when the car was going on the trailer before heading to the track, so Dale picked up the parts he needed and got down to work on the car at the first chance.
Even despite the steering issue, which she wasn’t even aware of, Kellie couldn’t have been looked after any better.
“Dale gave me a dream car to drive,” Latham said.
“I’m an extremely lucky girl to have the support from Dale, Sharon and everybody else associated with the team and my racing to get given a car like this to drive.
“It was perfect all night and ran the fastest laps with three other girls, and to my knowledge we topped it up with fuel and that was about it for the night.”
Of course, there are people Kellie wanted to thank.
“I have to give a special thanks to my passenger Clint Purdie,” she said.
“His awareness on track of where there were cars and spots and what was happening around us was sensational.
“It allowed me to concentrate on pointing the car straight.”
Lastly, Latham couldn’t hide her emotions when it comes to the Rosedale Speedway Club, which held the event, and the people who congratulated her.
“The officials and club and all the other drivers were wonderful,” she said.
“It was a great night and fun to be involved in one of the main events.
“I am humbled by the amount of people in the crowd who were congratulating me that I do not even know and then others on social media.”
