November 5 - The Hills Panel & Paint 10,000 Series got off to a flying start under threatening skies at Collie Speedway tonight. 22 cars fronted for this meeting, that doubled as Round 3 of the Rogue Race Products season pointscore. Missing from the field was series leader Dylan Buswell, but the rest of the Top 10 were all in attendance and looking to grab an early advantage. Kyle Beard returned to action with an all the way win in the first heat action of the night, converting a front row outside start into maximum points. Ash Hounsfield and Marshall McDiarmid had a spirited battle going on for 2nd, before McDiarmid spun in Turn 4 and had to join the restart from the rear of the field. Phil Moylan inherited 3rd place as the field led away, with pressure coming from behind courtesy of Daryl Clayden and Scotty Elst who were battling over 4th and closing on Moylan at the same time. Ultimately that was the order for the top 5 at the close of the journey. As the heats started to unfold, passing room was at a premium as the track took time to widen, especially after the persistent rain that had the meeting under threat right up until the first race hit the track. Daniel Keen was the second man of the night to take full advantage of a frint row start, leading the field away in Heat 2, with Glen Francis following him through in the Transit Clothing #50. Russell Seery settled into 3rd place after Francis got through and behind him there were several entertaining duels as drivers looked for ways to make up positions. Lee Redmond, Kris Coyle and Daryl Spalding had an etnertaining battle going on for 6th in the middle of the pack, with almost every corner seeing on of the chasing pair looking for a move. Keen took the heat ahead of Francis and Seery, with Ben Migro taking 4th in the AJ Cochrane & Sons entry.  Heat 3 saw Redmond charge away from the field, with Adrian LaMacchia in hot pursuit in the Northside Service Centre #6 Maxim. As he had shown the previous night at Perth Motorplex, the Redmond car has plenty of speed, and when he can get that car finishing races as often as he would like, it will be a real threat to consistently win races. On this occasion he did exactly that, though behind things were not going as smoothly for Ryan Condren. Following contact with Daryl Clayden on the exit to Turn 2, Condren spun to the infield with a damaged wheel and flat tyre, in the process requiring some expert work to remove the stricken #11 from the wet part of the infield it was now parked in. Jono Coyle grabbed third, but just when it seemed the action was over, LaMacchia pulled up following the chequered flag with terminal engine damage that out him out for the night.  Daryl Spalding took the Hills Panel & Paint #40 entry to the head of the field at the start of Heat 4, with McDiarmid on a mission to grab back some points from his earlier disappointment. Elst settled into 3rd with Ash Ounsfield and Danny Attwood chasing, while further back speedcar regular Dayne Kingshott in his first outing in a wingless sprint was engaging in a fierce battle with Merv Lowther. As the laps wound down, McDiarmid did find a way past Spalding, who led home Elst for 2nd. As another set of threatening clouds rolled towards Collie Speedway, 20 casr rolled out to face the starter in the 20 lap feature race. Kyle Beard had earned himself a pole start in the Malatesta Group #57 Gambler, while Redmond sat alongside. The top 6 was was rounded out by Hounsfield, Keen, Francis and McDiarmid. Given the scarcity of passing all night, it is perhaps testament to the way this race panned out that only 3 of those top 6 would still be in the top 6 by race end.  The field sped away for the final, and it was quite a sight seeing 20 wingless sprints on the track on the smaller confines of Collie. The first start didn't last long however, as Migro found himself heading for the Turn 1 wall following contact with another car. Migro made the long journey to the back of the pack, while the field reformed, and as they lined up Redmond pulled infield. Keen gleefully took his place on the front row and the field got away clean on the second try.  Clayden was a big early mover, making up several positions in the first two corners, while Beard led Keen and Hounsfield. The front 3 opened up a large gap on the rest of the field, with McDiarmid in 4th starting to get the better of Jono Coyle and setting out after the top 3. By mid race, it was the lead trio, with McDiarmid closing, then a long gap back to Coyle, Clayden, Elst and Kris Coyle fighting over 5th. McDiarmid did catch the front trio, but perhaps ended up wishing he hadn't. As the 4 cars charged off turn 4 in very close proximity, McDiarmid made contact with the Keen car as he attempted a pass. The Motorworld #22 rode the wheel of the Keen Truck Driver Training entry and flipped it's way onto the main straight. McDiarmid later described the incident as one that was simply one of those racing incidents. Keen had moved lines ever so slightly but done nothing wrong, unfortunately moving to the exact part of track the #22 had just committed to and exited the corner with slightly more speed. Fortunately, Keen was able to continue and took his place back in 3rd at the restart, behind Beard and Hounsfield. That group duly cleared out from the rest of the field again at the restart, only for Hounsfield and Keen to come into contact in turn 2 and this time Keen did lose positions as he slid up track as a result. He ultimately did a great job of pulling the car back down from the fence and rejoining the field only having lost a couple of spots, while not impacting the rest of the field as he rejoined the racing line. It was here the race started to get messy. With McDiarmid out, Migro working his way back through after his lap one incident and 2nd and 3rd coming into contact, the race again stopped due to a tangle on turn 3 and 4. This incident saw Francis remove the Transit Clothing #50 Eagle with damage, while Phil Moylan was also involved.  With some dispute taking place over who should have been where at the resumption, the field did again set off, with the one constant of the race, Beard leading, continuing. Back in the field a spirited battle, perhaps too spirited given it was for roughly 10th place, was taking place and eventually claimed a victim. Russell Seery got squeezed out coming off turn two as the group realised 6 cars can't all have the same part of track exiting a corner, and he hit the pit gate wall and rolled violently. In a frightening incident, as the Galloway Engines #97 lay prone on the track, no flag was anywhere to be seen and a large group charged off turn 4 at full speed. Standing roughly 30 feet from the stricken Seery car, I'll admit I closed my eyes as I didn't want them open at the moment of impact. I'm therefore not sure how, but the sound and aftermath suggests a flurry of heavy braking and spins. It was a great effort by the group of drivers that did come into the back straight under full green light conditions, as if contact had been made with the upside down Seery car at the speed they approached, I'm not sure I want to consider the possible consequences.  At this point, thankfully as far as I'm concerned, the race was declared, with Beard taking the win over Hounsfield, Keen and Jono Coyle.  Beard now leads the Hills Panel & Paint 10,000 Series after the first of 4 rounds, while Keen jumped to the top of the Rogue Race Products season pointscore. The drivers now have a fortnight before they are back in action at Bunbury Speedway on the 19th, in a meeting that doubles as Round 2 of the Hills Panel & Paint 10,000 and Round 4 of  the Rogue Race Products season points.