December 27 - Something about the festive season clearly agrees with Wingless Sprints W.A Club President and current A1, Daryl Clayden. Following on from an outstanding win at Bunbury Speedway on Boxing Day, Clayden followed up tonight with a clean sweep of the night's racing at the Perth Motorplex Xmas Cup. That's not to say he had it all his own way of course, with Ryan Condren, Marshall McDiarmid and Scott Elst applying plenty of pressure throughout a stop / start 15 lap A Main. Courtesy of two heat wins, Clayden started the feature from pole, with Condren alongside in the Rogue Racing W11 QT Chassis. The final race of the evening started wonderfully well for Elst who charged into 2nd off the second row,  while Glen Francis flew from outside the top 10 into 6th place. Travis Southwell almost bought on the first of several yellow light stoppages with a spin in turn two, and Russell Seery did indeed produce a stoppage with 13 laps remaining after his own spin in turn one. The double file restart saw Clayden and Elst lead away, with Condren and Lee Redmond on the second row, followed by McDiarmid and Francis. Daniel Keen had been one of the early casualties as a mad scramble for position took place in the early laps, slipping from a 5th place start to outside the lead group of eight. Clayden sprinted away at the restart, only to lose the lead to Elst who was running a lower line. The lead change was to prove temporary however, as Clayden took it back with 11 to go as the pair raced through turn one. Southwell then had his second spin of the race with 10 laps remaining and pulled to the infield, while the field reformed once again. Clayden again grabbed the advantage and the lead four cars were separated by track width moreso than car lengths as they took to different lines around the high banks of the Motorplex. What could have proved a pivotal moment in the race unfolded as Elst had a half spin in turn two. McDiarmid spun to avoid him as  the field raced by. Behind that pair however, the NT9 of Tom Britton and the Troy Tomlinson W33 entry became tangled between turn one and two, with David Dickman pulling the W66 to the infield with a flat tyre at the same time. With the Britton and Tomlinson incident bringing on the yellow lights, McDiarmid and Elst were both able to restart in the positions they had held the lap prior. For McDiarmid in particular, this was one of those lucky breaks that seem all so rare in speedway racing, as he had lost plenty of positions.  On the ensuing restart, Condren jumped into 2nd ahead of Elst, who slid back to 5th in a heartbeat as the closely matched bunch once again spread all over the track. Clayden managed a mini break on the field as the laps started to tick over, however another Seery spin once again bought a halt to proceedings. Seery pulled to the infield as the field lined up yet again, with the unlucky Redmond also heading infield and giving up a spot in the top eight. Elst had a far better start this time around and moved by McDiarmid for 3rd, only for the Motorworld W22 J&J to grab the spot back. Elst was running a far lower line than Clayden, Condren and McDiarmid, particularly in turns one and two, but just couldn't make a move stick to get back into a podium position.  Not all the action was amongst the lead quartet, as cars moved in and out of the positions behind. Francis, who had climbed into 6th early, had slid back to the fringe of the top ten, only to work his way back to 6th by the finish, while Keen had also recovered from a tough first few laps to grab 5th. Ash Hounsfield took 7th after starting outside the top ten, while they were followed home by Daniel Coleman, Ben Migro, Daryl Spalding to make up the top ten at the chequered flag. LaMacchia, who had been as high as 8th, Lowther, Taylor and Bergin rounded out the 14 finishers as Clayden took a fine win.  The heats had also produced racing that was very entertaining for the large crowd in attendance. While it may have been the sprintcars, late models and demo derby that filled the seats, the wingless sprint racing on the night certainly kept the crowd glued to those same seats. Clayden started the evening with a win from well back on the grid, grabbing the lead at the start of the 3rd lap from Spalding. The Hills Panel & Paint W40 of Spalding remained in a podium spot right to the end, with he and Redmond putting on a great battle. Earlier in the heat, McDiarmid and Redmond had raced side by side, with Redmond winning out then setting out after Dickman, then Spalding. McDiarmid meanwhile slid to 5th, while Hounsfield increased the degree of difficulty he would face for the rest of the night, withdrawing from the race late.  Elst started the second race from pole, and with Clayden taking the opener, had a clear agenda. He duly won the start, and Adrian LaMacchia also progressed forward, piloting the Northside Service Centre W6 into 2nd on the opening lap. Condren was moving forward at a great rate of knots after starting 7th, and he soon moved past LaMacchia, while Migro was also moving up the order, translating a 10th placed start into a 5th placed finish. Elst did take the win, over Condren, with LaMacchia third. The third heat of the evening was another classic example of why the wingless sprints have become so popular. Keen, Migro, McDiarmid and Coleman started the race occuping the front four spots, and still held them by race end. To leave it there however would be to over simplify it to the extreme. Migro and McDiarmid were side by side at the end of the first lap, and swapped the lead on more than once occasion. Meanwhile Keen stalked the pair as he and Coleman looked for a way to clear each other and move past the lead pair. Keen did succeed eventually, taking the lead in turn four with six laps to go. The four cars continued to move all over the wide Motorplex track looking for passing ideas, but it was Keen who did enough to take the points in the Keen Truck Driver Training W9. McDiarmid grabbed 2nd over Migro, with Coleman shuffled into 4th.  That race was going to be hard to top, but with Redmond and Clayden at the pointy end of the starting order for Heat 4, anything was possible. Redmond grabbed the advantage at the start, and held it for 7 of the 10 laps. Britton had a spin in turn four which bought the yellow lights on and also bought about the end for Lowther. Lowther gave the brakes a tap in his endeavours to miss Britton, and unfortunately only succeeded in clouting the wall and retiring the W46 with a flat right rear tyre. Redmond held onto his lead, until Clayden moved past 3 from the end, while Condren snatched 2nd late. Redmond did enough for 3rd, while Elst had found the going tough but worked his way up to 4th after starting well back. The racing was fast and furious all night, and while a couple of drivers struggled in the feature as the track slicked off down low, the class put on a top night of action. It's time to reload now and look forward to January 2nd, when the teams will return to the Perth Motorplex for the Sprintcar Muster. Clayden now clearly leads the Rogue Race Products season pointscore, and with two feature wins in two days, there are around 20 other drivers who will spend much of the next week looking for ways to find that extra bit of speed to down the A1 machine.               Wingless Sprints WA would like to thank all their sponsors for season 2011 / 12, with the support from season sponsor Rogue Race Products, and Gold Sponsors Steel Blue Workwear, Transit Clothing, Jim Kidd Sports and Keen Driver Training assisting in getting the club on the road to a successful season.