Pittard claims Wingless

Bunbury driver Ash Pittard has blasted his way to opening round honours in the Wingless Sprints WA Country Series at Albany's Attwell Park on Saturday night.

Pittard started from pole position in the 25-lap feature race and was never headed as he negotiated his way through heavy lap traffic late in the race to score victory by 3.329 seconds.

Brendon Wedge closed the gap on Pittard several times, but was never able to get close enough to pass for the lead and finished second, while Rick Iwanow charged from sixth place to cross the line in third.

WA champion Tom Payet filled fourth place and, after impressing during the heat races, Tyson Bryden started alongside Pittard on the front row but fell back through the pack to round out the top five.

After the race was completed, Bryden made contact with another car and rolled his machine in turn two, but walked away uninjured.

Earlier, the heat races were shared between Brad Fitzgerald, Pittard, Bryden, Kyle Beard, Wedge and Payet.

The prestigious Noel Pearson Memorial was also conducted on the night, with the title going to the highest point-scoring Albany Speedway Club member from any division.

For the fourth time since the memorial was introduced in the 1989-90 season, there were joint winners, with modified sedan driver Sean Theyer and formula 125 star Sam Jewell both finishing on 136 points.

It was the third successive season Jewell has won the title, while Theyer became a two-time winner after his triumph in 2010-11.

The entertaining small car demolition derby rounded out proceedings, with Brodie Dekker causing plenty of destruction on his way to being the last car standing, handing him the victory.

Meanwhile, Mt Barker's Les Gorman Park will play host to round 2 of the GWN7 WA Modified Sedan Series this Saturday afternoon from 1pm. The club will also hold their production sedan feature on the same day.