B FINAL ANGUISH FOR KURTZ IN SECOND ROUND OF AUSTRALIAN TITLE RACE

Defending Australian Champion Brady Kurtz doubled his first round performance by reaching the B final in the second round of the title race on Saturday.

After scoring just 5 points at Gillman, Kurtz was more competitive in Mildura picking up two heat victories in his 10 point tally which was enough to place him in the B final which he led for some time.

But he missed out on a Grand Final appearance when a last turn pass by Justin Sedgmen denied Kurtz the victory. First round A finalists Troy Batchelor and Nick Morris were also both eliminated in this B final leaving  Dave Watt, Max Fricke and Sam Masters to do battle against Sedgmen.

A fall for the qualifying B finalist forced a re-run of the final which Sam Masters won from Max Fricke (second) and series leader Dave Watt.

For the second time in this season's championship Jack Holder failed to make the cut for the B final although he was able to break his drought of race victories by winning his final heat to finish on 7 points, for a series total of 13.

Round II Points: M.Fricke 16, S.Masters 16, D.Watt 15, J.Sedgmen 13, B.Kurtz 10, N.Morris 8, T.Batchelor 8, J.Pickering 8, J.Holder 7, J.Lidsey 6, T.Proctor 6, J.Stewart 4, T.Kurtz 4, M.Campton 4, R.Tungate 3, C.Riordan 2

Series Standings (after 2 rounds):  Dave Watt  32  (17,15),Justin Sedgmen  29  (17,12),Sam Masters  26  (10,16),Max Fricke  25  (9,16),Nick Morris  22  (14,8),Troy Batchelor  20  (12,8), Brady Kurtz  15  (5,10),Rohan Tungate  13  (10,3),Jack Holder  13  (6,7), Josh Pickering  13  (5,8),Ty Proctor  12  (6,6), Jaimon Lidsey  12  (5,7), Todd Kurtz  9  (5,4), Mason Campton  7  (3,4), Cooper Riordan  6  (4,2), Jordan Stewart  6  (2,4)

Round 3 is scheduled for Wednesday 11th January at Undera.