The first leg of the World Driving Championship kicked off tonight at Tabcorp Park Menangle.
Following two races, Tim Tetrick representing the U.S, leads all drivers with 21 points. Canada's Jody Jamieson finished fourth in the first race and third in the second race to earn 16 points which has him in fifth place.
In the first heat Tim Tetrick overcame the far outside post position 12 to secure the first win of the 2015 WDC with Shannonsablast from the Darren Elder stable. Time for the mile was 1:51.6.
"It's a great feeling to win the first one and hopefully I can steamroll from here," stated Tetrick, "The trainer had the horse ready. He told me to give the horse a shot and I did."
Jody Jamieson finished fourth with Major Moment NZ.
In heat 2, On Thunder Road NZ trotted to the victory for Finland's Mika Forss. Spain's Guillermo Androver took second and Jamieson who was guiding favourite Vincennes finished a solid third.
"Both had good shots to win," commented Jamieson following his two drives. "They raced well. I don't feel totally comfortable out there yet but most of us are in the same boat."
The current standings for the WDC are as follows:
Tim Tetrick - United States - 21
Chris Alford - Australia -19
Mika Forss - Finland - 18
Guiillermo Adrover - Spain -17
Jody Jamieson - Canada - 16
Dexter Dunn - New Zealand - 12
Knud Monster - Denmark - 10
Vidar Hop - Norway - 8
Tony Le Beller - France - 7
Pierre Vercruysse - France - 4
The Championship heads to Newcastle Sunday evening for a further three heats. After tonight’s victory Finnish driver Mika Forss looks set to continue his charge up the leaderboard. Forss will drive Son Of A Star in heat three, a horse that has won and been placed twice in its past five starts. In heat four Forss will partner Go Lassie Go for Shane Tritton, the leading trainer in New South Wales. While in the final heat of the evening he will drive short-priced favourite Satu.