In what is just his second Wingless Sprints season, Pakenham’s Jordan Abbott was considered one of the underdogs heading into the recent Summer Slam Series.
Like any underdog, he was hungry to prove himself, and prove himself he certainly did, taking out his maiden feature-race win.
Experiencing an encouraging start to the 2018/19 season by picking up a respectable eighth-place finish during a club show at Geelong’s Avalon Raceway back in October, where over 50 cars were in attendance, the 17-year-old racer was hoping just to qualify for the feature races throughout the third-round Summer Slam Series; a goal which he well and truly exceeded.
While his Summer Slam Series campaign didn’t quite get off to the best start, being unable to transfer out of the B main during the opening round at Mount Gambier’s Borderline Speedway, Abbott bounced back in the biggest way possible during round two at Hamilton’s Western Speedway.
Powering to a second-place finish in his opening heat race from position eight, Abbott backed up this result with another runner-up result in heat-race two, earning him the pole position start for the feature race.
Focusing on the task at hand, Abbott refused to be intimidated, managing to get the jump on Weel at the drop of the green flag aboard his Vic # 46 Big Daddy Customs supported J&J car and controlling the pace out in front for each of the 30 scheduled laps to claim his maiden feature-race victory.
“Even though we didn’t have the best results in the other two Summer Slam Series rounds, scoring our first feature-race win at Western Speedway against such a tough field definitely has us all on a high,” commented Abbott, whose Summer Slam Series was brought to a premature end after he broke a flex plate in opening heat race during the third and final round at Warrnambool’s Premier Speedway.
“It’s not only a great for my family, crew and sponsors, who give me a lot of support and encouragement, it’s also a big confidence boost for me as a driver, especially heading into the upcoming title events over the next couple of months.”
Abbott’s competitive racing career began in Speedway Karts where he spent five seasons, enjoying a successful stint in Juniors where he picked up a Victorian Title win, placed second in Australian Title and collected three minor Victorian Title podium finishes.
Still dabbling in Speedway Karts in Seniors when he decided to step up into Wingless Sprints, Abbott purchased a rolling J&J Sprintcar chassis, contesting approximately 20 race meetings during his debut season.
This winning result couldn’t have come at a better time for Abbott, who is now preparing for the biggest two events on his calendar: the Victorian Title, which will take place at Avalon Raceway on Australia Day (26 January) and the Australian Championship at Premier Speedway from 21, 22 and 23 February.
