By Renee Wood
The Simpson sisters sure are making their presence felt in the sprint circuit after their recent efforts in the Victorian and National junior sprint titles
The first weekend of racing on April 8-10 saw Bree and Tamika face a tough competition in the Nationals.
Bree’s impressive performance through the heats saw her finish day one at 18 out of 75 cars and the following day she gained a spot in the A-Main starting 14th.
Nerves were high as the green flag dropped, and after a re-start from a collision Bree was battling it out in a three way for 11th position, she managed to finish 13th, but claimed the 12th position after race car checks.
Bree said she was proud of herself and didn’t feel the nerves until lining up for the A-main.
“I’m extremely happy just to make it to the A-main, let alone finish, was secretly hoping for a top 10 finish but happy with 12th,” Bree said.
“Being seen as one of the fastest girls in Australia is a really satisfying effort.”
Tamika also had a great weekend but wasn’t able to make it through to the A-main and finished with a crash in the C-main, starting from fifth position after a good performance in her heats.
“I was a little disappointed not to make the A-main and for crashing out in the C-main but I think it has given me more experience going forward,” Tamika said.
With a week’s break, the sisters from Millgrove were off again to the Alexandra Speedway for the Victorian titles.
After two days of heats on Good Friday and Easter Saturday, both girls made their way into the A-main – Bree going straight in with just enough points and Tamika getting a second chance after setting up well in the B-Main.
Bree started in 17th and Tamika 22nd – they managed to escape the collisions and moved their way up as Bree came home in 12th and Tamika right behind her in 13th.
“Really happy to make it to the A-main and tried hard to chase down Bree,” Tamika said.
“I thought I would have done better in the heats to start up the pointy end of the A-main but you have your good days and bad days on the track, happy to finish 12th again,” Bree said.
Bree was also honoured with a special award, receiving the Michael Gorman Rising Star Award in her final year racing as a junior.
“Honoured to be acknowledge for my love of Speedway… I hope to make the Gorman family proud for years to come,” she said.
Now after the two big competitions, the girls’ are planning to continue building on their performances in other state titles.
Tamika said she’s still aiming “to beat Bree” while Bree is keen to get her first win in her final junior year.
“Really hoping to compete in as many State and National Titles as possible, would love podium finishes as well as a WIN in my final year as a junior.”
The Simpsons will now be preparing to get the girls to Swan Hill and Ballarat for the last races of their series and then off to compete for the New South Wales and Queensland titles in June.
