THORNE MAKES IT THREE
By Speedway Sedans Australia

South Australian Nathan Thorne has made history in a number of ways Saturday, February 7 at the Murray Bridge Speedway after he claimed his third successive MJS SSA Street Stock National Championship.

Thorne joins fellow South Aussie Anthony Beare as only the second person to win three Street Stock Titles in a row, but this latest win was made more special with twin brother Heath Thorne coming home second. This in itself adds chapters to the history books, marking the first time since the Oldfield brothers achieved the feat in 2005 that brothers have finished first and second in the Title race and doing it at their home track with a supportive crowd made the win even more special.

Local hope Darren Brumfield would start from pole position for the forty-lap final alongside defending champion Nathan Thorne while the second row was filled out by Shane Roycroft and Jake Koivumaki.

Brumfield got the lead initially as the race went green, with Thorne slotting into second before both Shane Roycroft and Jake Koivumaki would race by.

Brumfield ran half-track high while Roycroft went right up against the fence and it paid off, Roycroft sweeping around the outside on lap four to take the lead while Thorne was also able to get back in on the action and grab third.

Koivumaki went low on Brumfield looking to make his way through while Drew Flatman also began making his presence felt in fifth.

Roycroft would lead Thorne on the highline, the two line astern and pulling away from third placed Brumfield, who was now running alone having put a gap back to Koivumaki.

Heath Thorne began making his own way forward after starting in position twelve, grabbing fifth and setting out after Koivumaki, who was also starting to close the gap on Brumfield with fifteen laps complete.

By the halfway point Roycroft was just 0.325 seconds ahead of Thorne, while Brumfield was nearly two seconds further back and fighting off increasing pressure from Koivumaki and Thorne.

Thorne moved to the outside and got by Roycroft on lap twenty-two, while a lap later Koivumaki would get the nose under Brumfield to take over third place.

Roycroft was hounding the back end of the Thorne machine but simply could not make the move, while a mistake from Koivumaki saw Brumfield get back by and Heath Thorne able to follow him through, but Thorne’s move was negated after Matt Hammond came to a stop at the exit to turn two and was disqualified for his efforts, bringing out the first caution of the race after twenty-five laps.

Thorne led away the restart with fifteen to go, but Roycroft didn’t let him get away, while behind them cars began dropping like flies: Nathan Russell slowing and going infield, sixth placed River Paterson going up in a pile of steam and half spinning but able to pull infield, then Brumfield slowing out of nowhere and also parking it on the grass.

With ten to go it was Nathan Thorne, leading Roycroft, Koivumaki, Heath Thorne and Andy Maxwell Jnr, but a lap later the yellows would come out for Brad Warren who, after coming from a B Main to be as high as tenth, spun to a stop in turn four.

Koivumaki dove under Roycroft on the restart but couldn’t make the move stick, though it gave Thorne the chance he needed to quickly pull clear. Koivumaki persisted with the lowline, drawing alongside Roycroft but again the yellows came on as contact between Morris Ahearn and Maxwell Jnr saw Maxwell Jnr spin infield at a rate of knots and hit the back straight guard rail to bring out the yellows.

Contact on the restart saw Roycroft in the back of Thorne, the duo nearly coming undone in front of the field, but from that incident the opportunity for Koivumaki to strike rose, and all of a sudden there was a seven car battle for the lead.

Heath Thorne made the most of the sudden chaos, charging around the pack and into second, the order with fifteen laps to go Nathan Thorne, Heath Thorne, Koivumaki, Roycroft and Morris Ahearn.

Koivumaki dove under Heath Thorne and the duo made contact down the front straight with four to go, remaining side by side the whole lap.

The tension rose over the final laps with cars all across the field becoming desperate, and in the final lap Morris Ahearn launched himself into the turn two wall just as the top five came across the line.

This saw the yellows come on with only the top five having crossed under the chequers, which worked well as half the field from sixth on back came together in turn four with chaos reigning supreme.

Nathan Thorne was officially declared the winner from Heath Thorne, with Jake Koivumaki, Shane Roycroft and Mitch Viney rounding out the top five while the rest of the result went back to lap thirty-nine with alterations made for penalties from the final lap incidents.

Thorne made history with his threepeat, not to mention making it ten years in a row that a South Australian has claimed the SSA Street Stock National Title and he has the opportunity to extend those stats even further when next season’s Title is decided at Kingaroy Speedway in February, 2027.

Photo: Picko’s Photos

OFFICIAL RESULT

1. S52 Nathan Thorne, 2. S44 Heath Thorne, 3. NT11 Jake Koivumaki, 4. V82 Shane Roycroft, 5. VA23 Mitch Viney, 6. Q82 Nathan Barbeler, 7. T4 Steven Harvey, 8. V13 Dale Morrison, 9. V25 Nick Chrystie, 10. V61 Matt Nelson, 11. V55 Steven Watts, 12. W31 Cody Avins, 13. S132 Andy Maxwell Jnr, 14. S4 Morris Ahearn. DNF: NT17 Jack Yates (37), VA55 Brad Warren (30), S91 Darren Brumfield (28), V47 River Paterson (27), T23 Nathan Russell (26), S112 Drew Flatman (25), V62 Jayden Blomeley (1). DQ: W4 Matt Hammond. Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: 1.060. Fastest Lap: 17.255 V82 Shane Roycroft.