Sedgemen wins Undera thriller

Twenty-four-year-old Justin Sedgemen has won round three of the 2017 Australian Solo Speedway Championship at the Bikesales-sponsored Undera Park Speedway near Shepparton (Vic), clinching the January 11 final after a brilliant passing move on early leader Sam Masters.

Sedgemen and Masters, alongside Queenslander Troy Batchelor, were the standout riders on the beautifully prepared 270-metre Undera circuit, and were joined in the final by 2017 Speedway Grand Prix reserve rider Max Fricke, who made his way through into the decider after winning the semi-final ahead of Jack Holder and reigning Aussie champion Brady Kurtz.

Masters got the jump in the finale, and looked set to lead all the way from the front as he had in the last heat of the night when he held off Fricke, Holder and Sedgemen in a four-bike freight train.

However, Sedgemen had other ideas in the race that really mattered, pulling a superb inside passing manoeuvre on the round two winner to take the lead and ultimate victory. Fricke finished third, ahead of Batchelor.

Sedgemen also moved into the championship lead with just one round remaining, in Kurri Kurri (NSW) on Saturday, January 14. The carrot for winning the Aussie title is huge, as well: it will put the rider in the driving seat to be awarded the 16th and final spot in the field for the Aussie round of the 2017 SGP series at Melbourne Etihad Stadium in October.

"I had worked out that passing move in the race before (heat 20), and in the final it all came together beautifully," said Sedgemen, who hails from Merbein. "The track tonight was great, and to put on such a great show at Undera is a great comeback after this round cruelled by Aussie title ambitions in 2016.

"I am looking forward to the finale at Kurri Kurri as well. I raced there in an event on Boxing Day and scored a clean sweep, so I feel I have a lot of momentum going into the decider."

The championship leader after Mildura's round two, Dave Watt, never really got going at Undera, scoring only 7pts which included an agonising DNF in heat 14 after dropping a chain. Last year's Undera winner Nick Morris fared a little better, but ended his campaign with a crash in the B Final and was excluded from the re-run.

It's tight on the leaderboard, with Sedgemen (46pts), Masters (43), Fricke (39), Watt (37) and Batchelor (35) still in the hunt for the 2017 championship. Morris (31) is next, while Kurtz (25) is now too far back to defend his title.