from Harness Racing Australia

Wednesday night (Feb. 25) the World Driving Championship ventured to Bathurst for another four heats. Bathurst is a regional city in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales. Bathurst is 200 kilometers west of Sydney, the oldest inland settlement in Australia and the site of the first gold discovery in Australia.

Two of the international drivers struck gold, with Denmark’s Knud Monster and France’s Pierre Vercruysse recording their first wins in the 2015 Championship but the night will most be remembered for the dominance of New Zealand representative Dexter Dunn as he stretched his lead from 14 points to 39.

Heat 13 saw Tony Le Beller add to his tally of victories when he used the passing lane to record a strong victory with Fours Enuf Tas. Bathurst is the only racetrack in New South Wales that has a passing lane. Canada’s Jody Jamieson secured second with Party Starter while Dexter Dunn and Norway’s Vidar Hop finished third and fourth, respectively, on Crusinonthe Big Ern and Glenferrie Access.

Knud Monster drove Mister Jogalong to victory in heat 14 and while the short priced favorite proved too strong, Spirit Chaser and Dexter Dunn finished second, stretching the New Zealander’s lead over the rest of the international drivers. Spain’s Guillermo Adrover behind Allnight Raid finished third and Australia’s Chris Alford managed to get into fourth with Jethros An Eagle.

The aptly named Kenny Dee Dee took out heat 15 for ‘Double Dee’ Dexter Dunn. The driver closest to him on the leaderboard, Tim Tetrick, finished second on Iron Outlaw while his North American counterpart Jody Jamieson grabbed third on Precious M. Finland’s Mika Forss finished fourth on Scots Legacy.

In the final heat of the night reigning champion Pierre Vercruysse drove his first winner in Australia when he lifted 80-1 chance Pride Of Flight to victory. Dexter Dunn looked to have heat 16 in his keeping when he pulled to the outside at the top of the straight but Lettucemacru was not able to reel in the winner. Mika Forss drove early leader Valastro into third place while Tim Tetrick got enough out of Hitman Huey to finish fourth.

For all of the latest news and replays log onto https://Vimeo.com/channels/wdc15.

The drivers will spend tonight in Bathurst before travelling to Penrith tomorrow for another three heats. Penrith is 60 kilometers west of Sydney.

So after 16 heats the point score is as follows: