Youngster upstages the “superstars” at Ultimate Driver Challenge

[Wandering Eyes]

By Adam Hamilton 

Kiwi young gun Carter Dalgety was among the first to congratulate his Queensland contemporary Angus Garrard after his historic win in the inaugural Ladbrokes Ultimate Driver Challenge at Albion Park.

Dalgety and Garrard shared a bond as the two “babies” at just 21 in the stellar 10-driver line-up in the first series of its kind, run across 20 races and two nights.

“I know Angus and I were blown away just being part of it against all these superstars, people we’ve looked up … winning it must feel incredible,” Dalgety said.

“He didn’t just win, he really controlled the series from the early stages and just kept his calm and building points. It was so impressive.”

Dalgety had his own moment in the spotlight winning Heat 17 with Momentum Swing while Garrard laid the foundations with an “unexpectedly big” 10 heats on opening night and essentially cemented the title with a win and second from the first of two of last night’s second round.

US and Swedish Hall of Famers, Yannick Gingras and Bjorn Goop, and Kiwi-born champion Dexter Dunn were among those left in Garrard’s wake.

After containing himself for 19 heats, Garrard’s emotions overflowed when he, fittingly, stormed home to win the last of the 20 races, flourishing his whip to the adoring hometown crowd.

“This is so surreal,” he said. “I couldn’t believe my luck when I got the chance to drive in the series, winning it is a fairytale.

“These are people I’ve grown up in awe of, hoping I’d just get the chance to meet them or even drive against them one day.

“To win the first (running) of this series, to have my family and friends involved and for it to be here, in my backyard … it’s going to take some time to sink in.”

Although Garrard held a big lead for much of the series, he refused to ponder winning until those closing stages of the final heat.

“No, no way. Gary (Hall Jr), just kept picking up big points and closing the gap and we know what a superstar he is,” he said.

“I just kept thinking back to a junior driver series I was in when I led most of the way and just got pipped in the last race. I thought, ‘no, surely it can’t happen again.”

Garrard’s role went further than driving, he was integral in choosing which horses he drove with his slot owners (SEN Track, Garrards and 1Equine Syndicate) through a unique “draft” system.

“We hoped we could have a home ground advantage on and off the track, no doubt it helped a lot,” he said.

Garrard spaced his rivals with 180 points, 25 ahead of Hall Jr (155), then followed: Pete McMullen (146), Dunn (133), Goop (128), Brad Hewitt and Gingras (121), Nathan Dawson (116), Carter Dalgety (96) and Kate Gath (81).

“They call him, ‘The Kid’, it should be ‘The Whiz Kid’ now,” slot spokesman Gareth Hall said. “The maturity and composure Angus showed against drivers he idolizes was amazing.

“The eyes of the (harness) world were on the series with guys like Bjorn, Dexter, Yannick and Carter here, the world knows who Angus Garrard is now.”

Dunn said the series was “way more than I expected.”

“It sounded great when I first heard about it, so I jumped at the chance to compete … but it was just incredible with a terrific group of people,” he said.

“It’s great to the industry trying something new and this will just keep getting bigger and bigger. I’d love to come back next year if they’ll have me.”

 

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