Narrabri teenager Wyatt Lawler rose to the occasion on Saturday night as he made his senior speedway racing debut and returned home a winner.
The 16-year-old driver lined up in the RSA 4 cylinder sedans division and made it clear that he could match it with the best of them following five years on the junior circuit.
There were three eight-lap heats contested ahead of the 15-lap feature at the Tamworth Motorcycle Club’s speedway meeting at Oakburn Park Speedway.
Wyatt, the son of Scott and Jamie Lawler, started from 10th position in the first heat and secured a third-placed finish, and he started from seventh position in the second heat and did not finish after he picked up a flat tyre.
The Narrabri boy regrouped after that race and started in pole position for the third heat, which he led from start to finish.
His results saw him earn a start from second position for the feature.
There was a restart early on in the feature race, after which Wyatt had a brilliant start and charged away from second into the front. It was a lead that he would never relinquish as he drove his way to a debut victory with a comfortable gap between himself and second-placed modified driver John Swadling.
Wyatt told The Courier that he was excited to make the step-up to the senior circuit and was proud with Saturday night’s win.
“I was pretty excited to win the first senior race of my career,” he said.
“I thought it’d be a good move, going up to seniors; racing some new people but on the same tracks.
“It was pretty good to race against the modifieds too. They are faster than us but we ended up winning it.
“It’s good to race against the older guys because they drive a lot different to the juniors. They don’t let off when you go around them; they give it more; so it’s more of a challenge to go around them.”
The RSA 4 Cylinder Sedans are built from hard-top 4 cylinder passenger sedans that have been available for sale within Australia and are fitted with a fully compliant roll cage. Specifications allow for standards and modifieds, with both front and rear drive allowed.
Looking to the future, Wyatt and his father Scott are planning on switching from the 4 cylinders to the production sedans division.
Together they are currently building a commodore and they hope to have it ready to race in by the end of the current season.
Since debuting in 2020, Wyatt raced at 88 junior race meetings and was a winner at many of those.
He announced himself as a star of the future when he won the 2020/21 season RSA Australian title as a new star driver and placed third overall in the all star division.
Racing as a member of Gunnedah Speeedway, he was crowned their club junior highest point-scorer in the 2020/21, 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons and he was named competitor of the year in the 2022/23 season.
Wyatt was also the top-ranked racer in the NSW junior sedans division in season 2023/24, the top-ranked NSW new star racer in season 2020-21, and the RSA junior sedans driver of the year in season 2022/23.
He was crowned the RSA Junior Sedans NSW State Title winner in the 2023/24 season back in December 2023.
Wyatt was set to defend that title in Goulburn for his junior swansong earlier this month but the meeting was washed out and rescheduled to late March.
The Narrabri boy could have held off his senior debut until after that title, however, he is eyeing off the RSA 4 Cylinder NSW Title in Gunnedah on Saturday, March 1, and was required to have raced in two senior meetings to qualify for that event.
The second of those two meetings is this Saturday at Cullen Bullen, the venue where Wyatt won his junior NSW title in 2023.
The RSA Street Stockers NSW Title will also be up for grabs on Saturday in Cullen Bullen. Northwest Speedway Club Narrabri driver Jackson Gordon will compete for that title, as will Narrabri’s Trent Keeler who races for the Gunnedah Speedway Club.
Wyatt Lawler celebrates his Tamworth Motorcycle Club speedway meeting RSA 4 cylinders division victory at Oakburn Park Speedway on Saturday night. The meeting was Wyatt’s senior speedway debut. Photo: CH Images – Blake Palmer
