Photo: Dan Costello
QUEENSLAND young gun Angus Garrard showed poise and class beyond his years to stunningly upstage some of the world’s best to win the inaugural Ladbrokes Ultimate Driver Challenge at Albion Park.
Garrard, just 21 and in his sixth season driving, 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 world 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.”
Goop, a sporting not just racing icon in Sweden, said the innovative series was one of the most enjoyable things he had been part of.
“Just amazing. I liked the sound of it and jumped at the chance to be part of it, but it was way beyond anything I expected,” he said.
“There’s never been anything like it … bringing together drivers with owners, slot holders, bettors (punters) and the public.
“We had the best group of drivérs, I know they all enjoyed it as much as me. I’ve told them I can’t wait to come back again next year, if they’ll have me.”
