CONGRATS TO AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP WINNER ROHAN TUNGATE. READ OUR REPORT FROM GILLMAN HERE …
Rohan Tungate stormed to his first Australian Championship after edging out Brady Kurtz in a final-round thriller at Gillman on Sunday.
Second place in the A Final behind Jack Holder was enough for Tungate, with Kurtz finishing fourth in the medal race for the third time in the series after making a hash of turn one.
The pair went into round four tied on 45 points, and Kurtz appeared to have the edge as he won his first four rides.
Tungate was beaten by Max Fricke in heat 13, meaning he had to get the better of Kurtz in their race-20 head-to-head to keep the scores level going into the A Final.
And the Kurri Kurri-born racer pulled off a huge win, meaning both men finished the heats level on 14, setting up a winner-takes-all A Final.
Fricke joined them on 13, while Holder saw off Jordan Stewart, Jaimon Lidsey and Mason Campton to win the B Final.
And the Somerset star, victorious in Mildura on Friday, made it back-to-back wins, with Tungate sealing the second he needed. Fricke was third and a dejected Kurtz was left at the back.
It meant Kurri Kurri and Undera winner Tungate prevailed despite a tough night in Mildura on Friday, which saw him work overtime for third place.
Meanwhile, 2016 champ Kurtz was left to rue three fourth places in A Finals, despite his heavy heat scoring.
Outgoing champion Sam Masters withdrew from the meeting in his opening ride after crashing in practice.
FINAL AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1 Rohan Tungate 62, 2 Brady Kurtz 60, 3 Max Fricke 53, 4 Jack Holder 51, 5 Mason Campton 39, 6= Sam Masters 37, Josh Pickering 37, 8 Jordan Stewart 35, 9 Jaimon Lidsey 31, 10 Jye Etheridge 28, 11 Matthew Gilmore 21, 12 Cooper Riordan 20, 13 Robert Medson 16, 14 Joel Coyne 10, 15 Declan Knowles 9, 16 James Davies 4, 17 Josh Coyne 3, 18 Brandon McGuinness 2.
GILLMAN HEAT SCORES: 1 Rohan Tungate 14, 2 Brady Kurtz 14, 3 Max Fricke 13, 4 Jack Holder 11, 5 Jaimon Lidsey 10, 6 Jordan Stewart 10, 7 Mason Campton 9, 8 Josh Pickering 9, 9 Jye Etheridge 7, 10 Cooper Riordan 6, 11 Matthew Gilmore 5, 12 Robert Medson 4, 13 Josh Coyne 3, 14 Brandon McGuinness 2, 15 Joel Coyne 2, 16 Declan Knowles 1, 17 Sam Masters 0, 18 James Davies DNR.
B Final: Holder, Stewart, Lidsey, Campton.
A Final: Holder, Tungate, Fricke, Kurtz.