Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Brilliant West Australian driver Deni Roberts is excited at the prospect of matching her skills against star Eastern States drivers in the Interdominion Championship series when she sets out on a steep learning curve over the next fortnight.
The 29-year-old Roberts has yet to drive on the three championship series tracks — Newcastle, Bathurst and Menangle — and she is preparing to study racing patterns on theses tracks which are considerably different to her home course at Gloucester Park.
Roberts will be driving Minstrel and Tenzing Bromac for champion WA trainers Greg and Skye Bond, and she has bright prospects of making a flying start by winning the opening 2030m heat with millionaire pacer Minstrel, who has drawn perfectly at barrier one on Friday night.
“I would love to lead; that’s the plan,” said Roberts after driving trotter Hold That Gold to victory at Gloucester Park on Tuesday night — her sixth win from her past nine drives. “I’ll be doing my form and will have a lot of homework to do over the next couple of days.
“I’ll be leaving for Sydney on Thursday and will return to Perth the following Thursday after the second set of Inters heats at Bathurst on Wednesday, to drive at Gloucester Park the next night before going back to New South Wales for the final set of heats at Menangle on the Saturday night.
“I have not driven at any of the three tracks over there, but I will be having a couple of drives at Menangle on Saturday night this week to get some experience on that track.
“I know that the corners are a bit sharp at Newcastle.”
Roberts has a career tally of 712 winners, and she excels in races at the 804m circuit at Gloucester Park which has a 143m home straight.
She is such a professional that adjusting to the bigger NSW tracks should not prove a problem. The Newcastle track has a circumference of 931.9m with a home straight of 188.45m; the Bathurst track is 1064.9m around, with a 186m home straight; and the 1400m Menangle track has a considerably longer home straight of 350m.