Fastlane Magazine - Issue 22

fastlane EDITION 22 M A R C H

2 0 1 8

THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL DRAG RACING ASSOCIATION

40 YEARS OF

BRICKLAYING Graeme Cooper gives us an insight into his infamous ‘Bricklayer’ EH Holden Premier Station Wagon

STAGING TSUMMIT 2017/18 YWHO’S BEAT ECH TALK CALENDAR OUR DD? THE HEAT VIC

LANES

RACER AFACES T RACES

PROFILE

SUMMITRACING.COM

contents CLICK TO VISIT

STAGING LANES

GREAME COOPER

40 YEARS OF BRICKLAYING

WHO IS YOUR

SUMMIT SPORTSMAN SERIES

POINTS & CALENDAR

BEAT THE HEAT VICTORIA

Fastlane is produced by the Australian National Drag Racing Association LTD. Editor: Amanda Jackson (media@andra.com.au) Design: YBI Creative (www.ybicreative.com.au) Photography: DragPix, Outlaw Images, Luke Dahms - Rogue Snapper Photography, Collection of Graeme Cooper and Daniel Milligan Photography

DD? ANDYK DESIGN

JOINS ANDRA MEMBER BENEFITS PROGRAM

RACERPROFILE

RACE REPORTS

SUMMIT RACING QLD

ANDRA Staff

TECH TALK

HOW TO CORRECTLY MEASURE A REAR END FOR CUSTOM AXLES

SOUTH COAST RACEWAY

General Manager: Brett Stevens Accounts: Janelle Mannix Business Manager: Jackie Mills Business Development Manager: Jennifer Harrison Licensing & Membership: Susan Branscombe Licensing and Membership: Kylie Hazelhurst Media & PR Officer: Amanda Jackson Technical Officer: Scott Halfyard

Contact Details

Phone: 08 8271 5355 Fax: 08 8721 6988 Email: info@andra.com.au Street: 11 McInnes St, Ridleyton SA 5008

RACERPROFILE FACES AT THE RACES WESTERNATIONALS

ANDRA Board

Terry Jongen (WA) - On leave Murray O’Connor (WA) – Alternate Director Nathan Peirano (QLD) - Chairman Grant Wilson (SA) Peter Kapiris (VIC) Wayne Downes(QLD) Grant Hamon (NT)

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staginglanes NOMINATIONS INVITED 2018 ANDRA DIVISIONAL ELECTIONS

During 2018, elections are due for ANDRA Division Directors in South Queensland, South Australia and New South Wales. It should be remembered that Division Directors will be eligible for appointment to the ANDRA Board.

The table shown here demonstrates those positions due for election in 2018, highlighted in blue.

Note: Any Delegates appointed to the Divisional Council by the Delegates over the past year must stand for election at this time.

Nominations are hereby invited for the various positions, from Full Members of ANDRA. Nominations must be lodged with the ANDRA Office no later than 12 noon (CDST) Friday, March 30th 2018 on the appropriate form – available by contacting ANDRA on info@andra.com.au or (08) 8271 5355.

Full details of the election process may be found in the ANDRA Constitution.

South Queensland

Northern Australia

Victoria/Tasmania

Wayne Downes (Alt DD)

Nathan Peirano (DD)

Paul Rogers Jnr

Lance Ginbey

Ross Bryant (Alt DD)

Rob Cassar (Alt DD)

Keith Suridge

Peter Peirano

Darren Parker

Jason Murphy

Aaron Stibbs

Bill Caris

Vartan Bedrossian

Ross Lemberg

Douglas Anderson

Sarah Langridge

Glenn Cunningham

Stephen Crook

Dave Roderick

Peter Pisalidis Doug Penna Corey Scholes

South Australia

Western Australia

New South Wales

DIVISION DIRECTOR

Terry Jongen (DD)

Geoff Crisp (DD)

Vladimir Ostashkevich (Alt DD)

Murray O’Connor (Alt DD)

Mark Shepherd (Alt DD)

Margaret Oppes

Geoff Chaisty

Jim Rowley

Andrew Favotti

Nick Gardiner

John Ward

Bruno Romeo

Ian Jenkins

Frank Cannistra

Rob Rath

Alan Hudson

Jason Stares

Bob Sherry

Peter Glover

Sharon Ward

Sergei Ostashkevich

Liz Johns

Rhett Cooper Fowle

Andrew Braithwaite

Anthony Begley

Aaron Brookes

VALE

PHIL

PARKER

All at the Australian National Drag Racing Association were greatly saddened by the passing of Phil Parker in early January.

A former ANDRA Director and Division Director, Phil was highly regarded within the drag racing industry and his passing is being sorely felt across our community.

All at ANDRA send our deepest and sincere condolences to Phil’s family, friends and the wider drag racing community during this difficult time.

ANDRA APPROVED FUELS UPDATE

FUEL ADDITIONS

FUEL REMOVALS

VP Racing Fuels has homologated its PSX + fuel blend. PSX + has been blended to suit the needs of high RPM, naturally aspirated racing engines with compression ratios above 12.0:1

Following receipt of advice from the suppliers in question, Sunoco Fuels’ Sunoco GT+ (260) and MaxNOS; VP Fuels homologation of PSX-AU, X16 AU and C23-AU; and Powerplus Fuels Racing 110+ have been removed from the homologation fuel list by the Suppliers.

The fuel has been added to the ANDRA Approved Fuels List and was available for use at all ANDRA sanctioned events from 15th February 2018.

For the latest ANDRA Homologated Fuel Specifications, please click here.

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40 YEARS OF

BRIC

Four decades ago, a 17-year-old apprentice bricklayer by the name of Graeme Cooper bought a 1963 EH Holden Premier Station Wagon, emblazoning the words ‘Bricklayer’ on the back-side windscreens to advertise his trade. Fast forward to today, and what started out as a daily driver is now firmly lodged in the folklore of Australian drag racing.

We caught up with Cooper to find out more of the story about this championshipwinning steed, how it is still winning today, and what is next on the cards for the Melbourne racer.

“I actually had my eye on another car – I had put a deposit on a GT Falcon owned by my boss, but when I went home and told my policeman father about it he said ‘you aren’t having one of those – buy a dirty old EH and belt the shit out of it until you can drive it!’” explained Cooper on the eve of his 60th birthday.

“Now more than forty years later, here I am still belting the sh*t out of it and still learning how to drive it! I never did get a GT either, I never had any money left after racing the EH!” While he purchased the now famous EH in 1975, it was a few

years before Cooper would put it on the track.

“In early ’78 my brother-in-law asked if I wanted to come up to the drags at Heathcote Raceway, ‘just 20 minutes up the road’ he said,” Cooper laughed.

“Well, two and a half hours later we get there, and I get out and see these Funny Cars and it just blew me away.

“I thought, I could do this. Soon after on the 21st of May, 1978, I took my car up at the age of 20 and have been doing it ever since. That is how it all started, including the Bricklayer name – although that wasn’t on purpose.

CKLAYING “Many people don’t realise that I never actually named the car. You see, at the time I was an apprentice bricklayer and I used the car for work while racing on the weekends – on the back window I had the word ‘Bricklayer’ and my contact details, along with a picture of Yosemite Sam.

“In 1984 I got out of bricklaying and so took that off the windows. That didn’t go down well – when I turned up at Calder Park soon after the officials there told me I had to put it back on as everyone knows the car as Bricklayer!

“So, we repainted the car and put the name down the side of the car in the same font.

“I guess this shows that a lot of all of this kind of ‘just happened’, but since then it has raced every year since 1978 and I think it is probably the longest continuallyraced car, especially with the same driver.

“I remember what Collin Russell used to say when he was a commentator at Calder Park: ‘17 years, same driver, same car, same wife!’ It is 40 years later now and it is still the same!”

While the Bricklayer is undeniably beautiful, she has undergone at least one major makeover in her time.

“It has been a good journey but gee, the car has had some engines in it – it would have to be 15 over the 40 years, all different sizes,” Cooper explained.

“It has had one big overhaul. In 1991, we tech-inspected the car and there was that much rust hanging out of it that our Division Director of the time, Lindsay Whitchurch, turned around and said, ‘you have to do something about that car – it wouldn’t be so bad, if you weren’t beating everyone!’ It was looking pretty shabby, I had stickers over the rust holes! With a direction to clean it up before the start of the next season, we had to get to work.

“Luckily for us, ‘Bluey’ Wilson who had fit the V8 into the car in 1979 had an association with David Ryan from Rare Spares. We put in a proposal with them and they tipped a lot of money in to get where we are now – we have just celebrated a quarter of a century together on the quarter mile, which I think is pretty special.

“That rebuild in 1992 was an interesting one – in the layoff before the Winternationals we got ready to do the rebuild, pulling it all to bits and then, the panel beater wasn’t ready! So, we put it all back together again for the Winternats – where we would normally have had six bolts we had two, panels were just basically hung on it and the inside was all undercoat and had just the one seat –

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people would go to lean on the car and we were begging them not too in case the whole thing fell apart!

– although these were sometimes helped along by cheeky crew mates as Cooper found out.

“In all seriousness, it was totally fine, but it sure wasn’t put together like it is now and it was funny as we were trying to save ourselves as much work as possible knowing we were going to have to pull it all apart again straight after the event. We hung it all together to get there, won it, and then took it back to the panel beaters for its overhaul.”

“I won my first Australian Championship in 1985 and it soon became a funny story because the car had Mr Blue plates on it for Bluey who had fitted the motor and done all the work on it. At the time, we had won the Winternationals, the South Australian Championships and the Victorian Championships – we had pretty much won in every state!

With such a long on-track career, you would be forgiven for thinking there were likely periods where this cult-figure of a car has endured a low season or two. You would however, be wrong.

“So, Mr Blue put ‘winning in any state’ on the bottom of the number plate and man, did people get riled up about that! I just thought it was a bit of a laugh.

“It has been a winner virtually all the time, and that has only been because we just go to the events and keep going, keep trying and trying, and keep swinging the old axe!” Cooper explained.

“Everyone knows the story of grandfather’s axe – it has had 10 new heads and six new handles, but it is the same axe… well that is the Bricklayer and we just keep on swinging it and keep coming up with wins now and then. We have been on a real roll lately, but in the early 90s especially it was very dominant.

“At the end of the day we just go racing for the sheer pleasure of it. It is nice to win of course but it is also nice to come away with a car that is not broken!”

While fun might be the aim of the game, Cooper has too many wins in the bank to deny the talent and capability of this winning combination.

“Over the years we have won 37 National Titles and more than 120 events. We were the National Champions in Super Sedan for the 1985/1986 season and in 1993 and 1995 titles as well,” Cooper explained.

“Through the recession, I was in concrete trucking and the work was just not there. With the ANDRA contingency program of the time you got 100 dollars for every win sticker you got on the car – for instance it was $900 for a win at the Winternats, and then I got another 12-1300 dollars for the contingency program, so it was working really well for us – we were paying the house payments with that!”

With such success, ultimately came some ruffled feathers

“Our crew chief Rick Strange at the time probably didn’t help things either – especially when we had won nine or ten events in a row, it got to the stage where he would walk out to the lanes with a shirt on that said, ‘Who’s First?’

“So here I would be belted in and having no idea, and he would walk out in front of the car with this shirt on, and then we would get through that round and he would come back to the next one with another shirt on, this one saying, ‘Who’s Next?’

“We went through a lot of grief because of that, our DD even came and had a talk to us about it as well. I wouldn’t even know he was going to do it, but I would see the shirt from the car and just know what was going to happen when I got back to the pits, I would have all the people in my ear! Fortunately, that stopped when he stopped coming to races back in 1991 – it was probably a good thing, as that is about when people really started talking to us again!” laughed Cooper.

Forty years of continuous action have earned the Bricklayer plenty of adulation, which unsurprisingly has not been limited to the race track, such is its fame. Indeed, the car has somewhat of a cult following amongst the racing community and car enthusiasts alike.

“We were pulling up to a service station going to Mildura and this B Double came past us and then did a U-turn, you could hear him chewing up the road to come back. He pulls up to us and jumps out all excited, asking ‘is this the original car? I remember seeing this 35 years ago!’” Cooper remembered.

40 YEARS OF

BRICKLAYING

“That wasn’t an isolated incident either – every time we pull up for fuel with the car on the trailer, someone seems to know it.

“It is funny thinking about our experiences driving with the car on the back – it is getting to the stage now if I see a gap on the highway, instead of waiting for those in the lane to pass you just have to take it, as you know they are going to pull up beside you and just look at you, and you can’t get over! Even with your hands out the window telling them to go by, they are there waving back at you, doing 40km/h looking at the thing on the trailer!

“You sure get some interesting responses. One time, I even had this guy in a Torana at the lights in Melbourne revving up wanting to race me when I was in the truck with the car on the back – I beat him over the intersection, looked down and his girlfriend was practically wetting herself, she couldn’t believe it!

“It can get a bit overwhelming, just how popular the car is and the cult following that it has got. The good thing is that the car is known, and I am not! I can be in a crowd of people and no one knows me. They might hear my name and think they have heard it before but when someone tells them I own Bricklayer the whole attitude changes and you start hearing stories about how I let them sit in the car when they were six years old, and these are people that I am often racing now!”

The ‘Brickie’s’ on-track exploits are well lauded, but the green machine also has enjoyed a colourful life off the track as well as a genuine part of the family.

“I learnt to drive in it, I took my wife Linda on our first date in it, then she later learnt to drive in it herself,” Cooper explained.

“I tell you what – I thought she was going to leave the gearbox in the driveway when she was learning! I wasn’t actually racing at that stage, she got her license before I started racing so it had a four-speed gearbox and I thought it was going to end up on the ground. Luckily, I was a little bit more patient with her then than I would be now,” he laughed.

“Not only has it been a key part in my life and Linda’s as well, but also for our daughter Telisa – it was her wedding car a couple of years ago and that was a proud moment for sure.

“Nowadays the EH doesn’t have a lot of time on the road – I

had it on club registration for the wedding, and I took it up on New Years’ Day for the Mornington Car Show afterwards as well. I tried it again this year but this time I got some official feedback that maybe I need to get another engineering certificate and some mod plates on it - the police man just looked at me and said, ‘you have got to be kidding me don’t you!’” laughed Cooper.

“So, the EH will stay a race car now, if it ever does need to go back on the road I will just put the original six-cylinder engine in it. I don’t think it will ever see the road again though, truth be told, the car is too well known for what it is now to be changing it for the street. It is fitting really; the thing has done more miles on the trailer on its way to race tracks than it ever did on the road!”

So, what is next for Cooper? If you think he is planning to hang up the helmet, you would be very, very wrong.

“It has been an entertaining 40 years, that is for sure, and we are looking forward to celebrating the 40th anniversary in May,” he said.

“I bought the car on the 13th of June 1975, and at the closest event to the 20th anniversary of that purchase, the 1995 Winternationals, I came up to Queensland and won that event. Hopefully we can do the same for the 40th anniversary of racing it at this year’s event – if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen, and it won’t be a problem of course, but it would be nice! It will actually be the 51st running of the Winters this year – with our car being number 51 and us taking out the 51st Nationals last year, here is hoping the number will play lucky for us once again!

“As we prepare for that, we are also busy preparing for the next chapter – I will soon be driving the 2004 Monaro GTO of Morabito brothers Frank, Michael and Rob of APS Service Centre in Top Sportsman.

“I can’t say too much at this point, but it sure should be a fun adventure and we hope to have both cars – the Bricklayer and the Monaro – on-track this year. Stay tuned for more details!”

You can next see the Bricklayer on-track in the DENSO Super Street bracket at the Grand Finals (Adelaide International Raceway) across March 23-24, 2018.

Images: Outlaw Images, Daniel Milligan Photography

and the collection of Graeme Cooper

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techtorque HOW TO CORRECTLY MEASURE A REAR END FOR CUSTOM AXLES. Story and Photos by Wayne Scraba

Adding big power to your car comes with consequences. Hardware that normally doesn’t flinch is suddenly hard pressed to keep up. Add big, sticky tires to the equation and you just know what will happen next: carnage.

Among those pieces that regularly seem to be taxed are the rear axles. It’s always wise to upgrade to stronger axle shafts whenever possible, even if it’s just for your own peace of mind. But if your car has a narrowed rear end or if you’ve swapped in a rear end from another car, it’s tough for the tech guys at Summit Racing to figure out what the axle dimensions should be.

Complicating things is that there all sorts of different axle spline combinations for spools and limited slip applications. It’s easy enough to make an error here but more times than not, it’s a case of simply not being on the same page as a given manufacturer when measuring the housing.

Something else that crops up is pinion offset. Some cars have a rear end that has an offset pinion gear.

When an axle housing is setup with pinion offset, each axle shaft is a slightly different length.

But fear not. We can show you exactly how to measure a rear housing for custom axles. It’s all very straightforward; once the dimensions are established, there’s no need to worry about axles being too long or too short. Here’s how to do it.

FINDING AXLE HOUSING DIMENSIONS

Here is a list of axle housing dimensions you’ll need to make. Make sure to double-check your measurements as you won’t be able to return custom-made axle shafts.

• Housing width flange to flange • Driver side housing width, flange to pinion center • Passenger side housing width, flange to pinion center

TYPE OF REAR BRAKES

You’ll also need to tell the axle manufacturer what type of brakes you’re using in the car. On our example setup, we have a standard small GM backing plate and a conventional 9.5 inch small car (Nova, Camaro, Chevelle) steel brake drum. These drums typically measure 3.200 inches wide to the outside of the axle register. Most axle manufacturers also require a brake drum thickness measurement; take a reading at the axle register.

Take a look at the photos as we measure a Strange Engineering S60 housing for axles.

1.

We took the axle housing out of the car and set it up on a set of axle stands, with the pinion rotated so that it faces up. We ran a tape measure through the bare housing to get the housing width from flange to flange.

Our housing measured 52.75 inches wide.

2.

We found the centerline of the pinion gear and taped it over as shown here. We need that to determine the next measurements.

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techtorque

3.

A plumb line was dropped from the pinion centerline out the back of the S60 housing.

4.

Now we measured the housing width from flange back to the plumb line. The passenger side measured 25.875 inches while the driver side checked out at 26.875 inches. Even though the axle tubes welded to the center section are exactly the same width, there’s an inch difference for the actual axle shafts. That is the pinion offset.

To double-check the numbers, we added the of measurements together (25.875 + 26.875 = 52.750).

That figure should be the same as the flange-toflange housing width measurement made in the first step.

5.

Axle shaft spline count and spline configuration play an important role when ordering axles. Be sure tell the axle tech folks the maker and spline count for a spool or limited slip if you run one.

Some 35-spline spools have a different spline profile than a 35-spline limited slip.

6.

As pointed out in the text, the type of brake you use has an effect upon the final axle measurement.

While the width and thickness of the drum (to the register) is important, you’ll also need to allow for the air gap between the brake drum and the backing plate. This air gap differs from car to car and from brand to brand. Your axle manufacture can help you out with this dimension.

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14 series championship

POINTS

COMPETITION

PTS

SUPERCHARGED OUTLAWS

PTS

SUPER STOCK

PTS

MODIFIED

PTS 300 270 220 180 170

Harry Harris Graeme Cooper Johnny Kapiris Tim Bryan Michael Bridges

COMPETITION BIKE

PTS

SUPER SEDAN

PTS

SUPER GAS

TOP SPORTSMAN

PTS

MODIFIED BIKE

PTS

Ralph Lewis Shane Baxter Matt George Craig Geddes Stuart Moresby

Jim Ioannidis Tom Dimitropoulos Alex Panagiotidis Jamie Chaisty Daniel Camilleri

Phill Paton Wayne Patterson Tony Frost Robert Cassar Justin Townson

Jason Arbery Vlado Turic Greg Damiani Chris Theodorakopoulos Darren Nichele

190 125 120 100 100

300 260 210 175 160

185 120 110 80 80

300 300 300 300 300

Tim Stewart Justin Russell Jason Keily Alan Mahnkoph Adam Murrihy

Matt Czerny Sergio Bonetti Jess Turner Bradley Hicks Adam Mundy

Peter Tzokas John Kapiris George Tipoukidis Alex Gkroidis Ned Karanovic

Gordon Crawford Johnny Ireland Bryan Finn Dan Dycer Danny Rickard

300 300 300 300 290

300 290 280 260 210

300 300 300 270 270

JUNIOR DRAGSTER

PTS

SUPER STREET

PTS

Bradley Bishop Tommy Turic Baillie Ponton Brodie Zappia Jackson Perri

Graeme Spencer Warren Bull Bailey Datson Adrian McGrotty Colin Griffin

CLICK HERE

300 270 260 240 230

250 220 190 170 160

PTS 300 220 160 160 140

FOR FULL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

ROUND 1

WORLD CLASS PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS

HIDDEN VALLEY DRAG STRIP, NT

JULY 21-22, 2017

ROUND 2

ALICE SPRINGS INLAND DRAGWAY, NT

JULY 29-30, 2017

ROUND 3 MILDURA,VIC

SEPT 23-24, 2017

ROUND 4

ADELAIDE INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY, SA

OCT 14, 2017

ROUND 5

PERTH MOTORPLEX, WA

NOV 11, 2017

ROUND 6 CALDER PARK, VIC

NOV 25, 2017

ROUND 7

SOUTH COAST RACEWAY, PORTLAND VIC

JAN 20-21, 2018

ROUND 8

PERTH MOTORPLEX, WA

MAR 3-4, 2018

John Zappia & crew.

9 time Australian Top Doorslammer Champion.

ROUND 9

ADELAIDE INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY, SA

MAR 23-24, 2018

03 9357 0469 www.crowcams.com.au

16 fastlane

who is your DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR? Division Director New South Wales

A trip to Castlereagh Raceway in 1974 began Geoff Crisp’s love of drag racing, with the first ever pass he witnessed – Graeme Cowin in Psycho Three against Bob Dunn and his Terrifying T – kicking off an addiction that has been in place ever since.

Crisp started racing himself with an Altered at Castlereagh in 1978. He would stay in the seat until the early 2000s, getting both of his daughters into Junior Dragsters along the way – both now race in the Modified bracket.

Reflecting upon his journey so far, key memories include seeing Cowin run the first Funny Car ‘five’ at Willowbank Raceway, Jim Read’s first 300 (also at Willowbank) and on a more personal note, racing with his girls at Bakersfield while they were in Junior Dragster.

“Being on the Board with the people who made Western Sydney International Dragway a reality is also a key highlight, as was being the ANDRA NSW Division Director from 2000-2006 when I stepped aside to help my girls with their J/D racing,” explained Crisp.

With his girls now grown and holding their own in Modified, Crisp has returned to the New South Wales DD role which he fulfils alongside a career within the automotive performance industry.

Geoff Crisp

Email: newsouthwales@andra.com.au New South Wales Council Members: Mark Shepherd (Alternate DD) Jim Rowley John Ward Frank Cannistra Jason Stares Sharon Ward Rhett Cooper Fowle Aaron Brookes

“I feel that my work in the automotive industry has certainly allowed me to be involved with competitors on a daily basis, as well as with the various suppliers of our sport. This – along with my own competitive history – has allowed me to have a key understanding of the issues faced by competitors in relation to costs and the difficult in competition,” explains Crisp, who is based in Western Sydney.

“I also currently crew on both of the Modified Dragsters of my daughters and that keeps me busy – it is good fun and makes a dad proud to see his family enjoying the sport, plus those seven second time slips are pretty cool too!

“For the record, both Jessica and Fiona have gone quicker and faster than I ever did in my Altered!” he laughed.

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VLADO TURIC

racerprofile Team VT RACING DOB 08/08/1964 Hometown Adelaide, South Australia Status Married with 3 Children Occupation Director of D&V Services Started Racing 2014, Adelaide, Super street Classes competed Competed in Super street, Super Sedan and Top Sportsman ANDRA Racing highlights Runner-up in Darwin Best ET and Speed 7.88s @ 172MPH Sponsors Vlado Turic Pty Ltd Hobbies Drag Racing Favourite Race Vehicle John Zappia, Door Slammer Favourite TV Show Action movies Favourite Food Italian Favourite race track Darwin has the best atmosphere

You are currently one of five racers on max points in your bracket with two rounds left to run in the season – how are you feeling about the championship battle?

I am feeling pretty good now that the car is all sorted, but it will be a hard race against Jason Arbery and Greg Damiani who are very good racers. On the day, it could be anyone’s.

How has the season unfolded for you to this point?

It started off pretty good with coming runner-up in Darwin and then third place in Alice Springs, but then in the middle of the season we had trouble with the car. Now it is all coming together at the right time for the end of the season.

Your son Tommy races in Junior Dragster and he was the runner-up at Portland, what is it like for you to watch him race?

It is very exciting watching him, especially as he is currently second (in the championship for Summit Racing Equipment Junior Dragster) with a chance to take out the number one spot in Australia. These are very proud moments.

What do you love most about drag racing?

The people, the atmosphere and the after parties.

What drives you to keep on drag racing?

The great atmosphere at every track around Australia Are there any special people you would like to thank for being part of your drag racing journey?

I want to send a very special thanks to Mark from Huntsman Racing for his support, maintenance and putting together of the new combo for Top Sportsman, and the transportation around Australia. I also want to thank Maxine Oppes for all of her time and her help with Tommy and myself all over Australia, and Dave Baines for building a super reliable engine. Finally, I also want to thank ANDRA, Summit Racing, all of the volunteers, club officials, Ambulance staff and fire fighters; all of the great families and people you meet at each track; and of course, last but not least, my family Sue, Tommy, Katarina and Anthony.

Beat theVICTORIA HEAT

LOOKING TO INSPIRE In an effort to inspire other women and girls to get into motorsports, two Beat the Heat Victoria mentors are taking part in Drags School at the Perth Motorplex.

Senior Constable Dani Richards and Ararat Car Club Member Rachel Ralph are currently enrolled in the tenday training which is run by Sergeant Mike Pearson and Detective Sergeant Chris De Bruin of Beat the Heat WA. Richardson is a member of Beat the Heat Victoria, which is an off-duty police youth motorsport mentoring program.

Its cars are often displayed at Ararat Auto and Ag and Ararat Tyre and Auto.

Ralph is a member of Ararat Car Club and has a passion for cars and community motorsport, volunteering and competing at Ararat Hill Climbs and working in car related employment. Both women are mentors for young people involved with Beat the Heat Victoria.

“We have a great car and motorsport friendly region, there are lots of opportunities for community members and youth to get involved,” Senior Constable Dani Richardson said.

“It’s a great hobby for girls to get into, and starting off is as simple as volunteering at some community events or joining a car club. There are even Automotive subjects on offer through the secondary schools in our region.”

“Motorsport is not all about the boys, chicks can drive too!

You’ll learn a lot about yourself and develop confidence in your driving,” Ralph said.

“It also brings families into community events, and you will make new friends. You will also learn about car maintenance for your everyday drive. There is healthy competition between males and females out here, but we need more women to be involved!”

“We describe our Drags School training as a High-Octane Confidence Refresher!” Sergeant Mike Pearson, of Beat the Heat WA, said.

To follow the progress of Dani and Rachel, check out the Beat The Heat Victoria facebook page for updates.

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BAILLIE PONTON

racerprofile Age 14

Hometown Langwarrin, Victoria School Elisabeth Murdoch college Started Racing October 2016 Classes competed A/jd ANDRA Racing highlights Winning the South Coast 660 Best ET and Speed 7.80s at 83mph Sponsors CBH Air-Conditioning and Hallam Performance Favourite Race Vehicle Top Fuel Dragster Favourite TV Show Riverdale and Stranger Things Favourite Food Sushi Favourite race track Willowbank Raceway

What do you love about racing?

The adrenalin rush I get from competing and the people you get to meet.

How did you get into racing?

Going to the track over the years helping my dad race.

What do you consider as your racing highlights?

Winning the South Coast 660, winning the Mildura Supercharged Outlaw Shootout at Easter 2017 and coming runner-up at the 2017 Rowe Memorial.

How did it feel to have your breakthrough win at the South Coast 660?

It was an awesome feeling knowing that all of the hard work is starting to pay off and seeing all my friends and family be so happy for me.

What do you love about Junior Dragster Racing? Why should others get into it?

Others should race because it is a fun family sport and it is a good way to meet new people that share the same interest.

What is your ultimate racing goal/dream?

To win at the ANDRA Nationals and take out a championship.

What do your school mates think about what you do?

They don’t understand the concept of drag racing however if I do win they congratulate me and are very supportive.

Is there anyone you would like to thank for being part of your drag racing journey?

I would like to thank my dad for all the work he does on my engine and to the car; my mum for all of her support, help and dedication to my racing; my sister; my sponsors CBH Aircon and Electrical and Hallam Performance; and also my family and friends.

Behind the Wheel with Jr. Dragster Harrison Thwaite.

“I love racing because it’s a fun and exciting sport. I love the speed I do down the track. And even though it’s an individual sport, I love that my family is there to help me work on my car.”

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22 fastlane

Q L D

C H A M P S

READYTORUMBLE Following the successful running of the inaugural season in 2017, the Summit Racing Queensland Championships are set to return in 2018.

Kicking off at Ironbark Raceway across March 31 to April 1, the three-round series will once again be backed by performance powerhouse, Summit Racing Equipment.

Racers are already signing up for the event in a bid to make sure they are the ones hoisting the prestigious copper ANDRA Xmas Trees come the series conclusion in September.

For Ayr racer Anthony Spataro, a championship defence will be on the cards after he took out the Outlaw honours in 2017.

“I really enjoyed the three rounds – it was a lot of hard work for us, as we are based 300 kilometres away from our home track of Mackay so there was certainly a lot of travel for us,” Spataro said.

“The atmosphere at the events was something we found to be very nice and all of the racers would get together and have fun, especially at the two-day events where we had more time to interact with each other.

“We always felt very welcome, and we were happy to take out the title in the end – we had always said we would do all three rounds no matter where we were on the points, so it was satisfying to get the trophy in the end after all that travelling!

“As far as defending the title this year, I am not feeling any extra pressure as yet, but then I haven’t really had any time to think about it either to be honest!

“Those that know me well will not be surprised to hear that since we got back from Roma, the car has been in the shed and has not been touched once. The week before the event the rest of my life will go on hold and I will start fixing things and getting the car ready!” he laughed.

“Sometimes that approach doesn’t pay off, like in between rounds two and three last year where I was in trouble as I broke the Lenco and couldn’t find a local bearing and had no time to ship one in from overseas. I am lucky that I have had some great help, like from John at JB Automotive who in that instance machined the Lenco for me so it would suit another bearing.

“With my kids grown up and at work now, they aren’t able to crew for me as often anymore so I am also lucky to have the Harm family come all the way down from Charters Towers to help me out at the track – being Ford racers, I think that is a pretty good showing for them to give me a hand on my Monaro!

“We have some good fun, and I have been stirring Michael Harm all year making him think he is older than me, well Michael – you read it here first, I am actually over 50!” he laughed.

As it did in 2017, the state-based series will seek to develop and promote drag racing in regional Queensland, taking in Ironbark Raceway (Round One – 31st March-1 April), Palmyra Dragway

(29-30 June) and Benaraby Raceway (22 September) in 2018. It is expected to attract racers from all over the State who wish to be crowned the ANDRA Queensland Champion for their class.

“The continued support for this series by ANDRA and Summit Racing is very appreciated by the regional drag racing community in Queensland.

Summit Racing Equipment Motorsport and Events Manager, Jim Greenleaf, said supporting the Queensland championship was just another way the performance powerhouse was looking to support grassroots drag racing in Australia.

“The inaugural Summit Racing Qld Championship was very well supported by Sportsman racers in 2017 and plans are in place to offer another great series in 2018, commencing with Round One at Roma on the 2018 Easter weekend.

“The inaugural Summit Racing Queensland Championship was a great success and so we are very pleased to be able to continue our support of this concept in 2018,” Greenleaf said.

“This meeting will take place as one of the many events in Roma over Easter as part of the Easter in the Country Celebrations, seeing Drag Racing put on show to a very large country audience.

Round two will then be held in Mackay at Palmyra Dragway in June, before the Final round is held at Benaraby Dragway in September.

“Regional tracks are very important in the fabric of our drag racing community, so we are very excited to be able to continue to support this championship which brings together Queensland’s drag racers.”

Once again, the three-round championship will be a joint effort between the committees of Palmyra Dragway, Ironbark Raceway and Benaraby Raceway.

“It is very welcome news that the ANDRA Queensland Championship run by the Palmyra, Benaraby and Ironbark Drag Clubs will again have Summit Racing as the naming sponsor for 2018,” Palmyra Drag Racing Club President, Glenn Cunningham said.

“Thanks to the points system run by the series, consistency across all three rounds will be rewarded and we hope to see a repeat of the 2017 series where all class winners were not decided until the final round.”

For more information on the Summit Racing Queensland Championship, please visit https://www.facebook.com/andra.QLD.Champs/

Images: Luke Dahms - Rogue Snapper Photography

23

RACE REPORT: SOUTH COAST 660

BREAKS SOUTH COAST 660

RECORDS

fastlane With more than 170 racers taking part, the recent South Coast 660 was the largest ever meeting for Portland’s South Coast Raceway.

Unsurprisingly with so many racers on-track at the 660ft facility, the action was relentless across two big days of racing in January.

Day one saw some tough qualifying battles unfold, but ultimately, the Top Qualifier Medallions – sponsored by The Tile Co-The Shower People, KC Tools and Summit Racing – would go to Graeme Spencer (Super Gas), Samuel Perri (Summit Racing Equipment Junior Dragster), Bill Farrugia (DENSO Super Street), Danny Rickard (Modified Bike), Daryl Dando (Super Sedan), Simon Barlow (Modified), Darren Nichele (Top Sportsman), Justin Russell (Supercharged Outlaws) and Jim Ioannidis (SuperComp).

Come race day, a full and intense day of racing kept the spectators enthralled.

When all was said and done it was Anthony Panetta (Super Gas), Baillie Ponton (Summit Racing Equipment Junior Dragster), Mick Piscioneri (DENSO Super Street), Gordon Crawford (Modified Bike), Chris Lioulios (Super Sedan), Craig Baker (Modified), Darren Nichele (Top Sportsman), Jason Keily (Supercharged Outlaws) and Jim Ioannidis (SuperComp) who would take victory in their respective classes.

Runners-up were Graeme Spencer (Super Gas), Tommy Turic (Summit Racing Equipment Junior Dragster), Des Jeffree (DENSO Super Street), Jake Hamilton (Modified Bike), Steve Hunt (Super Sedan), Matt Czerny (Modified), Jason Arbery (Top Sportsman), Justin Russell (Supercharged Outlaws) and Shane Baxter (SuperComp).

While all of the winners were proud to accept their accolades, two felt especially honoured in receiving perpetual awards introduced at the event – the Phil Parker Memorial Trophy in Modified Bike and the Chris Stewart Memorial Trophy in Supercharged Outlaws. Each year, the winner of Supercharged Outlaws will also have their name inscribed on a special Chris Stewart memorial shield housed at the Raceway’s HQ. “This is very special, because at this meeting two years ago I won my very first ‘tree’ and it was presented to me by Phil Parker,” explained Crawford in accepting the Phil Parker Memorial Trophy.

25

RACE REPORT: SOUTH COAST 660

“The bike was running like a dog all weekend, I had no shift lights and had been guessing all my gear changes, but all the other guys were making mistakes – I got out of jail so many times! And then in that last run, I ran a 0.01 light and ran within a hundredth of my dial-in – they were never going to beat me on that.

“With the way it went all weekend, I just couldn’t believe it in that last run against Jake Hamilton that we were unbeatable – that was real special and I think there was a bit of Phil Parker sitting on my shoulder there for that one, I am sure of that.

“To all of the racers and the guys particularly in Modified Bike I want to say thank you and to ANDRA for their professionalism, a lot of thanks has to go to them and to Summit – I just really appreciate what they do.

On his way to the win, Crawford defeated Greg Oberti, Jase MacFarlane,

Danny Rickard, Dan Dycer and then Hamilton, while Hamilton faced off against Edgell Mallis, Chris Hosken, and Mario Baker before enjoying a bye run in the semi-finals.

Supercharged Outlaws winner Jason Keily may not have ever met Chris Stewart before he passed away last year, but he was clearly moved to receive the trophy.

“I have only been racing for four years and I never knew Chris personally, but it is an honour to receive this trophy and I really appreciate it. I was (at Portland) last year, but I never got to meet him, but from talking to a lot of people I realise just how much he did for the sport and how he touched a lot of people, so this means a lot,” Keily said at the presentation.

For Keily, the weekend started off with some difficulties but it all came together in time for race-day – where he took on and defeated Ryan Van Dyk

before enjoying a bye run ahead of his final race against Justin Russell. Russell had earlier dispatched Shane Kramer after a bye in round done.

“We struggled a little bit in qualifying with the car moving around a bit, I don’t think it liked the cooler weather!

We persevered though and then (on Sunday) the temperatures were a bit higher and the car loved it – we were able to get a lot of good traction and get some good runs in,” Keily explained.

“I have to thank Johnny Marshall from Marshall Cams, he has been so unbelievable since I rebuilt the motor and put one of his cams in it, he has helped me a lot with the fuel system.

Also, Graeme Cooper who has been helping us fine-tune my dial-in and Tim Stewart and his wife for showing me that I needed to do that and helping me with it as well – these people are my rivals and they are helping me and that is just fantastic, it is what is so great about Sportsman racing! I also need to

fastlane give a big shout out to my crew Paul, Jen and Courtney – without them, we can’t do what we do.”

In SuperComp, it was a clean sweep for Jim Ioannidis who put himself to the front of the points standings for the competitive bracket.

On his way to the victory, Ioannidis did battle with Mick Simic in round one before having a bye into his semi-final against Alex Panagiotidis. Taking victory from that semi, he went on to win the final against Shane Baxter, who had earlier taken victory over Daniel Camilleri and Tom Dimitropoulos before enjoying a bye run in his semi-final.

both ends of the record while maxxing out on the points which puts us in the championship lead – it is just great and we will see now what the future holds!

“I have to thank my crew – they are amazing and without them we don’t race, we race as a team – I drive it, but it is a team effort.”

Ioannidis wasn’t the only one breaking records either. In fact, no less than three racers reset national records during the event with Chris Soldatos and Alex Panagiotidis also setting new markers in the Group Two Super Stock Eliminator record books.

weren’t surprised (by the record) but we were happy – we have only raced this season with this combination so we are pleased we have made some gains with the car from the first couple of races we have done, and we are getting somewhere with the car.

“I hope so, I definitely hope so!” laughed Panagiotidis when asked if there was ‘more in it’.

“It is a new combination and we are still just learning what it likes but it is definitely improving as we go along. We are going to go to Perth and we hope it goes a little bit quicker again!”

Panagiotidis bowed out in the quarterfinal against eventual event Super Comp winner Ioannidis, but not before resetting both ends of the E/GA record to 5.562s and 122.51mph in his Camaro.

For Pro Stock regular Soldatos, who was driving Craig Geddes’ Cavalier at the event, resetting the D/GA speed record to 129.25mph was the icing on the cake of a fun weekend.

“I am really happy with the weekend’s results, and with the car’s performance.

The car did everything it was supposed to do and we still have a bit in reserve which is just great,” Ioannidis said.

“We were pleased with the performance of the car. We had a great time at the track, it is a really nice facility. We had never been to Portland before and we just enjoyed the weekend a lot and we had a great time,” Panagiotidis said.

“It was a really good weekend, it is a pretty good little track down there with a good set up and I quite enjoyed it – to set the record was a bit of the icing on the cake!” Soldatos said.

“Also to take the clean sweep with top qualifying, taking the round win and

“It is a fairly new combination and we are still sort of finding what it likes, we

Ioannidis was also one of four racers in SuperComp to run under the current national eighth mile record for the bracket - resetting both ends of the C/MSA record to 6.050s and 112.17mph.

27

RACE REPORT: SOUTH COAST 660

“I only did three runs (in the Cavalier) but it is a nice little car to drive – with a few more runs in it we would have gone pretty well I reckon, I hadn’t driven an automatic car for a lot of years, and it is a bit different to driving a Pro Stock car, but I got the hang of it all right and overall it was a really good weekend and I had a great time.”

In the Summit Racing Equipment Junior Dragster ranks, Ponton’s victory was a break-through for the Melbourne-based teenager who has been racing for just over a year.

On her way to her final against Turic, she was victorious over Josh Baker, Madi Sparrow, Chelsea Sammut and championship leader Bradley Bishop.

Turic had secured his place in the final by taking victories over Amber Young, Adrian Saliba and Brooke Camilleri before enjoying a bye in his semi-final.

“It was an awesome feeling knowing that all of the hard work is starting to pay off and seeing all my friends and family be so happy for me,” said Ponton of the win.

Another breakthrough win was hosted in the Top Sportsman ranks, with Nichele turning what was his third consecutive Top Qualifying result into a “dream come true” maiden event win on Sunday.

On his way to his first ANDRA Christmas Tree, he took on Ricky Smith, Andrew Sanders, Greg Damiani and Jason Arbery after starting his day with a bye in round one. Runner-up Arbery had faced off against Andrew Chessells, Daniel Jones and Vlado Turic before a bye run in his semi-final.

“I have been around the sport basically since I could walk – my father had an involvement in it and my passion has always been there and never gone away,” Nichele said.

“The dream was always to get a car one day, and then the next one was to do what we did at the South Coast 660 – win a silver ANDRA Christmas Tree. Hopefully now there is more to come, but I can tell you, there is nothing like winning!

“The track was in absolutely excellent condition and the car was being as consistent as it had ever been, so after Top Qualifying I knew I just had to make sure I took advantage of how good the car and the track was and try and capitalise on that opportunity to win my first ANDRA Christmas Tree. To get it done was just brilliant, a dream come true.

“I want to thank my fellow competitors and especially Jason on a great final race. I couldn’t have won either without the help of some great people along the way – Nick, Scott, Mark, Enio and Frank in particular, and also the companies that have put their valued support behind us

fastlane

to allow us to do what we do: SDPC Race Shop from Lubbock in Texas, Cavallo Drag Racing for their supply of VP Race Fuels, Bob Maslen Race Cars and Drayich Inc Sportsman Race Services.”

The DENSO Super Street bracket played host to plenty of great battles over the weekend, with Piscioneri and his Holden VB Commodore eventually taking the victory over Des Jeffree in the final.

Piscioneri had earlier raced Daniel Stubbs, Mark Sienczwski, Nickolas Karonovick and Harry Harris, while Jeffress had taken victories from Michael Bridges, Jason Cavallaro, Cosi Puccini and Matthew Smart on his way to the final.

Baker’s win in the Modified bracket followed some intense racing where the defending bracket champion raced to wins against Shane Wynd and Matt

Forbes ahead of a bye in round three, before facing Simon Barlow in the semifinal. Czerny was his opponent in the finals, but was denied a maiden win of his own in the category when Baker took the victory. Czerny had earlier taken on and beaten Adam Munday, Kenny Stewart and Neil Dyson before a bye in his semi-final.

Super Gas saw Panetta take the win over category stalwart Graeme Spencer, after earlier dispatching defending category champion Colin Griffin (round one) and Warren Bull. Spencer had pulled off a win against Michael De Rose (round one) before taking a bye run into the finals.

Lioulios’ win in Super Sedan followed successful battles against Enio Marrocco, Michael Milasiewicz and defending champ George Tipouikidis. After a bye in the semi-final, he and his Holden Torana

faced off against Steve Hunt, who had earlier raced Phillip Busbridge and Peter Tzokas (rounds one and two respectively) and Alex Gkroidis in the semi-final, while taking a bye run in round three.

ANDRA thanks The South Coast Drag Racing Association as well as all of the volunteers and sponsors for an outstanding race track and a well-run event.

The Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series holds its Grand Final at the Adelaide International Raceway across March 23-24, 2018. For more information, visit www.andra.com.au or www.adelaidedragracepromotions.com.au For full results from the South Coast 660, please click here

Images: Outlaw Images

29

RACE REPORT: WESTERNATS

EPIC

WESTERNATS WINS SET STAGE FOR

GRAND FINAL

The stage is set for a monumental Grand Final later this month (Adelaide International Raceway, March 23-24) following the penultimate round of the 2017/2018 Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series at the Perth Motorplex.

Hoisting ANDRA Christmas Trees at the event were Steph Gullotto (DENSO Super Street), Bryan Finn (Modified Bike), Martin Mirco (Super Sedan), Matt Czerny (Modified), Chris Theo (Top Sportsman), David Smith (Supercharged Outlaws) Jim Ioannidis (SuperStock), Ralph Lewis (Competition) and Wayne Patterson (Competition Bike).

Runners-up were Joel Trotman (DENSO Super Street), Trent Anthony (Modified Bike), George Tipouikidis (Super Sedan), Mark Grieve (Modified), Alby Bakranich (Top Sportsman), Jon Ferguson (Supercharged Outlaws) Jamie Chaisty (SuperStock), Stuart Moresby (Competition) and Phill Paton (Competition Bike).

Smith’s Supercharged Outlaws story at the Westernats read like a fairy-tale, with the West Australian taking victory

in his Dodge Stratus in what was his first ever competitive event.

Smith took the win from Ferguson and his distinctive Chev Belair after having earlier defeated Adam Murrihy – the defending champion and recipient of the Longest Distance Travelled Award and the Supercharged Outlaws Top Qualifier Medallion – sponsored by The Tile Co-The Shower People, KC Tools and Summit Racing.

Smith went on from his win over Murrihy to take victory from a redlighting Norbert Claite ahead of a bye run into the final. Ferguson meanwhile had survived a double break-out semifinal against Chris Went, after earlier taking wins over Shane Kramer and Darren White.

“This is a pretty hard thing to comprehend, it seems surreal still and

I am lost for words really. It is pretty incredible, but I guess you surround yourself with good people and the results show,” said Smith, while thanking Total Work Wear Salisbury and Morley Mitsubishi for their support.

“It is funny, because you always try and stay optimistic and stay positive and be confident, so we were saying all meeting ‘we are going to the finals, we are going to win it’, but not actually thinking we were going to win it – it is pretty cool, it is pretty special.

“We will take the car home now and regroup and get ready to bring it back out next season. We have a good base line now, so hopefully we will have half a shot of doing something.”

Czerny was another racer celebrating a break-through in Perth. The racer has lead the Modified points tally for much

fastlane

of the season, however had not laid claim to an event win before the Westernats despite two previous final appearances this season.

On his way to the final against the redlighting Grieve, the Victorian dragster racer took wins against Damien Le-Cocq, a red-lighting Erin Healy and Nicholas Wroe (round one), while Grieve of Milbridge (WA) booked his ticket to the final by winning against John Althuizen – who had earlier reset the national A/MA record in his Ford Boss Hemi to 7.555s – a breaking-out Jeff Acton, and Sergio Bonetti (round one) in his T-Bucket Altered.

“I am ecstatic. We had came close the last couple of times but we went into the finals a little bit more confident this time; I said to myself ‘we are going to win it’, and we did!” Czerny said, while thanking Robinvale Estate Dressing, ETS Race Fuels, Paul Turner, Race Comp Motorsports, Castlemaine Rod Shop, Total Tools Epping and MSMAA for their support.

“We cut a really good light, they had been okay during eliminations, but we pulled it

all together for the final. I am just stoked for my crew guys, Ray and Dave – they are like brothers to me.

“The car ran like clockwork all weekend; it is consistent and we know what it is going to do every pass and (the Westernationals weekend) proved it. We were onto a good thing and we didn’t need to change anything, we just did the same thing every time and we got our first tree and it’s a gold one! We can head to Adelaide’s Grand Final now and just look forward to having fun.

“If anyone had of said to us at the start of the season that we would make three finals, I would have said they were kidding themselves. This joint is amazing, the staff are all so friendly, the pit layout is amazing, the weather was perfect – everything just turned it on for us (in Perth).”

Yet another racer grinning ear to ear was Ioannidis, who not only Top Qualified and took out the Super Stock victory, but also reset the national C/MSA ET record in the process (9.555s).

Before facing off against defending champion Chaisty in the final, Ioannidis had earlier dispatched Tom Dimitropoulos and Allen Puglia; while Chaisty took a hole-shot win over a PB-ing Todd Stacy in the semi-final after having earlier faced off against Brett Glover. While Chaisty couldn’t take the event honours, he also reset a national record, knocking down the H/MSA marker to 9.249s.

“I am happy, I am content; we came here and that is what we wanted to do – we planned on top qualifying and we wanted to win like everyone else. I am stoked with the car’s performance,” grinned Ioannidis, who thanks Light Vehicle Solutions, Bullet Race Engineering and the whole team from SCM for their support.

“We race together as a team and without them, I do nothing; so, this is for all of us and I am absolutely stoked with what they do for me. In three weeks’ time we will run at the Grand Final, and hopefully come home with the Gold.”

31

RACE REPORT: WESTERNATS

In Super Sedan, Mirco was able to push defending champion Tipouikidis all the way down the strip to a break-out to take the victory. He had earlier enjoyed a bye run into the final after taking on Kim Bastow, Yvette Gregg and Michael Konstandinou (round one). Tipouikidis meanwhile came to the final following victories over Alex Gkroidis, Phil Radamanthos, Neil Scott and Laurence Adamos (round one).

“I can’t believe I have got my hands on one of these,” Mirco said.

“I have to say thank you to George and his crew for coming over (to Perth), he has the number one on his car for a reason and in the final, we had to go for it, and we did!”

In the Competition Bike ranks, Patterson took the victory while Top Qualifier Paton was able to secure not only the runner-up honours, but also a new national record (DD/CB – 8.344s). Patterson, of Bunbury (WA), had enjoyed a bye to the final after having earlier taken victory from Daniel Natalotto, while Paton defeated a redlighting Ryan Learmonth after a bye in the first round of eliminations.

“We had a few dramas yesterday, the bike didn’t go any good, my electric toothbrush broke down this morning – I had a really bad run,” laughed Patterson during trophy presentations.

“I would like to thank my mates for helping us get here and thank Phil for a really close race at the end, it was very close and it was a great thing.”

The Competition bracket was host to a sea of broken race cars, with finalists

Ralph Lewis and Stuart Moresby being no exception.

Moresby was unable to move off the start line in the final while Lewis struggled down the track. The pair had each enjoyed solo passes in the semi-finals when Russell Ladbrook and top qualifier Trent Morrison were unable to show.

Earlier in the night, Wanneroo’s Lewis and his Ford Altered had taken on Stephen Del Caro, while Harrisdale racer Moresby’s first eliminator in his Ford BF XR8 Ute was another solo when Matt George failed to greet the starter.

“We had a bit of luck today and we have a bit of work to do, but we got the Gold Christmas Tree! We just got it done, plugged away and now it is happy days,” Lewis said.

The final for the DENSO Super Street saw the top qualifier Trotman and his VC Commodore face off against the second quickest qualifier, Steph Gulloto, for the Westernats honours.

It was the ‘teacher’s pet’ VN Commodore of Gullotto who would take the win in what was an exceptionally tight race to the line.

Earlier, the local racer had faced off against Craig Caton (round one) before a bye in the second eliminator, and then faced Robert Stone before taking on Denise McKenna in the semi-final. Fellow West Australian Trotman enjoyed a bye into the final, after having emerged victorious from Chris De Bruin and a red-lighting John Szabo following a bye in the first eliminator.

In the Top Sportsman bracket, winner Theo

went to the final after beating Paul Downe in the semis, with the Victorian having earlier faced off against John Faraone. Local racer Bakranich meanwhile had dispatched Top Qualifier Medallion recipient Darren Nichele in the first round, before taking on Johnny Brecich in the semi-final.

In Modified Bike, defending champion Finn did his quest to secure three consecutive national titles no harm by securing the victory over Anthony, after having earlier taken on a red-lighting Zoe Nieuwhof in round one, before defeating Luke Seaton, Geoff Smith and Ross Garrett. It was an eventful run to the final for runner-up Anthony, who raced against the centreblock-hitting Danny Rickard in the semi final after having earlier faced off against Brian Hotker, survived a double red-lighting race against Dave Essers, and dispatched Morry Cantarella in the opening stanza.

ANDRA thanks the Perth Motorplex as well as all of the volunteers and sponsors for an outstanding race track and a well-run event.

The final round of the 2017/2018 Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series will be held at Adelaide International Raceway across March 23-24.

For more information, visit www.andra.com. au and www.adelaidedragracepromotions. com.au For results from the penultimate round of the 2017/2018 Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series, please click here

Images: Outlaw Images

ANDYK DESIGN

JOINS ANDRA MEMBER BENEFITS PROGRAM The ANDRA Member Benefits Program has been created to offer loyal ANDRA members the opportunity to receive discounts on products from supporting companies.

Whether you’re looking for team branding, a race wrap, team shirts, or you’re just after some cool colour-ins to hand out at the track, AndyK Design is ready to help.

AndyK Design’s Andy Kahle says she was driven to take part in the program because of her love for racing.

To keep up to date with Andy’s creations, and be inspired by her portfolio, drop by her facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/andykahle/

“I have two passions in life: drawing/designing and racing,” said Andy, who is offering a 15 percent discount to all ANDRA license holders.

For more information, contact her today on 0437312394 or andy@andyk.com.au, or visit www.andyk.com.au

“Any time I get to merge those two passions, I am reminded how awesome my job is.

As a participating business of the ANDRA Member Benefits Program, AndyK receives promotion through ANDRA’s database of over 5000 members and race fans, exposure through the ANDRA website, the quarterly FASTLANE digital magazine and the fortnightly MotorMail email newsletter.

“I have found also that many designers don’t understand the mindset of the ‘rev head’ and as such struggle to design for that particular target audience... whereas, I AM that target audience!”

Located in Beechboro, Western Australia, AndyK Design offers more than just your “regular” graphic design services. Andy can also draw and create unique team and business designs that make you stand out in a crowd.

If you would like more information on the program or want to register, please click here. To view a listing of all ANDRA Member Benefits Program offers, please click here

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Photos by DragPix