The weather, not racing, would decide the points in Round 4 of the Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship at Adelaide International Raceway.
An initial rain delay in the early morning gave way to blustery conditions allowing final qualifiers to be locked down with Darryl Walford and Daniel Camilleri both holding onto their number one positions in Supercharged Outlaws and Super Comp respectively.
Of the remaining brackets all but one of the competitors who found themselves in top spot coming into Saturday held onto their positions with only Jason Arbery snatching away first place in Super Sedan with a 6.527 from Larry Piscioneri’s 7.956.
Eliminations were shaping up to be a shootout across the board as Camilleri, Craig Geddes, Darren Parker and Mario Barbon were flying all day to reach the Super Comp semis. Geddes (pictured above, image courtesy Bob Taylor) had earlier reset the E/AA ET record over 1000 feet during Q3 by four ten thousandths of a second to 6.240 but the conditions robbed the crowd of a Geddes v Camilleri match up.
Surprisingly Walford didn’t catch the light he was hoping for in round one for Supercharged Outlaws bowing out early at the hands of Larry Basile but it was a different story for Ryan Van Dyk who was good on the holeshot and stormed into the semi-finals by downing Justin Russell and Donald Friend to join Basile, the hard charging Diona Day and South Aussie Steven Walker.
Modified top qualifier Leanne Braggs was quick all weekend but Shane Wynd accounted for the Victorian to reach the semis to set up a meeting with local charger Alex Van Leuven. On the other side of the elimination bracket, David Thornton reached the semi-finals and would have met Corey Dyson who accounted for Aussie number one Craig Baker in round one running 8.597 on a 8.54 to Dyson’s 7.507 on a 7.50.
Super Gas champ Matt Forbes looked odds on after defeating top qualifier Johnny Ienco in round two setting the stage for a great match up with Danny Bucella in the semi-finals but Graeme Spencer must be cursing the clouds as he faced a solo run to the final.
Super Sedan, Modified Bike, Super Street and Junior Dragster all reached the second round but unfortunately that’s where it would end as the heavens opened at approximately 6:30pm. The meeting was called a short time later as it became clear any efforts to dry the track would be in vain.
Round 5 of the Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship now moves onto Calder Park Raceway for the Southern Nationals April 4-5, 2014 alongside Top Doorslammer, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle.
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