The 2013 NT Titles Presented by 7mate was a weekend of thrills and spills at Hidden Valley Drag Strip on Friday and Saturday nights.
Friday night saw the running of the annual NT Titles Burnout Competition with over 22 teams across 2 categories along with full fields of drag racing categories taking to the track for their qualifying sessions.
The Stand Still Racing V8/Blown class was dominated by the hard hitting Queensland entrants of Casper and SMKSHW who took out first and second place respectively but Territory local Matthew Harding managed to take out the third place podium finish in his VX Commodore.
It was a fiery finish for Greg Reed who ended his burnout a little hotter than he hoped for.
The NT Auto Air 4/6/Rotor burnout class saw frequent burnout competitor Jesse Guy rewarded with the win in his V6 powered Subaru Brumby while Brad Schluter (Datsun 1200) and Leigh McKay (Toyota Corona) took out equal second place with Brendan Parrott taking out third in his V6 powered Holden Gemini.
Stand out performances in the Friday night drag racing qualifying included a 5.795 at 248.57mph for Scott MacLean in the Top Alcohol Funny Car and Mark Probst from Alice Springs running a new personal best of 6.051 at 231.95mph.
Saturday saw the finals for the drag racing classes with Scott MacLean resetting the Top Alcohol Funny Car track record with a best time of 5.738 at 249.95mph in the first round early Saturday night. This gives MacLean a solid home track advantage leading into the ANDRA Drag Racing Series from 16-17 August.
Matt Abel and Peter Coles also recorded five separate passes all in the 6 second zone throughout the night in their Top Doorslammers.
In a nail biting double breakout, both Top Sportsman finalists ran faster than their nominated dialins. Alice Springs based Andrew Armistead was handed the win with an 8.625sec pass on a 8.63 dialin in his Altered while Grant Radcliffe finished with a 8.436 on a 8.46 dialin also in a Modified Altered.
Modified Bike was another bracket that had the winner decided by automatic deduction, this time when second place getter Dale Smith red lit on the start line. Clive Mainland powered his supercharged Kawasaki through with an 8.694 second pass at 143mph.
It was a similar affair in Street Bike with Taurie Minoque running too fast with a 10.555 second pass on a 10.60 dialin, handing the win to Mark Tattingham on a 1994 Kawasaki.
Super Sedan was a traditional Holden vs Ford matchup with the Holden Torana of Daniel Foreman coming out on top against the Ford Cortina of Grant Rowe. Rowe, the 2012 series champion, unfortunately red lit, handing the win to Foreman who finished with a 9.859 on a 9.84 dialin.
David Voysey was also close to a near perfect run in Super Street but was unfortunately 0.001 seconds too fast, running an 11.199 on an 11.2 dialin resulting in a break out. Troy McGregor’s 1975 HQ Tonner took out the win with an 11.359 at 115.02mph.
Matthew Harding also backed up his Friday night placing in the burnouts with a first place win in the Street Car class, running a 13.542 on a 13.49 dialin against frequent finalist Ellen Musk. Musk ran through her Toyota Supra for a 13.222 on a 13.15 dialin.
Junior Dragster veteran Jodie Coles defeated Maddison Sperrer with an 8.60 pass against Sperrer’s 8.735, both on identical 8.50 dialins, while in the Outlaw class Dieter Herrmann took the automatic win after Todd Knight failed to start.
The next round of the Track Championship series is Saturday 3rd August.
JUNIOR DRAGSTER WINNER – JODIE COLES
JUNIOR DRAGSTER RUNNER UP – MADDISON SPERRER
STREET CAR WINNER – MATTHEW HARDING
STREET CAR RUNNER UP – ELLEN MUSK
STREET BIKE WINNER – MARK TATTINGHAM
STREET BIKE RUNNER UP – TAURIE MINOGUE
SUPER STREET WINNER – TROY MCGREGOR
SUPER STREET RUNNER UP – DAVID VOYSEY
SUPER SEDAN WINNER – DANIEL FOREMAN
SUPER SEDAN RUNNER UP – GRANT ROWE
MODIFIED BIKE WINNER – CLIVE MAINLAND
MODIFIED BIKE RUNNER UP – DALE SMITH
TOP SPORTSMAN WINNER – ANDREW ARMISTEAD
TOP SPORTSMAN RUNNER UP – GRANT RADCLIFFE
OUTLAWS WINNER – DIETER HERRMANN
OUTLAWS RUNNER UP – TODD KNIGHT
Burnout Classes
V8/BLOWN
First – Casper
Second – SMKSHW
Third – Matthew Harding
4/6/ROTOR
First – Jesse Guy
Equal Second – Brad Schluter, Leigh McKay
Third – Brenden Parrott
Photos by HighRPM & Matt Richards
