After a number of years in Super Sedan, John Kouw will be making his Top Sportsman debut at the 48th annual Goldenstates across November 11 and 12.
Kouw will be one of more than 175 racers across a full gamut of racing categories – including the Burson Auto Parts Australian Top Fuel Championship, the Australian Drag Racing Championship, the Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series and the WA Drag Racing Championships – hitting the Perth Motorplex next weekend.
As a local, Kouw said he can’t wait to make his new category debut at one of the biggest events on the WA drag racing calendar.
“I absolutely love the Motorplex; it is such a nice and clean track with fantastic amenities. It is just a great track and I love the sea air too,” Kouw said.
“The Goldenstates is a fantastic event with a lot of great cars, bikes and people from all over the country, and I can’t think of a better event at which to make the step into Top Sportsman.”
While making the move to his new bracket, Kouw will be campaigning the same Komotion Chevrolet Camaro that he was known for fielding in Super Sedan, but with some changes.
“We have put a new engine with more torque into the car and also changed the 4Link angles, diff ratios and the converter to suit the new engine,” Kouw said.
“I am really looking forward to seeing how it does in Top Sportsman, and I am also really keen for the longer burnouts,” he grinned.
The Goldenstates marks the first WA-based round of the 2022/2023 Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series, with the series last visiting the Motorplex in April for the ANDRA Grand Finals event.
“At that event we had just dropped in the new engine while keeping the same converter and diff gears and we ended up being the Decoglaze Glass Splashbacks Top Qualifier before breaking out during racing, but I was still happy,” Kouw said.
“If the car can go better this time around, I will be pretty happy with that on debut. Hopefully, we can have a good time!
“As we anxiously wait to get into racing, I want to say a big thank you to the awesome staff of the Motorplex, to my crew which is made up of family and friends – Rod, Baz, Cate and Grace and Chook – for all of their support, and also Rob and Pete Lush who own Applied Automotive and did all the work machining the block.”
The 48th annual EGT Goldenstates will be held across Friday November 11 and Saturday November 12 at the Perth Motorplex. For event information, visit www.motorplex.com.au
For more from ANDRA, visit www.andra.com.au
Photo thanks to High Octane Photos
