The inaugural round of the Pro Drag Racing Championship was a roaring success with racers and fans alike, despite Friday’s action being cancelled due to persistent rain which continued into Saturday morning, over 50 professional racers took to the Sydney Dragway quarter mile. Supported by the Grand Final for the NSW Championship Series for sportsman racers, the event counted towards the NDRC point score for Pro Alcohol, Pro Mod, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle.
The A Final in Pro Alcohol saw the two highest seeded racers at the event, last season’s championship winner Russell Mills and third place season finisher Chris Hargrave do battle off the back of two wins each in the All Run Format.
Mills logged a 5.52 on a round one solo and backed it up with a 5.51 win over Cruz Lovering, while Hargrave recorded a victory over a tyre shaking Cheyne Phillips in round one on his way to a 5.64, improving to a 5.57 in round two. Mills’ wild front engine machine was once again on song in the final, his 5.53 enough to best the Hargrave funny car’s 5.60 in a race decided by only .0095 seconds at the stripe.
“It’s been an awesome event- the PDRC has put on a great event, and to run another 5.5 is incredible. I have to get used to trying to defend the championship from last year now!” stated Mills after his win.
Pro Mod was the largest category in the professional ranks, with 15 competitors facing the starter in round one. The A Final came down to the two most consistent cars throughout the event in the form of former champion Zoran Gajic and veteran Peter Gratz in his first Pro Mod final.
Gajic logged wins in his turbo Mustang over Danny Makdessi and Joe Gauci, while Gratz bested a red-lighting Neil Murphy and turbo doorslammer legend Rob Campisi respectively. Peter Gratz, representing the blown racers, shot to an early jump in the final with the holeshot advantage, but Gajic had made the difference up by half track and went through for the victory with a 5.89 defeating Gratz’s 5.94.
“We are very, very happy, there isn’t much more we can do to make this thing consistent. It is such a great car, and I just try to do my job on the lights and leave on time,” said Gajic celebrating his win.
The class of the Pro Stock field was undoubtedly defending championh Rob Dekert and a reinvigorated John Barbagallo, the only two cars in the Pro Stock category to run into the six second zone through the first two rounds of racing whilst taking two wins each. Chris Soldatos was unlucky not to take a place in the final round, but a late reaction time in round one that resulted in a loss to Barbagallo cost him dearly. The final saw a marginal start line advantage to Barbagallo’s Escort, and that was the difference in the end, his 6.99 holding off a fast finishing 6.95 from Dekert’s GXP resulting in a mere .0093 second margin of victory.
“Rob and Chris – all of those guys set the bar so high, to get the win over Rob is incredible. We are just trying our best and luckily, we got the job done,” Barbagallo said.
Pro Stock Motorcyle was unfortunately reduced down to having only six bikes fronting the starters orders, licencing issues cruelled the hopes of Callam Godeassi and Brendan Sanders making the field earlier in the event.
Reigning champion Luke Crowley was the quickest bike through both of the first two rounds of racing and rightfully took his position in the final. Crowley was alongside Jason Lee who is in his second season since returning to the the sport following a 10 year sabbatical from the class. In the final, a massive holeshot to Jason Lee saw him take an upset victory over Crowley, a 7.31 more than enough to hold off a 7.30 from Crowley.
The Pro Import exhibition featured six cars, with three Rotary powered cars taking on two Toyota 2JZ powered cars for the inaugural appearance of the new professional class.
The final featured Paul Mouhayet’ driving the well-renowned Gas Racing 2JZ Celica and Frank Tarabay also with 2JZ power in Camry formerly campaigned by the late Lizzy Musi. Tarabay was holding the slight performance advantage during the event over the Pro Import field, but yet again another final was decided at the tree, Mouhayet’s superior reaction time setup the holeshot win, a 6.04 enough to account for Tarabay’s 5.997.
The win earned Mouhayet a bonus $2,000 cash thanks Enviro Waste Services Group.
“We put some in it for the final, I knew Tarabay would be quick, so we were aiming for a ’95 (5.95 seconds) but the Gas Racing Celica never lets us down man!” Mouhayet said after the win.
The PDRC moves to Dragway At The Bend for the second round of the NDRC championship for Pro Alcohol, Pro Stock, Pro Mod, Pro Stock Motorcycle, on February 8 and 9, 2025.
