Early morning showers couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm at the South Coast Nationals, with qualifying for round four of the ANDRA Regional Sportsman Championship now complete ahead of a full day of racing on Sunday. Racers lined up after a rain-delayed start to qualifying sessions and quickly got to work to set the stage for racing at South Coast Raceway (Sunday, 8 December).
At the conclusion of qualifying, the following racers took home the Top Qualifier Medallion, presented by New Gen Business Park, for their respective brackets:
Joe Khoury (Lectron Australia Competition Bike), Luca Lamattina (Langtree’s Machinery Services Junior Dragster), Dean Jamieson (Ballistic Performance Parts Modified Bike), Rocco Romano (Gallagher Modified Eliminator), Mark Calus (The South Australian Drag Racers Association Super Gas), Zack Knezevic (Super Sedan Competitors Super Sedan), Malcolm Todd (Goodyear Racing Super Street), Doina Day (Huntsman Racing Supercharged Outlaws), and Daniel Jones (Top Sportsman Competitors Top Sportsman).
Also on track was South Coast Raceway’s Street Fighter class, with Zac Sheppard top qualifying in his Holden Torana.
After many years away from the sport, The South Australian Drag Racers Association Super Gas competitor Mark Calus has recently started racing again, and the Victorian racer feels that his Chevrolet is finally getting to the sweet spot.
“We have been struggling for a while, and we might have finally just gotten on to it. We keep changing things on the car to find the right tune up and a few other things, and it’s closer to where we want it to be,” Calus said.
“I used to race a long time ago, stopped for twenty years, and only just restarted three years ago. It’s a bit of a learning curve, and tomorrow is a new day to go out there and go again. I’d like to thank my son Jayden for putting in such a big effort and my friend Henry, who helps me a lot.”
After winning at the 50th annual Goldenstates in Huntsman Racing Supercharged Outlaws, Doina Day has secured back-to-back Top Qualifier Medallions despite battling with engine issues during the lead-up to this weekend’s South Coast Nationals.
“We’ve been very, very stressed because I’ve had engine problems since I raced last. We’ve changed the rods, pistons, everything – it just wasn’t happy, so we’ve had to change everything. We were really stressed today that my dragster wasn’t going to perform, but she’s just been an absolute dream,” Day said.
“I’ve been practising reaction times on my tree again because the competition here is very tough. I’m feeling very positive about racing tomorrow, and my husband, Peter, will do a fantastic job tuning my dragster as always.”
For the full qualifying results from day one of the South Coast Nationals, please visit www.andra.com.au/series/results
The South Coast Nationals action resumes Sunday, 8 December, with elimination runs scheduled to start at 10:00am AEDT and finals scheduled from 4:52pm AEDT.
For more from ANDRA, visit www.andra.com.au
Photos by Michael Walker
