Lisa Gregorini’s remarkable start to the 2024/25 season has continued with her first home track win at Perth Motorplex on Saturday night.
Lisa defeated WA Top Doorslammer veteran John Zappia in a thrilling final round with a 5.742 pass from her supercharged Camaro. The victory was her second in two months, following her breakthrough triumph at the Springnationals at The Bend Motorsports Park in October, and gave Lisa the lead in the WA Top Doorslammer Championship.
“It was a good feeling getting our first win at home,” she said. “We have been working hard as a team to overcome our recent electrical gremlins and the hard work has paid off.
“Going into the final we knew we had a consistent car running in the 70s. We opted to step it up a little bit as we knew it would be a close race with John running in the low 70s. I just needed to focus on getting a good light to be in with a chance to take the win. Around 1000 feet I saw John’s car next to me outside my window but then he dropped back so I knew something hadn’t gone to plan for him and we continued on through the finish line for the win.”
The road to the final began with a safe 5.982 pass in the heat of the day that would place Lisa fourth in the qualifying order.
“Track conditions were very hot for the first qualifying session,” she explained. “The changes we made to the suspension after the Goldenstates worked well but we struggled to make power off the line, resulting in a slow 60ft time. In the second qualifier I had to lift early as the car got out of shape and headed for the centre line.”
In the first round Lisa faced Shane Catalano’s Charger. With the track cooling down there was far more grip and Lisa was able to take advantage in an entertaining 5.79 to 5.99 race.
“The track really came around and while the air wasn’t great we ran a good number which placed us in the A Final. It was also awesome to see the Catalano family get their first five-second pass. What a huge moment!”
For Daniel Gregorini, the day started relatively well with a 5.83 to qualify second, though the pass could have been even quicker.
“Something got between the blower belt and the bottom pulley, possibly some debris from the track, so that shredded the belt and we lost some ET,” he said.
In the elimination round against Brodie Zappia, tyre shake required a quick pedal, but the Anderson plug in the car was shaken loose before Daniel could get back into the throttle.
With Lisa’s success, Scratch & Match Motorsport has now won three out of the last four events it has contested. But constant evolution has been required to stay on top, particularly around the electrical systems in the cars.
“My car had so many add-ons to the electrical system over the years that it was causing issues. That came to a head at the Goldenstates recently when our Electrimotion command module melted a bunch of wires and brought an end to our event.
“Consolidated Group have been a great partner and they want to see us at our best, so with their help and that of Tyson at Harness-Tech we have fully rewired the car to ensure there are no further issues. Lisa’s car is also being rewired as we speak to prevent future issues. FuelTech have come on board this season as a sponsor and we are proud to be a part of their family of racers using their products and ECUs.”
Scratch & Match Motorsport now turn their focus to the next round of the Australian Top Doorslammer Championship, set to take place at Perth Motorplex on January 4.
Major sponsors :
Scratch & Match Autocolour, Consolidated Group, Oil & Energy Pty Ltd, Kerb Doctor, Westcoast Siteworks, S&S Industries, Dalisa Estate Winery
Supporting sponsors :
Applied Automotive Performance Engines, Signbiz WA, FuelTech Australia, FuelTech USA, Harness-Tech, RACIN, JC Race Stuff, G-Force Race Cars, Resolution Racing Services Inc, Dirty Detailing, Final Drive Engineering, DMPE INC, Kinetic Engineering
