Records fell and rivalries were renewed as final qualifying and round one of racing got underway Saturday at Sydney Dragway for the Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs ahead of the final day of racing on Sunday.
Pro Alcohol was a heavyweight battle of attrition, with Daniel Reed re-setting the Pro Alcohol Speed Record in qualifying on his way to a 5.37 at a booming 272.45mph.
With Jake Donnelly ruled out after suffering a mammoth crash in the gravel trap on Friday night which effectively destroyed his car, Wayne Price was in the box seat to make bulk gains in points towards a maiden Pro Alcohol Championship.
He qualified 5th with a 5.551 but suffered a supercharger explosion as he went through the finish line which caused enough damage to miss the first round of racing on Saturday afternoon.
With several cars suffering damage, round one saw only one paired pass between Chris Hargrave and Britney Olive, which Hargrave won comfortably after Olive had issues.
Cheyne Phillips set the pace with a 5.38 on his solo pass, with Reed swinging for the fences and just missing the mark with a 5.63.
Pro Mod was led into racing by Kiwi Steve Carlsen, having shipped his racing operation to Australia and who was contesting Pro Mod for the first time on Aussie soil.
Carlsen was the only car into the 5 second zone in qualifying with a 5.99, ahead of Queenslander Steve Smith with a 6.07. Championship leader Zoran Gajic sat at the foot of the list, his 5.84 too quick for the 5.85 fixed index that Pro Mod races against.
Gajic bounced back to form with a round one win over Smith, his 5.88 besting a 6.07. Round one also saw wins to Paul Cibotto, Craig Burns, Craig Hewitt, Carlsen and Nasser Matta ahead of Round 2 on Sunday.
Pro Stock was the highlight category of racing, with Tyronne Tremayne giving a taste of what was to come in qualifying by running just off the National Record with a 6.86, ahead of his brother Aaron who came in number 2 with a 6.90.
Championship leader Rob Dekert sat #3 with a 6.93, and the top six cars all in the six second zone.
In the first round on Saturday afternoon, it was some of the closest racing of the season with holeshot wins in two of the 8 matchups. Mario Polito set the tone with a better reacting 7.03 beating Chris Soldatos’ 6.89 in an upset victory. With the win, Polito moves to a provisional third in the Championship.
Tony Polito won after Shane Tucker red-lit by .001s, and Ray Oxley with the same result after Omar Sedmak went .004 red. Rick Chilton bested John Kabboura with a 6.94 but the upset of the round was undoubtedly the debutant Daniel Grima defeating John Barbagallo on a holeshot, his 7.02 more than enough to account for Barbagallo’s 6.95.
Aaron Tremayne beat Thomas Leake in a side by side six second run and Rob Dekert soloed his way to a 6.904 after Bill Perdikaris was unable to front for Round 1. The biggest run was by far Tyronne Tremayne, who re-set both ends of the Pro Stock Record on his round one solo to 6.855 and 199.85 mph.
Pro Bike was a mixed bag in terms of performance with Jason Lee op qualifying with a 7.28 ahead of Tony Frost, Ryan Learmonth and Luke Crowley. The lowlight of qualifying was a braking area accident involving Locky Ireland which he was fortunately able to walk away from on Friday evening.
In round one, Crowley beat Learmonth with a 7.22 personal best of the event, and Tony Frost besting Paul Andrews after the latter broke. Jason Lee took the solo as the top qualifier and used it to his advantage, his 7.17 the quickest of the event.
The NDRC classes report can be found here: https://dragnews.com.au/records-expected-to-fall-at-sydneys-biggest-nitro-party-sunday/
The Final Day of the Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs kicks off on Sunday with professional racing on track from 10.45 am. Tickets are still available at ndrc.tv.
For details of other upcoming NDRC events, please visit https://nationaldragracing.com.au/calendar/
To learn more about the NDRC, visit www.ndrc.tv
