For quietly spoken Michelle Davies, setting records is not what racing is about.
Racing is family time. An opportunity to come together with her husband Gareth and their two boys Jake and Brody, and their extended racing family.
But just because breaking barriers is not the main racing objective, it does not stop the team from doing it on a regular basis.
At the New Years Thunder at Willowbank Raceway, “Shelly” made history by making the quickest ever pass in a Pro Slammer by a female driver in Australian history.
In testing for the event, she had already raced to her first 5 second pass at Sydney Dragway, marking a major milestone for the team after first stepping into the category 18 months ago.
But it was her final test pass at Willowbank the day prior to racing that enshrined her firmly as a contender in the super competitive Pro Slammer category. A 5.928 at 384 kph made he the quickest and fastest female in the category, and one of the quickest in the world.
But testing is testing, and the focus switched to race day almost immediately after the celebrations.
In the first round at the New Years Thunder, Davies ticked an item off her bucket list by lining up against 6-time Australian Champion and legend of door slammer racing, Victor Bray. And she beat him, a 6.00 besting a 9 second pass for Bray.
In the second round she matched up against fellow Sydneysider, Sam Fenech and narrowly lost the match up with a 6.03 not quite enough to match the 5.95 for Fenech.
But it was the final round that was perhaps the most dramatic of the event. Davies logged a huge start line advantage over he opponent, the current points leader Kelvin Lyle. She held on to that advantage and carried it to the finish, a 5.95 beating a quicker 5.93. Unfortunately Lyle suffered a major crash at the finish line, and as a result will not be able to make the next race at the Santo’s Summer Thunder this weekend in Sydney.
“I love racing at home. Sydney is our home track, we know it well and we are looking to put on a good performance in the all run format,” Shelly said.
“We will have the team from our major sponsor Pro Logistics out in force at the event, and we will be looking to keep building on what we have been doing over the last few months.”
The Davies Team are now in the top ten in points, and have their eyes firmly set on making Michelle the first female in a Pro Slammer over 400 kilometres per hour – and it would be fitting to do it at their home track.
The Santo’s Summer Thunder kicks off this Friday with 400 Thunder Sportsman qualifying and professional testing, with racing on this Saturday with the professional series set to begin at around 4pm (schedule subject to change).
For event information and tickets, head to www.sydneydragway.com.au
