The Grand Opening at Perth Motorplex ran like proverbial clockwork for the most part, another one of those McDonald’s style events in Kwinana where you know what you’re getting every time.
Free kids entry saw a much better crowd than usual for the Grand Opening, so hopefully this is something that is repeated at some future events to build on attendance numbers.
Two hundred and thirty six entries contributed to the racing with some good conditions allowing for plenty of personal best times.
It did take a while for the track to rubber in, with the 100-200ft section in particular proving tricky.
But the racing still delivered, so read on!
Pictures by Luke Nieuwhof and Lucas Gardner, videos by Nicholas Gardner and Phil Blondel.
Top Comp
Alistair McClure top qualified with a 6.70 in BB/FCA to be .65 under the index.
A 6.21 from Daniel Gregorini went .53 under in qualifying to put him into second but he withdrew before eliminations.
Jeff Clarke’s placing in the qualifying sheets didn’t really reflect the significance of his performance with a 5.64 from his Chev-powered dragster in TA/D trim. It made it the world’s quickest Chev we hear. Well done to Jeff and the Hog’s Breath Cafe team.
David Simpson is beginning to get a little more consistent in the first part of the track, but the Mustang still has a distinctive smokey start.
Australian Competition champion John McSweeney is running Clarke’s spare motor in the team’s Funny Car now in BB/FC. Still in sorting stages, he ran a 6.39 in eliminations, just .06 off the record.
Aaron Deery ran a 5.62 in TA/D trim but no chutes in the elimination round saw him go into the sand, another cool on board from those wacky Gardiner Brothers!
Jeff Lewis is finding a consistent package with the ex-McSweeney Falcon, going to a 6.87 on his 7.28 BB/AP index in the elimination round and ending with a B Final runner up.
Rob Pilkington ran two 5.62s during the course of the day as well as a big 257mph top speed and earned a B Final win.
A 6.22 from Maurice Brennan in AA/AP trim earned him an A Final spot. The sticky track suited Brennan who has suffered from a lot of tyre shake lately.
Robin Judd took one for the pro racers with a 5.81 in the elimination round followed by a pedalling 5.88 in the final to defeat Brennan. It sounded a warning ahead of the next event’s Top Doorslammer round.The onboard is pretty cool to see. Don’t you love the age we live in?
Super Comp
Andrew Katavatis took out pole position with 7.212 and 7.214 passes on a 7.76 index in B/AA trim. The ex-Pro Stock motor wasn’t even working hard with Katavatis shutting off early on both of his qualifying passes. Unfortunately a leak in the second round saw him shut down on the line.
Allen Puglia progressed through eliminations in a style befitting his champion status but a red light in the final was not quite part of the plan, wasting a 7.10/192, .15 under the A/G record!
Colin Mortimore showed some of that famous consistency with runs of 8.39, 8.40, 8.43 and 8.46 in eliminations. Combined with some effective reaction times it saw him in the right place at the right time in the final to take the win from Puglia.
Competition Bike
The run of the day came from Brett Ghedina’s DD/CBI Honda. He ran a 7.58 at 182mph to be .82 under the record for the class, yes that’s the record, not the index! It was also just a whisker off Australia’s quickest no bar pass and all with 1000cc of Honda. However an early roll off cost Ghedina in eliminations – with the kind of performance he has he needs to go full pelt every run!
Greg Durack’s Kawasaki is an epic piece of engineering. Despite oodles of horsepower left in reserve he was able to run a 7.75 and go a round.
Kevin Gummow set CC/CB to a new standard with a 7.59 pass in qualifying.
A combination of luck and consistent runs saw Ryan Learmonth go all the way through to the final for a runner up spot on his B/CB.
Ross Smith never looked back on his Suzuki A/SB and an 8.86 in the final got him the win.
Supercharged Outlaws
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ko9L9zbs4g
Though one of the quickest cars in qualifying, things did not go nearly as well in eliminations for Alan Mahnkoph when he crashed at high speed in the Force Fed EH Ute. After putting oil on the tyres the car speared hard left into the wall, upside down and then slid on its roof into the opposite wall. The safety crew were on the scene quickly but Mahnkoph was able to get out under his own power. The car may unfortunately be a write off, a shame as it has a long background in the Wild Bunch days as the old Fireman’s Quickie.
Craig Head had his altered running fat, producing some cool flames.
Mark Mackay made it to a B Final but broke some lifters and rockers which unfortunately meant he was not able to run.
Steve Yozzi took the B Final win, all while producing some quite cool wheelstands from the BMW.
Kelvin Lyle has his Chev put firmly into the mid sixes and got to the A Final but a lazy light saw him have to settle for a runner up.
Don Freind got his championship defence off to a good start as he took a win.
Modified
Modified has certainly grown recently with 27 entries competing at this event! Sean McDonald led the way in qualifying with a 7.20 from his PSI supercharged dragster. Why isn’t he racing in Outlaws you ask? He likes the racing in Modified too much!
Father and son Norm and Sam Butler got to race each other for the first time in qualifying. It’s always a cool moment so well done guys.
Great to see Michelle Adamos back after some health issues kept her out of her dragster. She went a couple of rounds too.
Jim Duffy’s predominantly carbon fibred dragster is a mean looking machine, and it took him to the semi finals.
Rhett Cooper Fowle held one up for the six cylinder brigade with a semi finals appearance.
That subtle yellow glow reflected in Trent Morrison’s injector is unfortunately a red light in the final!
Brenton Baxter made his return to Modified a good one – taking out the opening. Passes like his .012 reacted 7.59 on a 7.58 dial in for the final were lethally effective.
Super Sedan
Alby Bakranich was the quickest of the Super Sedan bunch with an 8.07 in qualifying from his Monte Carlo. He lost in a double break out in the second round.
Kaine Weighell hasn’t changed his wheelstands – a fact we love!
Matthew Gullotto’s now super sparkly Commodore ran into the nines, a performance the team was happy with.
Warrick Pike’s Commodore ute adds a turbocharged spin on things in Super Sedan.
I’ll be honest, I was surprised Andrea Kahle was in the final! The new Super Sedan driver rode through eliminations but could not stop the winner in the final. (ED: Apologies for the earlier reference to an “Andrew” Kahle, which was taken from the Motorplex results. Well done Andrea!)
Paul Downe opened his account for the season with a win in the Black Market Commodore. A .025 with a 9.13 on a 9.10 was the pass he needed.
Modified Bike
Ross Garrett held up until the semi finals on his very green Kawasaki.
Troy Thompson, with new support from Blue Energy Drink, made it to the finals but a wheelstand cost him time and he had to settle for runner up.
Tony Day took one for the Harleys with a 9.82 win in the final aboard his V-Rod Destroyer.
Super Street
How tough is Super Street! A .004 light in the final and a rolling off 11.16 on an 11.06 by Lorenzo Gullotto would only be good enough for runner up.
Blake Jeffreys used a .008 and an 11.12 on an 11.09 dial in for a finals win, getting his championship defence underway.
Junior Dragster
The Junior Dragsters showed plenty of tight racing. You can also check out the track crew’s new uniforms in this picture.
Connor McClure is now racing in the big leagues. A break out by .03 in the final would cost him a shot at winning on his “big kids” debut.
Phoebe Davis didn’t even have to deploy the missiles in her win over McClure with an 8.83 on an 8.82 dial in.
Junior Dragster Rookies
Tyson Liddiard took out the victory over Alanah Cope.
Click next below for the photo gallery!
