A strong and enthusiastic crowd turned out at Calder Park Raceway at the weekend to cheer on the Gulf Western Oil Team Bray outfit and their competitors for the Australian Nationals event.
While the semi-finals is as far as the team would venture this weekend following their all-Bray final the week before, the smiles still couldn’t be wiped from Victor and Ben Bray’s faces all weekend with the father and son absolutely overwhelmed by crowd support.
“It was absolutely great to be back at Calder – the fans were amazing and there were a lot of fans that have followed us from way back when that made sure to stop by our pits and say hello which was really cool,” Victor said.
While Victor bowed out of competition after the first round against eventual event Doorslammer winner John Zappia, his son Ben advanced with a victory against Sam Fenech to advance to a semi-final against Paul Cannuli. In all of their appearances, the Brays were sure to put on their famous half-track burnouts to the delight of their fans.
“In round one Sam had the holeshot on me, but I wasn’t giving up – I threw everything at it and managed to take the win with a 5.09 second pass at 221 miles per hour,” explained Ben.
“Unfortunately dad didn’t have things go his way in his own first round, with Zappia taking the win even though the big fella was able to claim the holeshot off the start line.
“For the semi-final, I faced off against Paul Cannuli and again I managed to get the holeshot but this time, just like it was for dad with Zap, it just wasn’t enough and Cannuli was able to take the win.
“Of course we would have loved to get one or ideally both of the Gulf Western Oil supported Slammers into the final – back to back all-Bray finals would have been awesome after all – but this weekend it just wasn’t to be. All the same, it was a fantastic weekend and we can’t wait to throw it all at it again in a few weeks.”
The Gulf Western Oil-sponsored Team Bray outfit will next be on-track at the Perth Motorplex across the fourth and fifth of March for the Westernationals event.
“Calder Park was the fourth event in as many weeks for Team Bray, so it is time now for a lot of service work to be undertaken on both the Gulf Western Oil machines ready to head over to Perth in a few weeks’ time,” Victor said.
“We can’t wait to see the West Aussie fans and put on a great show for them!”
