Lisa and Daniel Gregorini are fourth and fifth in the NDRC Top Doorslammer chase as the championship heads to Sydney Dragway for Australia’s biggest nitro-fuelled event, the Nitro Champs, across May 17-19.
The WA-based husband and wife are a force to be reckoned with in Top Doorslammer, with Daniel having claimed the title in 2021/2022 and Lisa racing through to finals and personal bests throughout her first full season across 2023/2024.
As they prepare for a huge weekend of racing, featuring two rounds of Top Fuel, plus racing for the XPRO Nitro Funny Cars, Top Doorslammer, Pro Stock and FuelTech Pro Mod championships and two rounds of the Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship, they are expecting the competition to be more fierce than ever.
“A win at any event is what every racer wants and Top Doorslammer as a group have really stepped up this season. I think reaction times are going to be a huge factor now more than ever, so we will all have to be on our game – only the best will survive!” Daniel said.
“It is going to be a massive meeting for Sydney Dragway and a first with both nitro features racing at the same event, so we encourage everyone to get out to race track and watch some great racing this weekend.”
“It is certainly going to be tough out there as there are a lot of quality cars capable of running just as quick as we are. The Nitro Champs is definitely one you don’t want to miss,” Lisa added.
Between the husband and wife when it comes to championship position bragging rights, Lisa currently has the upper hand.
“I honestly didn’t expect to be this high up in the points for our first official season. We just wanted to continue to learn as a team and continue to have fun along the way and any races we might win along the way would just be a bonus, so we are definitely ecstatic with currently sitting fourth in the Championship,” Lisa said.
“Our season definitely started off on a high, making our first ever A-Final appearance in our first meeting back after crashing in Darwin at the end of last season. From there we were lucky enough to make some B-Finals to keep us up in the top part of the points.
“Although we did struggle with some electrical issues for a couple of meetings after moving to coil packs at the end of last year, those are sorted now and we have bounced back now to run some big PBs.
“It turned out that we had a dead coil and once we figured out the issue with the help of Josh McClennan and Jeff Cutajar, we instantly hit PB territory.
“Coming off those PBs and another B-Final, I am definitely feeling positive heading to Sydney, and also feeling confident we can continue running similar times – given the cooler conditions we are expecting to make big horsepower.”
When it comes to racing against her husband, Lisa had this to say: “We always love lining up against one another, it creates a great rivalry in our pit area and for the fans. We are lucky enough to be leading ahead of him in the points, but he did struggle with some mechanical issues at the start of the season that cost him some valuable points in the championship chase.”
For Daniel, it has been a tough season so far, but goals are still being kicked.
“It hasn’t been the greatest season for myself with small issues along the way, but our end goal was always to go to the coil pack systems on the cars and to make Lisa’s car really competitive, and we have achieved both of those goals so far,” he said.
The Gregorinis thank Scratch and Match Autocolour, Consolidated Group, Kerb Doctor, Westcoast Siteworks, Oil and Energy Pty Ltd, S&S Industries, Dalisa Estate Winery, Signbiz WA, JC Race Stuff, Dirty Detailing, Final Drive Engineering, G-Force Race Cars, Resolution Racing Services Inc, DMPE INC, Applied Automotive, Kinetic Engineering, Racin Tyres and Accessories for their support.
The Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs across May 17-19 will feature two rounds of racing for Top Fuel, plus NDRC championship racing for the XPRO Nitro Funny Cars, Top Doorslammer, Pro Stock and FuelTech Pro Mod as well as two rounds of the Eastern Conference for the Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship.
And that’s not all – there will also be plenty of entertainment off the track, as well as above – with aerial acrobatics from Australia’s own Red Bull Air Race world champion and former Royal Australian Air Force top gun fighter pilot, Matt Hall.
Tickets for the Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs at Sydney Dragway are available now at www.bit.ly/NITROCHAMPS with kids aged 10 and under gaining free access with a paying adult.
