ANDRA Top Doorslammer points leader Peter Kapiris has extended his championship gap, taking a win at the 42nd annual Westernationals at Perth Motorplex.
Kapiris used a 5.86 second time, the quickest of the event, to defeat Victor Bray who was appearing in his second straight final. Bray had to abort his run early after tyre shake.
En route to the final Kapiris defeated number one qualifier Maurice Fabietti and then hotshot local Daniel Gregorini.
Kapiris blamed his own driving for the shoddy qualifying effort on the first day of the Westernationals, where he barely scraped into eighth spot in the eliminations field.
“I just want to thank everyone, I’m a bit lost for words today,” Kapiris said. “Yesterday my driving was just shocking yesterday. (Crew chief) Mark Brew and my crew sat me down and told me that if I drove the car well, they would work to win us the meeting and they did.”
For Bray it was a consolidation of what has been a season where he has returned to form. He defeated Russell Pavey and long time foe John Zappia in the early rounds before going down to Kapiris.
“The car has been running good again and we’re getting her down the race track,” Victor said. “This is as much fun as I remember it being.
“The air conditions threw us a bit of a curve ball but those who went fast did and those who didn’t, didn’t.”
Meanwhile in Pro Stock, Wayne Daley backed up his top qualifying performance by going to a win over Chris Soldatos in a 7.11 to 7.16 final.
It was Daley’s second consecutive victory, following on from his Australian Nationals title in November. He defeated Kirsten Cannuli and Tyronne Tremayne on his way to the final round.
The win propelled Daley into the points lead for the Pro Stock championship.
“To get a second event in a row is totally unexpected, after qualifying number one it was expected of us to have a win,” he said.
“(Crew chief) Michal Marriott did an extra good job on the calls with the car throughout the day.”
Soldatos’ run to the final saw him defeat Shane Tucker, John Galea and a controversial semi final against Jason Grima where the race was re-run following a protest concerning staging procedures.
The next round of both Top Doorslammer and Pro Stock will be at the Nitro Champs at Sydney Dragway in May.
The Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship saw ten new national records set as racers put it all on the line at Western Australia’s only event where records can be claimed.
Winners included Ryan Moresby (Competition), Brett Glover (Super Stock), Ross Smith (Competition Bike), Don Freind (Supercharged Outlaws), Craig Baker (Modified), Mike Craig (Super Sedan), Justin Townson (Modified Bike), Tyron Begg (Super Street) and Brayden Naylor (Junior Dragster).
