Lisa Gregorini was all smiles at the Westernationals, which included the latest rounds of the Australian Drag Racing Championship (ADRC) for Top Doorslammer and Top Fuel Motorcycle, as well as for the Burson Auto Parts Australian Top Fuel Championship.
Gregorini broke through to not only successfully licence her Scratch and Match Autocolour Doorslammer, but also qualified fifth in a 10 car field and went on to be the runner-up in the B-Final in a wholly successfully weekend at her home track.
Now, Gregorini and her husband Daniel Gregorini – the reigning ADRC Top Doorslammer Champion – are planning a full two-car assault on the ADRC.
“It was such a great feeling to license, and it was also a massive relief and a huge weight off my shoulders,” Gregorini said.
“I had put a lot of pressure on myself Saturday wanting to make sure I didn’t let the team down after they had worked so hard after two days of testing and multiple late nights in the workshop to turn the car around for the weekend.
“All up, our licensing took just over 12 months, with 14 private track hires and more than 140 laps in the car undertaken in that time.
“We definitely took the hard road to get me licensed but this way I learnt everything possible about the car, how it reacts in different situations and what I need to do as a driver when in these situations.
“Daniel and I said from the start that we want to be competitive. The car set up is identical to Daniel’s car so until we had set the car up and had the tune up and chassis where we wanted, there was no point being just a number in the field. As such, a lot of that 12 months was R and D to make the car perfect.”
Lisa and her all-female crew are now shaping up to follow the ADRC Top Doorslammer championship around the country.
“Often girls, especially as kids, are told you can’t do that, only boys do that,” Lisa said.
“Helping pave the way for women in Motorsport is extremely important to myself and the team.
“When it was first announced we would be running an all-female team we copped a fair bit of flak and we were told it won’t work ,but what we have achieved just proves them wrong.
“After licensing in the second round of qualifying we were ecstatic. I was pretty nervous going into the third qualifier as this was the first time I had ever lined up beside someone. I just had to run my own race like I’ve done many times before in practice.
“Overall qualifying P5 out of 10 cars and then getting runner up in the B final for our first ever meeting was a lot more than we expected and we are very proud with our efforts.
“We will now be heading to both the Sydney and Darwin events to finish off the 2022/2023 season.
“We hope to also chase the full championship season with both cars for 2023/2024 – it would be an amazing opportunity, so hopefully we can pick up some sponsors to help out along the way to make this possible. Now that we are a two-car team, it means double the exposure for sponsors!” she winked.
With licensing now complete, an event win is the next big box to tick for the West Aussie, and maybe even one day, a title.
“Heading to Sydney without having to focus on licensing will be good. We don’t have any key goals or expectations but will just be focusing on getting the car running quicker and working on my reaction times to be more competitive in eliminations,” she said.
“An event win would be amazing; Daniel has got the tune up of the car running super consistently, so if I can work on my reaction times an event win could definitely happen.
“I have been asked about what it would mean to me to win the title, well to win the top Doorslammer championship would honestly be a dream come true. It definitely wouldn’t be an easy task though with the level of competition currently in the class.”
Unsurprisingly, Lisa has a long list of people she would like to thank for the parts they have played in her journey so far.
“First of all I want to thank Daniel for giving me the opportunity to race, and for all of his guidance and support,” she said.
“Thank you also to my family and both my crew and Daniel’s crew for the constant hard work and support.
“And of course, thank you to my sponsors: Scratch and Match Autocolour, Kerb Doctor, Westcoast Siteworks, Kendall oil, S & S Industries, Dalisa Estate Winery, and also Signbiz WA, Go print, Dirty detailing, Final Drive Engineering, Gforce race cars, Resolution racing services, DMPE, Applied Automotive and Kinetic Engineering.”
The next round of the 2022/2023 ADRC Top Doorslammer chase will be held as part of Sydney Dragway’s Nitro Champs across May 5 and 6, alongside ADRC Top Fuel Motorcycle and the Burson Auto Parts Australian Top Fuel Championship. For event information or to learn more about the championships, visit www.topfuelchampionship.com.au
