Two test and tunes in two days at Perth Motorplex gave a preview for what might be coming up at the Season Opener, which will be held this Saturday.
Pictures by Luke Nieuwhof and Lucas Gardiner, videos by Nicholas Gardiner.
Rob Pilkington ran the quickest pass of the weekend with a 5.71 in AA/FC with his Force Equipment/Alutech Monte Carlo Funny Car.
Robin Judd battled tyre shake throughout the weekend as he tested a new BAE 521 motor with Noonan X1 heads. He finally got down the track with a 5.89 on his last pass.
Shane Weston was upgrading his licence to Top Alcohol spec and after a series of 6.0s finished up with a 5.83 after finding an issue with the electrical system on the car.
Jeff Clarke has a new camo paint scheme on his Hogs Breath Café dragster but had some bad tyre shake on both of his passes. He will also be competing in Top Alcohol this season. Check out the tyre shake in the video above and the slow mo video.
Daniel Gregorini laid down a 6.16 pass as he tested new supercharged bits and a new manifold.
John Zappia spent most of his day pedalling.
Pino Priolo is still really struggling to get a full power pass in with his Top Doorslammer.
Murray O’Connor took out the centre line blocks on this errant pass.
Maurice Brennan managed a 6.30 from his Commodore but the car wasn’t handling well off the start line.
Ryan Moresby is now running the ex Peter Hamilton Statesman in AA/AP trim. He had some strong launches but then popped a blower, resulting in a small fire.
But another Moresby in Stuart had an ever tougher day, giving the wall a tag after a transmission line came loose.
Andrew Katavatis has an ex Wayne Daley Pro Stock motor in his Altered now. With help from Mick Marriott on the day, Katavatis was able to run a 7.27 with an early shut off pass, just outside the B/AA record of 7.26.
Michael Buckley went well under the BB/OM record with a 7.87 pass from his Mazda.
Allen Puglia needed a few attempts in order to get a lap in.
Ross Smith hit a series of 8.8 second times with his A/SB Suzuki Hayabusa.
Greg Durack is finally getting his Kawasaki down track. A very high tech piece this with a Top Fuel-style computer controlled pneumatic clutch!
Steve Aldridge debuted his new ride, the ex-Jeff Wilson Top Doorslammer from NSW. Despite some wild runs, Aldridge did make progress across the weekend.
Mark Rothwell got down the track without any tyre shake.
Mark Mackay had a new wrap on his Epic Group altered.
Kristie Scowen made her first run down the track in her beautiful XM Falcon.
Craig Head made his return to the track in this altered designed for Supercharged Outlaws duties.
Sam Butler made his first passes in Modified after graduating from the Junior Dragster category.
Frank George’s new Altered is very cool and ran some quick 8sec passes in its first event out.
Sam Treasure took to the track in a revamped version of the Cleveland Express. The altered is an ex Tim Wilkerson chassis but runs his dad’s Ford motor, last run on the track in 1993!
Ron Crosby’s new ride is good for low eights, one of two new altereds the team has debuted with Manda Appleyard in the other.
How about this for a bit of old school cool?
Andrea Kahle is now driving this ex-Brenton Baxter Torana. Speaking of Baxter, he was back on the track with his hot rod.
Got to love Warrick Pike’s turbocharged Holden ute. Whoosh!
Jane Newbound got some low nines riding her new Kawasaki.
Clinton Urban’s Suzuki will be a great new addition to the Modified Bike ranks.
A bit of a Harley Pro Gas flavour this season?
And just because I’m good to you guys here’s some slow motion videos!
