Wanneroo stonemason, Allen Puglia has claimed his fourth back to back Motorplex Championship while claiming yet another Driver of the Year title in the process.
After heading into the grand final trailing Rob Gaikhorst by twenty points, Puglia knew he would need a perfect three rounds of racing to wrestle the title away, and after Gaikhorst was eliminated from competition in the first pairing, the battle went to the wire, with Puglia meeting Mortimore in the final showdown.
“It was amazing for the fans to see the two championship contenders battle it out in the final. We were determined to not get overwhelmed by the pressure, but just go out and race as smartly as we could to give us the best chance of a win,” he said recollecting the agonizing pre-race tension.
Come race time, both racers met perfect conditions and Puglia would give his opponent almost nine tenths of a second head-start, but in the process, Puglia’s startline reaction bettered his adversary by over a tenth of second, giving him the edge to catch him by the half way mark and sail away for a convincing victory.
“To bring home a fourth championship for Nuford, Big Rock Toyota, Stonecivil and the rest of our partners is just unbelievable, and to get a fourth Driver of the Year title – well that’s the one I dedicate to my family and crew who support me in more ways than just working on the car. We live and breathe this sport together and it’s an absolute honour to be able to share this award with my favourite people on the planet,” an elated Puglia said.
Leaving little time to breathe, attention now turns to the new pony in the stable, the team’s Pro Stock Mustang that will be taken to Sydney shortly in a last minute decision to take on a two race campaign in the Pro Stock ANDRA Pro Series events at Sydney Dragway in May and Queensland’s Willowbank Raceway in June.
“They say there’s no rest for the wicked. I never thought of myself as that bad a bloke,” the jovial Puglia said in advance of a huge preparation schedule before heading east.
“We’re victims of our passion really. Just when we have the opportunity to have a break, we blow it all on a chance to learn more at the top end of the sport, and as much as we have a huge workload and financial cost ahead of us, I know it will be all worth it and we’ll head over east with another championship and driver of the year award under our belt so we’ll put this down to our celebration trip!”
