It’s been a roller coaster of a season and one mixed with all the highs and lows that championship drag racing provides.
The 2012/13 ANDRA season went down in the drag racing history books as the longest ever, spanning over 14 months. In the professional Pro Stock Motorcycle category Darwin racer Scott White competed at all seven rounds and was one of just three out of 10 riders to have won a national event.
Coming into Sydney for the Australian Nationals White was realistic knowing that his hopes of a second place finish, was slim. His win at Adelaide back in October certainly boosted his points standing and his confidence. The penultimate round at Calder Park ended up being a mixed bag through no fault of his own and a first round loss hurt his chances.
Coming into Sydney the AMPAC Suzuki was 56 points behind the second place rider so he needed to do well.
“Just to make it to Sydney was a huge effort,” said White. At the Nitro Thunder round at Calder Park we left frustrated but happy thinking that the motor was in good shape. However when I went to service the bike in Sydney the week prior the Nationals, it was found that we had some issues with pistons.”
“So I went through the parts box and anything else I could salvage lying around and put the engine back together. It was fingers crossed and some praying that it would hold together and give us a good result.”
The first qualifying attempt on Saturday resulted in a 7.52 elapsed timeat a speed of 176 mph. This placed White in fourth position in the six-bike field. The conditions were extremely difficult with hot and windy conditions over the weekend.
The second qualifier saw the AMPAC Suzuki struggle with a 10.78 pass while the final shot stopped the clocks in 7.79 seconds. By this stage he was bumped into fifth position.
“The first attempt saw the bike head towards the wall so I brought it back straight but lost a bit of time there,” said White. The second shot was the result of some faulty spark plugs, and the third was making good power but spun the tyre badly at half track.”
With the championship out of contention, White now focused on a battle for a second place finish.
The first round of eliminations saw White unfortunately face the number two racer Maurice Allen. As the Christmas tree lights descended,White left before the green, drew a red light and handed an automatic win to Allen, who later went on to take the Nationals win.
“I was very disappointed with that result. I don’t understand it as I wasn’t trying to cut a light or do anything different,” said White. But that’s just the way it goes. It was my only red light all season in both qualifying and racing. I’m not kicking myself over it because as they say if you don’t red light every now and then, you are not trying hard enough.
“In the end we retained the number three position in the 2012-13 ANDRA Pro Stock Championship and I’m very proud of that especially picking up three positions over last season.
“AMPAC have announced that they will not be onboard with us next season. Not for any other reason than citing the current economic climate. So we have some work to do over the off-season and ramp up our sponsorship efforts.
“At this stage my plan is to do all six rounds of the 2014 ANDRA Pro Stock Championships and do whatever I can to get that done. We have a new bigger engine being built in Darwin and the current engine will be rebuilt back up to full strength.
“It’s been a fantastic season and we have made some big steps to being a championship contender. No regrets whatsoever and you really know your living when you are doing stuff like this. I have thoroughly enjoyed every step along the way.
“I’d like to thank my family, crew, sponsors, especially AMPAC and supporters for all their help along the way,” ended White.
The 2014 ANDRA Pro Stock Motorcycle Championships opens up April at Calder Park, Melbourne.
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