The off-season is normally a time for refreshing a combination or adding some new parts, but for Daniel and Lisa Gregorini’s Scratch & Match Motorsport Top Doorslammer team it has been an epic effort to be ready in time for a brand new series.
Lisa’s Camaro got into the wall at Hidden Valley Drag Strip during the last event of last season, leading to an extensive rebuild. Fortunately the whole pit crew, plus WA drag racing legend Wayne Keys, have been working tirelessly to bring the Camaro back to the track.
“It’s probably been the craziest three months ever,” Daniel said. “First we had to find someone we trusted to fix the chassis and Wayne Keys was the first to come to mind. When I called Wayne he was with his wife Lisa caravanning around Australia enjoying retirement. He called me back and said when he got home at the end of July, our team should have the car ready for him to work on.
“The team, both the girls of Lisa’s team and my boys, got stuck into it. We stripped the car down, ordered the parts needed and I got to work on fixing the body. We had to make a body mould and make a new front clip. Once Wayne had the car, he did a front half on the chassis along with a lot of other work and just five weeks later the car was ready to test. It was a tremendous effort by everyone involved.”
While the chassis in Lisa’s Camaro was having bars replaced, the team took the opportunity to extend the wheelbase an additional three inches and to build in additional offset, keeping up with rule changes in the class. Testing at Perth Motorplex showed that the changes and repairs seem to have produced a straight and true race car.
Now Scratch & Match Motorsport has their focus on the National Drag Racing Championship (NDRC) season opener this weekend, the Spring Nationals at the brand new Dragway at The Bend. This state-of-the-art South Australian facility has only just opened but has already wowed every corner of the sport.
“This will be both Lisa and I’s first time attending an opening event at a brand new facility,” Daniel said. “It looks amazing and we both can’t wait to be a part of history. There’s over 350 cars and motorcycles entered and so we are hoping for great weather and big crowds.”
The Top Doorslammer championship will take place under the NDRC banner this season, with events in South Australia, Western Australia, New South Wales and Queensland. Twelve cars will be a part of the season opener.
“TDA joined Top Fuel last year to try and build the sport and build our class. Slowly but surely it’s happening. Hopefully it’s just the start of stronger numbers as the season continues,” Daniel said. “We aim to run all NDRC rounds along with the local Perth series for our WA fans. We will give our all to presentation and professionalism at every event as we continue to search for corporate backing. With the right funding and partners we know that this is a championship calibre team.”
Race fans can keep up with Scratch & Match Motorsport on Facebook and they can follow the Spring Nationals by watching live on 7Plus throughout this coming weekend.
Major sponsors :
Scratch & Match Autocolour
Kerb Doctor
Westcoast Siteworks
Kendall oils
Oil & Energy Pty Ltd
S&S Industries
Consolidated Group
Dalisa Estate Winery
Supporting sponsors :
Signbiz WA
SP Tools
GO PRINT
Dirty Detailing
Final Drive Engineering
G-Force Race Cars
Resolution Racing Services Inc
DMPE INC
Applied Automotive Performance Engines
Kinetic Engineering
A1 Hi Performance
