Three months is a long time in drag racing and for MacLean Motorsports it is time to play catch up with the fields of Pro Slammer and Pro Alcohol.
Knowledge is power for the world’s fastest accelerating vehicles and Darwin’s Scott MacLean intends on gaining as much knowledge as he can with a week of testing before the 50th Gulf Western Oil Winternationals at Willowbank Raceway in Queensland.
US crew chief Darren Mayer will be flying in for the week, joined by Chris Russo, aiming to take the DMPE engine combinations in both cars back to the front of the field following amazing performances from rivals at the recent Nitro Thunder event in Sydney.
“The Australian drag racing landscape really changed with Nitro Thunder,” MacLean said. “Many of the heavy hitters, especially in Pro Slammer, stepped up their personal best times and we’re going to have to work hard to catch up.
“These race cars are powered by knowledge as much as they are by methanol and that’s why we will be spending a whole week testing.”
MacLean Motorsports will be joined by fellow Pro Slammer racer Tony DeFelice in testing from Monday to Friday, before the Winter Warm Up test weekend.
“The emphasis is on getting the Slammer wrapped up from the development stage to being a ready to go race car and then for the latter half of the week we will look to drag the Pro Alcohol Funny Car out which we haven’t really had the focus on. We need to get it hauling ass.”
The team will particularly focus on the suspension in their Holden Monaro Pro Slammer, aiming to correct a handling issue that sees the car turning left when the front wheels are in the air.
“We need to get it through the top of first gear comfortably first and then we will start playing with it at the fast end of the track to get the car to somewhere that is going to be competitive enough to go rounds and win.
“We’re the underdogs now. It would have been really interesting to participate at Nitro Thunder where all those records tumbled and see where we would have sat, but we are looking forward to the Winternationals which traditionally has some great conditions too.
“I’d like to thank Keys Family Racing, Croker Constructions and John Zappia for all their help while we were in Perth earlier this year and I hope we can go one better than our final round appearance there when we roll up for the Winternationals.”
The Gulf Western Oil Winternationals runs from June 8 to 11 at Willowbank Raceway.
