Territorian Scott MacLean took out the second qualifying position at Calder Park’s True Blue Championships in Melbourne over last weekend.
Running a 4.07 second pass at 184mph (297km/hr) over the 1/8th mile in the 16 car field was enough to put him ahead of Peter Kapiris from Melbourne while Darwin based Matt Abel rounding out the top four at the end of day one. Abel’s 4.13 at 186mph was enough to put him ahead of 12 other entrants including Australian Champions Ben and Victory Bray.
“The car felt really strong. To run a 4.05 second pass at 183mph during testing at the start of the day, and to then back it up with the 4.07 to qualify second was a great feeling” said MacLean. “To qualify above big names like Ben and Victor Bray, Maurice Fabietti and Peter Kapiris, we knew we were a serious contender for the weekend.”
Abel was bumped back to fifth position on the qualifying ladder early on the second day, leaving him as first alternate if any of the top four competitors failed to make the call for the finals.
“It was disappointing to miss the cut by only 5 hundredths of a second said Abel. “We’ll be having a close look at the data and should improve at the next meeting. We are making good progress with the new car.”
At the start of round one, MacLean was paired against Australian Champion, Ben Bray.
“Sunday morning we fired the car up, towed out to the staging lanes and the crew felt quietly confident” recalls MacLean. “We nailed Bray off the start line, only to get 100ft before the motor shut down, costing us the race.”
“Back in the pits we found a $2 clip had come off the motor which cost us the race. It was very frustrating, but that’s racing for you.”
Later in the day MacLean performed a solo exhibition pass which was to be recorded as the quickest time of the event, 4.03 seconds at 186mph (299km/hr).
“I was pretty exciting to nearly crack 300km/hr. If the temperature was a little cooler I have no doubt we were capable of a low 3.9 second pass. All in all we had a great weekend and thanks to my family, crew and the great sponsors from Sign City and Ausblock for their support” beamed MacLean.
Peter Kapiris contested the final against Morris Fabbetti with Kapiris taking the win and making it two Slamfests in a row.
Abel and MacLean next travel to Portland, Victoria in February to compete at the Slamfest for Wishes event.
Picture: Paul Drady|Drag News Australia
