Northern Territory Pro Stock Motorcycle sophomore Scott White is preparing for the new season’s opening round at the 2012 Australian Nationals at Sydney Dragway.
While Top Fuel and Pro Stock get underway next weekend in Adelaide, November 2-4 will mark the season launch for the Pro Stock Motorcycle brigade, where White hopes to make more of an impact.
White finished the season strongly with a personal best of 7.38 and the highest speed of anyone in the category all season with a 183mph (294kph) blast at the Fuchs Winternationals.
Planned testing in the off season at White’s home track of Hidden Valley started out well with a 7.41 pass but things took a turn for the worse.
“Our team came away confident that we were onto the bogging issues that had plagued us off the line for the last three meetings and kept our 60 feet (launch) times substandard,” he said. “We decided to test in Darwin at the NT Titles and shattered the track record repeatedly, before throwing a rod and destroying our best gear – it was so bad it cut the frame rail in half and meant a thrash to repair.”
The team had been building a new combination since midseason and completed it for further testing in Darwin that showed potential but revealed issues with valve inserts in the Vance & Hines cylinder head, leading them to Pro Stock Motorcycle guru Trevor Birrell.
“With two weeks to go before having to drive away from Darwin and head to Sydney the team are looking to Trevor’s expertise in rebuilding the old reliable cylinder head in a hurry,” White said. “If all goes well the motor will be back together and the long journey to Sydney will begin.
“I am confident now that my riding has improved to a point where we can take advantage of whatever combination we can piece together and with negotiations in the final stages for continued support from Ampac Advanced Warning Systems we believe we can be competitive in our second season and perhaps pull off a few wins.”
The Australian Nationals will be held at Sydney Dragway from November 2-4.
