Lisa Gregorini has finished runner-up in the WA Top Doorslammer Championship ahead of a massive east coast tour with husband Daniel where the pair will rejoin the Australian Top Doorslammer Championship.
Lisa wrapped up her local season at the Nitro Slam at Perth Motorplex on March 22, scoring a B Final runner up that secured her a championship podium. The event began with a bang but Lisa and the Scratch & Match Motorsport team worked to recover their night.
“In the first qualifying session we stripped the blower studs at 3.9 seconds, lifting the blower and coasted through for a 6.12,” Lisa said. “In Q2 the car moved out of the groove just before half track. I was fighting the car to get back in the groove and it took a big step towards the centre line just before 1000 feet, so I opted to get off it and get the chutes out to keep it in my lane. We still put up a 6.01 for the number two qualifying position.”
A first round confrontation with John Zappia loomed, where a red light from John gave Lisa an automatic win and a chance at winning the WA Top Doorslammer title.
“Conditions were proving very tricky with the humidity and we knew we needed to make a representative run in order to make the A Final to be in with a chance of winning the championship. Unfortunately the car headed left towards the wall so I had to lift and coast through for a 13.71, which would not be enough to make the A Final. We later discovered a bolt in the wheelie bar had broken on the launch, causing the car to drive left and smoke the tyres.”
For such a rudimentary part to fail was certainly unusual, and while Lisa and the team were disappointed, they now turned a strategic eye to the B Final.
“We had a team meeting prior to heading around to the staging lanes and with the dew coming in the track was becoming very skatey, especially if the car was to get out of the groove. With just a week to turn the car around before heading off to Adelaide for the next NDRC round and Brodie already wrapping up the state championship, we decided the safest option was to just stage the car for the points.
“Congratulations to Brodie on taking out the Direct Mining & Industrial Top Doorslammer Championship in his rookie season.”
Now the team are on their way to the Riverbend Nationals at The Bend Motorsports Park in South Australia, where Daniel will rejoin Lisa for the team’s classic two-car assault on the national championship.
“Besides fixing both engines that I damaged at the Westernationals we have been flat out getting the cars and transporter ready to head to Adelaide,” Daniel said. “Consolidated Group is once again right behind us with their great transport services.
“We had a few unexpected moments pop up this season at the Motorplex with both cars but that’s racing. You can’t stop part failures even though we do our best to minimise the chances.”
With Lisa currently sitting second in the Australian Top Doorslammer Championship, the team are looking forward to bringing back some big numbers and hopefully some big points on their national tour.
“It’s a big ask traveling to Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane, Darwin and Alice Springs,” Daniel said. “Each time we travel to Perth and back so that’s nearly 40,000km of travel and 50 return flights that we need to book. But we are committed to NDRC and to our sponsors so we are taking on the challenge.
“Lisa’s sitting nicely in second place and with great weather at this time of year around the country it’s time to go fast and try to improve on our personal bests. My current PB is a 5.601 from last time at The Bend, so 5.5s aren’t out of the question, and for Lisa her 5.68 PB is definitely a target.
“We love seeing all of our east coast fans who always give us great support by buying merchandise and making us feel at home. We want to give them a show they’ll remember!”
Major sponsors :
Scratch & Match Autocolour, Consolidated Group, Oil & Energy Pty Ltd, Kerb Doctor, Westcoast Siteworks, S&S Industries, Dalisa Estate Winery
Supporting sponsors :
Applied Automotive Performance Engines, Signbiz WA, FuelTech Australia, FuelTech USA, Harness-Tech, RACIN, G-Force Race Cars, Resolution Racing Services Inc, Dirty Detailing, Final Drive Engineering, DMPE INC, Kinetic Engineering
