ANDRA Top Doorslammer points leader Peter Kapiris has extended his championship gap, taking a win at the 42nd annual Westernationals at Perth Motorplex.

Kapiris used a 5.86 second time, the quickest of the event, to defeat Victor Bray who was appearing in his second straight final. Bray had to abort his run early after tyre shake.

En route to the final Kapiris defeated number one qualifier Maurice Fabietti and then hotshot local Daniel Gregorini.

Kapiris blamed his own driving for the shoddy qualifying effort on the first day of the Westernationals, where he barely scraped into eighth spot in the eliminations field.

Maurice Fabietti returned to form in qualifying for the 42nd annual Westernationals at Perth Motorplex, using a 5.92 second time to take pole position in Top Doorslammer.

After troubles with his launch RPM control in qualifying session one, Fabietti stepped it up in session two and his time held for the remainder of the night.

Humid air restricted the performances of the Top Doorslammer field, but positions were still tight with points leader Peter Kapiris holding on to the number eight "bump spot" with a 6.05 and due to face Fabietti in round one on Sunday.

After topping the qualifying sheets straight off the trailer with a 4.905 second pass at 227.84 mph (366.6kph) for the 1000 feet distance, Phillips set about defeating Frank Intini in the first round (with a 4.907), before disposing of local racer, Gary Busch in the second round (with a 4.982), setting the Lucas Oils Funny Car in the final against former national champ, Wayne Newby.

"We'd performed really well considering the deal with the weather, with air temperature around 38˚C (100˚F) both days and track temperature peaking at 57˚C (135˚F) but it was always a gamble on a full asphalt surface, and to the track crew's credit, who also fought these trying conditions all weekend, gave us both equal lanes. Unfortunately our car went up into shake for the first time over the weekend," Phillips said.

Current Top Doorslammer points leader Peter KapirisThe 42nd annual Westernationals will be contested this weekend at Perth Motorplex in Western Australia.

One of the longest running events on the ANDRA calendar, the Westernationals includes the third ANDRA championship rounds of the Top Doorslammer and Pro Stock categories, plus the fourth round of the Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship.

At last year's event, the now retired Robin Judd top qualified with a 5.861, which would hold as low ET for the weekend, closely followed by arch rival John Zappia with a 5.866. The two met in a classic final with another 5.866 time from Zappia defeating a 5.878 by Judd.

Pro Stock delivered just as much excitement, with Denis Whiting top qualified with a 7.067 and going on to reset the national record with a flying 7.022 in the final. Whiting was due to face Tyronne Tremayne but after engine damage in the semi final, Tremayne was unable to front.

Leanne Bernhard and I set off from Melbourne early on Friday morning to make our way to Adelaide for the 3rd round of the Aeroflow Championship. Obviously not early enough as we hit the Monash Freeway and come to a shuddering halt; so much for meeting up with Matt Forbes in Ballarat.

All things considered it was a pretty uneventful trip except for the road works from Ballarat in Victoria to Talem Bend in South Australia. I don't think I've seen a 25km speed sign before – these must have been hand painted.

Approaching Adelaide I can feel the excitement start to build. I saw my very first drag race as a 5 year old at the track I'm now going to race at for the first time. This is where it all started, my fascination for the sport we all love.

Following the conclusion of testing at the Perth Motorplex earlier this week, Team Bray Racing's Victor and Ben Bray are currently making their final preparations for this weekend's Westernationals event, which will kick off on Saturday 2 March – Ben's 29th birthday.

The three time ANDRA national champion has been experiencing some difficult times of late due to a new car combination, however is hoping to make further advances on the problem at this weekend's third round of the 2012/2013 ANDRA Top Doorslammer title chase.

"What a great birthday present that would be – to get these tyre shake issues sorted out and put down some great passes at the Westernationals this weekend," said Ben Bray.