Scott White - driving 4000 kilometers to ride a quarter of a mile
For most racers, the week leading up to a big race is usually spent in garages and sheds making last minute adjustments, fine tuning and looking for any performance advantage they can gain over their opposition.
In the case of Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Scott White he will spend three days on the road and will have plenty of time to think about the changes he has made for the up and coming Nitro Champs this weekend at Sydney Dragway.
His journey began at his home in Darwin, NT on Monday and some 4000 km later his trip will end in Blacktown, NSW.
During the three days White will encounter good roads, bad roads, shower stops at roadhouses, kangaroos at night that slow his speed down to 80ks and plenty of other kinds of wildlife such as wild pigs that have the potential to do a lot of damage in the advent of a collision.
"Let me tell you that if someone told me that drag racing is easy, I'd say show me," laughed White.
"Living in Top End of Australia is certainly not the best location especially if you are a Pro racer chasing championship points and calendar dates that are on the eastern side, but this is what I do and its my choice. I'm what you would call a budget Pro racer (grin) and this is how we do it.
"Try explaining what I do to a novice that I've just travelled 4000 plus kms to race 22.5 seconds in qualifying and a further 22.5 seconds if I go three rounds in eliminations. He'd say I'm nuts."
"The plan prior to the Adelaide Championship round in February was to leave the bike there at the end of the race, then fly home. With the next round this weekend I would have flown back and driven up to Sydney for this weekend and then driven up to the Brisbane for the Winternationals and left the bike with some friends. When the rounds are scheduled like this, it is possible to do this however because we had hurt the engine in Adelaide I needed to go home and make repairs.
"The engine has two new pistons in it and we took it out to Hidden Valley for some testing and all went to plan. We have been chasing a gremlin and it looks like we are getting on top of it.
"It would be easy for even myself to question why I do this. But I have always had a passion for going fast and drag racing gives me the outlet I needed in a safe and controlled environment.
"Racing at this level has its moments and one of those happened in a split second at Adelaide. I was racing against Maurice Allen and at three-quarter track I could just see him out the corner of my eye. The speed and the noise of having a bike right besides you is just so much fun. I like the feeling of moving very fast especially when you have someone in the other lane. These bikes are very light and you sit very low. You are out there in the air and it almost feels like you are flying. Its nothing like being in a car.
"And that is why I do this," finished White.
Pro Stock Motorcycle Points Standings
- Luke Crowley 216
- Maurice Allen 152
- Lachlan Ireland 149
- Mark Hancock 89
- Glenn Wooster 88
- Scott White 87
- Chris Manera 65
- Peter Cochrane 63
