Grand Opening at the Perth Motorplex
Russell Ladbrook is go for launch at the Perth Motorplex Grand Opening (Photo courtesy Gardner Broz)Race report by Dave Hunter.
With the 2011/2012 season regarded as one of the best ever with records tumbling in many classes of racing, you could be forgiven for thinking that the Perth Motorplex Grand Opening felt a little flat. After an off-season of rebuilding and planning for a new attack at the track, this is no surprise.
A good case in point of how much the sport is a game of luck and chance would be Competition Bike runner-up Greg Durack. The ZX12R Turbo Funny Bike has gained a reputation for putting in some stunning low 7 second runs when the planets align. His Grand Opening was certainly looking grim with the bike cutting out on the launch and a qualifying ET set at 21 seconds.
But a first round foul by Sean Arthur got him through (lucky for him, as the bike played up once again) and then a stunning This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. got him a semi-final solo and a final round appearance. He would lose out to the ZX10 of Rob Wasley at the end of the day. That does sort of sum up the day in general for everyone as they return from the winter break.
Bucking the trend was Top Comp A-Final winner Jeff Lewis. The screaming small block EB getting it's legs back again with some 211mph laps in the near mid 6's. Craig Glassby hit a dead even 250mph and ran a 5.69 for his efforts; although this didn't result in a 10 'o' clock session for the Monte Carlo FC.
Georgie Gerritsen has had a very good winning streak for the last few rounds in both WA and interstate events, so her campaign got off to a great start with a win in Junior Dragster.
Photos courtesy Gardner Broz
When you think of Treasure, you think of gold. Sam Treasure of the surname kind found all sorts of personal bests on his way to a Modified victory. 7.729 at 170+mph and similar times helped secure the first place trophy for the Cleveland Express, a train that always runs on time.
Joe Bertolini was Modified Bike's hero for the day, going the rounds and keeping opponents at bay to start his points campaign on the right foot. David Gajsek was the runner-up.
Donald Freind became a good Freind once again with a win for the VU ute in Supercharged Outlaws; Frank Taylor breaking out of his time by a smidgeon... well, OK, three tenths of a second. Quite a large smidgen, then.
The surprise of Super Comp was when Allen Puglia had no defence for Errol Quartermaine's psycho six-cylindered BA Falcon, a consistent performance making the Quarter Mile Quartermaine a happy winner. Kyle Putland made his debut in the index wars with his immaculate new A/Altered running riot with a 6.813 (under the national record) but coupled to a red light, relegating big red to a runner-up spot.
You could almost copy and paste Alby Bakranich into race reports as his name pops up very regularly in the winners column. The Monte Carlo SS sedan disposed of David Powell's 240SX to take the silverware.
Blake Jeffreys is another driver who manages to have his winners speech read out a fair bit with the VK keeping things nice and legal as Nicholas Wroe pushed under the 11 second cut-off to disqualify himself into a runner-up spot. Mind you, Thornlie Automotives also had Ashleigh under 11 in qualifying. Those naughty naughty Wroes!
Videos courtesy Gardner Broz
Dave's Save Of The Day could have went to a few people today, as Simon Travaglini had to rescue a wayward steel body Doorslammer on his 6pm run and Steve Derrick bumped the wall in the ex-Glassby VK Outlaw and returned later in the meeting with only damaged paint and pride.
But it would be Peter Gardner's wrestling match with his own shaking and spinning Monaro that gets my vote today. The car pointed towards the far wall but he regained his composure just in time to swing back in the right direction.
For detailed results visit the Perth Motorplex.