A cold and wet morning greeted Fuchs South Coast Raceway for day two of the Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series opener but that didn’t stop the team of volunteers from having the track race ready by the scheduled 10am start.
Similar air and track temperatures from the previous day had presented the field with great track conditions, which followed through to eliminations today.
The track crew are to be congratulated for putting the show on and keeping it at the high standard Fuchs South Coast Raceway is known for. Racing would not be possible without the great support from ANDRA volunteers, Summit Racing Equipment, St Johns Ambulance, the local firefighters, and most important every single volunteer behind the scenes who made it happen.
After getting to grips with the vehicle setups the class was making headway to great results after qualifying. Round one winners were Dom Rigoli over Sam Preece, Louis Svingoes on a bye run, Daniel Camilleri over Peter Deguara who red lit by just -0.007 and Peter Pisalidis over Ambesi’s. Pisalidis had broke the wheelie bar yesterday but was saved by Andrew Sanders who donated his time to repair the damage over night.
Round two saw Dom Rigoli with his Mitsubishi Eclipse put down the fastest pass of the weekend with a 4.494 at 152.92 mph also taking the win against Louis Svingoes. Peter Pisalidis scored some luck when paired with Daniel Camilleri who he had problems paving the way to the final.
With only a small field it was only a short two rounds before the final pairing of Pisalidis and Rigoli. The win was handed to Rigoli at the start line after Pisalidis red lit by -0.062. Rigoli was again setting records for his class; scoring ET and mph.
The new Top Sportsman class was a big hit and with the average dial in during eliminations of just 5.1 seconds across the field it ensured tight racing. Local Chassis builder Brett Henley was paired with drag racing veteran Stuart McBain in their beautiful presented race cars where McBain dialed in with a 5.23 and ran a 5.257 at 131.53 mph after Henley red lit back the start line handing the win and the first ever Top Sportsman ANDRA Christmas tree to McBain.
Supercharged Outlaws champ Doina Day got her title defense off to a perfect start pairing up in the final with Ryan Van Dyk. Once again reaction times decided the outcome it was decided at the line with Donia with the better reaction time.
Day was joined in the winners circle by daughter Jasmine Ryan in Modified when 1/8 mile expert met Chris Farrell in the final. Ryan had the better reaction of 0.024 from Farrell’s 0.161 handing her the win.
Local Warrnambool racer Stephen Griffin in his Holden 355ci LJ Torana took home the tree for Super Sedan against Jason Arbery in the final. Griffin set a dial in of 6.16 and ran an almost perfect 6.162 ET at 111.37 mph while unluckily Arbery snagged a red light by just -0.011.
Malcom Luff is no stranger to Fuchs South Coast Raceway however with strong Modified Bike entries it brought national champions who are regular winners across the country carrying vast amounts of experience in tricky conditions. But that didn’t stop Luff from making it into the finals with seasonal rider Nathan Stone. With a dial in of 7.30 Luff broke out by -0.008 however it didn’t matter as the race had already been handed to Luff when Stone red lit by -0.032.
The trip over the border from South Australia paid off for Harry Harris in his Holden Commodore pairing up with fellow South Aussie Enzo Clemente in the Super Street final. Harris managed to win on a tight race when Clemente ran a 7.376 on a 7.33 dial in while Harris recorded a time of 7.314 on a 7.31 dial in. The 0.092 reaction time was the winning ticket for Harris taking the win with a 0.057 margin of victory.
Red lights littered the Junior Dragster ranks as tomorrow’s next stars pushed their dragsters to the limit in every round. Josh Baker reached the final only to turn on the red himself giving the win to Jordan Spencer at the start line by -0.082.
Two-time Super Gas champ Matt Forbes was at it again in Portland giving his opponents a case of the runner ups. Forbes’ Ford Roadster was on song again taking him him through the field to the final pairing with Graeme Spencer. While both were off the 6.30 index it became a pedal fest to the finish line where Forbes came through with the goods in his quest for a three-peat.
The Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series will now head west for the 44th Westernationals at Perth Motorplex on January 30-31.
Image by Dragpix.net.au
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