r in the esert
fastlane
Desert Nationals
Alice Springs Inland Dragway
16 -27 July 2016 we can win races and not just run big numbers .
“ We slowed it down – everyone did – because after the crash yesterday , everyone thought ‘ nope ’, we just have to get from A to B , and as an eighth mile race it puts a bit less stress on the engines and all of that .
“ So we backed it off and ran a heap of consistent 4.0s , and then tried to step it up for the second run and that didn ’ t work . It left harder , but it rattled earlier and got out of the groove a bit , so we ended up with a 4.00s again .
“ We thought , do we back it off or do we leave it ? We ended up saying let ’ s leave it and I will drive it again and hopefully drive it a bit better and do the job ,” laughed Zappia .
“ Benny got the holeshot on me , I had a bad light on that one . But the overall winning margin was 25 thousandths of a second , so there was not much in it at all at the finish line apparently . And we come away with a three second pass – the track record for ASID on the eighth mile , and also the overall speed record of nearly 194 miles per hour for this track .”
ASID also hosted a busy weekend of racing for round two of the Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series with the Desert Nationals winner ’ s circle hosting Mark Hunt ( Supercharged Outlaws ), Luke Veersma ( Summit Racing Equipment Junior Dragster ), Gavin Chisnell ( Modified ), Leith Darrach ( Modified Bike ), Graeme Simms ( Super Comp ), Peter Tzokas ( Super Sedan ), Jacob Mills ( Super Street ) and Matt Forbes ( Top Sportsman ).
Hunt ’ s victory marked his first ever national event win , with the Supercharged Outlaws racer locking away a number of impressive race wins against heavyhitters on his way to the Supercharged Outlaws final against Justin Russell .
Hunt hoisted the ANDRA tree after turning a round one win against semi final-regular Doina Day into an upset round two win against top qualifier , current Champion and Nitro Up North winner Adam Murrihy into his finals date with Russell . His ultimate victory would come courtesy of a 4.981 at 142.41mph ( 4.95s dial-in ) effort over Russell ’ s 4.439 at 160.14mph pass ( 4.40s dial-in ).
“ It feels fantastic to win . Absolutely fantastic ,” said Hunt , whose win comes after 18 months out of the seat and despite almost not competing this weekend .
“ We had a bit of bad luck on the way coming down , blowing the bus motor up . That set us back a little bit and took my concentration away from the car and all of that sort of stuff , and after that happened I didn ’ t know if we were going to race here but I needed to race because the field was short .
“ So I thought , let ’ s just concentrate on ( the racing ) and forget about the bus for now , we will deal with that later .
“ The car was playing up a little bit here and there , it is a new combo , so just trying to get used to it and then all of a sudden my engine builder David Baines of Baines Engines got a hold of it .
“ My crew were fantastic and steered me in the right direction and then I just steered the car in the right direction and we just got through – it was amazing .
b
TOP DOORSLAMMER