Round 2 of the Track Championship Series at Hidden Valley Drag Strip was a near wash out after rains drenched the Valley at the start of the qualifying sessions at 3pm on Saturday. In an act of camaraderie officials and racers joined forces to dry the 1.1km stretch of bitumen and get underway with the evenings feature racing less than an hour behind schedule.
The dense humid air was a performance killer but the Group 1 exhibition cars still managed to give the crowd some action packed racing. One of the best highlights was the side by side Top Doorslammer pass of Matt Abel and Peter Coles running 6.291 at 237.92mph and 6.458 at 189.58mph respectively.
Scott MacLean continued his performance testing prior to the ANDRA Drag Racing Series round in August with two 6.06 second passes at 232mph in the AllTools Top Alcohol Funny Car.
Modified Bike was the field to watch with Brandt McGlade taking out his first round win after stepping up from Street Bike in 2012. McGlade’s 10.125 on a 9.85 dialin was enough to defeat round one winner, Colin Sainsbury and now sees the pair tied for championship points.
Grant Radcliffe took out his second straight win in the Top Sportsman class after his opponent, Ron Heyes broke out, running an 8.905 second pass on an 8.95 dialin. Radcliffe pulled a near perfect 0.01sec light and finished with an 8.483sec pass at 159.21mph.
In other brackets, Mick Dureau took the automatic win in Super Sedan after Daniel Foreman was unable to make the finals. Dureau finished with a 10.327sec on a 10.22 dialin.
David Voysey also made a return to the winner’s podium taking out the Super Street win against Shaun Boyer in what was the closest race of the night. Only 0.04 second separated the pair as they crossed the line, Voysey finishing with an 11.32 on an 11.28 dialin. Interestingly the last time Voysey made it to the finals was Round 2 of the 2012 series.
Danielle Abel continued her winning form in the Super Toyworld Junior Dragster category against Darcy Muller while Bob Czerniawski notched up his first round win of the season when he was the first to cross the line ahead of Andrew Brideson.
Street Bike saw Madeleine Joy-Warde defeat Brett Wilkeson with a 14.281 on a 14.15 dialin. It was the first time either competitor had made a finals position in their racing careers and the smile couldn’t be wiped from Madeleines face, still beaming in the pits later in the night.
Drag Racing returns to Hidden Valley on the 28 June with the Beat the Heat Off Street followed by the 2013 NT Titles presented by 7mate from 12-13 July.
WINNER SUPER TOYWORLD JUNIOR DRAGSTER - DANIELLE ABEL
RUNNER UP SUPER TOYWORLD JUNIOR DRAGSTER - DARCY MULLER
WINNER STREET CAR - BOB CZERNIAWSKI
RUNNER UP STREET CAR - ANDREW BRIDESON
WINNER STREET BIKE - MADELEINE JOY-WARDE
RUNNER UP STREET BIKE - BRETT WILKESON
WINNER SUPER STREET - DAVID VOYSEY
RUNNER UP SUPER STREET - SHAUN BOYER
WINNER MODIFIED BIKE - BRANDT MCGLADE
RUNNER UP MODIFIED BIKE - COLIN SAINSBURY
WINNER SUPER SEDAN - MICK DUREAU
RUNNER UP SUPER SEDAN - DANIEL FORMAN (DNS)
WINNER TOP SPORTSMAN – GRANT RADCLIFFE
RUNNER UP TOP SPORTSMAN – RON HEYES