In what can only be described as a game changing moment, Darwin Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Scott White scored one of his biggest drag racing career wins at the recent Lady Daly Hotel Springnationals.
The Springnationals featured the fifth round of the ANDRA Pro Stock Motorcycle Championship, and as such all the heavy hitters were in the Adelaide International Raceway pits.
White qualified second and then went on to defeat Glenn Wooster, Maurice Allen and Phil Howard in eliminations to earn his second ANDRA Pro Stock Motorcycle victory and 107 valuable points.
“I’m very, very pleased with the results,” said White.
"I knew a win was coming and felt confident that this could be the weekend. However it didn’t really start off on the right foot. On my first Friday qualifier, the AMPAC Suzuki spun the rear tyre hard on the launch, turned left and pointed me towards the concrete wall.
“We knew we were making good horsepower but were unable to get in another run that night as the track was deemed unsafe because of the dewy conditions.
“On Saturday my first full run down the Adelaide quarter-mile was a 7.328 ET at 174 mph, which is a new personal best for me. What a confidence booster that was!
“Then in round two of eliminations I defeated Maurice Allen for the first time in my Pro Stock Motorcycle career. That was a huge race. We both went Pro Stock for the first time back in 1991 and I’ve never defeated him until this weekend. To finally beat him outright was bloody awesome,” said White.
“Coming to this event early allowed me to put the bike on a dyno and test a few ideas I’ve wanted to try for a while. The results saw new PB increments in the early part of the run, indicating we are moving in the right direction. The bike was a bit violent on the launch but we will make some changes to the gearing for the next round to calm the bike down.
“The only other issue I had was pulling the bike up at the end of the track. The last time we raced here the racing distance was 1000 feet, but this time it was a quarter-mile. I ended up just touching the sand on a few occasions. Overall I’m real proud to get that win under my belt and especially in Adelaide.
"The last time I had a win was when I was living in Adelaide in 1993 and travelled to Darwin. This time I did it in reverse going from Darwin to Adelaide.
“The bike was very consistent and to top it off I left the track without any broken engines"
White now moves into third position in the points with the next round at Calder Park for the Fuchs Nitro Thunder event on October 19.
Photo supplied by Dave Hope