Many, many kilometres of travel, a dedicated team, a well-performing race car and plenty of strong and consistent results across the 2022/2023 Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series saw WA racer Alan Mahnkoph celebrated as a well-deserving Supercharged Outlaws Australian Champion at the ANDRA Grand Finals.

How did you get into drag racing?

I started drag racing at Sunday Street meetings at Ravenswood Raceway with my now wife Lisa, along with family and friends, just running our street cars back in 1987. Lisa and I continued to do so on and off for a number of years until it closed down. Lisa and I both then continued racing our street registered supercharged 202 EH holden Ute at Kwinana in 2000 onwards. We then purchased Geoff Develin’s EH Holden Ute (Fireman’s Quickie) in early 2002 and after a complete revamp to suit us (Force Fed Racing), we then licenced and started running the car in the newly formed Supercharged Outlaws Bracket in 2004 at Kwinana Motorplex. At the October 2011 season opener at the Perth Motorplex, the car was destroyed in a rollover hitting both fences in an elimination round. The team then was offered another EH Ute body shell from a keen follower, who happened to be the one and only “Mr EH” himself, Peter Heath. With great gratitude, the team then set out and updated and replicated the original style of the original Ute and had it relicensed in 2015. The new car was built by such a passionate team, and the car has since performed flawlessly over the years.

What does it mean to you to have achieved the championship?

It is great to have won the championship for the team. As a sportsman racer, I am very grateful that my team is so passionate and has put in a lot of commitment with juggling work/life and travel expenses while in pursuit of our national championship.

How long have you been pursuing the championship, and how does it feel now to have achieved it?

For three seasons now we have travelled interstate to compete in the championship. COVID held us back a bit last year as it was hard to travel, so it was great to be able to do the full series this year and the car performed faultlessly. We are really happy to have clinched it this year.

What are your plans for the upcoming season?

We are having the upcoming season off from running Supercharged Outlaws to regroup and hopefully find some new sponsors to help us to chase another championship in the following season, so watch this space.

Why do you choose to compete in the Supercharged Outlaws category?

We choose to compete in Supercharged Outlaws as we love the sound of supercharged engines and enjoy racing other supercharged cars, while putting on a great show for the crowd. We also choose the category as we can run our car as hard as we like within our budget and wear our parts out, rather than throwing them out, hahaha!

Do you have plans to try other classes? Why/why not?

No, I am happy to race Supercharged Outlaws under the current rules and am looking forward to racing with the Wild Bunch in the future.

What was your favourite event of the 2022/2023 season and why?

All of the events are great and unique. It is awesome fun taking your race car on holidays, meeting new people on our travels and catching up with friends.

What was the highlight of your season aside from taking out the title?

The meeting with 47-degree heat, a plague of crickets and a pit bay full of prickles – even with all that, we had a great time.

Who would you like to thank for the roles they have played in your title season?

Special thanks must go out to our team of friends, family and supporters that have helped us achieve this along the way. I also want to send a big thankyou to our supporting sponsors of Force Fed Racing: Steve from Bodmec Maintenance Solutions; Alan and Shirley from Alan Eriksson Builder; Todd from Bennco Group; Gary from Jazinet; and Darrel from Marina Smash Repairs – without their help and support, none of this would have been possible.

For the complete listing of ANDRA champions, please click here