Friday qualifying for the Australian Nationals saw many racers in the Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship bettering national records as fields were set ahead of the start of Saturday eliminations.
Greg Leahy was in a position of domination in Competition following a 6.553 pass from his BB/FCA Chevy Monte Carlo, 0.17 underneath the national record. Championship series aspirants Greg Clayton and Jason Maggs followed in the two and three positions respectively, both also under their national records.
John Kuiper put in a consistently quick display to secure top spot in Super Stock. Running a best of 7.974 to be 0.06 of a second underneath his national record, Kuiper also bettered the record in both of his other qualifying passes.
Gina Bullians (pictured above) gave Super Compact a shake up with a new personal best of 6.939 in her BB/SM-classed Mazda RX7, to be 0.22 underneath the national record. Not left shamed was Michael Baghdadi, 0.21 underneath his national record with a 6.984 in his CC/SC Nissan 200SX.
Competition Bike has completed two qualifying sessions with one remaining tomorrow. Corey Buttigieg currently holds a big lead on one of the world’s quickest Harley Davidson V-Rods, with an 8.398 pass almost two tenths of a second underneath the national record.
Supercharged Outlaws is close with Andrew Hodgson just getting the edge on the field with a 6.545. Shannon Gaddes (6.552), Darryl Walford (6.563) and Mal Gower (6.566) are right behind.
Andrew Musgrave is light years ahead in Modified with a 6.550 time not only in number one position but also under the existing 6.610 national record for the AA/MA class. Musgrave is this weekend driving the turbocharged altered more commonly seen with Mark Hinchelwood at the wheel, with Hinchelwood on duty in Top Alcohol.
Super Sedan featured a battle taking place in the six second zone for top qualifying honours. Dallas Whyte emerged atop the standings with a 6.745 from his Chev Camaro. Phil Rillotta’s 1005 cubic inch Camaro meanwhile qualified third with a 6.914 but exceeded the 206.39mph speed record for SS/A with a massive 219.19mph clocking.
In Modified Bike, there was a heartbreaking moment when championship leader Tony Frost took a tumble in the braking area. Frost fortunately escaped without serious injury but his Kawasaki would appear to be beyond repair before tomorrow’s racing. Bob Shaw currently leads the field with an 8.382 from his Kawasaki.
Super Street sees South Australian driver Joe Jurkovic at the top of the qualifying sheets following an 11.044 pass from his classic Dodge Dart.
Junior Dragster is super tight in the top qualifying positions. With 8.00 the cut off for the bracket, Naomi Lightowler leads with an 8.001. Four other drivers have qualified with a time of 8.00, with only the third decimal separating them.
National champion Simon Isherwood has again top qualified in Super Gas, ANDRA’s only heads up indexed category. With 9.90 the perfect time, Isherwood went 9.907 to narrowly qualify ahead of Adrian McGrotty’s 9.908.
Eliminations for the Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship begin tomorrow alongside qualifying for the professional categories of the ANDRA Drag Racing Series.
Image with thanks to Hayley Turns.