Rob Cassar plans to go ballistic this weekend aboard his nitrous-fed Kawasaki as the Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship heads to Fuchs South Coast Raceway in Portland, Victoria.
As a Victorian racer Cassar has done many kilometres of travelling to chase championship rounds in the past and is eager for the return of championship drag racing to his home state for the first time since 2001.
“We will not be leaving any stone unturned (to win),” he said. “South Coast Raceway is a great facility with great traction.
“This will be a new type of meeting, over an 1/8th mile (201 metres) with an index of 5.08. We should have a chance of going some rounds with the best 1/8th mile ET for the bike being 4.77.”
Cassar opened his season at the 2012 Australian Nationals at Sydney Dragway but his campaign to win the Competition Bike category did not go as planned.
“The Nationals in November was our first meeting back after an incident on the bike in March so I was a little bit nervous,” he said. “We had done some (test) passes at Heathcote Park and everything was okay so we went to the Nationals with some confidence.
“In the second qualifying session it was like it was on rails with the front wheel up and it was gone – until we had a nitrous back fire and then it was all over.
“When we got the bike back to the pits we found the backfire had crushed all the ring lands and that was the end of our Nationals campaign.”
With a small but tough six team field entered for Competition Bike at the Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship, including three-times Nationals champ Corey Scholes, Cassar is looking forward to the weekend, which sees qualifying on Saturday and eliminations racing on Sunday.
“The organisation and the track is spot on and the staff make you feel right at home,” he said. “All Victorian motorsport fans should come down and enjoy some great racing and a fun day out.”
Qualifying begins from 11am Saturday.
For more information about the event click here.