Edgell Mallis has spent 34 years in drag racing and not once has he contested the full Australian championship schedule. Until now.
This season Mallis plans to run every Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship round he can get to with the aim of breaking the B/Modified Bike speed record using a stock standard BMW S1000RR.
“Its only modification now is an extended swing arm via bolt on extensions and the lowering of its ride height,” he said.
“I’ve run the bike for 12 months in stock road trim while getting used to it and ran a best of 10.01 at 151 mph but my weight of 94 naked wasn’t helping so with the addition of length at recent testing on a very cold track it ran a 9.70 at 155.5 mph while it was breaking traction.”
“I’ve been offered another 15-20 horsepower with the swap over of the ECU but at this stage I would like to achieve what I’m doing on what I’ve got considering its got less than 1000 kms on it and after about 90 minutes work I can get it back to street trim to be able to participate in track days at Phillip Island.”
Mallis says he began drag racing after a friend who owned a Z1000 and “who was so short he had trouble touching the ground” asked him to race the bike on his behalf over the quarter mile against someone who put money up against it.
“From then on I was hooked, raced my own street bike for about two years before being sponsored to ride a Turbo Z900 A/Comp Bike for a year and then buying the Mad Max Z900 stunt bike which was a drag bike campaigned by Barry Spiller and ridden by Dale Bench.”
The bike held the A/SB record for approximately five years but Mallis piloted the Z900 in S/StreetBike for a number of years before the class was disbanded due to low numbers.
“I ended up in B/SB and ended up parting with the bike in the late 90s to swap over to Suzuki power, a Pro Bike style frame and a 1500cc big block running 8.78 at 150 mph with very basic internals.”
Currently sitting seventh in the Modified Bike championship standings, Mallis aims to pass the top three points holders at the X-Champs before an assault on the red centre at Alice Springs Inland Dragway in July.
He’ll have his work cut out for him though as the X-Champs field also boasts two-time Tasmanian champion Shane Walker who currently occupies fourth in the standings.
Walker relocated from Tasmania to Melbourne in 2012-13 in order to concentrate his efforts on the Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship and thanks to the help of new sponsors Penrite Oils joining long-term sponsors So Blonde and Mid Life Cycles, Walker intends on competing at most national events.
“My best result is a runner up in Alice Springs and finished third in the National Championship,” said Walker.
“I won the John Taverna Classic at Calder in March, my first national open win. My current best ET is 9.40 at 141 mph and this year I’m chasing the Aeroflow championship on the destroyer.”
The Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship kicks off the X-Champs on Friday May 2 from 9:30 am. The action continues throughout the weekend (Friday-Sunday) with the stars of the ANDRA Drag Racing Series on track from 11:30 am Saturday May 3. ANDRA Gold Christmas Tree trophies will be up for grabs on Sunday May 4.
For more information on the X-Champs or to purchase tickets, please click here.