Darren Morgan’s domination over Top Fuel remained in place following day one of qualifying at Perth Motorplex in the ANDRA Drag Racing Series.
The three times national champion hit a 4.75 second time at 492kmh in the first session to seize top qualifying position in the V8 Nights dragster, with one hit out remaining at 6pm on Saturday.
The “Mildura Missile” is now placed in prime position to fire for a third straight event victory, following on from winning efforts in Adelaide and Sydney.
“The track here tonight was the best we have ever seen and the conditions perfect to go fast,” he said. “We stood on it even more for the second past but it burned up a piston and wasn’t quite as quick.”
Morgan said they will use Saturday’s final qualifying session as an opportunity to test some ideas before launching into round one.
Home town hero Mark Sheehan, coming off a win last time he raced in Perth, currently sits in second with a 5.02 performance, aborted early when the dragster got perilously close to the safety barriers at over 400kmh and saved only thanks to Sheehan’s extensive driving experience.
The early signs were good for Sheehan, recording quicker incremental times than Morgan until getting out of shape.
Both Phil Lamattina and Allan Dobson endured troubled starts to their campaigns, unable to get their 8000 nitro horsepower under control as the tight race track caught them out.
In round two of the ANDRA Top Bike championship, Western Australian Mark Drew made his season debut a promising one after clocking a 6.60 second pass in the second qualifying session.
Sydney’s Chris Porter managed a positive 6.88 to slot into second but the talk of the night was missing three times champion Chris Matheson.
Matheson’s normally super-reliable nitro motorcycle had issues with the supercharger and was unable to front for a single session.
Fortunately for Matheson, with less than eight bikes in the field he will be able to take a spot at the bottom of the seeding in round one.
Race day at Perth Motorplex begins at 6pm Saturday with qualifying session three for Top Fuel and round one of Top Bike, followed by semi finals at 8pm and finals at 10pm.
For more information on the event, click here.