Amidst all the action of the Perth Motorplex’s second round of its current Summer Slam Series will be a tough field of Nitro Bikes ready to do battle.
Greg Durack, Wayne McGuinness and Justin Vodanovich will all compete for event honours while Kevin Gummow and his new Puma Triumph-powered motorcycle will also be on-track laying down passes as part of the bike’s ongoing development.
“So far we have had two tuning days plus our appearance at round one of the Summer Slam earlier this month and we are pretty happy with the progress of the bike’s development – it is slow, but steady,” said Gummow, a three-time Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series Competition Bike Champion.
“After each outing we have been making changes responding to the data that we are getting from it, and we are hoping this weekend at the second round of Summer Slam we can have it launching well and hopefully laying down some decent 60 and 100 foot passes as well.
“When you look at the long game, we are working towards mid six-second passes at just over 200 miles per hour, and hopefully chasing a championship locally and even perhaps nationally, but we have a fair way to go yet!”
The ‘Gummow Special’ Top Fuel Motorcycle sports a chassis built by the late and legendary James “Puppet” DiTullio, which has been modified to fit an ex-Jay Upton Puma Triumph four-cylinder engine and its accompanying supercharger.
“It has been a real labour of love and while it can be slow going, we are enjoying the development process,” Gummow said.
“While we aren’t yet competing, we really enjoy running at events like Summer Slam – they are great events of course but also, running at these kinds of shows means you need to turn the bike around quickly between runs whereas at a tuning day you can get a bit slack and not push so hard which means you don’t get as many runs in.
“We are looking forward to seeing what this weekend brings for sure.
“As we continue to work on the bike, my thanks goes to my wife and all of the crew for their support, as well as WA Suspensions, Prospray and Connelly Images along with a special thanks to Jeff Cutajar and Rory Taylor of SpeedTorque.”
The Perth Motorplex’s second round of its Summer Slam series will be held this Saturday, November 28. For more information, visit www.motorplex.com.au
For more from ANDRA, visit www.andra.com.au
PHOTO COURTESY OF PHIL LUYER, HIGH OCTANE PHOTOS