A fourth rider has emerged as a title contender for the Australian Modified Bike Championship joining Joe Khoury, David Carroll and Edgell Mallis at the pointy end of the standings.

Although facing an uphill battle, a win at Round 9 of the Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship in Mildura was a huge step in the right direction for Shane Walker and his title hopes.

“To win at Mildura was a dream come true, all the heavy hitters in the class were competing and after all these years I have an ANDRA Christmas Tree,” he said. 

“It was a huge relief and confidence booster, not to mention a fitting reward for the effort, inconvenience and expense, my partner Alexius and I have endured the last two years in particular.”

Walker said he felt the event had a surreal feeling about it with Alexius back home in Tasmania and Mike Darcy crewing with him for the first time. 

“He was a huge help,” added Walker. “Qualifying was a bit of a struggle, the bike wanted to go left all the time particularly in the right lane. I was hoping for low 5.9s (over the eighth mile distance) if we got a handle on the clutch but the final two qualifiers saw the rider suffering brain fade and if not short shifting I totally missed the change altogether. We qualified with a slightly disappointing 6.05.”

Despite the nerves and short shifting every gear in round one, Walker snuck a win over Malcolm Price before another launch to the left and a missed gear in round two against Joe Khoury. Luckily for Walker, Khoury activated the red light allowing him to coast to victory.

“With a bye in the semi, Mike and I chose the left lane thinking we’d probably be put there for the final. A good solid run of 6.08, within three thousands of our best run for the meeting, steeled our decision to leave the dial in at 6.05 and choose the left lane again for the final when we learned we had Johnny (Ireland) and would be chasing. 

“As we came to the line I was strangely nervous but calm at the same time, cut a reasonable light, Johnny cut a blinder and as I picked up third gear and saw how far Johnny was in front, my heart sunk and as we crossed the finish line I thought I had blown it again. I didn’t see whose win light came on and could only hope he had cherried or broken out. 

“I sat on the bike for what seemed an eternity until Mike arrived and gave a very casual thumbs up and put me out of my misery. Lady luck had stayed with us and we had pushed Johnny to a break out.

“The tow back up the return road was one of the best experiences of my life, I couldn’t get back to the van quick enough to call Alex who was in Tassie and give her the news. I still didn’t believe it until I had that beautiful silver tree in my hands at the presentations.”

Riding for Mid Life Cycles, Penrite Oils, Photography Plus and Geelong Harley Davidson, the two-time Tasmanian Champion goes into the Fuchs Spring Nationals at Adelaide International Raceway with the single goal of reaching the final to close the gap even further on Khoury, Carroll and Mallis. 

“We generally run okay at Adelaide and whilst I would much like the bike to run consistently in the 9.4s I will be more than happy for three really consistent qualifiers and four win lights.

“We average going three rounds in Adelaide so I’ll have to improve a tad and must make the final to have any hope at the Championship. This would put us roughly in the same possie as last season, needing to go one or two more rounds than Joe or anyone else with 300 points, difficult but not impossible. 

“Whilst not wishing ill on my friends and fellow competitors, our cause would be helped if a couple of them went out early giving us the opportunity to move into second place in the points and put some pressure back on them.”

The Fuchs Spring Nationals featuring Top Fuel, Top Doorslammer, Pro Stock Motorcycle and the Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship will be held October 4-5, 2014 at Adelaide International Raceway. 

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Image courtesy: TAD Photos