The Southern Nationals run over April 4-5th was the second ANDRA National Championship event to be run at Calder Park Raceway in over 13 years. Top Doorslammer, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle headlined the event with the Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship supporting the Group 1 show.

With the forecast changing every day there was an unsettled feeling on what the event would deliver to racers and spectators. However with conviction and a strong passion to proceed the Promoter went forward and the event was all go. The ANDRA activation trailer spent a number of days at different locations and events in the lead up, track staff and officials prepared the venue and racers rolled in.

Friday’s racing was difficult under cold and windy conditions; it had also been quite some time since many of the racers had been down the Calder track. Track conditions were far from perfect and with noticeable movement in the surface since the previous Calder National event, the transition from the concrete to bitumen surfaces was ground leading up to the event however additional remedial work will be required in the future.

Group 1 qualifying on Friday was problematic with many teams looking for an elusive setup to get down the slippery track and racing was called prior to the 2nd qualifier. As the track cooled, the dew point was reached very quickly and developed into light showers. Qualifying continued on Saturday with track conditions improving and racers getting a handle on the tricky conditions.

In TD Stuart Bishop topped the list with a 5.136 over the 1000’ mark being representative of a 6.0/6.1 over the quarter. Second came John Zappia with a 5.27 and the Bray’s came into the top four with Autos dominating the qualifying list, it will be interesting to see where this goes in the future. Marty Dack, Grant O’Rourke, Mark Belleri and Maurice Fabietti rounded off the top 8, while Peter Kapiris was sitting on the outside after qualifying was completed.

Pro Stock also closed up a great deal on the Saturday with Bill Kotsias and Nino Cavallo only being separated by who went 7.115 first. Aaron Tremayne and Jason Grima were a further three hundredths back and Bektash, Hedges, Chilton and Emilio Spinozzi closing out the top eight.

Pro Stock Motorcycle saw the return of the Buell and everyone was keen to see the potential of the Jason Grima owned beast. The first couple of passes were uneasy as the rider/bike combo came to terms with the tricky surface. By the end of qualifying Luke Crowley, reigning National Champion, topped the show with a 7.289 followed closely by Maurice Allen, Phil ‘Bluey’ Howard, Scott White, Tony Hinkley on the Buell and Locky Ireland who was struggling with mechanical issues.

The Group 2 Aeroflow Sportsman categories of Competition Eliminator and Super Stock were combined into a Super Comp bracket, with some stout performances by Daniel Camilleri (-0.56), Mark Barbon (-0.419) and Darren Parker (-0.413). Unfortunately Camilleri suffered from a mechanical fault with the fuel system in round 2 of eliminations and turned into the right wall and then bounced back under full throttle into the left wall causing extensive damage to the car but thankfully coming out with little more than a few bruises, a real testament to safety standards and the build.

In Group 3, Supercharged Outlaws also ran over the 1000’ mark and faced similar issues on the surface, as several drivers did not reach the speeds expected. Reigning champion Luke Marsden top qualified with a 5.674 followed by Chris Van’tHof with a 5.843 and Craig Gerdes on a 5.986.

Modified were one of the categories to fulfil three qualifying sessions on the Friday night as Wayne Cartledge topped the field on an under the national record 6.909 from Leanne Braggs further back on a 7.41, Simon Barlow on a 7.418, Cory Dyson on a 7.465 and Kenny Stewart on a 7.567. Shane Wynd, Leanne Braggs, Jess Turner and Kenny Stewart all reached the semis on the back of strong displays.

Darren Saliba ran quickest in Super Sedan on a 7.584 to top the field from Michael McGrath with a 7.610, Andrew Darby on a 8.016 followed by Stuart McBain with an 8.249 and Daniel Jones with an 8.286. During eliminations ETs never quite reached the same heights.

Nathan Stone put in a great pass in Modified Bike to top the field with a 9.047. He was joined in the 9s by Niki Zakrzewski on a 9.254, Joe Khoury with a 9.343, Robert Cassar with a 9.439, Ben James on a 9.640, Brett Curnow on a 9.675 and Shane Walker with a 9.758. Cassar, Stone and James all went rounds as did Edgell Mallis who posted top speed in qualifying, Brendan Sanders and Brett Curnow.

Super Street remained close as always as Jodie Tedesco and qualified first with an 11.091 from Joe Jurkovic on an 11.107, Anthony Barbara with an 11.116, Rodney Kerr with an 11.144 and Robert Kardum on an 11.160. Jurkovic would go on and jump into fourth in the Championship points.

Junior Dragster was another close battle with Eden Ward top qualifying with a 7.919 from Natalie Bishop with an 8.123, David Roberts on an 8.223, Lee Bektash’s son Leon on a 8.271 and Jake Cartledge with an 8.295. Four of the top five would go on to reach the semi finals with Josh Baker, son of Modified champion Craig, joining them.

Super Gas is a hotly contested bracket in Victoria with the fixed index racers really showing off how close to the 9.90 they can get. This very technical category topped out with Bruno Romeo running a 9.904 and the 9.90’s continued until ninth position with Barry Moore coming in with a still very close 10.028. Roy Romeo, Matt Forbes and Colin Griffin also rounded out the top four. The top four qualifiers Bruno Romeo, Roy Romeo, Matt Forbes and Colin Griffin all made it through to the semis.

On Friday night once the decision was made to cease racing, there was extensive discussion with the promoter and ANDRA on the schedule for Saturday. There was spectator expectation, completion of the event, weather forecasting, racer safety and a myriad of other items discussed. The decision was made by the promoter to push racing back an hour and a half and keep the existing schedule. This was based on avoiding a similar situation to Friday night and gave everyone including the spectator the best possibility of a positive outcome. A good decision and one ANDRA supported.

At approximately 7:00 pm on Saturday night track officials and ANDRA met to discuss the rapidly dropping temperature of the track and decided jointly to cease racing for the night. This decision was not made independently by ANDRA but jointly after due consideration for the safety of racers and their vehicles.

There have been a number of stories relating to the issues and one in particular titled ‘ANDRA pulls the plug on Local Drag Racing’ which was copied and commented on by some on social media. ANDRA contacted the writer Mark Humphrey, to understand how the details were obtained which caused some grief and concern to members and non-members. Mark is a passionate writer who has Drag Racing firmly at the top of his list and is a big supporter of the Promoter, Peter Pisalidis. Unfortunately he interpreted the basis of the story via second hand radio chatter which was always going to be problematic. We have ensured that Mark has a direct feed to the post race wrap up and the goings on for future events. So just to clarify;

  • ANDRA and the Calder Park promoter have a very strong relationship and no one is shying away from the issues which occurred at the Southern Nationals and we are working hard on remedial action.
  • There is always an argument in hindsight we ‘should have’ or ‘could have’ and with the benefit of hindsight some changes may have been made. However accidents and extended delays are not scheduled and safety will always be paramount.
  • BIG thanks to all the racers, spectators and crew who offered support. We are all committed to continue working on Calder Park for a bright future for ANDRA Drag Racing. It’s the feedback we received over the weekend from those individuals and teams which drive the future.
  • The ANDRA Trailer was scheduled and budgeted to go to Melbourne for activation purposes. The yearly schedule and budget has a number of goals, primarily to take ANDRA Drag Racing to the public that would otherwise not be exposed to our sport. The fact that we are at events for our members benefit is secondary but also an important part of what our purpose is, member services and to assist with growing the sport and events.

There is no doubt the second major event in Melbourne had some major obstacles and circumstances that contributed to this outcome however ANDRA, Rodney Jane and Peter Pisalidis are committed to a motorsport future at Calder Park.