The Pro Showdown last weekend at Perth Motorplex was notable for a number of reasons.
Not only did Stuart Bishop take his first ever ANDRA Drag Racing Series win in Top Doorslammer but missing out on the show were heavyweights Victor and Ben Bray, Peter Kapiris, Andrew Sutton and John Cannuli.
Steven Reed was a casualty in Top Alcohol acknowledging he didn’t have the set up to match the quality of the track as weather conditions and constant tyre shake played a part in his DNQ.
John Cannuli meanwhile went into the event with his focus on Top Alcohol eventually taking the win in his Dudu funny car; however it was back to the drawing board for Team Bray, Kapiris and Sutton in what was the tightest race day field ever with teams split by one tenth of a second.
Six-time back-to-back Top Doorslammer champion Victor Bray missed qualifying by just one hundredth of a second, Ben Bray struggled with a new converter and gear box set-up, Andrew Sutton tested a new clutch for the very first time and Peter Kapiris struggled with the correct set up though he would return Saturday for a test pass in the 5.80s that would have been good enough for top qualifier.
“A bad day at the race track is still better than the best day anywhere else, and to see Stuart get up for the win while we professional racers struggled all round was an exciting thing to watch,” said Victor Bray.
“For me, just one hundredth of a second outside of the field, it was certainly frustrating to be watching the racing from the sideline but that is just how this great sport of ours goes sometimes!”
For Victor’s son Ben Bray it was a learning experience as the team will seek to make the most of on-track data gathered from his frustrating day at the race track.
“We have a new converter and gear box set up in the car and we expected some struggles which we certainly got with the engine shutting itself off in both the first and second qualifier,” said Ben Bray.
“While that was disheartening, in the third qualifier we were able to complete a full run complete with a satisfactory launch and a 6.253 second elapsed time.
“While the time was only good enough for 14th on the time sheets it provided us with some strong data to work with which we are pretty happy about. We had anticipated needing to run around 20 passes before we would have this new set-up sorted, so to have strong data so early in the process is really promising.”
“I have to thank the team for all their hard work and also the Perth Motorplex team who arranged room in Saturday’s schedule for me to complete three test passes which provided us with some more valuable information.”
Team Bray is now returning to its Kallangur base where they will fit a converter to Victor’s car before taking both Doorslammers out to their home-track Willowbank Raceway ahead of another trip to WA for the Westernationals.
Meanwhile the Sutton Motor Sport team experienced a few hiccups with a new clutch in the car that would end their weekend after just two passes in qualifying.
“It’s a new clutch, the only one (of its kind) in Australia at this stage,” said Sutton. “We were the guinea pig for it and we found a couple of issues. It probably wasn’t so much in the clutch but more the titanium can being slightly out.”
“With the old clutch, not a drama but these ones actually run a bush like a crank support in the clutch hat itself. The tolerances are pretty tight in there and with the gearbox being slightly out in the titanium can it managed to rub on it pretty much the whole way through the run so it got a little warm.”
After the second qualifying run the team pulled the clutch out to find damage to the input shaft bush and the back of the clutch hat.
“The actual hat itself has gone back to the States to get repaired and the clutch can is in Queensland getting clocked up so it’s in the centre.”
“In hindsight if we had my old clutch we would have put that in and been able to complete a couple more laps.”
“We’re definitely in Perth for the Westernationals and we’ll be getting over to test the week before if all goes to plan.”
With unfinished business, fans can expect an action packed Westernationals as each team looks to improve and go one better to make the tight field.
The 43rd Westernationals take place at Perth Motorplex from February 28 to March 2, 2014. For more information visit www.motorplex.com.au
Image courtesy Phil Luyer / High Octane Photos