Round 10 A Victim Of Windyalla

Round 10 A Victim Of Windyalla

Current Modified Bike Australian Champ Bryan Finn gets it sideways

By Mark Humphrey

Whyalla/Sth Aus, Aus. 13^th March 2017. The Australian National Drag Racing Association (ANDRA) in conjunction with Whyalla track staff have put a halt to round 10 of the Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series due to inclement weather conditions that at times had put the drivers safety at risk.

The decision to suspend racing was first taken late in the afternoon with officials electing to re-assess the situation within the hour. High winds had caused a number of issues with race cars getting down the strip safely due to the amount of dust that had settled on the racing surface. ANDRA Competition Manager Brett Stevens was on deck along with Ray Treasure to oversee the running of the Summit round which had been promoted as a single day event. The decision by Stevens to consult with the relevant organising representatives with regards to driver safety was absolutely warranted with the correct course of action taken. I have to say that the governing body of the sport has got this one right and hats off to Stevens and race officials for taking the tough line here. Stevens was not alone in the decision making with some of the sports best officials on hand to further endorse the recommendations. Along with Stevens and Treasure, we had Tim Reidy as race director, Craig Plummer as the official starter, Whyalla Steel City Drags President Mark Kuhn as well as his award winning team officials on hand to assist with the decision making.The decision makers in deep discussion

The large number of spectators that had supported the event were told by commentator Alan Ward that racing was suspended for an hour while officials waited for the wind to abate. Drivers were summoned to a track-side meeting where they were told by Mark Kuhn that racing would be put on hold for the moment. Kuhn added that if they couldn’t get a re-start then the club was prepared to finish the meeting in the morning which seemed to be the logical choice as race teams had come from as far as Perth, Melbourne and Sydney to compete in the event.

Super Sedan champ John Kapiris questioned the legality of running the meeting the next morning as the official entry didn’t list provision for a rain out day. After a vigorous discussion between track officials and Kapiris the offer to run the remainder of the meeting if required the next morning stood much to the dismay of Kapiris. Kapiris may have been right in his opinions but the fact was that some racers had travelled to Whyalla chasing championship points so it seemed in the best interest of the series competitors to continue with racing. It must also be said that there were a lot of racers there that just wanted to go racing.Currenty 4 x Australian Super Sedan Champ John Kapiris puts down a qualifier

After 45 minutes of downtime the meeting resumed with officials deeming it safe to run. The wind had abated slightly but was still coming in at a fair rate. The track temperature was starting to drop as well making it tough to carry on with the eliminations. Officials were able to complete round 1 of eliminations for Junior Dragster, Super Street and Super Sedan but had to call the night when the Supercharged Outlaws rolled into the staging lanes. Competitors were told that eliminations would continue in the morning from 9am.Vlado Turic picked up the Super Sedan Top Qualifier while Michael Braggs (below) was Top Sportsman's #1

During the night, the area received some rain which had soaked the dust that had settled on the track leaving the racing surface covered with a thin film of mud. Early morning inspections of the racing surface resulted in track officials taking the decision to cancel the meeting completely due to the preparation time that was required to get the racing surface up. That meant that this was the 4^th round that had been cancelled during the 2016/17 series with Adelaide, Portland, Swan Hill and now Whyalla all coming to an abrupt end with the exception of Swan Hill which was pulled from the series schedule prior to the event.Round 10 Top Qualifiers

This was also the 4^th event at Whyalla this season that had been canned due to inclement condition. As a matter of fact, Whyalla Steel City Drags have not completed an event this season which must be heart breaking for all the people involved with the club. The facility is a reasonable size when you take into account the amenities and would definitely require plenty of work to prepare the facility for a race meeting and even more for a Summit round.Whyalla in reflection through the visor of Modified Bike rider Greg Oberti

Although the event was cancelled I believe points will be allocated for first round wins which although only 20 points, will be of assistance to some. Top Sportsman runner Greg Damiani picked up a first round when with a solo pass due to the fact John Kapiris had loaded his car onto the trailer and gone home. The other Top Sportsman chasing points was Michael Braggs who managed to Top Qualify but lost in round 1 when he had to lift slightly due to the car getting lose. Actually, there were a number of drivers that had to get off the pedal in round 1 due to the car unloading.Top Sportsman racer Greg Damiani had a solo in round 1 and also picked up best presented.

Well it was a disappointing end to an event that promised so much. Club president Mark Kuhn just shrugged his shoulders this morning and said how it was just bad luck. He also mentioned that a lot of racers come away with 60 foot PB’s giving testament that the track was on. It’s just a pity about the dust that had settled on the racing surface further down the track.

The series now heads to Adelaide International Raceway for the final round of the series where ANDRA will crown National Champions in each bracket with some having the opportunity to go back to back. Kapiris, Darryl Stephen in Super Gas and Bryan Finn in Modified Bike are in strong positions to go back to back with Craig Geddes already guaranteed another Competition Eliminator Series Championship to go with last year’s. Geddes cleaned up on the Western Australia swing and now has an unbeatable lead going into the final which is much the same situation as last year.

The Grand Final round is over 2 days with action commencing at 3pm on Friday the 31^st of March with a full day’s program listed for the Saturday with finals decided Saturday night.

For more info on the event go to:https://www.facebook.com/adelaidedrags/

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