Smith Makes Nullarbor Crossing Worthwhile.

Smith Makes Nullarbor Crossing Worthwhile.

By Mark Humphrey

Willowbank, Qld/Aus. 22^nd June 2015. West Australian Ross Smith made the longest trip in drag racing coming from Western Australia to compete at the Fuchs 2015 Winter Nationals at Willowbank Raceway in Queensland. Smith made the trip worthwhile when he beat home Victorian Rob Cassar in the final to take out the 2015 Winter Nationals Competition Bike bracket and in doing so also picked up the national championship for the division.

Smith was one of 19 riders to contest the bracket and had the toughest task of all when he faced off against Warrnambool Drag Racing Club president Tony Frost in round 1. Frost was considered one of the favourites to take out the bracket with consistency his trade mark. Fortunately for Smith the race was a non-event when Frost was too eager to get away and cherried the start. From there Smith advanced to the final courtesy of wins against Andy Roberts in the quarters and Niki Zakrzewski in semi final #1 after she also cherried her start.

On the other side of the draw Cassar faced off against Todd Johnson with the winner meeting in form rider Blair Pennington in the quarter final. Cassar after getting away slowly managed to pick up the round 1 win and moved on to pair up against Pennington. The quarter final race was a close affair with Cassar just getting home over Pennington to advance to the semi final where Peter Puznik was waiting. The semi final race was another tight affair for Cassar with the start line advantage enough to hold on for the win and a long overdue finals appearance. Cassar during his runners up presentation speech joked that it had been 15 years since making a final.

Unfortunately for Cassar he was left on the line in the final and was never in the hunt for the gold tree as Smith held the advantage right through the pass to take out the win. It was a fitting end to a bracket that was once again well supported by Queensland riders with a good number of interstate riders joining in.

Competition bike has a quick spell before round 1 of the 2015/16 Summit Sportsman Series rolls into  Alice Springs for the 2 day meet starting on the 25^th of July.

Sportingscribe.com will be on deck to capture all the highlights of competition bike drag racing.

For more info on the event go to: http://andra.com.au/series/calendar/2015-16-calendar.html

Competition Bike Video Package

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