Willowbank Puts On The Biggest Summit Show Yet

Willowbank Puts On The Biggest Summit Show YetBrad Lemberg from Mackay launches the Suzuki 1655

By Mark Humphrey

Willowbank, Qld/Aus. 15^th April 2015. The sunshine state’s biggest heavy hitters came out to play last weekend when Willowbank Raceway hosted round 4 of the Summit Sportsman Series in perfect weather conditions. Having been washed out on the previous 2 race meets, it was a welcome return to fine conditions for Willowbank Raceway management who had fixtured in a standalone round of the Summit Sportsman Series. Normally flanked by group 1 racing at Metro tracks, the Summit Sportsman Series delivered one of the best race meetings seen at the venue for some time. Darren Fry put down multiple 250+ mph passes in his alcohol funny car running in the Super Comp bracket, Dieter Herrmann put the world’s fastest aspirated Pontiac down the quarter pushing the 220mph mark on several occasions and to top it off Chris Tait set a new world record mark in his 4cyl Toyota with a 6.741 pass. Tait recorded huge mph passes with a best of 207.91mph to boot.

On the hour every hour there seemed to be yet another highlight with a familiar silver and blue pro stock car pulling into the staging lanes. Aaron Tremayne had nominated for ANDRA’s marquee bracket in Top Sportsman and although not going all the way he did put down a solid pass of 6.99 @ 196mph. No doubt getting the car ready for Sydney, Tremayne was just one of a number of heavy hitters in the bracket which included Herrmann, Stew Walsh, Russo, Fowler and the round winner Neil Maxwell. After taking care of Darryl Stephen in round 1, Maxwell cruised into the final with a solo pass in both the 2nd & 3^rd rounds. On the other side of the draw Fowler took care of David Morris in round 1 and then followed that up with a solo pass in round 2. Fowler had a tough job ahead of him in round 3 where he was up against the “Best Presented Crew” winner in Paul Russo. Russo had the Chevy humming all day and looked like a finals contender early in the day with some consistent runs in the low 7.60’s. Coming up against Fowler in the semi was just reward for the travelling South Aussie who has competed in 3 of the 4 rounds to date and had just despatched top qualifier Dieter Herrmann in round 2. Unfortunately for Russo a red light finished his campaign with Fowler moving into consecutive finals. Having missed the first 2 rounds Fowler was unstoppable in Adelaide last time out and it took the ever consistent Stuart McBain to halt his run in the final. This time out Fowler was up against Neil Maxwell who had chosen a 7.32 light against Fowler’s 6.91 light. Fowler had the job of chasing down Maxwell who had posted passes in the low 7.30’s all day and it was this consistency that netted Maxwell the win with a 7.374 @ 179.95mph to Fowlers 7.445 @ 187.81mph. Having been within hundredths of his dial in all day it was a well-deserved win for Maxwell in the top division.

Top Sportsman video

Like Top Sportsman, Super Comp was littered with heavy hitters and none bigger than Alcohol Funny Car peddler Darren Fry. Fry, getting some miles into the car was outstanding as he pushed the Monte Carlo past 250mph on several occasions with a 5.544 @ 257mph his best. Rob Nunn looked impressive throughout the day in his immaculate Cobalt but found disaster in his solo semi-final run when he tagged the wall at the 1000ft mark ending his day with a very 2^nd hand car.  Chris Tait had taken care of Tony Bellert in the other semi-final peddling the 4 cylinder Toyota off the wall to record a 6.89 @ 205.38mph. Unfortunately for Nunn he was unable to front up to the final giving the win to Tait. This was a stout division with plenty of muscle including Tait and Fry. Mark Davison was impressive in his altered but had Tait in round 1 which finished off his day. The smaller capacity cars of Payne, Kiprios, McGregor and Moore showed maybe the future of the bracket and along with Tait were more than competitive against the bigger cubed cars.

Super Comp held over due to technical reasons.

Supercharged Outlaws although down in numbers provided plenty of muscle with Matty McKnight (6.73 @ 199.20 on a 6.72) getting the nod over Rodney Hansen (6.767 @ 202.27 on a 6.76) in the final. Top qualifier Nathan Pullen (6.536 @ 208.07 mph) was knocked out in round 1 by Matt Watts in his T Bucket with McKnight, Hansen and Donnelly also taking round 1 wins. Donnelly had taken care of Paul Stephen who this time out didn’t have to worry about tripping the starting beams. Stephen has been a solid supporter of the Summit Sportsman Series competing in 3 of the 4 rounds to date but found himself in a weird situation in Adelaide when the car seemed to continually trip the beams without actually moving. A follow up meeting in Mildura over Easter had the New South Welshman back on track and he looked strong throughout the Willowbank qualifying session. Winner of the Mildura Easter meeting Craig Hanley was a no show to Willowbank courtesy of a hurt power plant sustained during his win in the Mildura final.

Supercharged Outlaws Video

Jake Donnelly also looked impressive throughout qualifying posting multiple 200+mph passes. The team adds some professionalism to the bracket and it would be a shame to lose the outfit to another bracket. All up 8 Supercharged monsters provided plenty of action for the spectators that had made the trip to Willowbank. With remaining rounds in Sydney and back here at Willowbank for the Winter’s, expect numbers to increase significantly as peddlers from all points of the country try to capture one of the most sought after trees in drag racing.

Super Sedan once again had a huge field with 5 rounds needed to determine a winner. In an all Ford final Paul Doeblien ( 9.199 @ 151.92 on a 9.12) got the nod over Max Carpenter (10.063 @ 134.07 on a 10.00 dial in). Top qualifier went to Norman Barry with an 8.599 pass @ 154.90mph. Barry was knocked out in round 1 by current Aussie champ John Kapiris who managed to make it all the way to round 3 where he met Max Carpenter.

Super Sedan Video

Super Street was taken out by Bell Henry in a Ford Fairmont (11.048 @ 120.51 on a 11.02) over Ben Dreyer in a Chev Camaro (11.325 @ 118.90 on a 11.31) who cherried the start. Top qualifier went to Lucas Holz driving a LC Torana (11.022 @ 126.15).

Super Street Video

Modified had a big field with 17 cars rolling out for qualifying. Top qualifier went to Dallas Everett in an Altered posting a best of 7.296 @ 184.35mph. Unfortunately for Everett his day ended in round 1 courtesy of eventual bracket winner Mark Allan. Kelly Bettes and Chelsea Leahy got through round 1 but were matched up in round 2 with only one of the girls going on. Leahy got the nod in a super close race with an 8.547 on an 8.52 with Bettes posting a 7.369 on a 7.36 dial in. Leahy had a solo run in round 3 and was matched up against Allan in the semi for a spot in the final. Allan who had dislocated his knee in the previous round was working under duress but managed to get over Leahy in the semi with a 7.979 on a 7.93 compared to Leahy’s 8.510 on an 8.53. Allan’s competitor in the final was Kevin Morton in a small block Altered. Morton had made his way past Gouws, Loy and Littlewood with a solo pass in the semi. Allan managed to pick up the win with a 7.945 on a 7.93 compared to Morton’s 9.433 on a 9.42.

Modified Video

Super Gas had the smallest field with only 7 cars rolling out to qualify. Fantastic supporter of the class Graeme Spencer top qualified with a 9.913 @ 144.91mph. Spencer who had a solo in round 1 courtesy of being top qualifier got knocked out in round 2 by eventual winner Dale O’Dwyer. O’Dwyer with a 9.905 was too good for Spencer who dropped a 9.926. David Gauldie picked up the other semi-final win with a win over Kerry Boyde. Gauldie posted 9.919 to Boyde’s 9.874.  O’Dwyer in a HZ Holden picked up the final with a 9.920 after Gauldie driving an Olds Cutlass cherried the start. Just to make matters worse Gauldie went under the 9.90 index although the show was already over at the start line.

Super Gas

The bike boys were out in force with massive numbers in the Modified category backed up by solid numbers in Competition Bike.

Craig Edwards on a Suzuki picked up top qualifier in Modified Bike with a pass of 7.973 @ 170.30mph but was unable to back up the #1 qualifier with a bracket win. The win went to Chris Collin on a Suzuki with a pass of 9.173 @ 147.63 over Ace Edwards who posted an 8.889 @ 144.80. The action didn’t finish for Edwards at the finish line having to scramble to safety after coming off his bike. Bruised and battered Edwards was unable to accept his runner up trophy leaving that duty to his father Craig. Ace is expected to make a full recovery after sustaining bruising and some gravel rash injuries.

Modified Bike

Competition Bike was taken out by Darryn Schuster on a Suzuki GSXR 998 posting an 8.265 @ 165.52mph over Blair Pennington also on a Suzuki GSXR 1060. Pennington posted an 8.674 @ 130.22mph. Top qualifier also went to Pennington on a healthy 8.156 @ 162.68mph. Unfortunately for Pennington he was unable to duplicate his qualifying form in the final.

Competition Bike

The last bracket in what was a busy schedule was the Junior Dragsters. With 18 cars lining up for qualifying the road to the final would once again be tough. Current Aussie champ Toby Austin once again top qualified with an 8.003 @ 81.68mph. Toby managed to once again make a final and was up against Eden Ward from the Mopar stable. Both Austin and Ward are the inform drivers with both coming away from Adelaide with a good haul of points. Austin picked up the win while Ward made it to the semis. This time out it was Ward who took the honours after Austin pulled a red light. The pair leave Willowbank capped on 160 points and no doubt will have a big say in who becomes national champ when the series returns to Willowbank for the winters. Bracket competitors have a chance of building points with round 5 scheduled for the Nitro Champs round in Sydney next month.

Junior Dragster Video

Will round 4 of the series done and dusted drivers can now shift their focus to Sydney Dragway and the Nitro Champs which is scheduled to run on the 2^nd and 3^rd of May.

For more info on the Nitro Champs go to: http://www.sydneydragway.com.au/

For more info on the Summit Sportsman Series points tally go to: http://www.andra.com.au/series/points/summit-championship.html

What a round it was for the Summit Sportsman Series and yes it was dominated by Queenslanders but expect the action to be hot when competitors from all over the country roll in to take on the locals at the Winters. Good luck to all the teams competing in Sydney next month.

For all the best images from round 4 of the Summit Sportsman Series go to:  http://www.dragphotos.com.au/

Some more images from the day.

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