Drag racers on song during Weeks of Speed

Fast cars were out in full force at the Gunnedah Airport last weekend, as the Tamworth Drag Racing Association (TDRA) began its season in conjunction with Gunnedah’s Weeks of Speed festival.

The 1/8 mile drag racing event featured 50 cars and four motorbikes, with a huge variety of vehicles including a Porsche Cayenne GTS, Hyundai i30 and a 1946 Chev Pick-up Hotrod, along with purpose-built drag cars.

The street registered cars reached speeds of 150kmh and beyond, while some of the purpose-built drag cars went a little over 200kmh.

Participants came from the New England and North West regions as well as the Central Coast, Mudgee, Dubbo, Lightning Ridge and Queensland.

TDRA president Bill Ausling said, “TDRA have been putting on these events for almost 30 years, and we still have new racers travelling to Gunnedah to participate.

“For some participants, they’re on to the third generation of racers.

“A surface like this is very different to race on, what is called ‘no prep racing’, and it’s always a challenge for racers to be consistent.

“So seeing the racers improve throughout the event and have very close finishes with just one to two hundreds of a second difference at the finish line.”

With a cool and windy start to proceedings last Saturday, racers had six qualifying rounds to get settled and become familiar with the track.

The wind eased off the following day which was bright and sunny, with three qualifying rounds before eliminations.

The field was placed into four groups plus the motorbikes, ready for the run to the finals.

Shawn Close (motorbikes) and Beau Robertson (Group D) came close to winning for the second year in a row.

RESULTS:

Motorbikes: Shawn Close from Muswellbrook had the better start on the Yamaha R1, but he ran off his dial-in which enabled Mark Hodges from Dubbo to win on his Honda CRF 450.

Group D: A slightly better reaction by Alan Abra in his 1946 Chev Pick-up Hotrod was the winning factor over Beau Robertson’s XR6 Falcon.

Group C: The finalists were Alissa Munn in the SS Commodore and James Allston in the GLE Volvo, with Munn leaving a little too quick and getting the red light which enabled Allston to win.

Group B: It was the first time at Gunnedah for Mudgee’s Tom Sethack and his Nissan Silvia, with a good reaction enabling him to win against Ian Austin from Williamtown in a LH Torana.

Group A: This was the closest final, with just 0.033 difference at the finish line. Abermain’s Mick Heawood’s Chev Nova Wagon had the better start, but Manilla’s Geoff Alston ran closer to his dial-in and took the win in a 1978 Camaro.

Best reaction: Craig Monk from Awaba cut the perfect light with a neat 0.000 reaction time in his HQ Tonner.

Closest-To-Dial-in: Damien Burr in his HQ Ute ran a 9.44 on his nominated 9.40 sec dial-in, a margin of just 0.04.