Back-to-back Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship action is impressing at Sydney Dragway this weekend for the Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs, with one of the weekend’s two rounds of on-track action already in the books and the second round of the weekend well underway at the close of proceedings on Saturday.
The Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship is delighting fans this weekend alongside two rounds of racing for NDRC Top Fuel, as well as action for the XPRO Nitro Funny Cars, Top Doorslammers, Pro Stock and FuelTech Pro Mod, while Red Bull Race Champion Matt Hall has also delivered plenty of entertainment in the sky. For a full report on these brackets, please click here.
Eleven Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship brackets rolled out today under a crisp blue Sydney sky, starting with the held over Extreme Bike final from Friday night before continuing into qualifying for the second round of the weekend.
At the end of today’s proceedings, the following racers had claimed the ‘round two’ Top Qualifying honours for their respective brackets: Nathan McKenna (Super Street), Dale Hartill-Law (Super Sedan), Luke Romeo (Super Gas), Daniel Carranza (Modified), Brianna Boskovich (Junior Dragster), Leonard Azzopardi (Extreme Bike), Davydd Estcourt (Supercharged Outlaws) and Dean Jamieson (Modified Bike). SuperComp, Performance Bike and Top Sportsman will complete their qualifying Sunday morning.
In Super Gas, Luke Romeo went to the final against his dad, Roy, in Friday’s round of the Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship, coming home as the runner-up. Now, he heads into the second round of racing on Sunday as the Top Qualifier.
“It feels very good to be top qualifier today – the car is very good, everything is working in harmony at the moment,” Romeo said.
“Without all my team I wouldn’t be where I am, and I just can’t wait to race tomorrow.
“Last night it was a little bit heartbreaking for me at the finish line but it was a very special final for the whole family and the whole team. We were so stoked to get where we were and it was very special to us, and it was great to take home two trees – hopefully we can add some more tomorrow!
“It has been a very good event so far, Andy Lopez has done a really good job setting everything up and everyone is having a great time, I sure am having a great time!”
In Modified Daniel ‘BatDan’ Carranza was a very happy camper after securing his second Top Qualifier honours for the weekend after having earlier top qualified on Friday.
“I am pretty happy with how we went – hopefully we can dial the car in right for tomorrow’s racing and we can go from there,” Carranza said.
“It has been a much different day today compared to yesterday with the conditions, but we made it work.
“The atmosphere from the crowd here is unreal, it has been great to see the fans come out.
“This is one of my favourite events that I look forward to every year. Here is hoping we can give it a crack and go some rounds tomorrow.”
In Extreme Bike, Leonard Azzopardi took the Friday final win with a 7.363 second pass over runner-up Ryan Franks’ 7.858 second effort. Azzopardi also claimed the Top Qualifying honours both on Friday and Saturday.
“It was a challenging (first round of racing) and I think I was a bit luckier with maybe a bit better set-up and a bit more experience and I was able to get the bike down the track and get the win with a bit of luck,” Azzopardi said.
“I would like to thank my crew, my daughter Bianca and my wife Deanne – without them I would line up in the wrong spot and spin all the way down the track! They know the drill, they have all the experience as we have been doing it together for so long.
“I would also like to thank all the track officials and the volunteers for all their hard work over three huge days, we all really appreciate them. And thanks to NDRDC as well for having us, it is always a pleasure.
“I left a lot on the table with driver error for today’s qualifier, that easily should have been into the sixes as the track was perfect – I was lucky I didn’t get the sack from riding the bike,” he laughed.
“Heading into tomorrow’s racing I am pretty excited and hopefully it all goes smoothly, and we can get a good run, and hopefully a PB. A win would be good too, but I am not greedy, I am just happy to be out there racing!”
The third and final day of history making Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs action kicks off Sunday morning with racing for Top Fuel, XPRO Nitro Funny Car, Top Doorslammer, Pro Stock, FuelTech Pro Mod and the Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship, while Matt Hall will also return to impress with more aerial acrobatics. Head to the NDRC Facebook page for an updated schedule.
Tickets are on sale now at https://www.bit.ly/NITROCHAMPS
