Following the All Bike Nationals, the NDRC group one and Aeroflow sportsman competitors now head to the season decider: the SPRY Spring Nationals at Dragway at The Bend (October 22-25)
At the All Bike Nationals presented by Harley-Davidson at the weekend, Danny Rickard (Top Fuel Motorcycle) and Paul Andrews (Pro Stock Motorcycle) took the professional victories, each beating the rider ahead of them in the points standings.
Rickard’s win cut his deficit to Corey Buttigieg from six points to four; while Andrews narrowed his gap to Callam Godeassi from four points to two while extending his margin over third placed Locky Ireland from six to 12.
The October 10 event was the penultimate round of the championship season for Top Fuel Motorcycle, Pro Stock Motorcycle and the Aeroflow Sportsman Championship’s Junior Drag Bike, Modified Bike, and Performance Bike brackets, presenting a chance for critical last-minute points.
It was an eventful day for Rickard. After an oil line failed at the test and tune on Friday, a lingering fuel system issue carried into qualifying, and he endured two chain failures across the day before the bike completed a clean pass in the final, where his 8.05-second run at 268.26kph was enough to beat Buttigieg, who tagged the wall on a 16.09-second pass.
The win closes Rickard’s deficit to Buttigieg in the Top Fuel Motorcycle standings from six points to four. Rob Cassar had top qualified with a 7.196 at 264.75kph, while James Hall accounted for Buttigieg in the opening round before both Cassar and Hall withdrew with bike issues – leaving Buttigieg and Rickard to take solo passes in round two before meeting in the final.
“It was a bit of chaos for us out there today, we were lucky to make it through, we had a bit of carnage,” Rickard said.
“We had an issue at the test and tune Friday with the fuel system which we thought we had gotten our head around, but it was still there in qualifying. But we still got to the end of the track.
“In the first round, we had a joining link in the chain break at 60 foot, and then in the second round, after changing it, the chain broke again, this time about 300 feet.
“So, we put a third chain on it for the final, and it went well with no dramas, other than blowing an oil line off at around the 1000ft mark. We were pretty happy to get the win after all of that!”
For Andrews, the Pro Stock Motorcycle victory was significant on two counts: it narrowed his gap to championship leader Godeassi from four points to two while also extending his advantage over third-placed Locky Ireland from six points to 12 – Ireland had top qualified before withdrawing after a round one win. It was also his first win in 26 years.
His 7.41-second pass at 288.75kph beat a red-lighting Godeassi, whose quicker 7.239 at 299.98kph was struck out by the foul. The pair had already met in round one, where Andrews (7.471/285.51kph) again prevailed over a red-lighting Godeassi (7.292/294.08kph). With Ireland withdrawn, both riders took solo passes in round two – 7.555/287.46kph for Andrews and 7.258/277.03kph for Godeassi – on their way to the final.
“This is my first win in 26 years – I raced Pro Bike 26 years ago, back in the day, and then I got back into it a few years ago with the help of some very special people in the class. Trevor Birrell and all the guys in this class are amazing, and they all seem to help each other, it is a real nice little community,” Andrews smiled.
“It was great to get the win, I was a little lucky I suppose as Cal red-lit a couple of times, but I also had some good lights. The bike wasn’t at its best, we had a few issues like everyone did, but to say I am stoked with the win is an understatement! To have a win in this class is a bit special for me, I am really stoked!”
In the Aeroflow Sportsman Championship ranks, it was Aliza Harris (Junior Drag Bike, runner-up Kobe Ashelford), Dean Jamieson (Modified Bike, runner-up Michael Cristoforo), and Neville Langley (Peformance Bike, runner-up Edge Mallis) who took out the event wins.
Langley emerged victorious from the final against Top Qualifier Edge Mallis, running under the national record to boot. He worked through the three-round Chicago Shootout format with wins over Nick Stewart and Cheryl ‘MsVrod’ Beddoes before a round three solo, while Mallis opened with a round one bye and then defeated Joe Khoury and Casey Carlson.
The runner-up result was timely for Mallis, who jumped Ken Collin in the title standings – turning a 15-point deficit before the event into a five-point advantage.
“I feel fantastic. We improved with the bike ten-fold! With the new combo, we have been slowly getting a handle on it, and we ran under the national record today in the final, so everyone is just rapt with that,” Langley said.
“The All Bike Meeting is awesome. We have had a really good run at the All Bike meetings, so hopefully they can continue. I want to say a big thank you to Trevor Birrell from Trevor Birrell Racing, he provides the horsepower, and to all the competitors – you can’t get a better bunch of guys than at an All Bike meetings!”
In Junior Drag Bike, Harris ended Ashelford’s winning run to take the win, having earlier dispatched Isabel Woolcock in round one and Top Qualifier Bailey Paul in the semi-final. Ashelford booked his place in the final with wins over Lawrence Rashcella and Austin Walpole.
The result lifted Harris past Paul into second position in the standings, 60 points behind Ashelford.
“I am pretty excited, it is good to be back to getting back into racing again as I had a momentary pause where I wasn’t in it as such, and I have had a lot of support from people around me and was able to get back into what I was meant to do,” Harris said.
“It was good fun to race against the people I raced against today; they all made it good fun. The bike went great, it was very consistent, and I didn’t have any troubles with it, and it absolutely loved the weather today, the weather just made it go.
“I was actually really surprised, I didn’t think I was going to get that win as I felt I was off my dial-in, but it turned out that I ended up breaking out but still ended up with the win! It was a good race and definitely a tough one against Kobe.”
In Modified Bike, Jamieson had a hugely successful day, claiming Top Qualifying honours before taking victory over a red-lighting Michael Cristoforo in the final. The result stretched his championship lead over Sean Rickets from 80 points to 120, with a maximum of 125 points on offer at the finale.
Earlier in the day he enjoyed a round one bye, then advanced past Nick Larcombe and Dazz Scott before a second bye run in the semi-final. Cristoforo earned his place in the final with wins over Tony Frost, David McGinn, Derryn McGregor, and Brock Richards.
“It was a good day. We had a good field of 17 bikes with a good mix of different bikes and racers, some close racing, and the results fell our way at the end of the day,” Jamieson said.
“We headed into All Bike in the lead for Modified Bike and this has seen us really extend our margin heading into the finale, which is really fantastic. Hopefully we can keep up this form later this month to take out the big trophy – back-to-back NDRC championship wins would be very nice indeed!” he added, while thanking his crew, the Walpoles and the Bartletts, as well as NDRC, ANDRA, and Dragway at The Bend.
The SPRY Spring Nationals at Dragway at The Bend across October 22-25 will host the NDRC season finale for all brackets: BLAHST Top Fuel, XPRO Nitro Funny Car, Top Doorslammer, Top Fuel Motorcycle, Pro Alcohol, Pro Stock, Pro Stock Motorcycle, Pro Mod, and the Aeroflow Sportsman Championship. For event information, visit https://nationaldragracing.com.au/calendar/
To learn more about the NDRC, visit www.ndrc.tv
