fastlane
The Modified class qualifying was led by local racer Grant
Radcliffe who pushed his 23 Altered to a 7.86s at 163 mph effort.
David Bonetti from South Australia was second quickest with a
time of 8.05s while Victorian Matt Czerny ran his dragster to a
time of 8.54 seconds for third.
Grant Radcliffe – last year’s event winner – put away Ron
Heyes in the first round but went on to lose to his brother
Dean in round two following a monster wheelstand. Meeting
Dean Radcliffe in the final was the ‘32 Ford Coupe of South
Australian Sergio Bonetti, who had earlier faced Mick Bowden
and Matt Czerny who had each cut red lights. A 0.004s reaction
from Radcliffe was enough to take the win after Bonetti’s
breakout.
Ashley Smith put his Camaro on top of the Super Sedan
qualifying list with an 8.608s that was just ahead of South
Australian Leon Davies’ 8.609s. Rob Evan, also from SA, filled
third place in his Chrysler.
Four-time ANDRA Super Sedan Champion John Kapiris had a
solo in the opening round before Davis in round two. Local
Peter Kirkpatrick then went red against Kapiris in the semis.
NT racer Ashley Smith enjoyed two single runs and a red
lighting Ned Karanovic before facing Kapiris in the finals. The
HQ Holden of Kapiris cut the better light and went on to take
the win over a breaking-out Smith.
With nine entries in Super Street, the NT-based Commodore
of Theo Karamannidis recorded a run in 11.03 seconds to finish
on top of the qualifying sheets, while Tim Bryan clocked an
11.10s to be second quickest. The HX Monaro of Craig Caton
from Western Australia sat in third spot with an 11.17s ET.
Karamanidis took a solo in the opening round before defeating
Howard Munt in round two, going on to face Bryan in the
semis. Bryan emerged victorious and joined Shaun Boyer in
picking up a solo pass into the final – a repeat of the 2016 event
with the Falcon of Bryan defeating Boyer’s Holden Gemini in
an all Northern Territory final.
Modified Bike was the biggest sportsman bracket at Nitro
Up North with 18 riders. Clive Mainland repeated his top
qualifying performance of last year with an 8.08s ET at 168
mph. The Harley Davidson of Heath Costello went 8.46s to be
second quickest while South Australian Danny Rickard put his
Harley on the third rung. Two-time ANDRA Champ Bryan Finn
qualified 16th with a personal best 10.874s, while Tony Wood
from WA had a frightening fall on his Yamaha in the braking
area and spent the night in hospital for observation.
When it came to racing, Finn walked into round two after a
red light from Brandt McGlade, but it was his turn to see red
in the following round two. Gordon Crawford enjoyed much
better success this year than his early first round red light exit
in 2016. The “Moving Man” had a single in the first round and
then proceeded to round three after Gavin Dohnt went red at
the tree. Crawford then put away top qualifier Mainland to pick
up another single in the semis.
In the finals, Crawford met local rider Dale Smith who moved
forward following three red lighting opponents and a solo
run. West Aussie Crawford would be too strong for the local,
defeating Smith with a 9.89s on a 9.66s dial-in to a losing 0.209
reacted 9.49s on a 9.40s ET.
In the Summit Racing Equipment Junior Dragster category, a
first was had in qualifying with Sydney brothers Samuel and
Jackson Perri sat in the top two positions with ETs of 8.002s
and 8.005s. Bradley Bishop, also from NSW, recorded an ET of
8.005s to be third quickest.
Come time for racing, top qualifier Samuel Jackson opened up
with a win over Michelle Abel but was then defeated by Conner
Begley in round two. In the semi-finals, Begley had a bye while
Brodie Zappia survived a double break-out race against NSW
racer Bishop. An all-West Australian final then saw Zappia cut
the better reaction, but his 9.02s on an 8.80s dial-in was no
match for a winning 8.18s on an 8.13s dial-in from Begley.
For full results from the Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman
Series at Hidden Valley, please click here.
Images by Edmund Forman
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