8 fastlane
RADCLIFFE
takes th
At Nitro Up North’s round
one of the Summit Racing
Equipment Sportsman Series,
local racer Dean Radcliffe
broke through for his first
ever race victory and his first
ANDRA Xmas tree.
The run to the victory wasn’t an easy one,
especially when it came to making the
field.
“It all started with missing the first qualifier
– I was running late!” mused Radcliffe, who
thanks sponsors Monsta Cranes, Gecko Car
Rental and Autosmart NT for their support
of his program, as well as crew man Chris,
his mum Fran and cousin Grant.
“Then, in the second qualifier, I nearly hit
the wall at about three-quarter track.
“I finally got a decent pass in on my third
run, with an 8.56 second pass at 156 miles
per hour.”
The eliminations had it all for Radcliffe,
including a race against his own cousin.
“In the first round I raced Kingsley Kuchel
in his Nosaglia front-engined dragster.
I had a reasonable reaction time and
took the win – it was pretty cool having
an old school v old school race like that
with neither of us having any electronic
devices,” Radcliffe remembered.
“In the second round I had to face my
cousin Grant – he won the event last year,
so he was no easy opponent!
“I had an awesome reaction time of 0.001s
against him, but I didn’t even need to be
that close – Grant’s wheelie bar failed
which sent him into a huge wheelstand
and gave me a easy win.
“In the final, it was time to face off against
Sergio Bonnetti in his hot rod, who had
come to Nitro Up North all the way from
South Australia.
“Again, I was really happy to have another
awesome reaction time, this time it was a
0.004s.
“That gave me the advantage, pushing
Bonnetti to a break out.”
Once the win light went up, the
celebrations were large for the Radcliffe
crew and family.
“To say I was over the moon is a massive
understatement – I took my first ever win
and won a ANDRA Xmas tree!