Drag racing returns to Western Australia, and not a moment too soon!
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STORY BORIS VISKOVIC PHOTOS JORDAN LEIST
WITH the recent COVID scare behind them, the West Aussies came out in force to watch the 50th annual Westernationals over the last weekend of February. Premier Mark Mcgowan even let a few foreigners in, but only if they had really cool and really fast cars. I’m glad he did; it’s always great to see some different rides on the west coast, and I’m sure those from interstate love coming across to the amazing facility that is the Perth Motorplex. The Westernationals saw a successful return to the Motorplex for ANDRA, with the event running smoothly over 1274 passes. The mood among the competitors seemed high, and the vibe felt more like the glory days of a decade or so ago. Crowd numbers were healthy, too, as confirmed by event manager, Ray Treasure: “Sunday was a pleasant surprise, as traditionally it’s down on Saturday numbers, so it was very pleasing to see a similar crowd on hand for Sunday,” he said. Spectators were treated to some excellent racing, with 14 track records set, including six national records. A real highlight was Danny Costello’s world-record 5.633-second pass for an Alcohol Altered, which surpassed Mark Sheehan’s previous record of 5.696. Proving his legendary status, the tuner on both cars was Rory Taylor from Speed Torque. He also tunes Matt Abel’s ‘Nitro Thunder’ Funny Car, which ran the quickest pass of the weekend with a 5.35. As always, the Doorslammers put on a great show. When you have the likes of John Zappia, Steve Aldridge and Stuart Moresby running in the fives and the rest of the eight-car field in the low sixes, it makes for some exciting racing. No prizes for guessing who won – yep, that Zappia bloke again. When he rolls the car out of the trailer and straight away goes 5.712 to top-qualify, you know the other competitors have their work cut out for them. The final came down to Zappia’s Monaro against Steve Aldridge in his ’Cuda, and Zap had to pull out something special, reeling off a 5.681 to Aldridge’s 5.800. But what I really love to see at the drag strip
SPECTATORS WERE TREATED TO SOME EXCELLENT RACING, WITH 14 TRACK RECORDS SET, INCLUDING SIX NATIONAL RECORDS
WHEN former Perth Motorplex managing director Gary Miocevich passed away in 2015, his younger brothers briefly took the helm and decided to go down the IHRA road. That did not gel at all with the local racers. This led to the Miocevich boys handing the keys back to Venueswest, which took over management of the venue and immediately went out to tender for an outright buyer or a lease/rent option.
After many offers of interest came and went, there was the possibility that the Motorplex would have to close. When COVID hit, the new restrictions put even more pressure on Venueswest to justify keeping the ’Plex open. Fortunately, ANDRA CEO Brett Stevens contacted Venueswest to see if they could help get the Motorplex racing again. This turned into negotiations for ANDRA to take over as venue operator.
To this end, a new company, Evolve Facility Management (EFM), was created, and took over the running of the Motorplex in mid-february this year. As such, the 50th Westernationals was EFM’S first effort at running a major event at the venue. Paul Trengove has taken up the position as Commercial & Operations Manager, and the Motorplex’s future as WA’S premier motorsport facility looks bright once more.
THE VIBE FELT MORE LIKE THE GLORY DAYS OF A DECADE OR SO AGO, AND CROWD NUMBERS WERE HEALTHY, TOO
are cars that still mostly look like something you could drive on the street. Sure, maybe a Torana hatch with a blown BAE Hemi hanging out the bonnet is a bit of a stretch, but the stuff racing in Super Street, Super Sedan and Outlaw Radial didn’t need too much blurring of the eyes to make out their street machine roots. Genuine street cars – driven by police officers, no less – were running low 10s, and an HB Torana with a 265 Hemi wheelstanding its way to mid-10s is always fun to watch.
There are always so many great stories to come out of events like this, and one that stood out at this year’s Westernationals was the performance of Ray Le-cocq in Super Sedan. I bumped into him a few weeks prior and he told me the rather horrific story of how he almost lost his hand in a workplace accident. The damage was severe, but Ray told the doctors: “Just make it so I can hold on to the steering wheel and still go drag racing.” They obviously did a pretty good job, because at the Westernationals he made it all the way to the final in his P76, and lost by the smallest of margins.
Ray considers drag racing his therapy and essential to his mental wellbeing. I’m sure we can all relate to that in one way or another, and the Westernationals 2021 certainly delivered on that score.
WHAT I LOVE TO SEE AT THE DRAG STRIP ARE CARS THAT STILL MOSTLY LOOK LIKE SOMETHING YOU COULD DRIVE ON THE STREET