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POWERBUILT SOUTHERN NATIONALS,  22 October 2006

 By Richard Ramsay

The Powerbuilt Southern Nationals was held at Ruapuna Raceway on Sunday 22nd of October. The day started off quite gray and drizzlely but the rain cleared up and held off for the rest of the day. The southerly wind kept the temperatures down to around 10 degrees but this didn't seem to affect the track.

The Pegasus Bay Drag Racing Club certainly knows how to prepare their track as the traction in my opinion was as good or even better than most other tracks despite the cold temperatures and numerous oil downs.

There were four Comp bikes there to compete for the title of Southern Nationals winner.

Earle Nunn from Christchurch attended with his AA/DB Drag bike. This bike was first built in 1988 with a Kawasaki ZX10 motor but is now sporting a ZZR1200 motor that is force feed with Alcohol via a supercharger and Hilborne fuel injection. Earl had a best time of 8.800 @ 148mph.

Tristan Scalmer was down from Nelson with his Suzuki GS1000 AA/Pro bike to start defending his NZDRA National Points Championship. Hopefully the weather this year will allow him to gain the National record that eluded him last season.

Another rider from Nelson was Craig Wray on his Suzuki Katana. Well it was a Katana but it now has a Turbo Charged GS1000 motor in it. Craig runs in the BB/Pro class and has run 10.95 @128mph.

Also down from the Nelson area...Motueka to be correct...were the XtremeForce racing team with their 103 cubic inch Alcohol burning Harley. This bike runs an SS Sidewinder engine,  Noot and Mark are the teams riders.

The furthest traveled was Ian Taylor from Wellington. He has just purchased Martin Peck’s AA/DB monster. The Powerbuilt Southern Nationals was the first outing for this bike in its new "incarnation" as "Straycat" and it looks quite stunning with its new black and ochre paint job.

The weekend was just a learning session for Ian as he came to grips with the handling of his new bike. But with three half track passes under his belt he will soon be a force to be watched.

The Modified bike class was made up of myself on the Suzuki GS1200SS..had to be there to defend last seasons NZDRA Championship win.

Steve Talyor from Christchurch was there to keep me honest on his Suzuki GSXR1100. Also based in Christchurch were Graham Sorensen on a Kawasaki Ninja GPZ900 and John Watson on his Yamaha 1000.

Well as you may know by now Tim Watkins had a high speed off after he chutes on his Funny Car failed (Editor's note: Tim, hope you come back racing soon, the sport of NZ drag racing needs top end competitors like you). Tim survived relatively unhurt but due to the damage to the safety nets the days racing was almost cancelled. But the decision was made to continue racing but to only go half track….1/8 mile. 

The Comp bikes were up for their first practice run and all four bikes were present and correct but preparing the bikes in the staging lanes there was an almighty bang.

It seems that the XtremeForce team might have put just a bit too much air in their air shift bottle. I'm told it let go with an impressive bang! So with no air shifter working and a quick attempt at foot shifting the Harley was unfortunately put away for the day.

But interestingly the XtremeForce team have told me that they have a Nitro Burning Top Fuel Harley on its way to NZ as we speak. So our chances of seeing side by side Top Fuel Harley passes are getting better.

Earle Nunn was having first to second gear shifting problems that bugged him all day. Craig Wray got some clean passes in but with most riders new to this 1/8th mile racing it was down to the ever consistent Tristan who took out the final against Earl.

The Modified bikes started with our required four bike field but even before we could make our first runs Graham Sorensen's bike had engine trouble and despite the rest of the rider’s help he had to retire for the day. That left us with three bikes so our points chase stopped there with each of the three riders receiving a standard 60 points as per the NZDRA rule book.

But the title of Southern Nationals Winner was still up for grabs so after one 1/8th mile pass we set our dial in times. Steve Taylor got the bye into the final, and with a 0.020 reaction time - my best ever -I got the other spot in the final.

Steve broke out in final so that gave me the Southern Nat's win.

It was a cold and sometimes frustrating day but I suppose that’s Drag racing for you.

The next round of the NZDRA points series is being held at Motueka on Saturday the 28th of October.

At least three Comp bike and two Modified bikes are confirmed but we need more competitors!      

Ian & Rachel Taylor's latest acquisition, the ex Martin Peck 1900cc "Suzuki" AA/DB.

Below, last season's champion Tristan Scalmer up against Craig Wray, and to the right, the A/PCB Harley of team XtremeForce

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