Darren Morgan, John Cannuli, Chris Matheson and Locky Ireland will go down in history as the winners of the first championship drag racing event over 1000 feet in Australia following an exciting race day at the Pro Series 1000 in Adelaide.
Morgan’s AEG team took the final over Phil Lamattina’s Fuchs dragster with a 4.65sec at 409kmh as a strategic approach to gaining data on the new race surface proved successful with the reigning champion taking over the ANDRA Pro Series points lead.
“Leading the championship is always better than being behind,” he said. “We’re on top of this new car now so we should be right for the remaining two rounds.
“In qualifying with some runs I had to let it do what it was going to do so (crew chief) Benny could learn from it. Once we had that figured out Ben knew where to go with it.”
Morgan has a 12.5 point lead over Andrew Cowin who top qualified and reached the semi finals, with points leader going into the event Damien Harris falling to third.
Top Alcohol’s final was all drama with John Cannuli taking the win but all eyes on the opposite lane as Wayne Newby got loose and crossed lanes, crashing into the opposite safety barrier at the finish line. Newby emerged unharmed thankfully after the incident.
For Cannuli it was his third win in Top Alcohol and his first this season in the Wash It Chev Monte Carlo.
“We haven’t raced this car since November so I’m getting my head back around it and the more laps I was driving the better I was getting,” he said.
“It was tricky at the start; we underestimated the track at first. We realised we could throw more at it and we kept putting more power in it until we got down there with a nice 4.89 in the semi finals.”
Cannuli also took bonus points for low time and top speed of the event in Top Alcohol. Meanwhile Newby closed to within one point of Gary Phillips in the ANDRA Pro Series points, with Adam Marchant lurking just a further six points behind after making it to the semi finals.
Top Bike champion Chris Matheson demonstrated the power of his nitro machine again with a 5.38sec win over Chris Porter.
“We struggled a little bit with the track all weekend and we took a lot of power out of it so we could hook up,” he said. “Our 60 foots (launch times) weren’t where they normally are.
“ANDRA and Racing Onn Promotions did a great job getting the Pro Series 1000 all together. Hopefully we can get a few more punters in Top Bike for the next round in Sydney to make it a better show.”
Matheson has the championship all but sewn up with a massive 168.5 point lead over nearest rival Mark Drew, who did not contest the Adelaide round.
Finally in Pro Stock Motorcycle Locky Ireland took his Lucas Oils Suzuki to the winner’s circle for the first time in a victory over Phil Howard, who came back from a braking area crash in qualifying to take a runner up spot.
Ireland said he was happy to be a part of history.
“I’m definitely rapt for my first win and being the first winner in a 1000 feet race in the first event back in Adelaide in over ten years is one to cherish,” he said. “I really want to upgrade the number three plate to a number one.”
The next round of the ANDRA Pro Series will be the Nitro Champs at Sydney Dragway in May.

- ENDS -
 
High resolution images (credits in brackets): Darren Morgan (Luke Nieuwhof) John Cannuli (Luke Nieuwhof) Chris Matheson (Luke Nieuwhof) Locky Ireland (Grant Stephens)

Final results in brief

Top Fuel
Darren Morgan RT 0.236 ET 4.655 MPH 254.30 WIN
Phil Lamattina RT 0.128 ET 6.825 MPH 94.75
Low ET: 4.372 (Andrew Cowin) Top Speed: 270.67mph (Phil Lamattina)

Top Alcohol
John Cannuli RT 0.074 ET 4.976 MPH 222.60
Wayne Newby RT 0.097 No time recorded
Low ET: 4.898 (John Cannuli) Top Speed: 226.07mph (John Cannuli)

Top Bike
Chris Matheson RT 0.113 ET 5.387 MPH 195.69
Chris Porter RT 0.142 ET 7.026 MPH 108.77
Low ET: 5.300 (Chris Matheson) Top Speed: 196.67mph (Chris Matheson)

Pro Stock Motorcycle
Locky Ireland RT 0.074 ET 6.558 MPH 165.28
Phil Howard RT 0.094 ET 6.603 MPH 148.78
Low ET: 6.212 (Phil Howard) Top Speed: 165.68mph (Phil Howard)

Full qualifying and eliminations results here - http://www.andra.com.au/latest-news/pro-series/1477-history-made-as-winners-crowned-in-pro-series-1000.html