25 Nov 2014 - posted by Nisa

By Peter S. Cooper / Pic by Maria Panova Photography

Panmure’s Chris Browning pushed his street-legal 1994 Mitsubishi Evo to a blistering 10.879 seconds elapsed time during the second round of the Night Speed Drag Wars series at Meremere Dragway. Chris came to the meeting fully prepared with the car not only WOF and REGO’d but fully tech inspected and carrying a drag racing license to allow him to run a sub-11. It was great to see his efforts and preparation pay off.

The Friday night meeting for street legal vehicles saw a good crowd enjoying a large field of competitors battling for class supremacy as well as the dazzling fireworks display.

A quicker Starting Line reaction time in the Turbo Four-Wheel-Drive Class saw the Nissan Skyline GTR of Ashnil Kumar and Vic Ram beat the Mitsubishi Evo III of Papamoa-based Ants Gray in a very close and thrilling final, taking the win at 11.071 seconds at 127.41 mph (205.50 kph) to Grays 11.081 @ 127.14mph.

The Turbo Two-Wheel-Drive final was won by Pukekohe’s Carl Robertson, who drove his amazingly quick Ford Laser TX3 to victory over Karl Mossong from Rotorua in his Nissan Skyline, with an 11.584 clocking versus Mossong’s 12.65.

Honours in the All Motor/Rotary Naturally Aspirated Class went to Mauku’s Willy Green in his 1978 Mazda 323, his 12.884 elapsed time beating the classic Mazda 808 of Te Atatu’s Adam Moss in an all-Rotary final.

Gavin Anderson, from Auckland’s Green Bay, piloted his ground-pounding Z28 Camaro to win the Quick V8s Class against the Toyota V8-powered Mazda MX5 of Dairy Flat’s Donovan Brook, the big Chevy running a time of 11.779 at 117.79 mph (189.98 kph).

A strong field in the DYO Motorbike Class saw Morrinsville’s Tony Gray take out the finals on his Suzuki Hayabusa. His quick reaction times gave him the win over Derek Crocker’s Kasawaski ZX12R, with Gray turning a 10.961 versus Crocker’s close 10.966 elapsed time.

The always-popular Car DYO Class drew a massive field of competitors, in this grassroots ‘run-what-you-brung’ class. Ultimately, it was Oratia’s Martin Reichs’ wild Ford T-Bucket that took out the final in a handicap start against Waihi-based Peter Cooper in his factory-standard Suzuki Swift Sport. While both seasoned competitors broke out (went faster than) their Dial-In times, Reichs took the win crossing the line first and going under his dial-in by a lesser amount. DYO racing is technical but keeps the competitors on an even playing field regardless of how much power they have under the bonnet.

The meeting also saw Steve Woodd in his 1970 Ford Capri doing some testing on the half prepped night track running a best of 9.176 @ 147.63mph to get the car ready for the Competition Season.

Full results from the nights racing can be found here.

The next round of the Night Speed Drag Wars will be held on Friday, 5 December at Meremere Dragway or check out our Events page for a list of meetings throughout the summer. 

See you at the track.