"VAN" (Sports Desk - 06.01.2025) :: The first NDRC racing of the new year saw a field of no less than 12 Top Doorslammers light up the night for the first time in 2025 at Perth Motorplex’s Nitro Slam on Saturday (January 4).
The Kwinana Beach venue came alive to the sights and sounds of blisteringly quick, nitro-fuelled runs across the action-packed one-day event, delighting fans and ringing in the new year in style with the third Top Doorslammer round of the 2024/2025 NDRC championship chase.
In a night that delivered plenty of 5-second / 400kph+ passes to the delight of more than 4,000 drag racing fans, it was Russell Taylor who claimed the A-Final victory over runner-up Matt Abel.
The win saw Russell Taylor add another victory to his tally after also winning the 50th annual Goldenstates last November - he did so with a 5.678 second 410.13kph run over runner-up Abel’s 5.910 second 358.03kph effort Saturday night. Coming into the finals, Taylor was the only driver in the field to claim two wins during the first two rounds, winning over Maurice Brennan in round one (5.698s/407.54kph over 6.210s/263.01kph) and Frank Taylor in round two (5.679s/410.94kph over 7.126s/234.69kph) to lock himself into the A-Final.
As the day’s Top Qualifier, Taylor had earlier more than made up for missing the first qualifying session when he was unable to get the Royal Precision Lubricants Camaro back into gear after the burnout before setting the quickest and fastest qualifying run with a 5.763 second 410.08 kph pass to jump straight to the top of the timing sheet during the second outing.
It was an equally impressive showing for Abel, who took home his first NDRC Christmas tree as the A-final runner-up this weekend. While Steve Aldridge got the better of Abel in round one, Abel bounced back to take the win in round two over Mark Chapman to earn his place in the A-Final.
Going back-to-back in front of his home crowd is a special moment for Taylor as the Taylor Motorsports outfit looks to build on its current consistency for the remainder of the season.
“It was a good weekend, and doing it while we’re home is good. We’re just trying to repeat and build consistency. This is drag racing, which can change at the next run, so anything can happen, and you’ve got to have a bit of luck to a degree. We’re just trying to keep our maintenance program the same every time, and it seems to be working, so we’ll stick to it.” Taylor said.
“There was a bit of driver error in the first qualifier with not getting completely out of reverse, and it sort of locked up. If we had a good run during the first qualifier, we might not have done the second run. We were fortunate to get through and get a run in.
“There’s more in the car; we just went A to B, but it is to the point now where we’re getting some reliability out of it with the base tune, and we can go from there. It is still tricky, don’t get me wrong, and that’s all down to Stu Rowlands and Steven Ham in the background on the blower using the data we have to make it happen.
“In the final, we just wanted to go A to B, we could have thrown more at it, but the car is consistently quick, and we’re in the right realm of our tune at the moment.”
It is certainly a team effort, with plenty of helping hands behind the scenes making the magic happen.
“I’d like to thank Stu Rowlands, Steven Ham, Josh Wards, Jack, Renee Sims, Al Carr, and Mick Campo for helping out, and Bridget and Dave for their help with merchandise and social media. And thanks to our sponsors Royal Precision Lubricants, OGL Australia, RDW, Hydraulic Technical Solutions, Pro Spray, and Welshpool Welding for their ongoing support,” said Taylor.
Looking ahead, the ‘Ice Man’ as he is often called is excited for another run in front of the home crowd at the upcoming 54th annual Westernationals (March 1-2), which he says is one of his favourite Western Australia events.
“It is the meeting you want to try to win. The Westerns is always a big meeting in WA, and it is always good to have a few of the Eastern state racers come over. And I’m looking forward to getting back on the road and heading East as well,” Taylor said.
In the B-Final, Daniel Gregorini overcame niggling gremlins to take the win with a 5.727 second 403.48kph effort over Goldenstates runner-up Brodie Zappia who had been on song all weekend before start line issues during the final run meant he didn’t make it off the line.
After a shutoff in the first qualifying session, Daniel Gregorini stormed through to the second qualifying position with a 5.783 second 401.42kph effort before trouble struck again during his first round of racing against Mark Chapman. Round two then saw a return to form for the Scratch & Match Auto Colour racer, with a 5.738 second 403.54kph win over Aldridge’s 8.616 second 168.33kph effort.
It was another impressive weekend for Brodie Zappia, with the rookie dropping it into the fives on a solo run in round one before narrowly missing out in round two (5.875s/388.21kph) against Maurice Brennan (5.837s/384.33kph).
There were twice the reasons to celebrate in the Gregorini camp, with Lisa Gregorini also claiming the C-Final victory (6.903s/235.43kph) over 11-time champ John Zappia - her second victory of the evening against the veteran, who red-lit on the tree in the final run.
Before making it to the C-Final, Lisa had persevered through round one with valve spring damage from qualifying to deliver a solid 6.796 second 325.48kph effort against Peter Kapiris’ winning 5.962 second 389.10kph pass before defeating John Zappia with an impressive 5.768 second 400.09kph effort in round two. While the advantage went the way of the Dananni Hotshots/Fuchs Monaro at the start, what would later prove to be gearbox damage derailed the 11-time champion’s round two effort (11.891s/103.23kph), after what was an impressive win for the senior Zappia (5.738s/400.29kph) over Shane Catalano (6.163s/370.87kph) in round one.
In the D-Final, the hard work Maurice Brennan has put into the Just Flooring Holden over several seasons is paying off, seeing him take the D-Final win with a 5.814 second 377.56kph holeshot pass over Aldridge’s 5.768 second 397.19kph effort. The pair went side-by-side down the lane, with Brennan also clinching a new personal best to sweeten the deal.
Brennan had lined up against eventual A-Final winner and Top Qualifier Russell Taylor in the first All Run match up, delivering a 6.210 second 263.01kph effort before his chutes popped early, handing the win to Taylor. In the second round, Brennan got the better (5.837s/384.33kph) of young gun Brodie Zappia in a side-by-side run for the round win.
It was a strong effort for Aldridge, making it to the D-Final in what was his first professional event since his licensing run at the 2024 Goldenstates. In round one, Aldridge took the win (5.839s/396.03kph) over eventual runner-up Abel (5.957s/347.80kph). In round two, Daniel Gregorini got the better of Aldridge, who had a drive job on his hands to keep the Crown Security Plymouth in the lane.
Top Doorslammer will next be on track as part of the NDRC at the 52nd annual Westernationals at the Perth Motorplex across March 1-2, alongside Top Fuel, Top Fuel Motorcycle and the Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship.
Before then, however, the NDRC will provide no end of entertainment at events at Willowbank Raceway this weekend (New Year Nitro, January 10-11 - Top Fuel, XPRO Nitro Funny Car and Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship), and also at Dragway at The Bend, where the NDRC Pro Drag Racing Championship will offer Pro Alcohol, Pro Mod, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Bike racing across February 8-9).
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