Matheson said the team was anxious to turn around their misfortune of Round 2, after their no points from Supercharger problems in Perth.
Matheson said “we won in Sydney with maximum points, then zero points in Western Australia, now back on track with maximum points and a win in Adelaide. “Wow what a roller coaster”.
The Nitro Voodoo Team hold Track Record at Adelaide and enjoy the challenge of the 1000ft format. Matheson was keen to better his previous record of 5.3 at
We knew Adelaide was going to be a critical challenge, likely to be a key deciding factor in the overall Championship points chase. We went in to Adelaide third in the points chase, some 30 odd points behind Chris Porter on his Frasier Motorcycle sponsored Nitro Harley.
Adelaide attracted a 6 field bike challenge and we saw the return of a veteran racer Dennis Grant on his legendary former Jim McLure Over Kill engined Harley after a long layoff. Grant, Morrell, Porter, Drew and ever present Parker Racing Team, all came to muscle the Voodoo Team out of the points chase, but it wasn’t to be.
Matheson said “we arrived a week early to Adelaide, inspected the Track, then a week at the Salt at Lake Gairdner to crew for stalwart Team member Graeme Turner.
We knew Adelaide often gets high temperatures this time of the year, as we see the west / north west winds blow in from the central deserts of South Australia, which can be brutal. Regardless it’s the same conditions for all competitors and we look forward to the challenge.
Matheson went on to say that this meeting will be a first in the season that long time crew member Graeme Turner will be absent, due to the fact he competed in the Annual Dry Lake Racers Land Speed event, held at Lake Gairdner in central South Australia. Turner a regular at the Salt in his 600 cube Ford Racecar hopes to crack the 250mph marker after shoe horning his power plant into Matheson’s ex Nascar for the event.
Matheson & Turner, along with co-driver Derrick Borgas are well known around the Salt tracks, after competing for a number of years, including a successful meeting at Bonneville, when Matheson broke the 200mph barrier, a major milestone in Land Speed racing.
Matheson knew the week on the Salt leading up to the Adelaide Round would be an ideal ‘boot camp’ for the Team, acclimatizing us all before the heat of Adelaide.
Temperatures hit 51.7ºC with night temps in the high 30ºC, which is extreme to say the least. Turner a ran PB at the Salt with computer data indicating a speed of in excess of 230mph, however, suffered engine damage, taking them out of the rest of the week.
Matheson said “the pressure was on to perform well to ensure we got the desired outcome in Adelaide and the boot camp paid off.
Temperatures at Adelaide hit 37ºC+, with Track temperatures of 60ºC making it tough for all the competitors.
We were on the limit every pass, as Crew Chief Roger Bloor searched for traction on the heat affected asphalt track.
We hazed the rear tyre every pass as the bike squirreled down the track trying to hook up. Regardless, we got there, beating Championship leader Chris Porter on 6.44 to a 5.42 for the Voodoo Team.
Matheson now sits closely behind Porter in second position with a 236 versus Porter on 241.
Matheson went on to say well done to Rino D’Alfonso and all his Team, along with ANDRA, Malcolm Bulley ANDRA CEO and all the volunteers for making the Adelaide Round such a good meeting. Well done and bring on Sydney.
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