A SIXTH straight finals appearance was the result of a tough weekend of drag racing for Mount Gambier driver Jason Arbery.
Arbery finished off last season’s Top Sportman’s class with the championship and has appeared in all finals in the four rounds so far this time around.
He pushed his skill and his sharp Ford Capri to the limit on the weekend at Portland’s South Coast Raceway, which included a perfect 0.000 reaction time in a qualifying final on Saturday, but in
the end went down in the final to fellow Ford Capri driver, Port Lincoln’s Andrew Thompson.
While Arbery said it was a tough weekend of racing, he was pleased with the second place and the fact his car is performing so well.
“The car is at its best and I seem to be able to string it together okay at the moment,” he said.
“You get a little bit of luck at the right time, then you put all those things together and we are hard to beat at the moment.”
Luck may be one component, but Arbery is certainly on his game right now, with his perfect reaction time testament to that.
“All the planets have to align for that and they rarely do,” he said.
“In eight years of racing it is my first one ever.
“That was a pretty good moment for me.
“As a racer, everybody wants to do that.”
While Arbery lost the final, he said he was pleased for Thompson, who had stepped up from the Super Sedan class to the Top Sportsman this season.
“I have always said I will do everything I can and if someone gets under me, I am happy for them,” he said.
“Andrew Thompson was in another Capri, which made an interesting final.
“He strung together a very good drive and I believe it was his first Christmas Tree.
“He was over the moon and I was happy for him.”
Arbery said he owed the solid performance to his crew of Ken Moore and Jacob and Steven Whitherow.
As the championship now sits, Arbery is in a strong position, already on the maximum 300 points available for the season.
This season sees a bonus points system where each win is worth and extra 20 points, while a second place adds 10 bonus points to the coffers.
Those bonus points come into play at the grand final.
With every driver only able to accrue 300 actual season points, the bonus points will decide this season’s champion, rather than in previous seasons where the best driver at the grand final took the honours.
After four impressive rounds so far, Arbery is certainly in the box seat, with 60 bonus points to his name already, but with plenty of time left in the season, there are several top drivers who are all well in contention.
Arbery will miss the next round in Perth, which will open the door for someone to claim the win and close in on those bonus points.
But even at the rounds Arbery contests, the margins are so small there is always the chance to be knocked out early in any round.
In short, it means all drivers chasing the season honours will need to be at their best at every round.
“We are in a strong position and it will take someone to work hard to catch up, but anything can happen,” Arbery said.
“It is a long season, but we could not have got off to a better start.”
