Heartbreak as McClure Gets Pipped Again!

Heartbreak as McClure Gets Pipped Again!

In a heartbreak usually reserved for opera, West Australian Drag Racing crowd favourite Al McClure has once again been denied a championship win despite entering the grand final at the top of the point score.

McClure started the grand final by top qualifying with a blistering 6.49 second elapsed time, a whole seven tenths of a second under the national index for BB/FCA, but in the first round of eliminations, an untraceable electrical failure left the Formula Tech Funny Car stranded only metres past the start line, and the Hillbilly Delux crew stunned in silence.

“Honestly, I have to have a word to the man upstairs about this,” McClure joked from his Serpentine workshop on Monday, having returned to his jovial self after a few hours of mourning an laughing it off with the throw-away line of “That’s motorsport,” McClure didn’t take long to regain his perspective, choosing to look at his off-track success rather than his racing short fall.

“When I woke up Sunday morning after the event, I looked around and remembered how blessed I am to have a great family who are healthy and happy, and when you realise that, a track championship sits back in its place in the things that matter in life.”

“Having said that, I can’t believe this has happened two years in a row. And the worst thing is that it’s a part failure that you can’t check. It’s either a coil or a timing sensor failure, and that’s two parts you can’t check. Thankfully my sponsors at Formula Tech Performance and Ozzy Tyres are well aware of how even the best preparation in motorsport can let you down when you least expect it. And the guys at JAF Engineering and Desert Sweet Bananas are gutted for us as well - they understand just how heartbreaking it is to come so close and I’m grateful to them all for giving us the opportunity to do what we love.”

Despite claiming an impressive three state championships in his career in Super Sedan, McClure had his heart set on taking his first title in the hotly contested Top Comp category, and as he recounted the moment the engine died, his tone gave away his sense of injustice.

“Honestly, when the car came to a stop, I just sat in silence, in absolute disbelief. When you’re about to go down the quarter mile at 350 k’s per hour, the adrenaline is pumping, and then all of a sudden it’s got nowhere to go. I was just astounded but then I felt worse for the team who were even more disheartened. But never mind, we’ve had a great year and even though it’s ended like this, we’re too addicted to stop so we’ll be back at it in some form or another next year.”

“But that’s enough about me. Congratulations to Pilko because between us and Dan Gregorini, we swapped the lead half a dozen times through the season so for the three of us to be in the top three is great. The only problem is that Pilko has one more championship than me now so we’ll have sort that out next year!”