Feb 24, 2009

The Lucas Oil Products team will go into this weekend’s Westernationals well aware that it’s “make or break” time for the Top Doorslammer championship.

Currently sitting in third spot, Gary Phillips will feel the extra pressure of the Perth round, with fifty percent bonus points on offer as a reward for crossing the Nullarbor.

“We’re certainly not going to take the conservative route this weekend, that’s for sure. We’ll be throwing everything at it,” he said, conscious that his major threat is the local knowledge of his two main rivals, John Zappia and Robin Judd who sit ahead of him on the points table.

“With the heat that’s forecast for the weekend, we’ll have to be on our game. The local boys have plenty of experience at the Perth Motorplex, and because they’re on the top of the ladder, it makes it allthe- more a challenge to beat them on their home soil. We’ll be hoping for an early match-up with either of them to try and win and keep them out of the semi-final points. I do know that Victor and Ben (Bray) have the same wish, probably just like everyone else that manages to qualify at the event”. 

Speaking from the family home in Hillcrest, Queensland, Phillips was in final preparations before
flying to Perth.

“The car is already there and we’ll get into Perth ready for testing Wednesday, but won’t go too
hard at it. We want to experiment mainly with start line data, so we may not even do a full pass until
Saturday,” he said.

As the ANDRA Top Doorslammer train heads in to the second half of the eight round national series,
Phillips will have to draw on every bit of his extensive experience to climb back to the top of the
tree, and having already won a national title in the category, along with twelve championships in
Top Alcohol, the Lucas Oil Products Team are bound to be more than a minor concern to their
competition.

Story by Bennie Bishop of Benzpress – 0433 112 959