Winternationals 2018

The pressure was on,

Corey left Bacchus Marsh with his race bike and all his gear loaded in the trailer with one vital thing missing, the 160CI S&S pro stock engine. The plan was to pick the engine up on the way to Willowbank Raceway. It would only be ready at the last minute for Winternationals 2018.

On 7-10 June 2018 Corey Buttigieg and his Fasta Moto racing team, proudly supported by Elliott Motorcycles, travelled to Queensland for the Winternationals.  The Winternationals are the final championship round of the 400 Thunder Australian Professional Drag Racing Series held at Willowbank Raceway.

Corey was leading the championship coming into the Winternationals by 47 points. At Sydney Dragway, the meet before he had recorded an impressive 7.084 second pass.

The bike is a Pro Stock Buell with purpose-built race engine and chassis. So it’s a seriously powerful and finely tuned machine.  It needs continual work to make sure it is running at peak performance. Adding to the workload, Corey decided to embark on several changes to the bike for the final round.  The intention was to make it even faster.

Cory Buttigieg and Dan Lesnock with Pro Stock Buell Motorcycle
Pro Stock Buell Australian Motorcycle Professional Drag Racing

Sitting in close second on the ladder was Maurice Allen.  Maurice is a third-generation racer and multiple Pro Bike championship winner in his own right. Not only that, Maurice is the son of Peter Allen; one of the greatest drag racers Australia has ever seen. So his team were onto it and had given themselves every chance to snatch the win.

Thursday / Friday Testing

The Fasta Moto team arrived at Willowbank a day before qualifying (Thursday). We setup in the pits and started preparing the bike. The bike had to be fault free. Unfortunately, it wasn’t ready. So Corey missed the first run of the weekend (Friday). While preparing the team found an electrical fault caused by cabling touching a carbon fibre panel. The damage it had caused meant the whole wiring loom had to be changed over.  This took a bit of time. Fortunately, everything was fixed and ready in time for the second run of the weekend, which was on the Saturday morning.

Corey Buttigieg at his Pro Stock Motorcycle at the 2018 Winternationals
Saturday Qualifying

Saturday offered two qualifying runs. After the first run Corey said the bike felt slow. It was compared to Sydney. We kept an eye on the competition to see what times they were bringing in. Between each run the team check over the bike, adjust the tune and fix problems. Corey qualified but wasn’t the fastest. So that night the bike was prepped and everything that could be done was done to be ready for the first race.

Sunday Race Day

The Sunday race day at the Winternationals is epic. There is always a huge crowd, heaps of action and a roaring atmosphere. Racing consists of elimination rounds. So, if you don’t win the round, you’re out.

Corey was in the zone and the team was calm knowing everything that could be done had been done. If Corey made it through the first round he would retain his lead and win the championship.

Pro Stock Buell Motorcycle Australian Professional Drag Racing
Pro Stock Buell Motorcycle Australian Professional Drag Racing
Corey Buttigieg Racing at the 2018 Winternationals

Unfortunately, a reaction time of 0.215sec, ultimately knocked Corey out. Now it was down to Maurice, he had to win the meeting to secure the championship, which he did. Maurice raced well all weekend. Coming second is a tough pill to swallow for Corey and his team, after a year of hard work. Corey didn’t say much but “That’s Racing”.

Elliott Motorcycles founder Elliott Andrews joined Corey and the Fasta Moto team at Sydney Dragway in May and at Willowbank Raceway for the finals providing parts and technical assistance trackside. We’re proud to be a part of the Fasta Moto team and look forward to the 2019 season.

Fasta Moto is supported by Dan Lesnock from Harley-Davidson Australia, Zane Stevens from Royal Ink Tattooing in Melton and is also sponsored by Geelong Harley-Davidson, Covertite, IM Composite Technologies and racefuel.com.au.

Click here to watch the full MotorsportsTV coverage of the 2018 Pro Stock Motorcycle and Top Fuel Motorcycle Finals on YouTube.

e

Fasta Moto and Elliott Motorcycles Australian Drag Racing

Latest Blog

Elliott Andrews does a burnout on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle at the quarter mile at Sydney Dragway on Bike Night

Sydney Dragway Bike Nights

Sydney Dragway Bike Nights have helped us have the perfect start to the year. The summer heat and bright golden sun is back here in Sydney. So we’re making the most of it, getting out for Sunday rides and getting back to the race track.

Elliott Andrews and a Harley-Davidson Livewire at the Blind Speed Track Day at Wakefield Park Raceway in Goulburn, Australia, May 2021.

Blind Speed Track Day 2021

In Sight of Dreams in partnership with Blind Speed organised a track day for people with blindness and low vision at Wakefield Park Raceway on Tuesday 4 May 2021. Elliott Motorcycles is proud to have supported Ben Felten and the team behind this awesome event.

Elliott Andrews on the Motorcycles LSR1 MKII land speed race bike during Speed Week 2021 at Lake Gairdner in South Australia

Speed Week 2021

On the 16th March our race team landed back in Sydney after traveling to Lake Gairdner for DLRA Speed Week 2021. It was a challenging journey this year with more aspects to coordinate, the uncertainty of travel and of course COVID-19. Then to whack a cherry on top there’s always the weather, which only just passed the bar needed for racing on the lake.

Elliott Andrews testing the Elliott Motorcycles LSR1 MKII land speed race bike at Sydney Dragway

LSR1 MKII Track Test at Sydney Dragway

On Monday 8 February 2021 Elliott Motorcycles completed a track test on our LSR1 MKII race bike at Sydney Dragway. All going well, our LSR1 MKII race bike would become the first Harley-Davidson® motorcycle in the world to run an Emtron engine management system.

Macarthur Flat Track 2020

2020 was a year where racing events were few and far between. However, I did manage to get some track time in during September at Macarthur Flat Track in Sydney’s southwest.

Elliott Motorcycles Land Speed Racing Start Line Australia

World Record Attempt in the Balance

On 16 March 2020, just 2 days before our scheduled departure from Sydney to participate in Speed Week 2020 and the World Speed Trials Australia on the salt at Lake Gairdner, the DLRA announced that both events would be postponed indefinitely.