Champions Crowned as 2024/2025 ANDRA Regional Sportsman Championship Wraps Up at The Bend

The season-ending event showcased the very best across 11 fiercely contested Sportsman championship brackets, culminating in the presentation of the prestigious Gold ANDRA Christmas Tree trophies.

Among the newly crowned champions were Cory Dyson (Gallagher Modified), Adrian McGrotty (South Australian Drag Racers Association Super Gas), Leon Davies (Top Sportsman Competitors Group Top

Sportsman), Tony Miskelly (Super Sedan Competitors Group Super Sedan), Rob Cassar (Lectron Australia Competition Bike), Michael Jennings (Goodyear Racing Super Street), Bailey Hawke (Langtree’s Machinery Services Junior Dragster), Doina Day (Huntsman Racing Supercharged Outlaws), Dean Jamieson (Ballistic Performance Parts Modified Bike), Steve Norman (Jackie Watt Consultancy / Fardella and Watt Racing SuperStock), and Rick Johns (Competition Eliminator).

The runners-up were also recognised for their stellar seasons, with Kenny Stewart, Colin Griffin, Vlado Turic, Robert Kardum, Edge Mallis, Michael Bridges, Taylor Horton, Shane Baxter, Peter Bartlett, Leigh Donaldson, and 10-time ANDRA champion Craig Geddes – who had built up enough points earlier in the year to secure second in Competition Eliminator despite not racing at The Bend.

It was a weekend of double celebrations for several competitors. Rick Johns, Rob Cassar, and Dean Jamieson not only clinched their respective championships but also took out ANDRA Grand Final event wins. Johns and Cassar went a step further, resetting national records in the process – Cassar now holds the Competition Bike AA/CBN ET record at 7.008 seconds and Top Speed at 186.45mph, while Johns set new B/AA ET and Top Speed marks with a 7.096s pass and a blistering 187.37mph.

Other Grand Final event winners included Dean Cleary (Super Street), Robert Kardum (Super Sedan), Antton Krajina (Super Gas), Bob Sherry (Supercharged Outlaws), David Foster (Top Sportsman), Derrick Wills (Modified), and James Barlow (Junior Dragster). Event runners-up such as Darryl Stephen, Tim Stewart, Sam Cardinale, Tony Antonino, Kenny Stewart, Bailey Hawke, Peter Bartlett, and Edge Mallis were also celebrated for their performances.

Friday’s running also saw the presentation of the Top Qualifier Medallions, proudly supported by New Gen Business Park, rewarding the fastest qualifiers in each bracket.

For Edge Mallis, the weekend marked the culmination of an outstanding year. On top of taking runner-up honours in both the championship and the Grand Final event for Competition Bike, Mallis was awarded the prestigious John Storm Memorial Trophy – an award given to the competitor across Groups Two, Three or Four who amasses the most points throughout the ANDRA Regional Sportsman Championship season.

Reflecting on the honour, Mallis said:

“As someone said to me today, there are 11 champions but only one John Storm Memorial Trophy, so yes, it was very important to us.

“It feels awesome to win it. It has been a big effort – I’ve been in every final bar one all year, with two runners-up and the rest wins, so it was always going to be hard to beat me.

“It’s incredibly rewarding – I’m having a great year! None of this would have been possible without the incredible team behind me.

“Thank you to everyone who’s crewed throughout the season: Blazecraft (Blaze and Gavin Hansen), my son Jeram, Mick Donahoue, Daniel Fox, Heather Hall, Max Theocharides, Nathan and Mathew Stone, Joe Khoury, Cheryl Beddoes, Jake Hamilton Moderate, all of my fellow racers, Mr Six Second Luke Crowley and Donna Marie Balmer, Jay Gardner and Patrick Honan, Aaron Kilderry, and Simon Allinson.

“Special thanks to my life partner Letishia for her unwavering support, to ANDRA for the series, CIM Wellness Centre, Brock’s Performance USA, and our bracket sponsor Lectron Australia.”

Alongside the championship classes, Dragway at The Bend also hosted the non-championship Langtree’s Machinery Services Junior Drag Bike and fan-favourite Scootaround Sales and Hire Scooter Scooter brackets. Lucas Bergamin and Neil Mellett, along with Cooper Plummer and Vlad Ostashkevich, shared event winner and runner-up honours across the two categories.