The Bob Jane Organization, which runs Calder and Adelaide raceways, is currently planning a Pro Comp series to be run at their two tracks during the next season. Current plans call for a major sponsor, with event prizemoney and a bonus purse at the conclusion of the series.

The series would be run over two meetings at Calder and one at Adelaide, with projected dates (tentative at this stage) of November 7 at Calder, November 21 at Adelaide and some time in March of 1988 at Calder, after the conclusion of the international rounds of racing, as a season-ending climax.

The drag racing manager for Calder and Adelaide International, Larry Ormsby, told DRAGSTER that he did not as yet have a sponsor for the series, but was confident that he would be able to find one for what he regarded as a very promotable proposition.

"I know that something along these lines was tried by Stan Kofoed at one stage, and with some success, but we plan to limit the scope of the eligible vehicles to tighten the show to an almost heads-up format."

Mr. Ormsby explained that the proposed format would include AA/FC and AA/Dragster, as well as BB/Dragster classified vehicles. With AA/FC and AA/Dragster vehicles running off national records of 6.79 and 6.74 respectively, these two classes could be run almost heads-up. It was decided to include BB/Dragsters on the standard of racing currently being seen from competitors such as John Handley.

"Handley is doing some great things right now and we wouldn't want to leave him out of something like this. His record is 7.20, which is less than half a second away from the other two classes, and he often runs below that standard, so the whole show would look very good to the spectators."

Mr. Ormsby explained that the events would be run on handicaps based on national records. He was reluctant to include additional classes to prevent broadening the handicapping necessary for the vehicles concerned.

Mr. Ormsby explained that there was currently a pool of eight or nine likely competitors now campaigning in these classes in Victoria and South Australia. Any of these would be eligible. The series would, of course, be open to other competitors from interstate but Mr. Ormsby said he was not keen on having to burden what was already likely to be an exciting package with the necessity of paying too much in tow money.

Each event would carry its own "appropriate" prizemoney, along with a bonus purse at the end of the series.

Calder's previous drag racing manager, Stan Kofoed, did try a Methanol Championships event in the early 1980's, which was open to all blown alcohol vehicles. The first such event was highly successful, but subsequent promotions slipped back in quality and the idea was abandoned. Let's hope that this current idea is as successful as it appears on paper and can produce the sort of ongoing support that will make it a regular part of the racing calendar in the southern states.

Late addition - September 25, 1987

Calder Raceway have announced that they will be going ahead with their planned Pro Comp Series for the coming season. The three-round series will be run at Calder on Saturday night, November 7, at Adelaide Raceway on Saturday night, February 6, with the final round of the series back at Calder for Saturday night, March 19. Eligible for the pointscore series will be all AA/D, BB/D, and AA/FC classified vehicles.