Secrets from the Bat Cave

Words and photos by David Cook

Australian racer Peter Kapiris has always been larger than life. From the moment he burst onto the Oz drag racing scene in 1990 with his blown Gas Beretta he's been plunging after the sport's rewards with all the gusto of Hurricane Tracy approaching Darwin. He's had his successes - including two Australian Nationals victories - but he's always fallen just that tad short of the all-conquering persona of a Victor Bray, until December 1, 2001. Then life changed.

That was the day when all those little ducks which he and his team had been nudging back and forth, trying to bring into line, suddenly became inflexibly rectilinear all at once. It was the day Kapiris raced at the Kwinana Motorplex in Perth, Western Australia and ran a world record 6.076, and then had the gall to go out and try to run a 5-second pass!

Kapiris will tell you quite openly that he just drives the thing, and that it's been his dedicated crew who are really the ones responsible for making it all happen. This, of course, neglects the not inconsiderable budget that he contributes to keep the show on the road and evolving at the forefront of a rapidly advancing performance barrier. And it also neglects his willing talents as a driver, and the personal resolve and energy which makes it all happen and gives their campaign direction, and in the end is as vital as the cash to fund it.

But Kapiris is accurate in his modesty, because no race vehicle is the sum of just one person's talents or drive. They are the accumulation of much more, especially when they're setting records, because nobody on that crew can be failing to meet his obligations. But when it's world records then there's something more, something extra, something special. And Kapiris got that from crew chief Ian Cleland and his self-manufactured and highly secret hardware.

Understand, that Kapiris' success has attracted world-wide interest within the drag racing scene. There have been interviews from the USA, with phone calls to other racers seeking their opinion on the whole Kapiris operation, and lots of pressure to release the secrets.

This, then is their version of the achievement and what it took.

"It's all been pretty overwhelming," began Kapiris. "Americans have been ringing up Murray (Anderson) trying to find out how this thing went a 6.0. It's been unbelievable. I knew it was big, but not this big. It's just unbelievable.

"I think that has a lot to do with Murray and Victor (Bray's) influence," he added modestly. "If Victor and Murray weren't so tied up with these people it'd probably be a different story. But because they've got access through these sorts of people, that's why it's even bigger. If it was someone else no one knew or had heard about it'd be a bit different."

Has this put much pressure on the team, with everyone expecting them to run a five?