In November, Matt smith was a current NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle rider and former series champion, headed to Qatar to tackle the Pro Extreme Motorcycle class for the first time. By late December, he had traded his two wheels in for a set of four and added a roll cage for extra measure. Since taking over the driving chores of team owner Shiekh Khalid Al-Thani’s Pro Extreme ’68 Camaro that garnered the Arabian Drag Racing League crown last season, Smith has wasted little in getting up to speed with his new environs, clicking off some stellar laps right off the bat, including a 3.63 at 209 MPH during his licensing efforts that marks the quickest and fastest competition licensing pass in Pro Modified history.

And now he’s blown even that pass out of the water. During testing for Round 5 of the Arabian series at the Qatar Racing Club that will take place this weekend, tuner Frank Manzo blasted Smith off to the quickest lap in the history of doorslammer racing with a count of 3.575 seconds at a booming 212 MPH. The run is unofficial of course, but credit remains where credit is due.

At Dragstock in September, Frankie Taylor became the first Pro Extreme driver into the 3.50’s with a 3.596-second effort that still stands as the class performance standard. And for those who like to keep score and figure numbers, if Smith could theoretically carry that eighth mile performance through the boards, the elapsed time would be in the neighborhood of 5.50 to 5.55 seconds. The ADRL series on American soil will be quite the battle in 2011 and we can’t wait for the festivities to kick off.