IT took some time for Jason Pryde to get up to speed last season - something he hopes to overcome when the first round of the 2017-18 AHG Sprintcar Series gets underway at the Perth Motorplex this Saturday night as part of the Shannons Powerpalooza Grand Opening Showdown.

Pryde is one of 17 drivers locked into the first big sprintcar meeting of the season and believes he is a lot more prepared.

“The pace was not there early on (last season) but when we got back (from the east coast after World Series Sprintcars commitments) it seemed to be there which was good.

Pryde will again be part of World Series Sprintcars that makes its way around all the major venues in the country, kicking off in South Australia on Boxing Day.

In preparation for this season he had a major testing session at Pithara Speedway two weeks ago, trying a couple of different motors - and then last week he dropped a smaller 360 motor into the car for the second round of the 360 Power Series at the same venue.

There have not been a lot of changes to the team in the off-season, something Pryde believes will get him off to a good start this Saturday night.

“This is the first year we are staying with the same crew chief, same chassis, same motor package and same shocks, so hopefully we hit the ground running,” Pryde said.

“We have just freshened everything up and it is good to do.

“We have had a really long off-season and I am really keen to get into it.”

Pryde is also looking forward to more shows here at the Motorplex - saying the later start for World Series Sprintcars means he won’t miss out on many rounds of the local competition.

“We should get most rounds of the AHG Sprintcar Series in.”

AHG Sprintcar Series nominations: Andrew Priolo, Daniel Harding, Jason Pryde, Ryan Lancaster, Sean Zemunik, Darren Mewett, Shaun Bradford, Kaiden Manders, Brad Maiolo, Scott Chatwin, James Inglis, Corey Hunter, Kye Scroop, Jason Kendrick, Matthew Cross, Mitchell Wormall and Jamie Maiolo.