by John Doig, Australian Correspondent
There will be no more heartwarming winner this season than if the budget privateer Kyle Putland, were to clinch victory at Round Four of the 2024- 2025 NDRC season, the Riverbend Nationals at The Bend Motorsport Park, this weekend.
This season has been Putland’s most consistent since debuting in November 2022. The highlight came with a stirring victory over series leader Wayne Newby in the B-Final of the Westernationals in March.
The sole Western Australian in the ranks, Putland races sparingly on the East Coast and to compete at The Bend in South Australia this weekend entails a 3500-mile return trip.
“The win at our home track against Wayne was our best result to date,” said Putland. “We have been slowly creeping up for our first win, and hopefully, we can make it happen this weekend at The Bend. The last time we raced there, we won the B-Final over Wayne’s teammate Damien Harris. After consecutive back-to-back ‘B’ wins this year, it’s time to step up and return home with a gold Christmas tree.”
For Rapisarda Autosport International, returning to The Bend Motorsport Park brings mixed feelings.
The high point came when the team made history at the venue’s opening in 2023 when Harris defeated Newby in an all-RAI Final.
The low point was at Rd 1 of this season when Harris had a horror weekend and was forced to park his car ahead of the B-Final and walked away with a miserly 16 championship points. Since then Harris has clawed their way back into championship contention to trail the Newby by 47 points.
“Both teams will be chasing the win next weekend for different reasons,” according to team owner Santo Rapisarda. “Wayne leads the championship and a win would create a slight buffer with only two more rounds to go this season. Damien is aiming to take his third consecutive Oz championship. That would be a fantastic achievement and after a shaky start to the season, it’s well within his grasp. No one has achieved the three-peat since Darren Morgan in 2011-2013.
Veteran Phil Read, who started the season in a blaze of glory with a win and new Oz record of 3.72, 323 mph at The Bend Spring Nationals, has slipped down the charts to trail Newby by 31 points. “Our last visit to Dragway at The Bend was one of those rare perfect weekends, and we are excited to be heading back there to see if we can snare another one.”
“As the current holder of the record as well as the defending winner for the event, there is a bit of a target on our back for sure, but that won’t affect our preparations.”
Two-time champion Phil Lamattina, a winner at the venue in 2024, returned to racing for the first time this season at the Westernats and struggled for pace but will be better for the hit out.
“We’re looking forward to getting back on track at the Riverbend Nationals and putting on an excellent show for the fans,” said Lamattina. “We’ve got an eager young crew who have been working hard behind the scenes and we’re aiming to put the LTFR dragster back in the winner’s circle. The Australian Top Fuel Championship is always fiercely competitive, but we are ready to give it everything and chase some strong results.”
The two-day event will feature two rounds of qualifying and three rounds of racing the next day.
