Three-time champ Phil Read topped the charts with a pass of 3.83, 306 mph after two days of testing at Sydney Dragway before the resumption of COVID delayed 2019-2020-2021 season scheduled for Willowbank Raceway next month.

His time of 3.83, 306 mph was just shy of the 3.80, 315 mph track record he set in January 2020.

Read, along with Lamattina Top Fuel Racing were the only Fuel teams at the two-day test and tune meeting and were joined by a handful of Pro Slammers and Pro Stock teams.

On day two, the Read team appeared on the start line wearing Lagana Strong Nitro Ninja shirts to support Dom Lagana, a regular visitor downunder to drive for Rapisarda Autosport International.
 
“We're pleased with our weekend," said Read. “We hurt a few parts on the 83 run, but that can happen when you’re testing. We were working on our incrementals, the times to half-track were good, but there is room for improvement. I also tried a new seat in the car, which took a couple of runs to get used to. We haven’t raced since Dom’s accident and to wear the shirts was our way of showing support and letting him know we are thinking of him and his family.”

Two-time champ Phil Lamattina who last raced in March 2020, made four passes with a best lap of 3.91, 309 mph.

 "We hadn't put the car on the track for 12 months and the first day was about Aaron Hambridge, our tuner, the crew, and me as a driver, blowing out the cobwebs,” said Lamattina. “Day two was about getting the car down the track, not setting record numbers, just going from A to B and keeping the car nice and clean. As a driver, it felt like yesterday since I last got behind the wheel. I've been racing for around 15 years and in that time have done maybe 400 plus runs, so to drive again was fun and I'm looking to go racing again."

The team traded their usual Carrot King livery with a message advocating for Duchenne Awareness day and team supporter Alex Mee who suffers from the degenerating muscular disease. “We had planned to run the signage on the car 12 months ago but never got the opportunity when the event was cancelled,” said Lamattina. “At the time, we said we would wait until we got another chance, not expecting it to take almost a year to happen.  Alex is a great kid, loves the sport but unfortunately is not able to race. This is our way of supporting Alex and raising awareness of Duchenne Syndrome. 222 is Alex’s junior dragster license number.”

The recently unveiled all-concrete race surface also drew praise from both Top Fuel camps. "The Sydney Dragway track prep crew and Mark Easthope have done an awesome job,” said tuner, Bruce Read. “The surface is nice and smooth, and all about how it's prepared. To me, it’s as good as anywhere we race in Australia.”

Pro Slammer front-runner Mark Hinchelwood ‘s weekend got off to a spectacular start when he hit the throttle on his first run.

 “During the burnout, the engine didn’t sound quite right, and the team owner and tuner Maurice Fabietti decided to give it a crack,” said Hinchelwood. “We broke all the blower studs and it pushed out the burst panels. So suddenly, you have a $35,000 magnesium supercharger launched into the air, breaks the fuel lines and lands on top of the engine. End of run."

Hinchelwood bounced back from the setback in spectacular fashion. On the final run of the day, he posted a PB of 5.69, 252 mph that was also was the quickest run in the 16-year history of Fabietti Racing.

"We began the weekend with some ignition issues," said Fabietti. “We were lucky that Jeff Cutajar from JC Racing was here on the weekend. He put his finger on the problem and fixed it. This car is relatively new and has only done 30 runs so far. There's a lot more potential out there that we need to untap."

Rookie Pro Stock racer Mario Polito continues his carefully orchestrated lead up ahead of an expected debut in May.

“We made three 60-foot launces over the weekend and on the final run drove it to 1000 feet with a 7.01, 189 mph," said Polito. “We ran our spare engine, and the plan is to drop our main engine into the car in a couple of weeks and then do some more testing.”

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