Three-time ANDRA champ Phil Read claimed his first win of the season when he outpaced reigning champ Peter Xiberras in the A-Final of the Burson Auto Parts Australian Top Fuel Championship at Perth Motorplex, March 4-5.

Local hero Damien Harris downed his Rapisarda Autosport International teammate Wayne Newby to clinch the B-Final. Emerging star Kyle Putland triumphed over team owner–driver Phil Lamattina in the C-Final  

In Doorslammer Daniel Gregorini jumped to an early lead over fellow Western Australian Kelvin Lyle and was never headed to take honors in the A-Final. 

Top Fuel Motorcycle went to local racer Greg Durack who defeated ten-time champ Chris Matheson.

Day one of the event also doubled as the 52nd Westernats but was plagued with multiple timing problems. For example in Top Fuel Wayne Newby was credited with a pass of 3.822 at a speed of 24 mph. TFA officials and the team owners met and decided to continue racing over the 1000-foot distance. A slow-motion camera was set up and a three-person judgment of fact was appointed to declare winners with an official positioned on the side of the track with a flag to signal the result. Bonus points for ET, Top speed and seedings for each round would be decided on times recorded at the eighth-mile mark.

 

 

 

 

TOP FUEL QUALIFYING 

Round one was a lackluster affair with teams struggling for traction. The only highlight was a PB from local racer Kyle Putland. Phil Read led the field despite spinning the tires at around 700 feet. Phil Lamattina’s run was aborted when the Christmas tree showed a red light as he went into stage. This was the fourth time the carrot farmer has been on the receiving end of start-line timing issues this season.

In the second and final round, the top three title contenders stepped up to the mark. At the end of the session, a minuscule .007 separated the trio. Newby snatched the top spot with a 3.822 with an early shutdown after throwing a belt. Harris clocked 3.827, followed by reigning champ Peter Xiberras on a 3.829. 

Read slipped to fourth ahead of Putland and the LTFR pair of Shane Olive and Phil Lamattina.

Newby’s reward for topping the charts was a solo in the first round.

 

 

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ROUND ONE 

Xiberras opened his account with an easy win over luckless Olive, who said, "we rattled, had a pedal, smoked the tires and then it was race over.” 

Read, despite turning the tires near mid-track and a quick pedal defeated Putland, who smoked the tires on the hit.

Harris overcame a fast-finishing Lamattina. But at a significant cost. “We threw some rods, the blower was destroyed and that led to some major engine carnage,” Harris said.

Newby on the solo said that the car got a bit "skate" at the top end.

ROUND TWO  

Xiberras faced off against Olive for the second time. The result was a walkover for Xiberras when the Olive car wouldn’t start and stayed in the pits.

Race officials were tested when Read and Harris flashed across the finish line locked together. After much deliberation, they decided that Harris was the winner.

Newby held out Lamattina and for the second time, RAI faced a major rebuild after discovering significant damage to the diff.

 

 

 

 

FINAL ROUND 

Read trailed Xiberras off the start line, eased to the front and then spent the rest of the run desperately trying to keep his car in a straight line and keeping Xiberras at bay.

 “That was a fantastic race," said Read. “The car shook hard. I had to give it a pedal and it shook again. I pedaled a couple more times and then finally got it down the track. It was close, but I was 99.9 percent sure I had the win.” 

Harris’s win over Newby in the B-Final was so close it took the judges several minutes to decide who won. Putland came from behind to defeat Phil Lamattina in the C-Final.

The spotlight in Doorslammer was on the triumphant response by Lisa Gregorini, the wife of series leader Daniel Gregorini, in her battle to license and be allowed to compete at the meeting. 

Prior to the event, Gregorini needed only to complete a full track pass to obtain her ANDRA license. That box was ticked the previous weekend when she ran a 6.14/197 mph. Elation turned to despair when officials attempted to cancel her license claiming that under ANDRA rules, she had not completed a pass over 200 mph. Full credit to Top Doorslammer President Matt Able, who stepped in and proposed that Gregorini be allowed to make a solo pass at the end of Q1 to attempt to meet the criteria. Able canvassed his fellow racers and a majority agreed to allow Gregorini to be given the opportunity. 

An ice-cool Gregorini and her all-female crew stepped up to the challenge, ran a 6.59/ 202 mph to smash the barrier, qualified fifth overall and cut a swathe through the field before finishing runner-up to veteran Peter Kapiris in the B-Final. 

‘To license and then go out and race after all the drama we had was a huge relief,” said Gregorini. "It was good to go out and prove to those who had doubts that we could achieve the goals that we had set for the team. The next goal is to go out and race against Daniel. That will be fun and there won't be any team rules."

Legendary John Zappia’s weekend began in glory with a superb pass of 5.61/256 mph to claim pole. From then on, it was all downhill.

In round one, he cut a red-light against fellow veteran Peter Kapiris. Next up, he failed to make the starting line against Lisa Gregorini.

His weekend finished with a loss to Matt Abel in the D-Final.

“After the early issues, the meeting turned out well," according to series co-promoter Andy Lopez. “We had some great racing. An absolute highlight of the weekend was Lisa Gregorini’s performance. Fantastic for the sport. A young, smart woman and an all-women team are just what the sport needs. Drag racing, in fact, all motorsports, needs to be active and encouraging of women getting more involved and not just behind the scenes.”

 

 

 

PIT NOTES

Ross Lamattina, son of Top Fuel racer Phil Lamattina’s three-year career in a Junior Dragster, ended in triumph when he claimed the Australian championship. The 17-year-old scored three wins over three seasons. Is there any chance of moving up to replace dad in the fuel car? “That’s a no," according to mum Sarah.

Sibling Luca is expected to join the JD ranks later this year.

Rumors swept the meeting that long-time ANDRA boss Brett Stevens has tended his resignation effectively from March 10.

The loss of Stevens will likely set in motion major changes to the governing body that manages the Perth Motorplex and is the sanctioning body at several leading venues across the country, including Hidden Valley, Alice Springs, Calder Park, and several country tracks.

Bruce Read, crew chief for sibling Phil, is off to the Phoenix, Pomona and Las Vegas rounds of the NHRA and reuniting with Jim Oberhofer and Clay Millican at Rick Ware Racing.

The Top Fuel transport drivers who travel in convey to the long-distance meetings stopped at Norseman, Western Australia, to pay homage to one of their fellow drivers Grant ‘Fozzie’ Foster, who passed away on the drive to the November meeting. "I suggested that we do some form of a memorial to honor ‘Fuzzier,' who drove not only for our team but also for the Rapisarda family,” said Phil Read. “I suggested to Wayne Newby maybe a crankshaft or such and he came up with a design that included a plaque that he welded to the Top. We concreted the memorial into the ground and had a quiet beer at the spot he passed away." 

RIP Fozzie.