Three rounds and three different winners that’s the scorecard after local hero Damien Harris defeated reigning champ Peter Xiberras in the final of Burson Auto Parts Australian Top Fuel Championship at the Perth Motorplex, April 8-9. 

Harris has joined Phil Read and Phil Lamattina as race winners at the halfway mark of the series. 

Harris claimed his first win since the 2018 Winternationals and walked away with a swag of honors, including a new ANDRA and Motorplex track record for 1000 feet, plus bonus points for low E.T. And Top Speed.

The victory is also being hailed as one of the team’s finest, grittiest performances over the last decade. 

Harris and teammate Wayne Newby went into the meeting well down on firepower. Several key crew members across both teams were unavailable to make the trip from Sydney due to the W.A. Government Covid related border restrictions.

“The results put the team back in contention to win the championship,” said Harris. “The crew did a great job. Santo Jr. and his brother Santino were challenged this weekend and really stepped up to the mark. Hopefully, the boss - Santo - was watching it  live streaming  back in Sydney and went to bed with a smile on his face."

The RAI weekend got off to a flying start in qualifying. Newby posted a pair of 3.81 secs runs to lead the pack ahead of reigning Oz champ Peter Xiberras and series front-runner Phil Read. Harris slotted into fourth, followed by rookie Shane Olive and last-round winner Phil Lamattina.

Round one of the eliminations produced few surprises. Xiberras, chasing his first win of the season, drove around Olive who got out of the groove, broke a rod and was forced to back off. Harris opened his account with a solid 3.86/318 mph to account for Read, who went into tire shake around the one-second mark.

The Newby versus Lamattina duel was the highlight of the first round. Lamattina double-stepped the car in spectacular fashion and, in a slice of good luck, was gifted the win after Newby, usually a gun on the start line, cut a red light.
 
Round two and Harris claimed his spot in the A final with a superb run that included a new track record of 3.80, 322 mph to defeat Newby, whose weekend went from bad to worse after a visit to the sand trap when his ‘chutes failed to deploy.

Xiberras secured a place in the main final with a professional 3.87,314 mph pass to triumph over Olive for the second time on the day. Lamattina hung on to defeat Read despite significant and ongoing clutch problems, who overpowered the track. 

With Lamattina, Harris and Read all tied on two wins apiece, the two with the lowest elapsed times in the final round - Harris and Xiberras - were seeded into the A final. Lamattina and Newby were to race off in the B final, with Read and luckless Olive battling for fifth and sixth place. 

The final was worth the price of admission. Xiberras cut a great .01 sec light to jump to the lead and was slowly reeled in by Harris, who took the win by an estimated 3 inches.  

“That was a great final and real fun,” said Xiberras. “When I crossed the line, I wasn't sure if we won or not. Very happy to put on a good show for the fans and congratulations to Damien, Junior and his team."

Newby ended the day on a positive note with a comfortable win over Lamattina to grab the third spot on the podium. In contrast, Read was on and off the throttle for most of the run to defeat Olive, who shut down early and rolled to the finish line.

Daniel Gregorini claimed his maiden ANDRA Doorslammer title after his nearest rival John Zappia was eliminated by little-known Stuart Moresby, who went on to win the meet.

“This is a once in a lifetime thing to stop Zappia's dominance,” said Gregorini, who has been racing since 2009. "We don't have any major sponsors or work on the car full-time, so we just couldn't be happier to beat the king of Doorslammer and get our first title.”

Seven-time champ Chris Matheson took the win with a solo in the final of Top Bike. 

The affable Queenslander was on song all weekend with a trio of six-second passes, a new track record and lowering his national record from 6.05 to 6.00sec.
“The bike ran faultlessly all weekend,” said Matheson. “The motor is as good as new. We’ll just put the bike in the trailer, then take it out for Sydney in a couple of weeks.” 

 
PIT NOTES

Martin Stamatis, the 2010 Top Fuel Championship winner, was spotted catching up with his tuner Rob Cavagnino, Damien Harris, and Wayne Newby. Stamatis still has a Fuel car and trailer, however, 'Not likely' was his response when asked if a comeback was on the cards.

The first nomination for the Good Sportsman award of 2022 goes to Phil Lamattina. He loaned a Prime Mover to Jim Read Racing after the team had gearbox woes at the Mildura round last month. The ‘loaner’ towed the team transporter to the team headquarters in Sydney, then to the Perth meeting and back to Mildura, where JRR will be reunited with their Prime Mover. Lamattina also helped organize the gearbox repairs. 
 
Phil Read drove the race team transporter from his home in Sydney to the Perth Motorplex. Speed was limited to a sedate 60 mph with mandated limits on the number of driving hours times allowed. Read left Sydney on Sunday at 5 a.m. and arrived at the racetrack on Wednesday at 1 p.m. The fuel bill was US$3200. 
Read flew home after the event - travel time 4 hours.

A golden opportunity to showcase women in drag racing went missing when Lisa Gregorini, wife of Daniel, was denied permission to continue her Doorslammer licensing program at the meeting. An arcane rule prevents licensing runs during an event.

Her car was on display in the pits over the weekend. Lisa is expecting to complete licensing before making her debut in June at Darwin.