EVENT NEWS EVENT NOTEBOOK			EVENT GALLERY

 

SUNDAY NOTEBOOK -

AUSSIE NITRO HEADED TO 1000 FEET IN 2015 - Australian Top Fuel racers will follow the lead of their American counterparts in 2015. Nitro competitors will begin racing to 1,000 feet starting next January.

Because of the structure of Australian drag racing, the move will be voted on and decided by the racers. The final decision will be handed down to the race tracks and eventually the Australian National Drag Racing Association, by the conglomeration of race teams.

Australia’s premier team owner Santo Rapisarda said he is totally in favor of shortening the race distance in Australia.

“After the 1,000 foot mark is where you do the damage,” said Rapisarda. “There are teams out there that cannot afford to blow engines and hurt parts like that. I believe going to 1,000 feet will encourage more participation. When those who want to come into the sport see us blow parts, and that’s all of us, it hurts the ability for this class to grow.”

Current point leader Allan Dobson echoes Rapisarda’s sentiments.

“I believe it is the right way to go,” said Dobson. “Considering all of the designs and R&D is American, and we are running to their standards, the tracks are getting so much better to the point these races are over by 1,000 feet anyway. This is putting us in the right direction and will improve our competition. I think it will reel in some of the costs.”

While an overwhelming majority support making the 1,000 foot course the standard, Phil Lamattina understands his traditionalist views leave him in the minority.

“I believe it is really unnecessary,” said Lamattina. “To go 1,000 feet nationally, I don’t believe in it. Race tracks in Adelaide and Melbourne, I can agree with. Sydney, Willowbank and Perth are great facilities. I’ve gone 330 miles per hour at Willowbank and never had an issue.

“But I can see the benefits for some of the lower budgeted teams. The attrition can be a bit of an issue. But, me as a traditionalist, I run three 327 mile per hour runs and didn’t have a problem pulling up. I know it’s a problem when something goes wrong, but sometime or another stuff is always going to go wrong. That’s just our sport.”

Lamattina believes nitro racing to the 1320 affords the drivers more of a margin for error.

“Sometimes you can win a race in the last 320 feet,” said Lamattina. “When you are a driver – you want every chance you can get to win. If you mess up on the starting line, you can reel it in.”

Rapisarda believes the ease of expense with parts attrition with equipment blown up in the last 320 feet could help nitro racing Down Under expand. The recently completed Winternationals at Willowbank Raceway attracted only eight entries.

“I believe in the long term, it will help us to grow the nitro racing,” said Rapisarda. “If I didn’t put in two cars and Lamattina didn’t, we wouldn’t have a full field.”

While a good portion of the teams list the cost of competing as a major factor, they are equally as adamant about the safety factor. United States nitro racing was shortened to 1000 feet in July 2008 following the accident which claimed Funny Car racer Scott Kalitta during the NHRA event in Englishtown.

‘Of course, it cannot help but make it safer,” said Rapisarda. “The speeds are going to drop. The braking area will be longer and it will have to be better in every area. Why did the American’s go to 1,000 feet? I don’t have to tell you it was Scott Kalitta. We don’t want what happened to him to happen to any of our racers here.”

IT’S A FAMILY TRADITION – On the same weekend that she watched her uncle crash his race car and her grandfather race with his major sponsorship, Junior Dragster racer Madison McClennan took home her first ANDRA Gold Christmas Tree.

The impressive part of her triumph was the fact that coming into the event she only had two full passes in the dragster.

By taking the event win, ‘Madi’ also claimed the Louie Rapisarda Trophy.

“It has been a big weekend and this is a very special win, I am very proud to have been able to get this win for my uncle Ben and my granddad, I can’t wait to get on track again,” said McClennan.

MORE RECORDS – The Top Alcohol and Pro Stock divisions will leave Willowbank with new national elapsed time records.

Gary Phillips, arguably the Frank Manzo of Australia, continued to inch closer to the quickest alcohol Funny Car run in the world as he reset the Top Alcohol mark with a 5.422 elapsed time in beating John Cannuli.

One day after running a 6.96 to get the 400-inch Pro Stock record, Lee Bektash recorded a 6.950 to reset the record. In eliminations, his slowest run was a 6.961, which in a cruel twist of fate was a losing pass.

HISTORY FOR NOW – Lee Bektash was officially the quickest loser in Pro Stock history. In a double red-light with Lee Tremayne, Bektash went further under with an -.021 reaction.

POINT LEADER OUT EARLY – Top Fuel point leader Allan Dobson fell in the first round but still left Willowbank Raceway with the point lead. The full-time firefighter who drives Santo Rapisarda’s No. 1 Top Fuel dragster lost to “Pommie” Steve Read in the finals. Phil Lamattina, who had a shot to overtake Dobson, fell in the semis to Damien Harris.

BEN BRAY'S ACCIDENT AND UPDATE - Ben Bray experienced an incident during day 3 of the FUCHS Winternationals at Ipswich’s Willowbank Raceway on Saturday

In the third round of racing for the Factory Xtreme bracket, Bray’s Nissan Altima hit the wall, rolled, and came to a stop on its roof.

The 30 year old three-time ANDRA champion walked to the ambulance, and was later transferred to hospital where he remains in a stable condition under observation as medical staff decide on a course of action regarding his recovery.

Ben is in a stable condition, in good spirits and has been insistent that his dad Victor Bray continued to race in Top Doorslammer on Sunday. Victor decided to remain with Ben and not participate any further in the event.

BROTHER, BROTHER - A sibling rivalry come to the boil during race day, with brothers Aaron and Tryonne Tremayne facing off in the final for the Pro Stock bracket with the win eventually going to younger brother Aaron when his brother red-lit.

“This weekend was just unbelievable, I haven’t been to a race meeting this good in a long time, it was just fantastic,” said Aaron Tremayne.

“To face off against each other in a final, before we even race, we have already won, we are happy no matter who wins – but having said that heading into this final I told him he would have to push the tree hard to win, and he did!” laughed Aaron.

Pro Stock offered a host of action to spectators, including the quickest side-by-side Pro Stock pass in Australia between Aaron Tremayne (6.961s) and top qualifier Lee Bektash (6.965s) and a tug of war with the Australian elapsed time and speed records which saw Bektash emerge with the elapsed time record (6.960s) courtesy of his performance yesterday and the Tremayne brothers trading the mile per hour record back and forth today. While Aaron took the event win, his older brother was the last left standing when it came to the record with a 196.85 mile per hour effort (approx. 316.79km/h).

“To run together in the final at the Winternationals is just a dream come true, my crew and everyone works so hard and I couldn’t do this without them, what an awesome weekend,” said Tyronne Tremayne.

UPSET SPECIAL - On his way to his Top Alcohol final berth against fellow Queenslander Jon Sting, Top Qualifier Gary Phillips blazed to the second fastest Top Alcohol elapsed time for the quarter-mile distance in the world and reset his own Australian Top Alcohol elapsed time record with a 5.424 second effort.

“We ran the second quickest time in the world and reset our own Australian record, but the big thing for us was that we ran 214 miles per hour to the half-track distance, which no one has ever done before so we are very proud of that one. This has been a fantastic event, the track was just perfect and the crowd were brilliant and really got behind us,” said Sting.

In an upset, Phillips shook the tires in his Funny Car off the start light, allowing Jon Sting in one of only two ‘dragsters’ of the Top Alcohol field to streak ahead for the event win with a 5.589 -second pass at 250.88 miles per hour.

“This has been great, we have been racing for a very long time and this is definitely the pinnacle for us to win this event,” said Sting.

“We have a couple of new guys on the crew who have helped with consistency which was really important this weekend. We haven’t run for a year or so, so to come out and get a result like this is really exciting and I am dedicating this win to the late Peter May who passed away a few weeks before last year’s Winternationals, he was my partner in Modified and Competition days.”

WESTERN AUSTRALIA PRIDE - In Top Fuel and Top Doorslammer the finals pitted West Australians against each other, with Damien Harris and Top Fuel debutant Anthony Begley facing off in Top Fuel and defending champion John Zappia and Daniel Gregorini going toe to toe in Top Doorslammer. The first WA v WA group one battle of the night saw six-time Top Doorslammer champion Zappia secure his forth Winternationals event win and his first under the banner of his car’s naming rights sponsor, FUCHS.

“This is the third year with FUCHS as the naming rights sponsor of the FUCHS Winternationals and our first win here, I guess it was third-time lucky,” said the FUCHS-sponsored racer.

“It is a special win, and to have Wayne Hoiles the CEO of FUCHS Australasia here was perfect and I was very pleased to present him with the trophy in thanks of all his support. My crew also deserve a lot of thanks, they worked very hard. It was an awesome event, the track was killer and the crowd and weather was just awesome.”

ROOKIE VERSUS PRO - Damien Harris powered down the quarter-mile to take the event win ahead of Top Fuel debutant Anthony.

“I am stoked for the (Rapisarda) family to get a Winternationals win, our result keeps Dobbo (Rapisarda Autosport International team-mate Allan Dobson) in the championship lead and allows us to claw back a few points from Phil Lamattina in the title hunt,” said Harris.

“The event was just amazing, the crowd and this magical weather just made for such a great show this weekend.”

ABOUT THE BIKES - On two-wheels, Top Fuel Motorcycle and Pro Stock Motorcycle provided plenty of action, with the defending champions Chris Matheson (TFM) and Luke Crowley (PSM) facing off against Graeme Morell and Maurice Allen respectively, with Crowley taking the Pro Stock Bike win courtesy of a superior reaction time while Matheson blazed ahead of Morell to take an easy 6.379-second victory despite an early shut-off.

“All my family came out to see me take this win so that was really great and I really have to thank them and my crew for all of their support – I busted just about everything in the truck this weekend but we made it through just and I am very happy to have the win, what a great event,” said Matheson.

For Crowley, the FUCHS Winternationals event win in Pro Stock Motorcycle sees him further establish his title lead.

“First of all, I have to say a big thanks to Willowbank Raceway – what a track to race on, we have been looking for killer numbers all year and what a track this was to come home to. We had a few niggling issues this weekend so we couldn’t run the big numbers as much but my crew worked really hard all weekend to get us ready and I am over the moon,” said Crowley.

CLOSING IN - Phil Lamattina lost a close semifinal to eventual winner Damien Harris.

“The semi against Damien Harris was a great race, we smoked the tires early in the pass and I had to get off the throttle and then back into it again and we still ran 327 mph," said Lamattina, who entered Sunday's eliminations as No. 1 qualifier. "We were catching Damien but it wasn’t enough; they made a great pass and deserved the win. Well done to their guys, they did a great job.”

The team spent the weekend trying to refine a new clutch combination. The end result was a 4.56 elapsed time.

"It will go even quicker and faster.” Lamattina said, “We gained some points on Allan Dobson and we got the bonus points for the quickest run and the fastest top speed of the event."

UPSET SPECIAL – Anthony Begley, a newcomer to Top Fuel racing, bagged one of the biggest victories of his short career in the first round. The former Funny Car racer knocked off Phil Read in a race where Read alleged he was hung out on the starting line. Begley responded to the allegations by stating he and the team were just getting used to a new car. He added he would discuss the issue with Read later in the day.

 

 

 

SATURDAY NOTEBOOK -

THE TOP OF THE FOOD CHAIN - Phil Lamattina set a new track speed record with a 4.560-second pass at 327.27 miles per hour backing up’ Friday’s 327.98 mile per hour effort.

“That was freaking awesome, after struggling for a couple of meetings we always knew we had the car and that our team had it in us, we just had to find it,” said Lamattina.

“I can’t say enough about Aaron (Hambridge, Lamattina’s crew chief), he thought he had lost his way but we are back now and what a way to do it at the FUCHS Winternationals in one of the FUCHS dragsters, to be number one qualifier is great.”

MO-POWER - Following the lead of his American counterparts, Aussie Mopar Pro Stock driver Lee Bektash laid his claim to the kingdom of Pro Stock Down Under. During the second day of qualifying at the ANDRA Winternationals Becktash established a new elapsed time mark and ran the required .01-percent back-up.

Bektash qualified on the pole at Willowbank with a 6.964 elapsed time.  He made his initial record a back-up when he ran a 6.960 to beat Ian Brown in the first round of eliminations. Because there are only 14 cars in attendance, Bektash gets the bye run into the semis.

“After all the effort the team has put in and to come out here and do this is a great feeling,” said Bektash. “When I left the starting line, the car felt good and right. I heard the engine and it was as if it was singing me a song.”

After Friday’s opening session where two drivers tied the world record, the stage was set for a fast Saturday.

“When I went through the gears in Q-3, I knew this was going to be a fast run,” said Bektash.

Bektash is driving a Dodge Avenger formerly owned by NHRA Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson. He understands a new and improved Mopar body style is coming with the Dart.

“I just don’t know if I want to get out of this car,” admitted Bektash.

CHANGES ARE A COMING – Sources close to the situation have indicated this is the last year for quarter-mile fuel racing. Reportedly the team owners and drivers, concerned for safety, are lobbying for the change.

NOT AS LUCKY THIS TIME – Just one week after making an incredible save in pre-event Willowbank Raceway testing with his Factory Experimental car, Ben Bray didn’t fare as well running Saturday. The second-generation driver lost control of his Don Ness-built Nissan and rolled in the Willowbank Raceway shutdown area. He was alert, conscious and even took a selfie afterwards. He was later transported to the Royal Brisbane hospital complaining of neck and back pain and was forced to withdraw from Top Doorslammer competition.  

BIG THINGS COME IN SMALL PACKAGES – Rod Harvey needs only six cylinders to reach his full potential. During Saturday’s Factory Extreme Q3 session, Harvey became the fastest Toyota with a 237 mile per hour blast. He also became the second quickest with a 6.19.

“We struggled with the car dead-hooking, and were not making enough power for the track,” said Harvey. “We put some power in it and it shook in first gear. I short-shifted and it went straight down the middle.”

The run came as a pleasant surprise as Harvey’s best pass prior to the weekend was a 6.34.

“We knew there was some good stuff coming on but we had to piece it together at a track like we have here this weekend,” said Harvey. “We made minor changes, and chased our tails. We just seemed to work it out today.

“We had our half-track to finish line worked out. The first half of the track proved we had plenty of potential. We just had to clean that part up and get after it more.”

STILL HOLDING ON – Top Alcohol racer Gary Phillips has seen his top qualifying time of yesterday be enough to see him remain on top of the sheets heading to Sunday’s race day. Earlier in the day, Phillips had hosted V8 Supercar star Shane van Gisbergen in his pits, putting the Tekno driver in the seat of his Top Alcohol funny car for a fire-up.

DREW REMAINS NO. 1 - In Top Fuel Motorcycle Mark Drew saw Australia’s quickest Top Fuel Harley performance from Friday (6.378 seconds at 228.96mph keep him on the top of the timesheets for the bracket heading to eliminations tomorrow.

CROWLEY ON TOP -  Luke Crowley of Ipswich top qualified to lead Pro Stock Motorcycle courtesy of an 7.285 second pass at 182.70 mph (approx. 294.02 km/h).

AFTER ONE ROUND - John Cannuli, Stuart Bishop, Andrew Sutton, Grant O’Rourke, Daniel Gregorini, Maurice Fabietti, John Zappia and Victor Bray make it through to the next round of Top Doorslammer racing.

CHAMPION DISMISSED – It was hardly a departure fitting a champion. Defending Pro Stock series top dog Jason Grima was eliminated in Saturday’s first round when he was hit head-on with an .003 light from John Barbagallo, who scored a 7.12 to 7.04 decision.

DOWN GOES PHILLIPS – Gary Phillip’s Top Doorslammer participation ended in Saturday’s first round. A starter malfunction left the team with no other choice but to sit and watch John Cannuli single for the win. He’s still in Top Alcohol competition where Australia’s winningest alcohol racer is still the man to beat.

NOT SO SWEET SIXTEEN – Top Doorslammer was expanded to 16-cars this season at Willowbank, but Saturday’s first round included four single runs, three of which were no-shows.

BIG UPSET – Despite breaking his clutch pedal in Q-3, Maurice Fabietti was clutch in his first round match with Peter Kapiris. Fabietti recorded a 5.823 to get around Kapiris, who slowed to a 5.904.

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER MILESTONE – American Pro Stock driver Grace Howell will have to wait as she attempts to earn her place in Aussie drag racing history. Gunning for the title of first Aussie female Pro Stock winner, she lost to Wayne Daley in the first round of competition.

 

FRIDAY NOTEBOOK -

THE BROTHERS TO THE TOP – Phil Lamattina found himself atop the Top Fuel field thanks to a 4.609-second pass at 327.98 miles per hour.

“Excitement is a bit of an understatement. It's no secret that we’ve been struggling,” said Lamattina. “The test session really paid off, things are really starting to turn around for us and (crew chief) Aaron Hambridge, who started working the issues out. It just goes to prove that we were ready for it because the track here is always killer and it was really good just to get the monkey off our back.”

“It was good to run with (brother) John (Lamattina) side by side in the two FUCHS cars in qualifying, but we don’t want to be doing that in eliminations.”

RETURN ON SPONSORSHIP – John Zappia knows how to deliver at his sponsor’s race. The defending Top Doorslammer champion is currently in the top spot with a 5.766-second pass at 252.10 miles per hour with one more qualifying session to run tomorrow ahead of the class’ first round of racing. In his top qualifying run, the West Australian ‘shallow staged’ the car by rolling into stage, which he feels affected his result.

“We feel without a shallow stage we should have been good for a 5.73-5.74 seconds, I’m not sure what difference that makes up in E.T. but it was definitely the best run I’ve ever had,” said Zappia.

“The g-force pushed my head back and I could hardly see and it wasn’t until I got second gear that I could see properly. The run before I ran the same time but it didn’t accelerate like it did in first gear. We hopped it up for the second run, the track got a bit better and it left harder but we lost the gain by rolling forward, so if we can get a shallow stage in tomorrow hopefully that will show in the data what we think happened.

“We are pretty happy the FUCHS Striker Monaro is flying and we have just got to find how we can get that top speed back off (Peter) Kapiris. We’ve never won a FUCHS Winternationals, we’ve won (under the previous sponsor) but we desperately want to win a FUCHS Winternationals. This is the third one that FUCHS has been involved in so we are hoping it can be a case of third time lucky.”

SHE’S AIMING FOR HER SHOT AT HISTORY – American Pro Stock driver Grace Howell is making her Aussie Pro Stock driving debut. She is also gunning for her place in drag racing history starting this weekend at the ANDRA Winternationals hosted by Willowbank Raceway.

While the American drag racing history was fixated on the 100th professional female win last month, Howell is hoping to be the first female to win a Pro Stock event Down Under.

“That would be absolutely awesome,” said Howell, who was seventh quickest with a 7.05. “Just to win the first title by a female Pro Stock driver would be more than I can imagine. I would have loved to have contended for the 100th, but running for the first down here is just as great for me. We have a great shot.”

Howell’s most recent driving stint was in the NHRA while racing Jim Cunningham’s Mustang Pro Stocker. While the underfunded Cunningham car ran well for its budget, her Aussie ride is capable of winning.

“It’s great to know that we can have confidence in this engine and car,” said Howell. “It’s a great situation here and I’m really happy with my Australian family here.”

While Howell enjoys her present setting, she still holds on to the desire to race Pro Stock in her native homeland.

“I would love to race there with the right situation,” said Howell. “There’s nothing I love more than Pro Stock. I’m not a fan of the politics. I would love to race in the right situation."

IT’S THEIR BIG GO - Adopted Aussie Steve ‘Pommie’ Read understands the importance of this country’s largest drag racing event.
 
“It's the big go,” Read said. “Nothing comes close to the atmosphere, the crowd, the pressure and the prestige of this event. It's a staple event for the once-a-year race fan, the diehard and everyone in between.
 
“Winning this event is huge in terms of bragging rights, but it doesn't come easy. You have to work at it, one round at a time. This is that one race where if you have an A+ game rather than your A-game, you bring it.”
 
POTENTIAL – Mark Drew’s Nitro Harley has a lot of potential.

Drew, who resides in Perth, purchased Doug Horne’s former 6.2-second Top Fuel bike. Horne sold the bike when he decided not to compete in the 2014 season.
 
In Friday’s lone session, Drew thundered to a 6.378, 228.96 to lead the field with the quickest (E.T.) and fastest (mph) pass by a Top Fuel Harley bike in Australia.

“To run the quickest and fastest Top Fuel Harley pass in Australia this afternoon was a great way to start off our Winternationals campaign, and I think we can even run quicker tomorrow – maybe even low thirties,” said Drew.

“Thanks has to go to my crew and the track staff and my supporters K-Trans and Perth Harley-Davidson. We are very happy with the results so far – we put a tune-up in it that suited the conditions and I was quietly confident that it would perform as it did, so things are going great so far."

EXPANDED – For the second time in Willowbank Raceway history, there is a 16-car Top Doorslammer field.

“The concept of running 16-car fields has been spoken about ever since quality cars started being left out on race day,” said ANDRA CEO Malcolm Bulley. “There have been a number of hurdles to the obvious evolution in raceday numbers, however in the end the big winner is the sport and the fans.”

Six-time back-to-back Top Doorslammer champion Victor Bray said the new concept had his support.

“The Winternationals is the premier event at our own home track, and what could be better than more Top Doorslammer action for the fans!” said Bray. “When Willowbank Raceway ran a 16-car field in Top Doorslammer for the first time six years ago, we really loved it and I know a lot of the other teams did too.”

Not everyone is a fan, however. Past ANDRA Top Doorslammer champion Gary Phillips doesn’t believe the concept is best for the sport, and in a way the promoters of the event have misrepresented themselves to those entered in the event under the premise of an eight-car field.

Phillips said he found out only after he’d entered the event.

“I think it’s an f’ing joke,” Phillips said. “I would rather come, qualify and race one of the best eight cars in the field than drive in the gate and be guaranteed a spot. I was never a fan of this decision.”

Last season’s event attracted 13-cars for an eight-car field. Sixteen cars made runs in Friday qualifying. The field is .06 slower than 2013’s eight-car field was.  

HANG ON BENNY – Top Doorslammer racer Ben Bray had a wild first session of qualifying, crossing the centerline but driving the car away unscratched.

RECORD IN THE MAKING – Aussie alcohol racing icon Gary Phillips is ready to challenge Frank Manzo’s claim as the Top Alcohol king. In pre-event testing, Phillips, a 16-time alcohol champion, ran a 5.43 and a 5.45, with the latter being the more impressive.

Why was the latter run more impressive?

Phillips shut the car off 4.95 seconds into the run.

“From the 60 to 330, we are as fast as anyone has ever been,” said Phillips. “It was just as fast as Manzo’s .41.”

Friday, he was also in a league of his own, belting out a 5.457 second pass at a personal best 265.33 miles per.

“Our ultimate goal is Frank Manzo’s world record 5.411-second pass, so now that we are in the field at the moment we will go out there tomorrow and have a play and try some stuff. If it works that is great, if not we can come back to this set-up for race day.”

SCARY MOMENT – Modified racer Danny Tuelstrup walks away uninured following this barrel-roll accident during Friday’s ANDRA Winternationals competition

FACTORY HOT RODDING – They may sport 100 less cubic inches in displacement than their NHRA counterparts but they pack a powerful punch nonetheless.

Emilio Spinozzi and Aaron Tremayne wowed the crowd with each driver notching a 6.975-second pass during their first qualifying session – under the current national elapsed time record for the class, with Spinozzi just edging out Tremayne for the top spot.

“That was just an unbelievable pass, it was the fastest Pro Stock pass in Australia,” said Spinozzi.

“When I got to the end of the quarter-mile and my brother said to me that we had run a 6.975 second pass, I was so excited I couldn’t even listen to what he was saying.”