Kelly Bettes started her licensing procedure in the Lamattina Top Fuel Racing dragster last weekend at Sydney Dragway ambitiously hoping to make the Winternationals. Unfortunately mechanical gremilins have hindered that plan, but Bettes proved a natural behind the wheel.
Kicking off with a launch, Kelly was out of the hole with a .870 sixty and impressed all.
A half track pass netted a 5.72 next with a planned 1000ft shut off run next.
The 1000ft run looked great until about half track when the dragster erupted in a fireball. Bettes safely stopped in the braking area after experiencing her first Top Fuel fire and the team called it a day.
Commenting of he Facebook page at day’s end clearly excited, “Wow, wow and wow! Is what I have to say!”
“These cars are mind blowingly fast! Signed off for half track, was going for a 1000ft shut off last pass but finished in a bit of a fire. What great day with my awesome family and friends with me. Hats off to the LTFR team for guiding me through and really appreciate all the hard work these guys put in. Looking forward to tomorrow and progressing further – 248mph to half track is crazy fast!”
With the plan of three or four passes to complete her licensing, the first pass was to be a 1000ft shut off, unfortunately the LTFR spun the tyres at half track forcing Kelly to lift. The LTFR dragster had been hurting parts across the weekend with a “niggling issue” and more damage was done on this run, so the team decided to forgo their Winternationals quest, investigate the problem, and come back bigger and stronger on a later date.
Videos of all her qualifying passes by Madman Productions
