A combined 56,000 nitro horsepower will come to bear on Queensland’s Willowbank Raceway this Friday and Saturday with the running of Santo’s Super 3 Extreme presented by Uplift Cranes and Titan Cranes. Seven of Australia’s quickest Top Fuel dragsters and their pilots are set to do battle in two separate ANDRA championship rounds over two nights. Not only will racers vie for championship points but also for the Louie Rapisarda Top Fuel Trophy. It will be the third event for 32 year old John Lamattina, the youngest brother of the Lamattina Top Fuel Racing team. Like many younger brothers, Lamattina gets the hand me downs. At least that is the joke going around his race team after older brother Phil took the wheel of the dragster John piloted last season, with Phil’s rail passed to John. “Phil calls it the hand me down and I didn’t at first but now I am starting to,” John laughed. “But we tested it at Sydney Dragway a few weeks ago with a new front end like what is on the other car and it is ready to go.” John, who enjoys hunting around the family’s carrot farm when the family isn’t away racing, said he wasn’t the type to set goals or targets and that Top Fuel racing was just something he likes to do when the team has the opportunity to field two cars. “If I was racing full time I’d say I want to win a championship, but not doing all the rounds means the championship is out of reach,” he said. “But I’d like to perform well side by side against Phil – he’s the measuring stick. “I don’t single any one racer out as someone I’d like to beat, you need to respect everybody.” The brothers have been sharing tips on how to tackle Willowbank Raceway though, unique in respect to its downhill braking area. “I asked Phil about Brisbane because there has always been different opinions on what it is like there,” he said. “The timing boards are not actually on the finish line and you can’t see the run off (braking area) from the track. He gave me an insight on that so that it is not a surprise when it happens.” Lamattina will take on the strongest field yet this season that includes not just older brother and points leader Phil, but last year’s event winner Steve Read, three times former Australian champion Phil Read, Damien Harris, Allan Dobson and newcomer Peter Xiberras. It will be full throttle nitro competition not to be missed. Racing runs from 5.00pm to 9.30pm each night and will be supported by championship Top Alcohol racing and a program of entertainment including Top Fuel Motorcycles, Top Doorslammers and Pro Street amid a flurry of on-track light and audio-visual theatrics. Tickets are available at www.willowbankraceway.com.au or at the gate.

The Southern Nationals presented by Fiat Professional & Essendon Chrysler Jeep Dodge was the first time three Group 1 brackets were at Calder Park for quite some time, generating lots of interest amongst the Victorian racers, as well as sparking off some great memories for many racers, including Darwin’s Scott White. “I remember coming to Calder Park in the nineties and racing in oversubscribed Pro Stock Motorcycle fields. Back then drag racing attracted huge crowds of over 40,000 so it was easy to get excited about coming back again,” said White. “We were here last October for a Pro Stock Motorcycle round so were hoping to go one step further this time around. Being the first round of the 2014 ANDRA Championship I was looking to grab as many points as possible. On Friday White prepared for his first qualifier but a broken throttle didn’t allow for a full power run. Making matters worse was that he was in the right lane. “Lane two was extremely bumpy,” said White. Our bike jumped up off the ground at an incredible height which also threw the body off as well as a few other bits. Unfortunately the second qualifier was cancelled because the dew and cold had made the track unsafe.” The following day Group 1 had their final qualifier and White was pumped to run a solid number over the quarter-mile. “The sun was out I was in lane one which was obviously the better lane. Calder is definitely a one-lane track, no doubt about it. Who ever top qualified or had the quicker ET would pick lane one on the left hand side for eliminations.” “Anyway the bike made good horsepower but spun up at the hit. Probably rotated three or four times and then moved me towards the wall. By the time I pulled it back I’d already lost a bit of time. The 8.3 ET was our quickest run of the weekend and it put me in fourth spot,” said White. Eliminations saw six bikes front for the first round and White would face number three qualifier Phil Howard. “Round one, well that’s another interesting story. I was in the middle of adjusting the clutch when the TV crew came and did an interview and they wanted to do it right then and there. In hindsight I should have said no, go away,” said White with a grin. “Anyway I did the interview and waved to the other guys on the crew that I’d finished with the clutch and to put the cover back on. It wasn’t until I was on the line, ready to go that I realised those bolts are still in the clutch. So had to think real quickly about what we were going to do and what damage could be done.” “In the end it seemed to do a burnout so I said lets stage and see how it goes. But on the hit it just spun the clutch and bucked like a bull.” “On both of the two qualifying runs we had no data which wasn’t helpful because we didn’t know what was going on. For the first round we at least got data but we already knew what was going on with the clutch. That will never happen again.” “Overall the conditions made for a very trying event but there were a lot of people who were more unfortunate than us. It was a shame to see the Buell go down and also how the meeting ended early on Saturday night, but on a positive note the engine is fine and in one piece and I have some points on the board.” “It was a difficult weekend for all concerned and I’m sure I’m not alone in saying how I’m looking forward to Sydney for the X-Champs in May. Bring it on!”