The Burson Auto Parts Australian Top Fuel Championship combined with the Australian Drag Racing Championship and Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series to deliver an action-packed 48th Goldenstates Championship at the Perth Motorplex
Despite the very unseasonable, bitterly cold and windy conditions, a big crowd packed into the motorplex to soak up the nitro from Top Fuel dragsters for the first time in a long while for Perth.
The conditions though did cause havoc for the racing surface, and headaches for crew chiefs. A cold track produced a very narrow groove, and an even narrower tuning window with the mineshaft air conditions on offer. For those who nailed it, they were rewarded with record setting performances.
Top Fuel were hero or zero in the finnicky conditions, with Peter Xiberras the only team to drop a representative number in round one of qualifying with a 3.91 from the PremiAir Racing machine. Round two doubled as the final round from the previous event at Alice Springs, that was ironically postponed due to the cold weather. The two Lamattina team cars faced each other in the C-Final, after a thrash for Lamattina to replace a diff and just make the start line, both LTFR machines blew the tyres off on the hit, Lamattina gave the throttle a few extra whacks to reach the stripe first. The B-Final wasn’t a lot prettier with Wayne Newby knocking up a traction limited win against Xiberras. However in the A-Final, RAI crew chief Santo Rapisarda Jr turned all the right knobs to see Damien Harris rocket away from Phil Read to a 3.774 track record, and first blood in the the new season championship.
Top Fuel newcomer Kyle Putland joined the series in his Worx Equipment fueller, the budget racer qualified a respectable fifth as they continue to learn the ins and outs of running these volatile beasts.
To try and avoid a repeat of the previous night’s conditions, the racing program was moved to earlier in the day. In round one of racing, Xiberras opened his win account with a victory over Shane Olive with a 3.99, though it was still not the ET the team were looking for after softening the tune up to the conditions. Lamattina dropped a nice and clean 3.92 to win against Read, who had the Hydraulink dragster quit early in the run. Harris had the benefit of a solo in the odd numbered field, and despite chucking a belt, still clocked a 3.86. Putland in his Top Fuel competition debut tried to stick it to Newby, but a few flashes of flame ended his run early, and Newby was there for the taking with just a 4.19 when the RAI dragster lost power after half track.
Xiberras’ opening round two race went from bad to worse against Newby. A six-thou too quick red light handed the win to the RAI team who went up in tyre smoke early, while the PremiAir dragster then severely banged the engine as they trucked it across the stripe with a wasted 3.99. Putland gave Harris a run with a 4.34 personal best, but that RAI dragster is on its own level with a 3.83 – guaranteeing another A-Final. Lamattina was due to face team mate Olive, but the Burson Auto Parts car was nowhere to be seen when the fire up call was given – a oil pressure problem after the warmup could not be rectified in time. Lamattina went on a 4.003 solo to also qualify for the A-Final. Read had a tough driving job to close out the round, for a 4.06, the dragster moving all over the lane before Phil gave the run up with a small fire show.
The final round started with Olive who finished on a high after a challenging event – the Burson’s team putting it all together for a clean 3.99. Putland qualified for the C-Final against Read, the two bright yellow machines put on a spectacular show in more ways than one. Putland detonated a nitro grenade at half track, and Read dropped a quick 3.83 with his own flame show, still collecting the win light to bring an emotional weekend for the team to a close. The passing of JRR crewman Grant ‘Fozzie’ Foster on the transit to Perth, weighed heavy on the hearts of all the Top Fuel teams across the event.
Xiberras and Newby were locked together at half track in the B-Final, until the lights went out for Newby, Xiberras snatching the win with a 3.98 to claim valuable points for the defending champ. Lamattina was seeking redemption for a poor start to the season, and tuned up the Fuchs machine to try and have an answer for the Harris juggernaut in the A-Final. Lamattina had the startline advantage but overpowered the racing surface at half track, Harris didn’t advance much further down track before breaking another blower belt, but still the Atlantic Oils RAI Top Fuel Dragster would remain undefeated for the season.
The win has Harris streaking away in the championship points lead ahead of Read and Lamattina who moved into third courtesy of his final round appearance.
With three different winners from the first three rounds, the Australian Top Doorslammer Championship is proving to be a close battle as the series prepares for its eastern swing. After beginning the season in Darwin with Nitro up North, the Top Doorslammer field moved on to Alice Springs Inland Dragway for the Red CentreNATS.
Like Top Fuel, the final round of the Alice Springs event had to be held over until the Goldenstates, where it would be contested during the third round of qualifying to decide the victor.
Kelvin Lyle had the momentum, coming off a season opening win at Darwin, but he would face a resurgent Zappia, whose pre-event testing at the Motorplex had yielded very quick runs. Zappia got the jump early with a 0.085 reaction time and never looked back, securing his first win of the season in the Dananni Hotshots/Fuchs Monaro with a national record-setting 5.668 pass at 412kmh, as Lyle’s Mustang wandered out of the groove for a 6.658.
With Alice Springs’ racing finally complete, focus turned to the Goldenstates. Zappia’s win not only earned him valuable points to close the gap to points leader Lyle, but also top qualified him for the Goldenstates, earning another cool $1000 thanks to the Crow Cams Top Qualifier bonus in the process. Daniel Gregorini missed Alice Springs, but returned with a vengeance in Perth, qualifying second on a 5.757. Abel’s 5.952 put him into third, as Chapman’s repaired Fury showed it was ready to rumble once again with a 6.105. Stuart Moresby’s consistent Dananni Hotshots Studebaker filled fifth with a 6.225, followed by Lyle (6.299), Pino Priolo (8.252), Marty Dack (8.750) and Ryan Moresby (9.038).
The first round saw Stuart Moresby return to the fives with a 5.866 to upset Lyle, as Chapman’s 6.079 defeated Priolo. A red light from Abel wasted a 6.110, allowing Dack’s 6.190 to take the win, while Gregorini’s 5.755 took out Ryan Moresby. Zappia’s top qualifying efforts gave him the first bye run and he once again lowered the national record with a quick 5.645.
In round two, Ryan Moresby took a solo run to open the round, as did Chapman when Dack was unable to fire up in the staging lanes. Things got more intense as Stuart Moresby went 5.891 to defeat Abel’s 6.553. Gregorini was metronomic in his 5.762 to beat Priolo, as arguably the race of the night took place between Zappia and Lyle. Zappia’s 5.644 defeated a 5.836 from Lyle, but the action was not over there as Zappia’s motor backfired across the finish line, with smoke and flames accompanying him into the braking area.
Back in the pits, the Zappia Racing team would need to thrash to make a motor change in time for the final round. Indeed, attrition was taking its toll across the field. Chapman and Stuart Moresby survived to make the B-Final, where Moresby’s 6.009 clinched the stripe from a 6.216. The time crunch was on for Zappia but unfortunately he could not make it to the lanes in time, leaving Gregorini to take a solo run. As the cold night air set in, Gregorini’s outstanding consistency came to an end with a tyre-smoking run, but the timing could not have been more perfect.
He left with the points and a renewed enthusiasm for a potential championship run with the Scratch & Match Motorsport team.“It’s the not the way you like to win but at the end of the day the team works hard and it’s not just the race, there’s blood, sweat and tears all weekend long to get to the final,” he said. “I was running my car safe as we have to be careful with no spare engine, and that worked out well for us this time. It’s the whole package that gets the green light.”
While Zappia left Perth with the points lead, a reinvigorated Gregorini will now travel East to try and further hunt down another Top Doorslammer championship.
In Top Fuel Motorcycle, the Goldenstates would be the second round of the ADRC, and the championship is wide open. The seven bike field was reduced when Ian Ashelford was unable to bring life to the Attitude Racing machine, and Les Holden had a hard scrape with the wall on his first qualifier, before electing to sit out the rest of the event.
Benny Stevens cranked out a 6.54 on the Fuelled Motorsports Harley to head up qualifying over Rob Cassar. The Victorian, and points leader, made the trek west with his nitrous Kawasaki, and qualified second on the back of his Q1’s 7.13. Unfortunately, Q2 saw a big bang out of the nitrous boosted machine, terminally ending that motor for the event, and leaving the team to drop in the back up motor for race day. It was also great to see Jay Upton back on track, the White Knight shut off to a 7.24 best in qualifying to slot into P3.
Stevens had the Harley on rails in eliminations rocketing to a 6.60 for his first round solo. After thrashing to fit the back up engine, Cassar had another devastating nitrous backfire in round one against Kevin Gummow, the team thinking the explosions were a result of a bad fuel solenoid. Upton went after the track in round one but it was to no avail when he left before the tree activated against Mark Drew. The Drew Harley delivered a nice 6.66 despite discarding heat shielding on the way down track.
Cassar chose to just to walk the wounded Kawasaki into stage against Stevens in round two, and watch Steven ride the back wheel to a 6.59 at the stripe. Upton lit up the rear slick against Drew, who was struggling to keep the Harley in the correct lane against a rapidly approaching Upton, hoping to salvage the run.
Moving into the final round and Upton again took a shot at the track against Cassar who just staged again for points. The screaming white bullet started throwing sparks from what looked like the clutch area of the bike, and was shut off by half track. Stevens ran a solo in the A-Final with no Drew in the lanes to another strong pass with a 6.74.
The Burson Autoparts Australian Top Fuel Championship, and the Australian Drag Racing Championship for Top Doorslammer and Top Fuel Motorcycle moves onto Willowbank Raceway and Sydney Dragway in January for an eastern swing where it will be joined by Pro Stock for their first rounds of the ADRC.
You can read the wrap up of the ANDRA Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series portion of the Goldenstates here: https://dragnews.com.au/sress-racers-impress-in-perth/
Check out our gallery from the event.
