Dragway At The Bend hosted the first NDRC Season 2 Championship stop for Top Fuel Motorcycle at the Drag Bike Nationals all bike event, and event that went on to create drag bike history.
The Drag Bike Nationals was run in conjunction with the Australian Superbike Championship at the multi-motorsport discipline venue. The drag racing portion headlined by Top Fuel Motorcycle as they kicked of their new season.
WORLD CLASS – It was a relative small field of fuel bikes, but all eyes were clearly on Damian Muscat and his Nitro Phoenix bullet, the venue has quickly gained a reputation as place where records go to be smashed, the sea-level atmospheric conditions and billiard table smooth surface and ideal combination. The ex-Sam Willis Top Fuel Bike has quickly lived up to its pedigree reputation since Muscat returned to the bracket last season, teasing quick ETs despite a season of temperamental set backs as the Nitro Phoenix team transgressed the steep learning curve with the new bike.
Those setbacks continued on the first qualifier when Muscat accidentally shut the bike down after the burnout, and a systems error curtailed a still great top qualifying 6.41 on being a potential quicker run.
“It was a bit of a shaky start – the first qualifier I turned the bike off instead of putting it into low gear, and I was so sorry for our team for making that mistake,” Muscat said.
“In the second qualifier we ran 6.40 but the bike didn’t change gears, so we didn’t have second stage of clutch or fuel and still ran the 6.40, so that was good.”
The first round of the All Run Format was a solo as top qualifier and all the ducks aligned seemingly as Muscat rocketed through to a 6.05, but the bike wasn’t willing to deploy the chutes and careered into the sand trap tipping over burying bike and rider into the sand heavily. Muscat dusted himself off and the bike was a little worse for wear but the Nitro Phoenix team went into overdrive to repair the damage for the next round. Repair it they did and Muscat ran a safe 6.12 check out run on another solo when Kim Leonard could’nt make the call.
The event final was against former champion Rob Cassar, any mistake and the nitrous Kawasaki would have been chomping for the win. But Muscat unleashed the full fury of hit nitro weapon smashing both ends of the Australian Top Fuel Bike record with a 5.800 at 245MPH on a picture perfect pass, cementing Dragway At The Bend as a record setter.
“The crew dug deep and we got back out there for the next run, a bye run, and I was a little tender after my little get off so we did a three-quarter pass and it was very fast even at that,” said Muscat.
“For the final, I figured I would see how I felt when I got to the line and I was feeling good, so we rode it out the back door and got the result and as we all saw, the team were ecstatic.”
The feat was remarkable enough, but post-event after a medical check up it was revealed Muscat had actually broken his collarbone in the sand trap fall, the new record holder would require surgery ruling him out of the next round of the championship.
MAKING GAINS – Corey Buttigieg moved onto a Nitro Harley several years ago but has been battling to tame the angry V-Twin. Keeping the bike in the correct lane has been a challenge, but it all came together in the B-Final at he Drag Bike Nationals, Buttigieg kept the throttle twisted and the cylinders lit for a personal best 6.653 at 194MPH to defeat Danny Rickard.
Top Fuel Motorcycle gallery:
Results for the other bike classes at the event were:
Street Registered Harley: (W) Michael Cristoforo, (R/U) Lachlan Schembri
Harley Davidson Grudge Challenge: (W) Mark Harris, (R/U) Blair Pennnington
Pro Extreme Motorcycle: (W) Jason Lee, (R/U) Tony Frost
Comp Bike: (W) Nevil Langley
Modified Bike: (W) Dean Jamieson, (R/U) Corey Gathercole
Street Bike: (W) John Pulvirenti, (R/U) Gavin Dohnt
Junior Bike: (W) Lucas Bergamin, (R/U) Lawrence Raschella
Scooter Challenge: (W) Greg Oberti, (R/U) Kylie-Jo Raschella
Drag Bike Nationals gallery:
