Qualifying has been completed for the City of Ipswich Winternationals at Willowbank Raceway.
Top Fuel saw a spectacular second session side by side pairing between USA invader Larry Dixon and Wayne Newby. Dixon’s 4.54 just edged a 4.55 from Newby in a pass that left the crowd on their feet. Neither would improve their ET in the final session though Dixon did hit a booming 331mph. Darren Morgan slightly improved from a Friday night 4.64 to a 4.63 and a best ever speed of 331mph remained third. Peter Xiberras would stay fourth with a Friday night 4.84, not making a pass on Saturday after a bizarre incident in the pits. The car backfired when the team went to turn it over, the resulting boom leaving a few ringing eardrums but fortunately no injuries as the car lifted the blower, manifold and cylinder heads off the motor while still on the jack stands. Steve Read had issues with a non-operational data logger, and confessed that the team drove through the clutch in their 5.11 second session pass. Unfortunately the team were unable to fire the car for the third session. Damien Harris rounded out the field with a 5.85.
No one in Pro Alcohol could improve on John Cannuli’s amazing 5.35 from Friday night, least of all Cannuli himself who banged a motor big time in the second session. Gary Phillips laid down a 5.40 for second place while Steve Reed’s 5.50 held third. Arguably one of the most impressive passes though was Chris Hargrave’s massive personal best of 5.51. Rob Ambruosi’s 5.65 was the tough bump spot for the eight car field.
Pro Slammer completed qualifying with John Zappia holding on to his top qualifying position with an improved 5.77. However it continued to come at the cost of engine damage for the team with plenty of smoke over the finish line. The first round of eliminations for the 16 car field was a wild one with Stu Bishop igniting his Camaro into flames against Jeff Wilson. Unfortunately the fire was very severe and while Bishop was uninjured the car was almost melted to the ground. Other first round winners included Victor Bray who had a bye run when Paul Cannuli did not front, but did some motor damage. Pino Priolo initially won against a red lighting Sam Fenech but was later disqualified for crew touching the car when it went into stage. Ben Bray carded a tough 5.82 against Rob Taylor, while Gary Phillips went 5.87 for the ‘W’ against Jason Donnelly. Mark Belleri’s 5.92 eliminated Andrew Searle as Bill Goonan red lit to Grant O’Rourke. The round finished with John Zappia going by himself when Mark Harris oiled the track in the burnout. Unfortunately it resulted in a blower pop about 200 feet out.
Chris Matheson returned to form with a stunning 6.14 from his nitro Top Bike, even with shutting off at 1000 feet. Gavin Spann hit a PB 6.60 to stay just ahead of a 6.61 from Mark Drew. Results were mixed for the rest of the field, with championship contender Chris Porter especially having trouble keeping his nitro Harley on the straight and narrow.
Pro Stock’s Aaron Tremayne took the number one spot in Saturday qualifying with a 6.961, while Wayne Daley followed on with a 6.966. Tyronne Tremayne’s 6.97 and Emilio Spinozzi’s 6.99 filled out the minor positions.
Pro Bike saw the withdrawal of Corey Buttigieg which left the door open for Glenn Wooster to seize top qualifying position on a 7.28, sneaking ahead of a 7.31 from Maurice Allen and a 7.34 by Scott White.
Make sure to keep up to date with everything happening at the Winternationals over the weekend via our live notes.
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