PremiAir Racing and Peter Xiberras have claimed their second consecutive Australian Top Fuel title at the Hidden Valley Drag Strip this evening while being part of a heart-stopping side-by-side 500+kmh final.
Xiberras went to his fifth 2022 Burson Auto Parts Australian Top Fuel Championship A-Final from six events tonight as the championship elect after a blazing round two victory that secured his finals berth and the title while championship rival Phil Lamattina faltered following a round one win which had earlier put him ahead.
While in the A-Final Xiberras was forced to settle for his fifth event runner-up of the season, there was no wiping the smile from his face or the faces of his crew as they were officially crowned as the title winners.
“We did it! What a weekend,” Xiberras enthused. “Winning one of these was a childhood dream come true, to back it up with a second is just really special.
“We came here 10 points ahead, and after struggling in qualifying and then having a very unfortunate red light in round one, we found ourselves 10 points down to Phil Lamattina.
“Come round two, we completely turned it around with an all-candles blazing 4.094 second pass at 467.82 mile per hour pass to not only take the win over Wayne Newby, but secure our spot in the A-Final.
“With Phil losing on a holeshot in his round two match-up, that meant that we had the points we needed to secure our second national Top Fuel title.
“It is a perfect example of how this sport works – everything can change in the space of just one run, so you can never, ever give up.
“You must always keep your focus, and keep throwing everything you have at it and that is what we have done.
“And that final – what a race! A side by side 500-plus kilometre per hour run which was near perfect on both sides of the track is just amazing to be a part of. Of course, we wanted to win the event, but you don’t get much closer than that and I am so proud of our efforts here this evening. Congratulations to Damien Harris – 25 thousands of a second is all that was in it at the line.
“The PremiAir Hire crew dug deep all season and gave me the car I needed to make this happen and I can’t thank them enough for all that they do – we are going to be celebrating this one for a while!”
For more information on PremiAir Hire Racing, please visit https://premiairhire.com.au/ and www.premiairracing.com or follow the team on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PremiAirRacing/
