It has taken 30 years but Top Fuel championship racing has returned to Victoria’s rejuvenated Heathcote Park Raceway in spectacular fashion, delivering amazing scenes on and off the track. A capacity crowd crammed HPR for Summernats Slam, a new motorsport festival concept, combining Top Fuel drag racing with burnouts, a show and shine and even fireworks.
We addressed the re-birthing of HPR in our event preview here: https://dragnews.com.au/atfc-rd-5-preview-unfinished-top-fuel-business-to-be-settled-at-heathcote/
But now the venue was put to the test, when over 12000 spectators filed through the gates for two days of nitro and tyre smoke. It did create logistical nightmares, no question for organisers, with queues stretching kilometres in both directions away from the entry gates. However the atmosphere it created was something that hasn’t been experienced in many years, likened to antics of the Triple Challenge days, if we could come up with one word to describe it, that would be “loose.” No doubt the nitro starved Victorian’s were making up for the past 30 years.
The Top Fuel racing was thrilling, the tight championship battle between Phil Lamattina and Peter Xiberras raged on throughout the event, and it will now come down to the wire in Darwin. The track surface was brand new and very green, combined with the crisp Winter air and low temperature, always meant crew chiefs hurt their brains hurt trying to figure it out. As a results a three second pass will have to wait until the championship returns to the venue later in the new year.
Sure there were other matters that need addressing for the next event. The venue is still under heavy construction and far from complete, no result sheets were able to be made available to media or Top Fuel Australia, so this report will be a bit light on for numbers, and zero phone or internet service meant no updates during the event from media or teams was possible.
Adding extra importance to the event, two days of racing began with qualifying and the completion of finals from round four of the championship, which had to be postponed due to cold track conditions at Sydney Dragway.
Q1 was a battle with most teams fighting for tractionm but valuable data was gained for Q2 which was doubling as the Nitro Champs final round.
The second qualifier opened with the postponed Sydney C-Final, Phil Read rattled the tyres early and lifted to save the engine, but it was just great to see the team even make Heathcote after the events of Sydney. Meanwhile in the other lane Wayne Newby had the Atlantic Oils/Santos Crane’s engine erupt in a fireball. Even though Newby picked up the win light, there was going to be a long night ahead for the team.
The B-Final was a hit to Lamattina’s championship chase, with the FUCHS Lubricants dragster going up in smoke on the hit. A long track clean up delay after the Newby explosion dragged the finals later into the rapidly cooling evening catching out the tune up. Harris had to pedal the RAI machine in the other lane, but streaked away to a 4.35 win, blowing off body panels through the lights, the run would also hold up for top qualifier.
With another delay before the Olive and Xiberras A-Final – while track crew picked up body panel pieces – saw track temps tumble even further. As expect the round four final became a real driver’s race, with both cars going up into instant tyre smoke before the 60ft markers on the ice cold track, it was an old school ‘pedalfest’. Olive was able to recover first and pedal the Burson Auto Parts Top Fuel dragster to the finish line, scoring an emotional first Top Fuel win.
“I’ve had a long two weeks to think about this final, and a lot of things have gone through my head,” said Olive after the win. “So, for it to be a ‘pedalfest’, it was pretty cool, it was the first time I’ve ever had to pedal the car, thanks to everyone, it’s a dream come true for me.”
The result also limited Xiberras’ points haul going into race day for round 5, aiding Lamattina’s championship chase.
Xiberras lamented, “Unfortunately, the C and B Finals that were run before us both saw oil put down on the track, which meant lengthy clean-ups.
“Consequently, by the time we actually took to the track, it was much, much colder than the conditions we anticipated when setting up for our original running time of 5.00pm. Off the hit, we blew the tyres off and that gave Shane the opportunity to race through for the win.
“Even though that was disappointing as we would have liked to really race to the line of course, it was still a good day – the atmosphere was fantastic, a runner-up result still brings plenty of valuable championship points, and we qualified second heading into tomorrow’s racing.
The first round of racing on Sunday saw Phil Read’s Hydraulink team taking on Olive. A solid 4.08 from Read set the Heathcote track record and grabbed the win light — but it would be traded between teams many times before the day was out. Just one pairing later Xiberras put the capacity crowd on its feet with a 4.01 to 4.04 victory against Wayne Newby to claim the record for himself, before Lamattina’s blazing 4.009 stole the mark once more against Harris.
Round two saw incredibly tight racing as every driver tried to find themselves a place in the A-Final. A stunning Xiberras holeshot saw a slower 4.08 defeat a 4.05 from Harris, putting the pressure on Lamattina to match the pace in the following pair. Lamattina was up to the challenge in the FUCHS rail, as a 4.06 got by Olive’s 4.13 in an all-LTFR match. A 4.05 from Newby closed the round against Read in an odd match up, where a mistake by the starter saw Read red-lit from contention.
“We tried our very best to get Black Mamba to hook up and blast down the track, and in the first round we did just that and raced through for an awesome win,” Phil Read said.
“We were confident of being able to produce a similar pass in the second round and hopefully book a spot in the A-Final.
“Unfortunately, as it turned out, the second round was one we want to forget, after a mistake by the starter saw us falsely red lighted before we even had a chance to move.
“While those involved have now admitted fault and apologised, the nature of our sport means we can’t just re-run the race, so we just have to wear that, hold our heads high, and focus on striking back at Darwin in a few weeks’ time.
As twilight fell over an amazing weekend at Heathcote, just the finals were left for the 10,000 horsepower Top Fuel dragsters. Barely a soul left the spectator areas, as Victorian race fans lapped up all the nitro they could stand. Harris and Olive began the round with a C-Final to remember, as a 4.005 from Harris set what would stand as the final track record for the day. Tyre shake trouble saw Olive brought back to Earth after his elation on Saturday. The B-Final saw Newby stay consistent with a 4.03, as Read also struck tyre shake.
The Summernats Slam A-Final had much at stake. With Xiberras taking over the lead of the championship by virtue of his round four performance, Lamattina needed victory if he was to close the points gap and keep the chase alive for Darwin. He was able to do just that in a wild, pedal-fest final, where a 4.43 proved enough for the FUCHS team against an early shut-off run from pedalling Xiberras.
“We had a couple of minor issues with the car before the final, and they were playing on my mind,” said Lamattina. “But I cleared my mind, and just did my job, don’t think too much, just drive, and I just drove the wheels off it. It got out there, shook, I pedalled it and it hooked back up, and I was just on it.”
Lamattina praised the entire LTFR operation for their efforts, which saw the team double up their trophies thanks to Olive’s round four win.
“A lot of effort goes into what we do, and it is great to reward Aaron (Hambridge) and the whole crew, especially Shane, who does a lot of work back at the shop full time. Thanks Fuchs, we had the managing director Wayne Hoiles out here yesterday, Burson Auto Parts, we can’t do it without them, and it’s absolutely fantastic,” said Lamattina.
Xiberras has a 10-point advantage over Lamattina heading into the final round of the season, the Darwin Triple Crown featuring Nitro Up North.
“We might not have taken the big trophy today but we advanced our championship position and that is what it is all about in the big scheme of things,” Xiberras said. “We are laser focused on making sure we can put together the best package possible in Darwin in a few weeks’ time so we can defend our Australian title.”
Top Bike were also on the card for the next round of their championship, but following qualifying the riders weren’t confident on the brand new racing surface and agreed to not continue with the event.
The sportsman program featured the regular group of brackets from Junior Dragster to Top Sportsman, they competed over 3 round robin rounds with some spectacular action, but no winners were decided on in the end.
Stay tuned for a mega gallery coming soon.
