A tough weekend at the 48th annual Goldenstates at the Perth Motorplex for round three of the Burson Auto Parts Australian Top Fuel Championship has ended on a high for the Hydraulink Jim Read Racing team.
Phil Read blazed through to take the C-Final victory with an impressive 3.834 second pass at 506.18 kilometres per hour against series newcomer Kyle Putland.
With qualifying and the opening rounds of racing throwing a number of obstacles at the team, the Hydraulink Jim Read Racing crew were ecstatic to end the event on a high, and were quick to dedicate the win to the memory of Grant ‘Fozzie’ Foster – the team’s truck driver who unexpectedly passed away en-route to the event.
“It has been a really tough weekend here in Perth, and to finally put a win up on the board just feels great. We don’t care if it is a C-Final, B-Final, A-Final – we just want to turn on that win light and that feels really great – that was for Fozz,” Phil Read said.
Earlier in the event, the team persevered through two difficult qualifying sessions, with the safety system malfunctioning during the burnout for the first qualifier, disconnecting the throttle, and the second qualifier – which doubled as the postponed Alice Springs A-Final – seeing the Hydraulink Top Fuel Dragster hit by tyre shake while local racer Damien Harris went through for the win and the Reads settling for the Alice Springs runner-up honours.
“The Red CentreNATS was an awesome event, and we hope to get back there some day. We had a great time, and we are happy to come away with the runner up, even if it was some time coming,” Phil Read said.
“It was a good run, I think the ‘mo’ was working for me!” laughed Read, who is raising funds for Movember.
Come race day, and the dreaded tyre shake again caused havoc for the team, with Phil Read forced to abort his race against Phil Lamattina early when the Hydraulink Jim Read Racing Top Fuel Dragster shook hard following a solid launch.
Round two brought improvement, with a 4.066 second pass at 365.81 kilometres per hour signalling a turning in fortunes for the team, as the conditions continued to cool on-track. The result was enough however to send Hydraulink Jim Read Racing to its successful C-Final match-up against Putland.
“The place was packed this evening even though it was so cold, and we really hope they enjoyed the show! We also had a group from Hydraulink along for the ride this weekend and we really hope they enjoyed their Goldenstates experience as much as we enjoyed hosting them,” Crew Chief, Bruce Read, said.
Hydraulink Jim Read Racing will next be in action for the Burson Auto Parts Australian Top Fuel Championship across January 6 and 7 at Willowbank Raceway for the New Year Nitro Event. For event information, go to www.topfuelchampionship.com.au or www.willowbankraceway.com.au
Hydraulink Jim Read Racing is supported on track by Hydraulink, McDonalds, Valvoline, FXD Workwear, PremiAir Hire, Odyssey Batteries, PMP Motorsport Products, Kalitta Motorsports USA, Diamond Pistons, Trend Performance Wrist Pins, Oasis Aquatics, Speed Gas, Spa Electric Pool Lighting and Pacific Pools. To learn more about Hydraulink Jim Read Racing, visit https://www.facebook.com/JimReadRacing
