Mackay’s Damian Muscat might be one the newest additions to the Top Bike paddock but the Queenslander plans on making the trip to Sydney worthwhile, with the Nitro Phoenix crew looking for improvement at Sydney Dragway’s Nitro Champs event on the 7th and 8th May.
The nitro-powered Harley Davidson has the potential to take on the big names, with Muscat confident the team has the right equipment and people to get the job done but he also know that it won’t happen overnight.
“The bike has been purchased from Damian Cownden, who won three out of four NHRA Top Fuel Harley meetings that the team contested. It was most recently ridden by Len Darnell.”
Muscat continued, “We last raced our old Comp Bike in 2009 at the Night of Fire events at Willowbank.
“In my time away from racing and I went got a helicopter licence as my adrenaline kick!
“For me, my business got in the way of racing and we stopped, however, last year we went to Cooly Rocks and afterwards to the Winters on the Sunday. I went for a wander around the pits and smelt the nitro and that was it.
Muscat added, “In my time away from racing and I went and got myself a helicopter licence as my adrenaline kick!
“I always wanted to go and race Top Bike – it’s the premier bike category!”
“We raced the new bike at the Santos Super 3 event at Willowbank and the bike went 6.95-seconds, which were extremely happy with.
“Our team still has so much to learn in terms of riding it, so it’s more about testing than racing as we head to the Winternationals.
“It’s all about getting the bike tuned and improving my riding as well.
“The 60 foot times are there and we now need to get the passes clean.
“Damian Cownden has been brilliant with his assistance since buying the bike and Neville Smith at Pirate Racing have been a huge help as well.”
Muscat is supported Crane Logistics, Mine Spec Parts, Mackay Harley Davidson, Fuchs Oils, Sammut Harvester and Hydraulics, Nitro Lube, T&G Insurance and BB Print.
The 400 Thunder television program on Foxsports 5 will cover the Nitro Champs and live streaming will be available for fans outside of New South Wales.
