Hydraulink Jim Read Racing raced all the way to the A-Final at the weekend’s Atlantic Oils Top Fuel Slam, the latest round of the Burson Auto Parts Australian Top Fuel Championship.
In front of a capacity crowd at their home ground of Sydney Dragway, the team – which also top qualified – took out their round one and round two victories before facing off against two-time and defending champions, PremiAir Racing, in the A-Final.
Round one was a solo pass courtesy of the team’s top qualifying status, which was set with a 3.81 second pass at 318.99mph on Friday afternoon.
In that first outing, Hydraulink Jim Read Racing driver Phil Read laid down a 4.13 second pass at 419.41kph with a dropped cylinder.
In the second round, Read successfully faced off against points leader Damien Harris, triumphing with a 4.312/317.25kph pass over Harris’ 4.811/253.33kph effort to take another win and book his spot in the A-Final.
Come the final, the entire Dragway was on tenterhooks as they waited for Read and Xiberras to approach the startline. When all was said and done, it was Xiberras who took the win with a 3.846 second pass at 483.66kph over Read’s 4.162/350kph run, but Read’s smile was almost just as wide as Peter’s when the pair climbed out of their cars.
“It was real close there for a bit but then at the end the car just quit on me, I thought we had lost a belt but it was still there at the end, so I am not quite sure what happened,” Phil Read explained.
“But what a race! Congratulations to Peter and the PremiAir Racing guys, they were having issues all day throwing belts and that was a well-deserved win.
“I want to thank everyone for their commitment to come out and honour Sam this weekend – the crowd was huge and we were honoured to be able to be a part of it all in his memory.
“At Hydraulink Jim Read Racing we have also been keeping Grant ‘Fozzie’ Foster in our hearts as well. We lost ‘Fozzie’ on the way to the Perth event, and we have had his family here with us this weekend and we really wanted to take the win for him and for Sam.
“We weren’t able to make it all the way to the big trophy, but second for the round is still a strong result and valuable for us in terms of championship points, and it is awesome to be heading in the right direction once again – bring on the Westernats!”
Jim Read Racing Crew Chief, Bruce Read, echoed Phil’s comments, while thanking visiting US drag racing tuning royalty, Jim ‘Jim O’ Oberhofer, for his support and assistance over the past two rounds.
“What a special event this has been. We are so honoured to have been able to be a part of this celebration for Sam and to honour not only Sam but also Grant Foster this weekend at our home track,” Bruce Read said.
“It didn’t all go our way obviously, but it was a strong event for us and we feel like we are starting to really head in the right direction with our set-up.
“Our thanks goes to not only our entire team of great guys and girls for their enduring efforts, but also to our long-time friend Jim O for coming over from the US on his holidays from the NHRA and help us out over these past two rounds.
“We look forward to continuing the work we have undertaken together this month, as we look to chase down more A-Final appearances and hopefully some wins over the second half of the 2022/2023 Burson Auto Parts Australian Top Fuel Championship season.”
Hydraulink Jim Read Racing will next be in action at the Perth Motorplex for the Westernationals (March 4 and 5) – round five of the 2022/2023 Burson Auto Parts Australian Top Fuel Championship. For event information, visit www.topfuelchampionship.com.au or www.motorplex.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
