Hydraulink Jim Read Racing may have raced through for a B-Final victory and a new Personal Best ET at the weekend’s Riverbend Nationals at Dragway at The Bend, but according to the team, Top Fuel was the clear winner at what was another packed-out event at the state-of-the-art South Australian facility.
From end to end, the Top Fuel field delivered in spades across the weekend. From a total of 24 individual completed passes made by the five-car field over the two days, 19 were three second passes, five were side-by-side threes, and 11 were set at more than 310mph/500kph – including a new quickest and fastest Top Fuel Australian record from defending champion Damien Harris (3.733/329.21mph).
“Congratulations to this place, this is the new mecca of drag racing in Australia,” Phil Read enthused after his B-Final victory and his first ever three-seventy pass (see below for more info).
“It is a super track, it is smooth, it is lovely racing, the fans are great, everyone is great – it is just really good here and what a show Top Fuel has put on here today!”
“Everyone in Top Fuel is a winner today,” Hydraulink Jim Read Racing Crew Chief, Bruce Read, added.
“What an amazing day had by all, Top Fuel really reigned supreme here and showed what we are capable of. The amount of just insane runs from the entire field every single time we came out was just great and we are so proud to be a part of this.
“Personally, I think this is one of the best Top Fuel events in history, it was just amazing. I really hope the fans enjoyed it as much as we did.”
After qualifying fourth fastest across Saturday’s two qualifying sessions, the team lined up as part of the first race day Top Fuel pairing on Sunday alongside Peter Xiberras.
The duo delivered a blazing side-by-side pass down the track that saw them separated by a razor thin margin and the bumper crowd on their feet – with Read taking the victory with his 3.808 second pass at 303.48mph to Xiberras’ 3.824 at 324.07mph effort.
In round two, the team unfortunately was forced to miss its scheduled pairing against Phil Lamattina when it encountered an oil pressure issue during the warm-up, but the team worked hard to ensure that it could be back on track for the B-Final.
In that B-Final, Phil lined up against Wayne Newby for another epic match-up which saw the Hydraulink Jim Read Racing Top Fuel dragster take the win with a 3.783 second pass at 306.46mph on what was an early shut off.
“We have been aiming for a three-seventy for a while, that is our first time running a three-seventy, and I can tell you, it hurt me a bit to take my foot off – who knows what it could have been if I stayed in it!” Phil Read said.
“Thank you to Hydraulink, Valvoline, Snap-on, FXD Workwear, and all of our great sponsors, we couldn’t have done this without your ongoing support.
Hydraulink Jim Read Racing now turns its attention to the NDRC Top Fuel double-round at Sydney Dragway’s Nitro Champs, which will be held across May 3-5.
“With our win in Perth and now this strong result here at the Bend, we head to the next round at our home track full of confidence,” Bruce Read added.
Hydraulink Jim Read Racing is supported on track by Hydraulink, Valvoline, Snap-On, McDonalds, FXD Workwear, PremiAir Hire, Odyssey Batteries, PMP Motorsport Products, Diamond Pistons, Trend Performance Wrist Pins, Oasis Aquatics, Oasis Heat Pumps, Speed Gas, Spa Electric Pool Lighting, Pacific Pools and Comp Cams. The team also thanks Richard Smith for his assistance with photography services. To learn more about Hydraulink Jim Read Racing, visit https://www.facebook.com/JimReadRacing
