The first round of racing for BLAHST Top Fuel at the Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs delivered dramatic scenes at Sydney Dragway on Sunday morning, as Damien Harris’ Atlantic Oils Rapisarda Autosport International dragster bucked and snapped across the track, come scarily close to his opponent in the process.
On the hit, both Harris (in the right lane) and Steve “The Pom” Read were up on the tyres, launching a pedal fest on both sides of the track.
As Harris attempted to recover, his dragster snapped violently sideways towards Read, sparks trailing as it pitching back and forth, even momentarily lifting onto three wheels.
Thankfully the three-time champion was able to avoid contact, showcasing his experience with handling these unpredictable 11,000hp/500kph+ machines.
After a speedy switch back to his lane to narrowly avoid Read – who had already pulled the chutes, unaware of the chaos behind him – Harris was able to guide the car to a safe stop, but unfortunately significant damage to the chassis would mean he would be unable to return to the track that day.
Interviewed immediately after the wild ride, Harris was visibly shaken but characteristically focused on performance rather than the scare.
“I am just emotional it wasn’t a win light, and maybe not the best driving in the world,” Harris told NDRC reporter Michelle Morrison.
“I’m not really sure what happened, to be honest with you. One minute I was straight, it shook, I pedalled it, next thing I was sideways and up on one tyre I think.”
He later added: “it smoked the tyre on the hit. It was pointing straight and settled down, so I hit it again, it spun, went sideways, and then I was trying to get it away from the wall. Then maybe because I was being rocked around, I gave it another hit and then I was back on four wheels and heading for the finish line.”
Crew chief Santo Rapisarda Jnr praised Harris’ composure in the cockpit.
“Damien has been driving these cars for a long time. Maybe he overdrove it a little there in desperation, but he did a good job making sure it didn’t go over,” he told NDRC commentator Chad Neylon on the startline immediately after the run.
“We were lucky. Louie was looking out for us making sure he didn’t get over into Steve. Both drivers are okay and that is all that matters at the end of the day,” he added, referring to Louie Rapisarda – the late son of team patriarch Santo Rapisarda – who passed away in 1990 and was remembered only moments earlier in a tribute package recognising Rapisarda’s recent induction into the Australian Motorsport Hall of Fame.
While all this was going on, Read was completely unawares, occupied with an ill-behaved dragster of his own.
“No, (I didn’t see what was happening with Harris), I was concentrating on trying to pedal it,” Read said.
“We had hopped it up a little bit, but we might have gone too much. It was really violent off the line and just shook, moved sideways, moved around; but we got there first, and that’s the main thing.”
The RAI team is now assessing the extent of the full extent of the damage before making a decision on if and how Harris will compete at the upcoming Gulf Western Oil Winternationals at Willowbank Raceway (June 4-7) – the next round of the NDRC and BLAHST Top Fuel championship.
“We are assessing the damage to the chassis and will make a decision for the Winters once we know where we are at,” Rapisarda Jnr confirmed on Monday evening.
For Gulf Western Oil Winternationals event info and to purchase tickets, go to https://nationaldragracing.com.au/event/winternationals/
To learn more about the NDRC, visit www.ndrc.tv
