Two thrilling days and nights of National Drag Racing Championship (NDRC) action have wrapped up in spectacular fashion at the 54th annual Westernationals, lighting up a packed Perth Motorplex well into Sunday evening.
Fans were treated to back-to-back excitement with a second day and night of group one and sportsman racing, headlined by Top Fuel – with these 11,000hp, 500kph monsters making their only trip to the West in 2025 for round three of their NDRC Championship chase.
Top Doorslammer and Top Fuel Motorcycle competitors also put on a show, battling it out in their own NDRC championship rounds alongside eleven fiercely contested Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship brackets.
While the sportsman racers finalised their qualifying before heading into intense eliminations on Sunday, the group one racers were straight into racing and following three rounds of all-run competition, it was Peter Xiberras over Damien Harris (Top Fuel), Brodie Zappia over Steve Aldridge (Top Doorslammer), and Damian Muscat over Wayne McGuinness (Top Fuel Motorcycle) who celebrated with the coveted Gold NDRC Christmas Trees on Sunday evening.
In Top Fuel, Peter Xiberras’ A-Final win was exceptionally special for the Sydney-sider as his first win at the Perth Motorplex.
After last-minute trouble struck defending champion Damien Harris, who was pushed back from the start line, Xiberras ran an impressive 3.854-second 502.36kph run all the way to the deep end and laid down the only 500kph+ run of the finals.
Earlier in the day, Xiberras had taken the round one and round two victories – 4.001/425.02kph over a red lighting Phil Lamattina (6.354/170.18kph) and 3.895/473.36kph over a pedalling Phil Read (4.708/257.37kph) who had a drive job on his hands after getting out of shape off the line in that run.
Damien Harris was the only other Top Fuel racer to claim two round victories ahead of the finals, with the defending champ and Top Qualifier also resetting his own Perth Motorplex Top Fuel speed record to 519.5kph (from 519.06kph), in his 3.813s second round performance – a marker he had previously set in April 2022.
In that pass he had dispatched Phil Lamattina (3.862/486.43kph) – with the pair having almost identical reaction times (Harris – .060/Lamattina – .061) and identical 60ft times (.843s) it was an intense side by side battle with candles all the way, with Harris pipping the ‘Carrot King’ by just .049s. In round one, Harris (3.929/494.19kph) had got the better of the eventual B-Final winner, Kyle Putland (4.155/375.13kph), who tossed a belt at the 600ft line.
With the two round wins and a A-Final victory to his name this weekend, Xiberras was all smiles as he emerged from his dragster after the final run.
“This one is for the team. It’s for all the guys and girls who work tirelessly and put so much effort in – even when things aren’t looking so good, they keep backing it up and backing it up. Without them, I wouldn’t be here,” Xiberras grinned as he celebrated the win in the deep end.
“This is the first time I’ve won here,” he grinned, before letting out a whoop of celebration.
In the B-Final, WA underdog Kyle Putland had the crowd on its feet as Top Fuel’s newest racer went all the way to the end with a blistering 3.969-second 460.66kph run in the final over Wayne Newby (6.653/142.24kph). Putland, who had been chasing a three-second run all weekend, didn’t let off the gas even as Newby, who had been battling clutch issues all weekend, shut off early in the run.
This was the second time the pair faced off during Sunday’s racing, with Putland (4.053/367.32kph) also getting the better of the Rapisarda Autosport International racer (4.224/400.11kph) in round two.
It was a side-by-side drag race in the C-Final for Phil Lamattina and Phil Read until the former’s Fuchs Lubricants dragster erupted in a fireball, with Read driving on through for the win. Running in the left lane for the first time today, this was also the Hydraulink Jim Read Racing pilot’s best run of the night (3.862/455.41kph).
In Top Doorslammer, the A-Final victory was a particularly popular result, with young rookie Brodie Zappia not only making it all the way to the A-Final but also claiming his first Top Doorslammer victory mere months after obtaining his licence late last year.
Brodie Zappia’s final run started with a wild burnout, almost sending the 19-year-old into the wall before racing even began. Lined up against Steve Aldridge, the young gun ran all the way through to the end with an impressive 5.899-second 385.58kph holeshot over Steve Aldridge (5.812/397.02kph), who gave it everything he had.
Consistency was the name of the game for the younger Zappia all weekend, with the nephew of 11-time champion John Zappia also claiming wins (5.871/388.10kph and 5.859/387.39kph) over Frank Taylor (7.169/249.29kph and 6.148/384.90kph) in both rounds one and two.
While it wasn’t the first time he has held a Christmas Tree, it was still a very special moment for the young racer.
“This is the first one I have had that is Gold and has Top Doorslammer on it! I am shaking, I can’t believe it. This is a dream come true,” Brodie said in the deep end after his winning run.
“I have to thank the whole crew; everyone has worked their bums off all weekend. We went testing on Thursday trying to find some more performance and we’ve just been consistent and it has paid off.
“So, a massive thank you to everyone who has made this possible, of course to Uncle John for this opportunity because I wouldn’t be doing this without him; and my parents, the rest of my family, and all my sponsors and supporters who come out. And thanks to everyone who works on the car.
“This is just unbelievable,” a clearly overwhelmed Brodie concluded.
Defending Top Doorslammer champion Russell Taylor enjoyed a solo run in the B-Final after Maurice Brennan’s wounded Just Flooring Commodore suffered mechanical issues after round two and was unable to appear. Taylor didn’t let running solo stop him from putting on a show for the crowd, laying down his quickest and fastest run of the night at 5.685-seconds and 408.53kph.
Taylor also ran a solo in round two (5.705/407.99kph) and needed to set a scorching time to make it into the finals after ‘being asleep at the wheel’ in round one with a .326 reaction time ahead of a 5.791-second 407.15kph run against Peter Kapiris’ 5.931-second 388.95kph effort.
In the C-Final, John Zappia lined up against Lisa Gregorini in a rematch of not only their second-round run tonight (where Lisa sent John packing with a holeshot 5.772/380.45kph v 5.763/396.71kph victory after being shut down at the waterbox in round one) but also the Nitro Slam event earlier in the year.
While Lisa had dispatched the 11-time champ on both of those occasions, in the C-Final it went the way of the Dananni Hotshots Fuchs Monaro, with the elder Zappia (5.725/401.15kph) sailing through to the end after a wheel stand at the start for Lisa that smoked the tyres, causing the Scratch and Match Motorsport racer to back out early (14.111/94.02kph).
Zappia had earlier enjoyed a solo in round one thanks to his status as the NDRC Top Qualifier Medallion winner, laying down a 5.733-second 403.66kph to be the only racer in that opening round to break the 400kph mark.
In the D-Final Mark Chapman (6.316/376.46kph) claimed the win over an issues-plagued Daniel Gregorini, who was pushed back from the start and was unable to run. Having rebuilt the motor overnight after damage sustained during qualifying, Daniel set down a solid effort 5.837-second 393.97kph solo run in round one after his wife Lisa struggled to get out of the water box. In round two was pushed back from the startline against Chapman (6.121/378.78kph), who had earlier narrowly avoided disaster himself by coming oh-so-close to the wall during his round one pass (9.083/162.79kph) against Maurice Brennan (7.553/225.99kph).
In Top Fuel Motorcycle, Damian Muscat and Wayne McGuinness headed to the A-Final after taking two wins apiece, making for a highly competitive final match-up.
When all was said and done, Muscat drove all the way for a 6.448-second 308.77kph win over McGuinness (8.326/193.81), whose run had started strong before he ran into trouble mid-way through and chose to back off.
Muscat had earlier enjoyed a bye in round one thanks to his Top Qualifying effort, running a 6.625-second 252.07kph, before another solo pass in round two, where complete with fireworks from his Nitro Phoenix racer he delivered a 6.209-second 307.42kph run.
Despite a wheel stand to the 800ft line in round one, McGuinness (6.561/296.92kph) got the better of Greg Durack (7.795/319.07kph) in round one, before running solo in round two (8.401/203.16kph) when Corey Buttigieg was pushed back from the start.
While he didn’t get down into the lauded fives this weekend, Muscat was happy with the win, especially considering the fact that he was plagued with engine issues all weekend.
“We’ll take the win!” Muscat smiled as he was handed the Gold NDRC Christmas Tree trophy after the A-Final.
“The JTS rocketship was giving us drama all weekend, and we’re on our third engine for the weekend.
“Thanks to the crew for all of their work to put on a good show for the crowd, and thanks to the crowd for being here and for their support.”
Tony Wood was another racer to take wins in all three rounds, including the B-Final over runner-up Greg Durack. Wood blazed down the lane in the final with candles on the whole way (7.740/272.74kph), leaving Durack (9.732/165.78kph) far behind. Wood and Durack both ran solos in round two, with Wood (7.902/229.46kph) also getting the better of Buttigieg (11.696/125.54kph) in round one. The C-Final saw Buttigieg matched with Kevin Gummow to cap off what was his first time racing at the Perth Motorplex, taking the win on a solo after Gummow was unable to proceed from the startline.
In the Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship, qualifying continued for all but Super Stock and Competition this morning with those bracket’s Top Qualifiers having been decided on Saturday night. At the conclusion of qualifying, the following racers joined Errol Quartermaine (Super Stock) and Michael Buckley (Competition) in being awarded the NDRC Top Qualifier Medallions in their respective brackets on Sunday: Gavin Donnelly (Super Street), Terry Phillips (Super Sedan), Vince Belladonna (Supercharged Outlaws), Justin Townson (Modified Bike), Jesse Martin (Junior Dragster), Seth Jarvis (Junior Drag Bike), Chris Allen (Competition Bike), Michelle Morrison (Modified Eliminator) and Jason Lippi (Top Sportsman).
In all, more than 160 Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship racers across eleven brackets raced for valuable championship points, with the following racers claiming NDRC Gold and Silver Christmas Tree trophies in their respective brackets: Jake Chaisty over Todd Stacy (Super Stock), Connor McClure over Jon Ferguson (Competition), Lisa Garbellini over Daniel Brecich (Super Street), Kyle Higgins over Michael North (Super Sedan), Kasey McClure over Peter Appleby (Supercharged Outlaws), Tony Ambrosini over Paul De Klerk (Modified Bike), Nixon Cannuli over Nathaniel Kuchel (Junior Dragster), Riley Kilvington over Tyler James (Junior Drag Bike), Chris Allen over Michael Holister (Competition Bike), and Yvette Gregg over Roger Moorhouse (Top Sportsman). In Modified Eliminator, Paul Garbellini won the event over Michelle Morrison, however Paul is ineligible for NDRC points or trophies due to his personal decision to not carry the required championship decal as per the rules and regulations.
The 2024/2025 NDRC season continues across April 5-6 at Dragway at The Bend for the Riverbend Nationals with Top Fuel, XPRO Nitro Funny Car, Top Doorslammer and Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship taking to the track.
The Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs will then follow in Sydney on May 2-4, headlined by Top Fuel and XPRO Nitro Funny Car alongside the full range of group one categories plus the Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship.
Then, the biggest event of the year is back with the return of the Gulf Western Oil Winternationals at Willowbank Raceway across June 5-8, featuring Top Fuel, XPRO Nitro Funny Car, Top Doorslammer and Top Fuel Motorcycle, plus Pro Alcohol, Pro Stock, FuelTech Pro Mod, Pro Stock Motorcycle, and the Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship.
For the full listing of events, please visit https://nationaldragracing.com.au/calendar/
To learn more about the NDRC, visit www.ndrc.tv
