Welcome to the Drag News Australia updates from the Winternationals.
7:41pm – We’re into Outlaws now. It’s just 11 degrees outside! Will let you know if anything dramatic happens.
7:28pm – Justin Walshe slams down a 5.95 in the AA/A to take top spot. Jason Maggs in the opposite lane a 6.81 to go into second. There may be some words at the top end between the pair though with Maggs doing a very long burnout when Walshe had already finished backing up from his.
7:22pm – Wayne Cartledge threatened Phil Otto by taking the top spot with a .43 under 7.24 in the B/DA but Otto strikes back with a .45 under pass from the altered. Jeffrey Clarke improves with a 6.16 to be fifth. Maurice Brennan seems to have hurt something in the driveline with a hard lunch followed by no go whatsoever.
7:04pm – No big movers in Pro FX for that round, Comp is now on.
6:59pm – Zoran Gajic a 7.57/182 in the BMW to close out Pro FX, now into Sport Compact.
6:56pm – Rod Harvey shuts down early, Ben Bray helping out the team thinks it mind have sounded a bit off. Archie Kajewski spins the tyres off the line. Also from Bray is that he was meant to race the Gas Scion tonight but it was hurt in the warm up. Signorelli’s Celica is also hurt a little apparently.
6:52pm – Pro FX on now. George Rehayem goes 7.29 at just 160 in the Mazda 6 Pac Performance car. Brother Rocky shuts down early.
6:48pm – Terry Sainty comes through the water but the car just keeps idling, no burnout action whatsoever. He shuts it down.
6:46pm – Mark Mariani and Darren Morgan both shake the tyres about 100 feet out and shut down.
6:39pm – Phil Lamattina and Steve Read go up in synchronised tyre smoke off the start line. Funnily enough though an 18 second pass puts Read into the field while Lamattina currently sits in number nine.
6:35pm – A great start to Top Fuel as Martin Stamatis goes 4.68/298 shut off at about 1200ft while a 4.75/315 from Phil Read takes him into second position. Good side by side runs from the Jim Read Racing cars.
6:31pm – Ivan Skaramuca has a big step off the throttle before 60 feet but then jumps back on it for a 6.34/228. If he had have stayed on the throttle it may have been a field making pass but as it is he is in 13th. The bump remains a 6.27. Into Top Fuel now.
6:29pm – Russell Pavey on and off the throttle by the sounds during a 6.75/175, though doesn’t appear to be much butterfly movement in the replay?
6:25pm – John Zappia steps things up with a 5.83/245, while Deno Brijeski’s Camaro seems to have something amiss as it is waddling its way down the braking area, swaying side to side, perhaps rear end damage?
6:22pm – Maurice Fabietti jumps from 12th to 4th with a 6.05/248 lap. Tynan’s 6.39 is not an improvement on his earlier run.
6:19pm – Ray Bernard buzzes the tyres immediately and turns hard left.
6:17pm – Victor Bray up against Sean Mifsud. Two twostep cars here look great on the line. Victor shuts down early for a 6.22 and sixth spot, he is still nursing a sore arm which makes it tricky to pull the car up. Mifsud meantime a 6.09 which takes him into fifth.
6:13pm – Benny Bray gets things going with a 5.94/244 to sit in third. .99 to 60 feet and 3.92 to half track. He is now in third spot. Scott Maclean in the other lane gets down track with a 10 second pass which puts him on the qualifiers’ list but not in a great position.
6:09pm – Back after a short clean up needed when a fire bottle came off Abel’s Chev. Robin Judd and Peter Kapiris out now in an al Studebaker match. Both cars shake and move around with a 6.09 for Judd and a 6.48 for Kapiris. Kapiris is now in 11th spot.
6:02pm – Gary Phillips makes his first run in the Doorslammer a good one with a 6.08/244 to move staight into third. Abel meantime can only get a 6.53 from the Karcher Chev which will leave him in 11th. A 6.31 is the bump spot currently, held by De Felice.
5:58pm – Bishop gets a bit shakey on his way to a 6.29/239 while Belleri keeps the front end down but also suffers some shake on his way to a 6.30/237. Can anyone cure the shake in Doorslammer today?
5:41pm – Jeff Wilson shakes the tyres again fairly early. Tony De Felice looked like a decent lap going 4.18 to the half but only runs a 6.31/218 in the end.
5:13pm – Dean Oakey on a solo after John Cannuli shuts down after his burnout with a leak. Oakey with a 5.75/244 which does not improve on his earlier pass. Doorslammers to come now.
5:10pm – Aaron Hambridge launches with a big wheelstand but shuts off early and only a 5.85. Paul Madill steps up in a big way with a 5.75 which puts him into the field at seventh. It was a slightly early shut off. Bump is now Hambridge’s earlier 5.77.
5:07pm – Wayne Newby shakes the tyres hard yet again but drives through for a 5.73/252. Adam Machant pedals two or three times for a 6.27 and is out of the field.
5:02pm – Rick Gauci scorches to a 5.60/254 in his Funny Car, he is really one of the break out racers today. It puts him into third spot. Dennis Byth began to roll the beams and launched in deep stage for a 5.85 at just 211 and is fourth.
4:59pm – Gary Phillips lays down one of the best laps of the day so far with a 5.55/260 in the Lucas Funny Car. Steve Ham had a shaky 6.11 but has worked his way into the field at number eight.
4:57pm – Peter Ridgeway goes 7.10/193 to show he really has the speed aboard this weekend. Wayne Daley a 7.12/192. Most cars in this session lost a couple of hundredths. Top Alcohol is now ready to go.
4:54pm – Dave Newcombe a 7.094 and Aaron Tremayne a 7.093 in a good side by side race but neither improve. These cars are running near identical to each other. Reverse gear for Aaron Tremayne is none other than Modified top qualifier Michelle Osborne.
4:50pm – Lee Bektash improves to a 7.10/192 as racing resumes following the sun break in Pro Stock. Tyronne Tremayne does not improve with a 7.10/192.
4:25pm – Denis Whiting going 7.15 and Scott Porter a 7.15, both slipping from their earlier 7.12 pace. Looks like we will now be having a sun break.
4:23pm – Bill Kotsias with a 7.18/190 and Ian Brown with a 7.16/184. Both stay in their pictures.
4:20pm – Brian Pursell gets pushed back after his burnout with problems. Todd Patterson runs a 7.21 which will not improve on his earlier 7.19. It sounded like the revs dropped a little mid track.
4:17pm – Bill Perdikaris will remain out of the field with an early shut off 7.50, Enzo Demizio does not improve with a 7.36/185.
4:14pm – Michael Ali goes 7.21/191 and Shane Tucker a 7.22/189, sitting 13th and 14th respectively.
4:11pm – Into Pro Stock now. John Barbagallo was sitting out but he goes into 15th with a 7.35/191. He had big shake again but pedalled it.
4:09pm – Gavin Spann was on a decent pass to half track but then it sounds like it has broken a belt or something. 8.53 ET to be in seventh after Ashelford’s time gets taken out of the order.
4:07pm – Chris Porter launches very lazily for an 8.33. It’s an improvement that gets him into the field.
4:03pm – Alan Herriman finds his turbo machine a handful again with a big bunny hop off the start line and an 11 second pass.
4:01pm – Mick Murray improves to a 7.84 and goes into ifth spot while Geoff Redgrave makes his first pass of the weekend on the Quietaire Suzuki and makes it into the field at number six with a 7.85. Both riders were quite close to the centreline through the top end.
3:54pm – Ian Ashelford out strongly but crosses the centreline over the finish for a disqualified 6.90. Neville Smith will not get a time as a result but he had shut down early.
3:51pm – Chris Matheson spins the tyre early and shuts it off. Drew still having some issues getting his Harley off the line and only runs a 9.14.
3:48pm – A 7.51/174 from Phil Howard moves him into second. Amazingly we haven’t seen Andrew Badcock in this session, all he needs to do is stage for the championship and after two sessions this has still not been done! Now into Top Bike.
3:47pm – Locky Ireland 7.93/170 after bogging off the line.
3:44pm – Peter Cochrane 7.45/179 so not as good as his first pass. Ross Lemberg makes his first pass of the weekend but spins the tyre off the line aboard his gorgeous Australian flag themed Suzuki.
3:42pm – Glenn Wooster moves right out close to the centreline and has to roll off the throttle a little for a 8.38 that does not improve his position in this, Q2 of Pro Stock Bike. Mark Hancock goes 7.75 to improve his time but not his position.
3:40pm – Joe Signorelli has his Celica on a decent pass with a 6.76 but at just 190mph. Pro Bike is out next.
3:37pm – Zoran Gajic has troubles in the burnout and needs to go back for another go. Both he and opponent Tony Wedlock shut down early.
3:34pm – An all Pac Performance match here. Rocky Rehayem in runs a 7.28/184 to a 7.33/186 from George Rehayem in a good side by side race.
3:31pm – Archie Kawjewski in his Mazda BT50 ute jumps off the line but almost instantly goes quiet. Rod Harvey wanders around and shuts down early for a 7.65/144.
3:27pm – Phil Read is right in the hunt for the championship this weekend but this isn’t a championship winning run with cylinders out from the start and a 9.29. Bob Shepherd was on a decent pass until it threw the belt at half track for a 6.29/113. We now move into Pro FX.
3:19pm – Martin Stamatis takes the Billview car to one hell of a run with a 4.65/310. It put a cylinder out on the right hand side towards the end of the track. Allan Dobson goes 4.91/258 putting out multiple cylinders towards the end of the track.
3:11pm – Crew chiefs are very impressed with the conditions. Glenn Mikres called it “Star Wars” conditions. Phil Lamattina out now and smokes the tyres right on the line and then pops the blower. The Fuchs team obviously tried to put in a big run there.
2:58pm – Darren Morgan for AEG Powertools up against Mark Mariani in the Santo Rapisarda dragster. Mariani is fireballing from half track on for a 5.03 while Morgan also has a dramatic fire with a 4.98/297.
2:48pm – Top Fuel is now on. Terry Sainty is out first and drops a number of cylinders straight away before fireballing at half track. Looks like we might be down for our first clean up in Pro Series qualifying.
2:43pm – John Zappia out in the Striker Monaro and he goes to the top with a 5.86 at just 241. Even he had some pretty bad tyre shake. Scott Maclean in the opposite lane launched and hooked right almost immediately, crossing the centreline on two wheels not far after the 60 foot timers.
2:40pm – Victor Bray in the all back Chev is also using the two step this weekend. He looked to be on a mission but shut down early for a 6.61/163 which sits on the bump spot currently. Maurice Fabietti in the Holden Trade Club Monaro manages a pedalling 6.38/242.
2:36pm – Peter Kapiris gives the Studebaker some big revs on the line and as soon as the car launches it goes up in smoke. Crew chief Mark Brew says the revs did sound a bit high. Tony De Felice meantime looked to be on a decent pass but the noise went out early for a 6.37/190.
2:33pm – Northern Territorian Andrew Sutton hits a 6.27/230, scooting very close to the centre line. Stu Bishop meantime wheelstands out to the wall, pedals and then has the motor go pop in the Camaro. Daniel Reed is helping out the Bishop team this weekend.
2:26pm – Ben Bray in the Castrol Monaro is using the two step again this weekend. He shakes and pedals for a 6.11/239. Ray Bernard in the Nomad shook as well and then slipped out to the right, taking out the 330ft beam.
2:23pm – Matt Abel’s Karcher Chev goes into shake, he gets back into the pedal and it wheelstands at mid track, then there is a small pop of the engine for a 7.48. Deno Brijeski has similar shake in the Pro Comp Motorsport Camaro and a 7.51 results.
2:21pm – Robin Judd, points leader, goes a 5.91/246 despite his William Buck Studebaker jumping forward and going into deep stage. Jeff Wilson had very bad shake in the Chev and pedals for a 8.18/203.
2:18pm – Mark Belleri in the family Camaro comes out with a spectacular wheelstand, virtually identical to the one he did in Sydney last month. A 9.37 shut down is the result.
2:13pm – How good are the conditions here? This comes from Rob Cavagnino, crew chief for Jim Read Racing. “These are the perfect conditions, it doesn’t get much better than this. These are the sort of conditions that you really go after. We race all year but there are only really two events where you can run the quickest and hardest and this is one of them. The first 600 ft are the best I’ve ever seen. It will probably get even better after another round of Group One. Conservative isn’t going to win this race and it isn’t going to win the championship.”
2:10pm – Ivan Skaramuca driving one of the Deno Brijeski Camaros. He leaves without too many revs and then shakes the tyres, heading out to the centreline. Gives it a stab again and goes across, taking out the half track beams and getting disqualified.
2:06pm – New Zealand’s Chris Tynan out alongside Sean Mifsud for the first pairing in Doorslammer. Tynan goes a 6.33/230 with minor shake while Mifsud’s shake issues were anything but, he stayed in the throttle for a 6.27/231.
2:02pm – Sydneysider Dean Oakey with a very smooth run for a 5.65/251. The dragsters are running big speeds today. Katherine Sichter is forced to shut down after she can’t get the car into gear. Oh and by the way, Mr Swayn has come through with his valuable data again and tells us the current 7.121 number eight spot in Pro Stock is a record for eight cars. We now cruise on into Top Doorslammer.
1:59pm – Both Steve Ham and Adam Marchant have chronic shake. Marchant pedals for a 6.26 while Ham shuts his Mobil 1 Funny Car down.
1:56pm – Aaron Hambridge had a big pedal on his way to a 5.77/250 in the dragster, going .939 to the 60 foot beams! But Dennis Byth in the other lane steals some headlines with a 5.63/246, a PB by a long way.
1:53pm – John Cannuli has the Wash It Funny Car out and looking great in this sun. He rolls the beams though. Wayne Newby has a bunch of shake but in typical Newby style stays in it and runs a 5.67/253 for second spot.
1:50pm – Debbie Reed for Allstar Batteries goes to the top of the field with a classy 5.61/248 from the dragster. Paul Madill in the Dodge Funny Car mean time goes 6.18 with plenty of fuel coming out. Ben Bray is helping ot Madill and said Madill drove it like a girl.
1:46pm – Gary Phillips in the Lucas Funny Car goes 5.84/252 with a big pedal from some massive shake. I swear you could feel it from the tower!
1:43pm – Wayne Price and Rick Gauci kick off Top Alcohol with an all Funny Car duel. Price has some vicious shake and pedals for a 6.60/220 while Gauci goes a 5.72 at only 213 for a tough first pass.
1:40pm – The two championship contenders Aaron Tremayne and Lee Bektash line up. Tremayne goes 7.084/192 to be in third while a 7.11/192 from the Mopar of Bektash is only good for sixth! We now shift into Top Alcohol.
1:38pm – Dave Newcombe equals Ridgeway’s time with a 7.082/192. Tyronne Tremayne meantime hits a 7.09, the pace is stepping up here.
1:36pm – Big expectations for John Barbagallo but he spins and shakes the tyres. Denis Whiting goes 7.12/190 in the other lane. Ian Brown has just been interviewed saying he as well was up on two wheels in the braking area avoiding Mirta’s car previously.
1:32pm – Shane Tucker’s EMV Energy Drink car shuts down early for an 8.2 second time while Wayne Daley hits a 7.09/8/192 to move into second spot.
1:30pm – Michael Ali gets shut down in the burnout to waste this, the first of three qualifying sessions in Pro Stock, bearing in mind they have a 16 car field so round one is on Saturday. Brian Pursell cuts a 7.18/190, Bill Kotsias hits a 7.17/187 despite moving out to the right a lttle. Scott Porter is running WA’s Allen Puglia’s motor which has had a freshen up and he goes 7.12/192. Paul Porter says the team are very happy with that run.
1:19pm – Peter Ridgeway comes back into Pro Stock and instantly makes a statement with a 7.08/193. Bill Perdikaris spun the tyres, Ian Brown goes 7.15/188 and his opponent Frank Mirta 7.24/189 but all the drama is in the braking area as Mirta’s car flips and ends up on its roof. There was no chutes and he hit the opposite wall but damage from this distance does not look as severe as it could have been.
1:04pm – We’re now into Pro Stock Q1. USA driver Todd Patterson out for his first time in competition. The timing system gives us a heart attack by taking its time but he has gone a 7.19/189 to Enzo Demizio’s 7.33/185. Patterson a little to the right of the groove but otherwise looked good.
1:01pm – Troy McLean riding a bike imported from Canada owned by Mick Murray we hear. McLean hits the throttle on the start line but nothing happens and he turns it off.
12:57pm – Mark Drew and Nitro Champs runner up Chris Porter both very lazy off the line on their nitro Harleys. 9.43 for Drew and 9.79 for Porter.
12:55pm – Alan Herriman runs a 9.06. He had bulk tyre shake and got off the throttle then went out to the wall.
12:51pm – Gavin Spann off it at half track for a 9.56 on his ex-Peter Pearce bike. Word through from the inimitable Lex Swayn that the Matheson v Upton encounter was the quickest side by side bike race in Australia.
12:48pm – Peter Cochrane drops a 7.32/182 Kawasaki bomb on Pro Bike. Locky Ireland has got his Lucas Suzuki going with a 7.54 which sounded like it didn’t get into top gear, Phil Howard follows on with a 7.57, then Glenn Wooster wth a 7.60. Every bike shook the tyre to some degree. Michael Gilbertson stalled off the line.
Top Bike has also begun with Chris Matheson vs Jay Upton. Matheson goes 6.10, under the national record, to Upton’s 6.40. Matheson 3.98/200 to half track.
12:37pm – Pro Bike is now on. Andrew Badcock and Mark Hancock. Badcock has to stage to win the championship…but the bike has been switched off after the burnout! Hancock goes 7.86/169, sounded like it was slipping a bit.
12:25pm – Supercharged Outlaws has finally wrapped up and we are now into Competition Bike. Pro categories are to follow on after this.
11:41am – We’re back racing again in Supercharged Outlaws.
11:23am – The track is getting closer to being ready again. Paul Drady/cacklingpipes.com got these pictures of the Murphy v Stephen incident as it happened.
10:55am – The track is currently being cleared from the dramatic Murphy and Stephen two car crash.
10:41am – There has been a big accident in Supercharged Outlaws qualifying. Neil Murphy’s Mustang, only just rebuilt after a big crash, has shaken the tyres and speared into the right hand lane where he has hit Paul Stephen’s altered. It was a very unlucky incident where Murphy took his time to launch while Stephen shut down at 60 feet. The two collided about 200 ft out. Murphy hit hard into the back of Stephen. Safety teams are currently on the scene and we will bring you info as it happens.
10/6/2010 10:30am – We are currently in Supercharged Outlaws. The one word to describe this morning’s conditions is COLD. It has stayed around 9 degrees for most of the morning and there’s not a lot of sun to warm things up. Pro Stock teams are quietly confident if they can avoid the shake, with Kerry Tremayne saying he was looking forward to racing in this kind of weather. Current Top Fuel points leader Martin Stamatis thinks tyre shake is going to be the order of the day in Top Fuel. He also mentioned that his crew chief Rob Cavagnino will be giving Saturday the skip to attend his sister’s wedding, meaning Bruce Read will be calling the shots on the Billview car for the last two qualifying sessions. We will bring you highlights from the day as they come including run by run in the ANDRA Pro Series.
