Fuchs-sponsored drivers are leading the way at the Fuchs Winternationals following day two of Australia’s biggest drag racing event as performances stepped up in prime conditions.
Phil Lamattina recorded his quickest pass in years with a 4.610 second clocking at over 523kmh to put claim to the top qualifying position in Top Fuel, with two sessions to come tomorrow.
Lamattina said it was a case of the Fuchs dragster finally realising some long held potential.
“We’ve had our back against the wall and allowed ourselves to get in a position where Darren is ahead of us and that is our fault, not Darren’s,” he said.
“We know we have the right set up and car and tune up but we haven’t had the components be so forgiving. The time was good tonight but the speed blew us away.
“We are going to see if we can go quicker tomorrow and see if we can get the car to run consistently as well.
“For the Fuchs car to be in the number one spot at the Fuchs Winternationals so far is just great.”
In Top Doorslammer, John Zappia dropped a bomb on the field with a 5.753 to top qualify his Fuchs Holden Monaro.
Zappia’s time was just 0.003 of a second off the quickest ever run for the category, which he himself performed at last year’s Fuchs Winternationals.
Zappia said they used the same tune up and despite a run that was anything but straight the pace was there.
“We want to fine tune what we’ve got now with some very small adjustments,” he said. “Hopefully we can repeat that kind of run. We need to learn what our limits are and hopefully keep it more in the centre of the track – by just doing that we might even be able to go a 5.73.”
The run formed the first part of a new national record as well for Zappia, should he be able to back it up across the rest of the event.
Also in national record territory was Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Rhett Lougheed, exceeding the speed record with a 305.04kmh terminal speed on his 7.122 pass.
It was the first pass on Australian soil since 2009 for Lougheed, who is a former Queenslander now residing in the USA.
“I was pretty happy with that out of the trailer, I think it has a bit more in it,” he said.
“I’m shooting for the whole match this weekend but whether or not that comes through is another thing. If I can get the first part of the pass a bit better it definitely has potential to go under the record.
“Willowbank Raceway is still my home track, everyone has been great and has looked after me. I’m very happy to be a part of this great meeting.”
Jason Grima remained the leader in Pro Stock on their second day of qualifying, with an improving 6.989 staying in front of the quickest field in history, bumped by Bill Perdikaris’ 7.106.
John Cannuli’s 5.638 second time held number one position in Top Alcohol, with big time names Steven Ham, Steven Reed and Wayne Newby all still out of the field with two sessions left.
Chris Porter’s 7.001 is currently leading the seven Top Bike entries, with most of the field looking to run into the six second zone.
Fuchs Winternationals qualifying continues Sunday.
Images courtesy Dave Reid.
