Former Australian Top Fuel Motorcycle Champion Chris Matheson was uncharacteristically eliminated from the X-Champs with a red light at Sydney Dragway last weekend.
In an eventful round of ANDRA Championship Drag Racing, Matheson, along with most of the field struggled with the cool, windy conditions during qualifying on Saturday.
Matheson’s 6.50 was good enough to top the field but he felt it was somewhat of a get out of jail free card considering he pedaled the bike and conditions were less than ideal.
Race day saw better weather, however gusty cross winds at three quarter track persisted.
Up against WA based Nitro Harley rider Gordon Crawford, Matheson had lane choice as Top Qualifier. Unfortunately for him he was too keen, leaving the tree early and red lighting.
Matheson ran a 6.281, shutting off early, with a solid straight pass, but it didn’t matter as the damage had been done.
“It had to happen,” he said. “My first red light since I began racing and I hope my last! I let all the team and fans down, but that’s history now.”
“We are hoping to get more data, so we can be on top of it for the Winternationals in June, however, we will resume our process at the Winters Warm Up meeting at Ipswich in a few weeks.”
“Congratulations to Leonard Azzopardi and his team winning with a 6.59 over Gordon Crawford with a 9.22 (in the final), well done. See you at the Winters.”
Image courtesy: dragphotos.com.au