Peter Xiberras (Photo: Joe Maday)
By Amanda Cobb | May 20, 2024
Double the nitro at the Gulf Western Oil Nitro Champs more than delivered when it came to crowd-pleasing action at Sydney Dragway at the weekend, setting a perfect stage for the upcoming NDRC season finale at the Gulf Western Oil Winternationals (June 6-9).
On-track Sunday was the second round of racing for the weekend for Top Fuel, plus racing for XPRO Nitro Funny Car, Top Doorslammer, Pro Stock and FuelTech Pro Mod alongside as second round of the Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship, while Red Bull Race Champion Matt Hall also entertained.
In Top Fuel, Peter Xiberras immediately got to work to set up a repeat of his Saturday round win, laying down a 3.80 second, 514.83kph pass in the first run of the day over Phil Read, who went nowhere from the start when the chutes deployed early due to a $20 part failure that triggered the safety system. It was the first of multiple 3-second 500kph+ Top Fuel runs for the day, with Wayne Newby, Shane Olive, and Damien Harris also adding their names to that list.
Sunday’s A-Final was a re-match of Saturday’s, with Xiberras and Harris both making their way to the final battle thanks to convincing round one and two performances, with defending champion Harris looking for redemption while Xiberras was keen to become the first Top Fuel racer to record two A-Final wins so far this season. Xiberras’ effort was more than enough, winning on a holeshot with a 3.795 seconds at 514.7kph to Harris’ 3.793, 523.88kph effort
“This is unbelievable, I don’t know what to say, I am a bit gobsmacked actually,” Xiberras said.
“It has just been one of those weekends where things have fallen into place. There have been times where we thought we had blown it and it just comes in.
“I can’t thank my crew enough – we were here past midnight servicing, there was a little problem we thought with the rear end with the diff and we probably didn’t need to change it, but we did to make sure, so we pulled the diff out and put the spare in and these boys and girls are just amazing individuals and I can’t thank them enough. Without them I wouldn’t be doing this, so kudos to them.”
It was Rapisarda Autosport International teammates Wayne Newby and Shane Olive who would line up for the B-Final, with Newby taking the win with a flying 3.753 second 528.73kph pass to not only best Olive, but also set a new Sydney Dragway Top Fuel ET record in the process.
In the C-Final, it wasn’t the weekend either of the Phils were hoping for, with Lamattina and Read suffering from mechanical issues throughout the day, and a red light for Lamattina in round two. However, it was a positive ending to the weekend for Read, taking out the win with a 7.442 second pass despite troubles at half-track when Lamattina threw away a 3.895/443.12kph pass with another red light on the start in a continuation of his extremely challenging weekend.
Amanda Cobb | NDRC
