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Stamatis to wind up the wick at Willowbank |
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Tuesday, 18 December 2007 |
West Australian Top Fuel Driver Martin Stamatis will be looking to
‘wind up the wick’ at Willowbank Raceway for the January 4/5 Night Fire
Top Fuel Spectacular and round four of the ANDRA Top Fuel Spectacular
after a up and down Sydney round three last weekend.
After top qualifying with a 4.684 sec/320.36 mph (515.569kmh) pass
Stamatis was frustratingly unable to stage the car for his first
elimination round.
Amazingly, after addressing the issue and requesting an exhibition run,
Stamatis put his 2004 McKinney 496 TFX Top Fueler down the quarter mile
with lightening speed to set the Low Elapsed Time for the day – a
definite nod to Stamatis’ expectations for January.
“We really love going up to Willowbank, my wife loves it, I love
it, everyone loves it – the track is great and just that little bit
different and I enjoy the racing and the hospitality there – we are
always made to feel really welcome,” said Stamatis.
“Our exhibition run in Sydney was run in really humid conditions
after the hail storm there and so provided the perfect testing
conditions ahead of the January event.
“From that pass we were able to get some excellent data for January
and now with the dragster serviced and tuned in Sydney she is ready and
rearing to go for Willowbank.
“We have some pretty high expectations for the weekend after the
QEC Nationals at Willowbank and from knowing what the dragster can do,
you could say we haven’t really had a full ‘crack’ at Willowbank as yet
after going quite ‘soft’ with our strategy in September.”
Stamatis’ QEC Nationals run saw he and Lamittina record the fastest
side-by-side pass outside of North America at the time
(4.660sec/316.67mph – 509.63kmh) with their pairing also the quickest
ever seen at Willowbank. The 52 year old’s 4.599sec/328.9mph
(529.39kph) pass run earlier in the night was also the quickest time
and speed hosted by the Ipswich track.
“The 4.59 we ran then is not really indicative of what I feel we
are capable of at Willowbank, so we will be looking for a 4.56
hopefully if the conditions are right,” said Stamatis.
“The aim of course will be to qualify first of all, so we will look
at getting through that and then ‘wind the wick up’ and see what we can
do – to do ‘back to backs’ and set the track record would be great for
us and something we certainly have our eye on.”
If Stamatis is able to do just that it will do his championship
aspirations no harm after the topsy turvy results of last weekend.
“We really want to do well in Queensland to elevate ourselves up the points after Sydney,” said Stamatis.
“We are currently third in the standings, due mostly to the fact we
have set the Top Speed and Low Elapsed Times for the previous two
meetings, which in itself is a good achievement for a ‘rookie’, so
despite the issues you couldn’t say we have had a bad run.”
Slated as a newcomer to drag racing, Stamatis has actually been
involved in the sport since 1977, managing to fly under the radar since
retiring 13 years ago.
“I came out of retirement this year when the opportunity came up to
drive the second Jim Read Racing Top Fuel Dragster, and it has
certainly been an experience and a half to drive a modern day Fueler,”
said Stamatis.
“The last car I drove before retiring was the Allfast Top Alcohol
Dragster after starting racing at the season opener at Ravenswood in
September of 1977.
“It has certainly been exciting to be back behind the wheel of one
of these machines, and even more exciting when we are able to top
qualify, which we have done in the past two rounds.
“Everyone has teething problems and we have had our fair share of
those this season such as at Sydney, but hopefully we will have those
issues well and truly sorted before we hit Willowbank in January.”
Willowbank Raceway’s Night Fire Top Fuel Spectacular acts as the
ANDRA Championship Round of the Top Fuel, Top Alcohol and Pro Stock
Motorcycle categories, to be held over Friday January 4 and Saturday
January 5.
The New Year Top Fuel extravaganza at Willowbank Raceway delighted
spectators during the 2007 running of the event, which saw the quickest
side-by-side pass in the history of Australian Top Fuel drag racing at
the time set when Phil Read’s 4.66 seconds (317 mph/ 511 km/h) proved
just too good for Allan Dobson who turned in a 4.71 second effort (306
mph/ 494 km/h) in the final.
The overall performance over the two days reaffirmed ANDRA
Championship Drag Racing’s position as the best competition outside the
professional ranks of North America and continued to enhance the
reputation of Queensland’s Willowbank Raceway.
This January’s event also features a family entertainment package
including fireworks, skydivers and free kids rides PLUS nine other Drag
Racing categories led by Supercharged Outlaws, Super Stock and
Competition Eliminator.
Willowbank Raceway Night Fire Top Fuel Spectacular
Friday January 4 and Saturday January 5, 2008
Qualifying Friday from 3 pm
Qualifying and Racing Saturday from 1 pm
Family Entertainment Daily
Tickets (Available at the gate):
Friday:
Adults - $30.00
Students with ID - $16.00
Saturday:
Adults - $43.00
Students with ID - $30.00
Children 13 and Under are admitted free
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