NZ Hot Rod – August 2019

56 > NZ HOT ROD AUGUST 2019

From Paul Astridge

PERFORMANCE can be measured in many ways. For

drag racers, the 52nd Australian Winternationals at

Willowbank Raceway was the epitome of just that.

Perseverance is also a form of performance, and for

this Gulf Western Oil-backed event, Willowbank

management and staff, IHRA and the 400 Thunder

series organisers all pulled together to make a success

of an event which had its fair share of challenges.

The biggest curveball arrived on day two of the

four-day classic. Rain was tipped to wipe out two

professional qualifying sessions the following day.

Therefore, the general consensus was a likely one-shot

qualifying showdown on the evening of day two. With

the staging lanes full for that outcome, rain wiped

it out. From that point on, teams were frantic with

concerns with when, or even if they could qualify

before eliminations. The weather gods mercifully

shone long enough to allow the one-shot session, on

day three, and it was worth the wait. Damien Harris

dropped a 3.778/321.96 in one of the Santo Rapisarda

fleet of Top Fuel dragsters, to set the bar. Gary Phillips

in Pro-Alcohol was the next jaw-dropper when he ran

5.408/261.72 off the trailer. These two players essentially

outclassed their respective competitors in qualifying.

Pro Slammer saw Steve Ham nail down number one at

5.701, and the bump spot fell away to Ben Bray’s 6.3, such

It is hard to believe Australian drag racing had not seen late generation A/FDs before. It took
NZ’s Tony Marsh’s exhibition passes to suggest a new way of thinking for Pro-Alcohol racing
in the future. His (restricted nitro percentage) passes were easily in the ballpark with 5.43,
5.71 and a 5.47 and an impressive 271mph best. Parity will be the issue with the alky burners.

Barry Plumpton (NZ) found the anticipated fives during

qualifying, hitting out a 5.813 and 5.886, but lost that

momentum in Pro Extreme eliminations, and bowed out early.

One-shot Pro-Alcohol qualifying and a tricky track,

allowed Brett White to make the show with a

5.982/250.37, while some of the heavy hitters struggled.

Winternationals

Climate Changed