Top Fuel toughens up

Round five of the Australian Top Fuel Championship hits Perth Motorplex this Friday and Saturday with four of the country's quickest dragsters expected at the track.

Top Fuel dragsters are the fastest accelerating vehicles on the planet. Pulling over 5G when they launch, they use nitro methane as a fuel to produce about 7000 horsepower. Their V8 engines are over 8.0 litres in size and have a supercharger as well to suck in even more air.

West Australian Martin Stamatis will be making his first appearance on his home track since joining the Top Fuel ranks this season.

Stamatis is currently the second quickest drag racer in Australia following a 4.59sec. charge down Willowbank Raceway in November.

His Fastlane Software car uses the same engine combination as Read so with the ability to share data this pair will be tough to beat.

"Winning this round means everything to me," he said. "We're coming to make five full passes and I'm really excited about the conditions because we have a hot weather tune up and when the night comes then we're expecting mid 4.5sec. passes."

Stamatis has been plagued by tiny glitches this season, the last being a bent bracket in the clutch system which didn't allow the car to get out of reverse gear on the startline.

"We know we're getting there," he said. "And this car has quicker incremental times than Phil (Read). Everyone is really pumped."

Stamatis is not phased by being on the Perth Motorplex for the first time.

"I'll walk the track first but then we'll go out there and face who we need to face right to the end," he said. "These are the top four cars in the country coming over, not one of them lacks the equipment to be out there for every race."

With family at the track seeing Top Fuel dragsters for the first time and a lot of clients there the pressure will be on Stamatis but he is more than happy to give them a show they won't forget.

Read ready

The Top Fuel points series is currently led by reigning Australian champion Phil Read, whose Auto One dragster has been near unstoppable so far this season with three wins from four events and one runner up.

Read says he is hoping to continue his good run on the Motorplex strip where he has so far not lost an event.

"I love coming to WA and what we're hoping for is to make it down the track under power on every run," he said. "The crowd loves to see two cars side by side. That said, I don't see why we won't be able to run a 4.5sec. pass if the track doesn't get too hot."

The toughest rival for Read may be his team mate Stamatis.

"Martin's car is the big threat," Read said. "He's been the top qualifier at the last two events he has been at.

"There is a lot of potential in the car and he's also going to be pumped because he'll have all his supporters there."

Lamattina lines up

Victorian Phil Lamattina has become the comeback hero of Top Fuel ever since his horrific accident at Willowbank Raceway in November which made news around the world. His chassis split at almost 500kph, launching the car into the air, but Lamattina emerged unharmed bar a headache.

Lamattina now has a new car imported from the US which he got used to in racing at Queensland recently. The Kwinana round is expected to be the event where the Fuchs team really come to grips with this high-tech dragster.

"We actually did seven passes over the (Willowbank) event, which has given us some great data to use for Perth," he said.

The Top Fueler is not only boasting a new chassis, but the team have also added a new fuel and clutch management system, injector hat and tyre structure to the dragster, making it virtually a brand new race car.

Morgan motivated

Now driving for his own team is Victoria's Darren Morgan, who has brought his Wicked Quick dragster to Perth for the first time.

He has spent two weeks in Perth prior to the event including putting the dragster on display at the Motorvation car show and also getting some runs in at a Whoop Ass Wednesday street meet, albeit in a slightly slower Commodore street car.

Morgan has also been looking for distributors for the Wicked Quick clothing range.

"The people in Perth have been really great to us so far," he said. "Next year we'll bring a whole circus of cars over to show every one."

After recently running their first 4sec. pass, Morgan admits the team is still getting on top of the tune up.

"We'll be our own biggest rival," he said. "It's all still brand new to us but we're hoping the weather will be kind and the track will be perfect."

Morgan's team has also adopted some TAFE students on the crew who are getting their Certificate 2 in Motorsport.

"We're hoping to train these people and introduce them to the sport," he said. "With more people the sport will grow, and that's what we want to see."

The racing at the Australian Top Fuel Championship begins from 6pm on both Friday and Saturday at Perth Motorplex.