As the first Nitro Funny Car match race of this season approaches on December 30, there is a hardened resolve coming from both the West Australian Greene Machine team and their Queensland rivals the Bailey Brothers ahead of the duel.

With match racing the only competitive outlet for Nitro Funny Cars, which have not had a championship in Australia for over eight years now, they have become surprisingly tough battles.
It is something Greene Machine driver Allan Dobson is well aware of.
"Match racing is full blown competition now," he said.
"It is getting serious and every time it feels like a championship."
The competition between the two teams also extends to performance barriers and with both cars carrying rather serious equipment now the race is on to see who can crack the 4sec. and 300mph (482km/h) marks.
"Ash (Bailey) reckons they are going to get to the fours first but we are chasing 300mph," said Dobson.
"We hope then that the 4sec. times will come to us."
Dobson sounds like an energised man and no doubt it is an attitude extending to the whole team.
"Allan (Greene) is really pumped, he really wants to push the envelope this season," he said.
"We won't be holding back. Before we have gone out there to put on a show and just get down the track but now it is getting serious. The older you get the more you run out of time to do what you want so this is like the last big push."
The team had a test day two weeks ago where they recorded their third best half track time with a completely new tune up.
"It did it easy, the tune was really in the zone," said Dobson
"The motor came out nice and it was really barrelling, it would have been about a 5.43sec. if the power was on the whole way."
Driving a car at speeds approaching 500km/h doesn't come naturally and Dobson says he has made it his aim to be able to read what the car is doing as it runs down the strip to be able to provide valuable information to crew chief and owner Allan Greene.
"I'm also working hard just to keep the foot flat to the floor, with all the vibrations coming through even that is hard," he said.
"It's great to be out of the dragster and back in the Funny Car. It's a lot more exciting."