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Tuesday, 18 September 2007 - (Sydney, NSW) After an impressive season opener with a finals berth and low ET of the event with a 4.649 at the recent ACDelco East Coast Nationals at Western Sydney International Dragway, Jim Read Racing co-horts Phil Read and Martin Stamatis headed to Queensland's Willowbank Raceway for Round 2 of the ANDRA Top Fuel Champion ship and a tilt at the Australian Nationals event staged last weekend.
When all was said and done, both drivers put in head-turning performances with Stamatis claiming the ET and Speed points for the event and Phil Read securing a back-to-back Nationals triumph - adding to the 11 Nationals wins claimed by team principal Jim Read.
"Our goal this season as a team is another ANDRA Top Fuel Championship for Phil, and we want to reset new ET and Speed National Records for Martin," remarked JRR co-crew Chief - Rob Cavagnino.
Bettering USA Ace Scott Kalitta's 4.56 @ 331miles per hour National record may seem a tough challenge, however after Stamatis drove his Fastlane Software entry into the rarified air of a 4.50-zone pass last weekend at Willowbank, suddenly such dreams could well become reality this season!
In fact, the 4.599 pass during Friday qualifying was super impressive as the Fuchs Lubricants oiled the engine nicely to almost 329 miles per hour .
By producing this, Stamatis joins Phil Read as the only Australian racers to have produced a 4.5 second Elapsed Time for the quarter mile.
"What's even more exciting for our team, is examining the incrementals with this pass, in comparison to our efforts in Western Sydney a fortnight ago when Martin clicked it off early due to feeling slightly uncomfortable with the car, I have no doubt it would have been a low range 4.5 second pass there, however Martin understandably is finding his way in Top Fuel and made great strides at the Nationals," recalled Cavagnino.
Looking at the run data for indications makes for exciting reading for Martin Stamatis:
60 330 660 MPH 1000 ET MPH
0.862 2.206 3.142 272.06 3.923 4.599 328.95 - Willowbank
0.841 2.170 3.102 273.11 3.918# 4.805 230 - ACDelcos
0.868 2.186 3.102 276 3.874 4.547 327 (Brandon Bernstein - in the NHRA this year)
# Clicked it off at 3.66 seconds. < br>
"However, we all know you don't race on what ifs and should haves, but it does mean we are very excited at the potential of both cars this season for sure."
Of course, the exciting performances were not just about Stamatis as Phil Read ran even quicker than Stamatis up to a 1000 feet during the first qualifying hit, before a light mist of rain caused him to spin the tyres in the latter half of the pass, but still the Auto One/Snap-on/Goodson dragster ran a 4.616 at just over 310mph.
In the heat of the day on Saturday qualifying both cars showed strong performances again, with Stamatis marching to a 4.732 at 320mph, however the tale was the sluggish launch with a 0.903 short time.
"The other issue with Martin has been his body and feet position in the car. The chassis is very new, yet was not built for his body position, however as we make the adjustments that will help immensely. With the 4.7 pass, the problem was getting his feet on the t hrottle properly and comfortably and it meant a sluggish launch as that pass would have been even quicker again otherwise."
In Eliminations Stamatis cranked a 0.859 short-time in the heat of the day when the Fastlane Software entry blew the burst panels out, cutting short his weekend.
The irony for the Fastlane Software rocket, it had ran nothing but 4-second runs up until this point in time.
It was then left for flying Phil Read to haul through and did that after surviving the first round of eliminations.
A 4.71 in the semis in the heat was impressive for Phil, before defeating a plucky Amanda Shepherd with a stout 4.625 at over 318miles per hour to take a back to back Nationals crown, adding to the 11 Nationals wins for Team principal Jim Read.
The Jim Read Racing team now focus firmly in the December International Top Fuel event at Western Sydney International Dragway.
A Tale Of Two Powerhouse Top Fuel Teams - Nationals Recap
Tuesday, 18 September 2007 - (Sydney, NSW) After an impressive season opener with a finals berth and low ET of the event with a 4.649 at the recent ACDelco East Coast Nationals at Western Sydney International Dragway, Jim Read Racing co-horts Phil Read and Martin Stamatis headed to Queensland's Willowbank Raceway for Round 2 of the ANDRA Top Fuel Champion ship and a tilt at the Australian Nationals event staged last weekend.
When all was said and done, both drivers put in head-turning performances with Stamatis claiming the ET and Speed points for the event and Phil Read securing a back-to-back Nationals triumph - adding to the 11 Nationals wins claimed by team principal Jim Read.
"Our goal this season as a team is another ANDRA Top Fuel Championship for Phil, and we want to reset new ET and Speed National Records for Martin," remarked JRR co-crew Chief - Rob Cavagnino.
Bettering USA Ace Scott Kalitta's 4.56 @ 331miles per hour National record may seem a tough challenge, however after Stamatis drove his Fastlane Software entry into the rarified air of a 4.50-zone pass last weekend at Willowbank, suddenly such dreams could well become reality this season!
In fact, the 4.599 pass during Friday qualifying was super impressive as the Fuchs Lubricants oiled the engine nicely to almost 329 miles per hour .
By producing this, Stamatis joins Phil Read as the only Australian racers to have produced a 4.5 second Elapsed Time for the quarter mile.
"What's even more exciting for our team, is examining the incrementals with this pass, in comparison to our efforts in Western Sydney a fortnight ago when Martin clicked it off early due to feeling slightly uncomfortable with the car, I have no doubt it would have been a low range 4.5 second pass there, however Martin understandably is finding his way in Top Fuel and made great strides at the Nationals," recalled Cavagnino.
Looking at the run data for indications makes for exciting reading for Martin Stamatis:
60 330 660 MPH 1000 ET MPH
0.862 2.206 3.142 272.06 3.923 4.599 328.95 - Willowbank
0.841 2.170 3.102 273.11 3.918# 4.805 230 - ACDelcos
0.868 2.186 3.102 276 3.874 4.547 327 (Brandon Bernstein - in the NHRA this year)
# Clicked it off at 3.66 seconds. < br>
"However, we all know you don't race on what ifs and should haves, but it does mean we are very excited at the potential of both cars this season for sure."
Of course, the exciting performances were not just about Stamatis as Phil Read ran even quicker than Stamatis up to a 1000 feet during the first qualifying hit, before a light mist of rain caused him to spin the tyres in the latter half of the pass, but still the Auto One/Snap-on/Goodson dragster ran a 4.616 at just over 310mph.
In the heat of the day on Saturday qualifying both cars showed strong performances again, with Stamatis marching to a 4.732 at 320mph, however the tale was the sluggish launch with a 0.903 short time.
"The other issue with Martin has been his body and feet position in the car. The chassis is very new, yet was not built for his body position, however as we make the adjustments that will help immensely. With the 4.7 pass, the problem was getting his feet on the t hrottle properly and comfortably and it meant a sluggish launch as that pass would have been even quicker again otherwise."
In Eliminations Stamatis cranked a 0.859 short-time in the heat of the day when the Fastlane Software entry blew the burst panels out, cutting short his weekend.
The irony for the Fastlane Software rocket, it had ran nothing but 4-second runs up until this point in time.
It was then left for flying Phil Read to haul through and did that after surviving the first round of eliminations.
A 4.71 in the semis in the heat was impressive for Phil, before defeating a plucky Amanda Shepherd with a stout 4.625 at over 318miles per hour to take a back to back Nationals crown, adding to the 11 Nationals wins for Team principal Jim Read.
The Jim Read Racing team now focus firmly in the December International Top Fuel event at Western Sydney International Dragway.
