Martin Stamatis to Wind Up The Wick at Willowbank Raceway
Show your support.
Buzz this article up.
Dec 17, 2007
Bam Media
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.
