Winternationals Wrap-up

Steven Ham qualified in first with a stout 5.533 @ 253.99mph and despite knocking out Debbie O'Rourke in round one of eliminations (pictured), went down to the faster finishing funny car of Steven Reed in round two.

West Aussie Top Fuel pilot, Allan Dobson, looks relaxed in the cockpit of his 8000hp dragster. Check out Dobbo's top qualifying effort below.

The semi-final of Top Fuel was one of the most bizarre drag races we've ever witnessed. Phil Lamattina lined up against Allan Dobson and everything seemed to be going to plan. Both driver reacted reasonably well but both engines expired just a short moment into the run leaving the drivers to coast across the line. The margin of victory? Just one one-thousandth of a second!

Dobbo saved his best till last though and defeated Andrew Cowin in the final with a strong 4.649 @ 307.09mph.

Performance Garage was everywhere at the event, from the flanks of the world's fastest Nissan RB engine to the starter's box.

South Australian Michael Ali went red in a big way in the final of Pro Stock but had already done enough to wrap up the title - a huge commitment considering the travelling required.

Luke Crowley (near bike) took out Pro Stock Motorcycle beating Locky Ireland in the final with his first 7.3sec pass. Ireland took out the championship.

The Super Compact class came right down to the wire with several drivers in contention.

Chris Tait sits in the staging lanes waiting to run. The MONEY PIT S14 ran a new PB at the event - a 7.13sec pass - thanks to the Toyota 3RZ 4-cylinder and giant Borg Warner turbo.

Damien McKern had dramas early in qualifying when his 20B RX-2 popped an intake manifold. A replacement was sourced and Damien was back out for eliminations, unfortunately going out in round one.

With the rotaries of Docherty and McKern out in round one, Jett Racing head tuner and CC/SC ute driver Rob Novak had to go all the way to snatch the title. He did so and took a pair of ANDRA Gold Xmas Trees home for his efforts.

 Factory Xtreme racer and pilot of the country's fastest four-cylinder sedan, Collin Willshire was on a mission running another 7.0sec pass in excess of 197mph. That's from a 2L as well!

With the body and chassis repaired on his TTV6 Factory Xtreme Nissan following his major crash in Sydney, Scott Porter was understandably cautious in his approach to racing. It was all systems go by eliminations though with the 3.5L Nissan machine back into the 6sec zone.

Number one qualifier and surprise of the field, Craig Dyson, left nothing to chance running a string of 6.5's in his run to the Factory Xtreme win.

Apparently Gold Xmas trees are edible - just ask Allan Dobson's clutch guy!

Sutton took the Winternationals win over Robin Judd in somewhat bizarre circumstances. While the computer timers failed to list a foul for Sutton, the .6sec sixty-foot time and 5.60sec quarter mile time are suspicious at best. Despite a protest being entered by Judd the result was held to be valid.

Josh Messino's blown machine was leaving hard all event.

Robin Judd chose the Winternationals to retire from Top Doorslammer racing. We wish him the best. Our man Dave Reid caught this stunning shot of Juddy's last burnout in a Slammer.

Looking back at Phil Lamattina and his very serious race face.

Top Bike number 1, Chris Matheson, wowed crowds again and again aboard his Nitro Voodoo machine. The Performance Garage team were in the deep end for his 6.22sec qualifying pass and it was clear that he clicked off the throttle very, very early!

As well as an Xmas tree, Dobbo was the first winner of the perpetual Mick Atholwood Trophy, awarded to the winner of Top Fuel at the Winternationals.

Darren Morgan's dragster looked awesome under lights. Here it's pictured in between rounds, ready to go and deliver 8000 Mildura-made horsepower to the Willowbank racing surface.

 If you like fire in the pipes then this stuff needs no introduction!

Jamie Noonan might have found it hard to concentrate on the task at hand but his performance in Top Alcohol didnt show it.

Russ Pavey burns out in his Corvette Top Doorslammer.

Victor Bray qualified 8th in Top Doorslammer - a feat that made Queenslanders and drag racing fans everywhere very happy.

Michael Stivala lifts the wheels in his Super Gas Camira as he knocks series title winner Simon Isherwood out in the Semis.

Steve Fowler snatched the Winters 2-for-1 when he took out Super Sedan at event and championship level.

 While the rain came down we had to find our own entertainment...

Explosions are the norm' in Top Fuel but rest assured the Lamattina team have spares of everything.

Oh yeah, about that down time and us occupying ourselves. We found stunt rider Matt Mingay's t-shirt cannon... and about a thousand t-shirts... and then worked out how to turn up the pressure so it'd shoot from one side of the track to the other. We were popular with the kids but not so much with the organisers.

When the track's wet you have to find other ways to have fun. Phil Lamattina showed us how it's done by race-booting the Sherrin around the pits.