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2009 Fuchs Nationals - eliminations round 2 update 6.50pm 2009 FUCHS NAT'S - DAY 3 2009-09-13
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Martin Stamatis managed to make it through into the finals after a win against Luke Shepherd. The jovial Stamatis crew celebrated on the startline after Stamatis flew away on a 4.86 @ 298 mph defeating a 5.74 from a tyre smoking Shepherd. It was a great result for the Stamatis crew and JRR team getting the monkey off their backs after having several mechanical issues over the weekend. So we're just waiting for results of the finals now where Stamatis will pair up against the consistent team and top qualifier Pom Steve Read. We're just about to board our plane here now at the airport back to Perth, so signing out for now, and will update more later once we're back on the ground.
2009 Fuchs Nationals eliminations - round 2 - 3.30pm update 2009 FUCHS NAT'S - DAY 3 2009-09-13
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Well after some delays in racing, the 2nd round of Top Fuel is running late, and although the Stamatis crew are getting ready to tow out, unfortunately for this Reporter, he has a plane to catch back to Perth, and the latest we can leave here for the airport is 5pm! So it's goodbye from me for now, but I will log back in once I have more news from the next round...maybe from the airport! I hope you enjoyed the weekend's live updates. So signing out for now... Phil Blondel
Fuchs Nationals day 3 - eliminations report round 1 - update 2pm 2009 FUCHS NAT'S - DAY 3 2009-09-12
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Martin Stamatis is through after a first round win against Bob Shepherd who had a massive engine explosion in the other lane, while mean time for Stamatis, his blower belt coming off just after 1/2 track winning with a 5.69 ET. For Phil Read, he was eliminated while he also continued with mechanical gremlins and a 5.54 against a quicker Steve Read who ran a winning 4.76. So it's Stamatis into round 2...more reports soon...
2009 Fuchs Nationals eliminations - Phil Read blog report - 11.30am 2009 FUCHS NAT'S - DAY 3 2009-09-12
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Gday Everyone.. Phil here live at the track again. To say qualifying was a little disappointing is an understatement! We struggled big time with gremlins still troubling our Auto One Race team. Hopefully we have got it sorted for the first round as it is going to be tough when we run No 1 qualifier pommy Steve Read, which in itself is a great acheivement for his team to come out in a new car and lay down a great number as he did. Hopefully I will catch up with you all after the first round with some good news. Phil out..
2009 Nationals eliminations Day 3 - 11am update 2009 FUCHS NAT'S - DAY 3 2009-09-12
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It's another sunny warm day at WSID, and with nitro fumes now filling the air as the cars are getting warmed up, you can feel the tension in the pits that eliminations aren't too far away. Phil Read was trying to get a spare moment to share his spiel on how qualifying went from his perspective so far this weekend, so as the day progresses, hopefully he gets some time in between things here to write up a few words. Bruce Read mentioned that he is looking forward to racing their good friend in Pom Steve Read, and hopes that he's got the car sorted enough to take up the challenge to them after the Pom's great 4.6 second qualifying efforts. More updates soon once round 1 eliminations have been run.
Fuchs Nationals - final qualifying round update 10.30pm 2009 FUCHS NAT'S - DAY 2 2009-09-12
The final qualifying round has now been run, and with both JRR cars lined up against each other, it was all over around half track as Phil Read coasted through to a troubled 5.97, whilst Martin Stamatis smoked the tyres, and rolled on with a 5.33. With all sessions now complete, the final order has Stamatis in 3rd after his 4.81, while for Read, he sits on the bump spot in 8th position after his 5.97. First round eliminations tomorrow will see Read racing against Pom Steve Read, while Stamatis will line up against Bob Shepherd. Elimination times tomorrow are scheduled for 12pm, 3.10pm and 5.15pm.
Fuchs Nationals qualifying round 3 - update 7.30pm 2009 FUCHS NAT'S - DAY 2 2009-09-12
Round 3 of qualifying has been run, and Martin Stamatis looked to be on a good pass running a 4.81, but shut off after the blower belt came off the car. For Phil Read, he struggled to get traction and after smoking the tyres, coasted through for a 6.69. More results soon after the final session.
2009 Fuchs Nationals qualifying day 2 - round 2 - update 5pm 2009 FUCHS NAT'S - DAY 2 2009-09-12
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The 2nd round 3pm qualifying session has now been run, and on a warm afternoon track, Phil Read launched to about 150' before smoking the tyres and shutting down rolling through with a 7.37. Martin Stamatis on his pass shut off about 800' after the car drove left on him towards the wall and ran a 4.88. More reports after the 6.30pm session.
2009 Fuchs Nationals - qualifying day 2 - 11.30am update 2009 FUCHS NAT'S - DAY 2 2009-09-11
It is another beautiful sunny day here at WSID with 29 degrees forecast, and with 3 qualifying sessions today scheduled for 3pm 5.30pm and 8pm, it will be interesting to see how the Top Fuel cars hook up to a warm afternoon track finishing off with one evening session. More updates after the 3pm session.
Top Fuel - qualifying round 1 - 9pm update 2009 FUCHS NAT'S - DAY 1 2009-09-11
The first round of Top Fuel qualifying has now been run, and after a good launch by Martin Stamatis, some tyre shake after a .875 60' time and a 2.30 330' time on the cooling track resulted in the blower belt coming off about 300 feet out which saw him coast to an 8.09. Mean time for Phil Read, he also experienced tyre shake after getting to 60' in .866 and 330' in 2.25 shutting off with a 7.66. We'll be back tomorrow reporting on day 2 of qualifying for the 2009 Fuchs Nationals from WSID.
2009 Fuchs Nationals - Day 1 - 5pm update 2009 FUCHS NAT'S - DAY 1 2009-09-10
It's a nice sunny day here at the Western Sydney International Dragway for the 2009 Fuchs Nationals, and the first round of Top Fuel is scheduled to run at 7.30pm this evening. With no clouds around and a clear blue sky, it is expected to cool off for the first round of qualifying tonight, so the nitro Crew Chief's will be looking closely at the air conditions being careful not to overpower the track, whilst at the same time trying to find the delicate balance to run some quick and fast numbers. Both JRR dragsters are currently getting put back together by the crews, and already some teams are firing up and warming up their engines...so more updates after the first round in 2 1/2 hours...
Phil Read's qualifying runs from the 2009 Winternationals at Willowbank Raceway. VIDEO GALLERY - August 2009 2009-07-20
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Martin Stamatis 4.62 #2 qualifier run April 2, 2009 WSID Nitro Champs VIDEO GALLERY - August 2009 2009-07-19
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Phil Read's 4.57 qualifying run from the WSID 2009 Spring Nats VIDEO GALLERY - August 2009 2009-07-19
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Phil Read's last test run at the WSID Nitro Champs May 3, 2009 VIDEO GALLERY - August 2009 2009-07-19
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This is a picture compilation of Phil Read taken by John Bosher at the team's recent test and tune session, 28.06.2009: VIDEO GALLERY - August 2009 2009-07-14
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Phil Read pic in the staging lanes ARCHIVE - 2009 WINTERNATS - DAY 2 2009-06-07
Phil Read pic in the staging lanes...
Day 3 eliminations - Round two semi-finals ARCHIVE - 2009 WINTERNATS - DAY 3 2009-06-06
The semi-finals of TF have now been run, and the season is all over for the Jim Read Racing team after Martin Stamatis was eliminated by Phil Lamattina in a fabulous Top Fuel drag race. In front of a massive Willowbank crowd, the pair lined up, and it was an even race until Stamatis lost some top-end power after the blower belt came off and was eliminated with a 4.77 @ 296 mph by Lamattina's quicker 4.67 @ 320 mph. For a photo sequence of Stamatis' blower belt coming off, click here - Stamatis' blower belt coming off at 476 km/h

So for the Jim Read Racing team, it's signing off for now from the 2009 Winternationals at Willowbank Raceway. We hope you've enjoyed the live pit-side track coverage, and be sure to check back to the website for more photos from the event once I've sorted through them (including some low-rez on-track still video shots of the cars racing) over the coming weeks.

For full TF eliminations results, you can check out the Willowbank site here - Willowbank TF results
Day 3 eliminations - Round 1 ARCHIVE - 2009 WINTERNATS - DAY 3 2009-06-06
Round one of TF eliminations has been run, and it was Martin Stamatis who made it through the round while unfortunately for Phil Read, he was eliminated after some tyre shake followed by tyre smoke on his pass.

First pairing out was Stamatis against Terry Sainty, and after a .509 reaction, it was Stamatis all the way with a 4.73 at a slowing 284 mph while Sainty coasted through for a slowing 15.87.

Next out was Read against Phil Lamattina, and it was Lamattina who won the race with a 4.67 @ 329 mph against Read's 6.63.

The round two pairing will see Martin Stamatis face up against Phil Lamattina, and the crew have almost turned the car around already, so more updates soon once round two has been completed...

For full TF eliminations results, you can check out the Willowbank site here - Willowbank TF results
Day 3 eliminations - bits from the pits - 9.20am ARCHIVE - 2009 WINTERNATS - DAY 3 2009-06-06
Good morning from Willowbank Raceway.

As Phil stated in his blog, it has been raining out here at the track, but it has however stopped now and the scrubbers are out on the track, and I'm sure it won't be too long and we'll probably hear the jet dryer zooming up and down as well. We just had a look at the weather radar, and it looks like it was just a passing front, so hopefully things will stay cleared up from here, and we can get to the real business of racing.

It was a shame to see Phil struggle to get a decent lap in this weekend, and as is always the case with racing Top Fuel, there are always curve balls that come out of nowhere to throw a challenge at the team. Hopefully today may prove different, but time will tell. First round match ups see Martin racing Terry Sainty, and as Phil said, he is racing Phil Lamattina.

Over in the Stamatis camp, the guys were busy this morning checking out a few things on the car to try and find out why it isn't revving up off the start-line like it should, and there was a bit of head scratching going on as to what could be causing that. With these cars, they heavily rely on instant engine RPM to get the primary fingers on the first stage of the clutch to rocket them off the line, so if blower boost is down, or the fuel system isn't doing what it should be, they won't rev up like they are designed to do. But with all systems OK in that department, that only left the car's electrics that could be causing the lower RPM "on the hit" that the data showed from Martin's runs this weekend. So the guys replaced the coils, leads and magnetos to try and rectify the problem, so we'll see what happens this round of racing and whether the car gets its revs back again.

Well more reports soon after the first round of eliminations...