Martin Stamatis 4.616 312.86 mph in car qual 3 WSID 15.02.08
Martin Stamatis 4.616 312.86 mph (503.49 kmh).
This in car top fuel video footage is the third qualifying run at the 2008 Summernationals at WSID in Sydney, 15.02.2008.
Martin Stamatis 4.577 329.10 mph (529.63 kmh) drag race
Western Australian Martin Stamatis became the fastest Australian drag racer at the recent Sydney Summernationals on Saturday February 16 when he blasted his Fastlane Software Jim Read Racing top fuel dragster to a top speed of 329.10 mph (529.63 kmh) down the WSID quarter mile.
The fastest speed recorded by an Australian on Aussie soil was previously held by his team mate, Phil Read who ran 329.02 mph (529.51 kmh) at the 2006 Boxing Day International Top Fuel Challenge.
Although the margin may be minimal to some, for Stamatis the speed was a great personal achievement for him and his hard working team, and the 4.577 second ET from the run is also now only just behind Phil Read's personal best of time 4.571 seconds, leaving the entire Read team really pumped.
Stamatis and his team then went on to win the meeting, and are now looking forward to the next top fuel round due to be held in Sydney on May 2 and 3.
Martin Stamatis 2009 Fuchs Nationals - on-board video montage
Martin Stamatis 2009 Fuchs Nationals - on-board video montage.
Includes day one and two 4.8-second qualifying runs, and elimination runs where Stamatis came runner-up in the Final against Pom Steve Read, 4.77 (Read) to 4.87 (Stamatis) who's parachute fell out 1/2 half track.
Martin Stamatis' top fueller 4.577@329.10 mph in-car video
Martin Stamatis and his Read racing top fuel dragster team ran their personal best time at Western Sydney International Dragway (WSID) recently at the 2008 Summernationals held over February 15 and 16.
After qualifying third in the strong ten-car field with a 4.616@312.86 mph (503 kmh), Stamatis knocked out Terry Sainty in the first round with a 5.00, which left him up against Darren Morgan for the second round.
With a feeling of déjà vu after having Morgan knock him out in the second round held in Perth just two weeks prior, the team were pumped to try and level the score, and with conditions perfect for drag racing, it was Stamatis this time who won with a fabulous 4.577@329.10 mph (529 kmh) blast, which was also low ET and top speed for the event.
The run cemented Stamatis a final round appearance, and the team tried to back up their awesome 4.57 run for a new national record in the final, however the blower belt unfortunately came off on their last pass, but their 4.80 was still good enough to win the event.
After running the 4.57, Stamatis commented in a post run interview that at half track, he was wondering what on earth "Cav" (Robert Cavagnino, his Crew Chief) was doing to him as the car hauled its way to nearly 530 kmh!
Well done to the entire Stamatis team, to Read racing for providing a great car, and to WSID for yet another great memorable pass in Australian drag racing history.
On board with Rob - 5.79
Rob Pilkington again, this time on board the AA/FC Monte Carlo.
One of the clearest onboard videos I've ever seen for a long time. And there's yet more to come...
ANDRA Definition AA/FC - Alcohol funny car (AA refers to engine size, NOT NHRA's nitromethane category). TA/FC is similar, but running larger overdrive.
Martin Stamatis and Phil Read Top Fuel final May 3 2008 WSID
This is Jim Read Racing team mates Martin Stamatis and Phil Read racing each other at the 2008 Snap On Nitro Champs recently in a spectacular top fuel finals race which was held at the Western Sydney International Dragway held over the May 2 and 3 weekend, 2008. The last two videos includes firstly an onboard camera fitted onto Martin's dragster looking at Phil, and then Phil's camera pointing back towards Martin.
Having lane choice for the final, Martin and Crew Chief Rob Cavagnino chose to use the left hand lane, and after a pair of great burnouts in the cold and tricky conditions, the pair lined up, Phil reacting first with a .129 to Martin's .141. So the chase began, and in what appeared to be a great side by side drag race, it was Martin's dragster that out accelerated Phil who ran a 4.90 @ 302.82 mph to Martin's winning 4.606 @ a huge 323.5 mph.
But then, as the two cars passed the finish line, Phil watched in horror as Martin's car exploded in a shower of fire when the rear tyre exploded and blew the rear wing to oblivion. What followed was a great steering effort by both drivers, Phil commenting that he was ducking and weaving from the debris, while Martin slowed down safely, thanks greatly to his parachutes which kept the car pulled straight, making it easier to handle, and ended up stopping safely in the gravel trap, missing half of the rear end from the incident.
Thankfully, Martin emerged unscathed apart from a twisted ankle after jumping out of the car. He says about the incident: "I guess, it emphasis's the point that motor racing is dangerous, and we've got to thank the designers from past to present, for the safety equipment that they put around us. This just gives us a wake up call that we shouldn't take anything for granted, and we're all alive, and completely uninjured, so, we're fine".
The team have now focused their efforts towards building a replacement vehicle for Martin, and Team Read are now looking forward to the Winternationals Top Fuel round due to be held at Willowbank Raceway in Queensland over the weekend of the 5-8th June, 2008. With Phil having now wrapped up the Championship, Martin now goes to Queensland in second place, 42 points ahead of Darren Morgan.
Team Crew Chief, Bruce Read, added "our guys went over the car on Monday night after Martin's incident, and it is actually a lot worse than we first thought. Thankfully, we had a new chassis sitting there, so we got straight into getting the new car organized. By Tuesday night the new car had already had the fuel tank, lines, engine management, levers and cables now fitted from Martin's current car.
Our amazing team of dedicated crew are already well into the mind numbing task of completely building a new car to go to Willowbank with said Crew Chief Rob Cavagnino! Phil's car is turned around already, and is sitting there now ready to go, so now as we focus on Martin's new ride, we hope to fire it up for the first time in about 2 weeks, if all goes well".
Phil Read's last test run at the WSID Nitro Champs May 3, 2009
This is Phil Read's last test pass (after the finals) at WSID from the 2009 Nitro Champs. While he shut off early, the footage gives a different perspective of the engine and ride from the on-board camera mounted on top of the roll cage looking backwards.
WSID Incidents 19th May 2007
Here are the 2 major crashes and great saves from the Toyo Tyres Compak Attak at WSID on May 19th 2007
Top fuel round Perth Motorplex February 1 and 2
The Perth Motorplex held its annual top fuel round over the weekend of February 1 and 2, 2008.
Four cars turned up for the event including current top fuel champion Phil Read, his team mate and local West Australian Martin Stamatis, Phil Lamattina in his new dragster and Darren Morgan.
The strong field ran great times all weekend, and it was Lamattina who won the event in the end with his final round 4.65 (but video of this run was missed...sorry).
Martin Stamatis was also kind enough to allow the writer access into his team for the weekend to collect some additional exclusive in-car footage, which is also included with this youtube feature video.
The top fuel teams would like to thank the Perth Motorplex, their crews, fans, families and sponsors who make it all possible to go racing including Auto One, Fastlane Software, Fuchs Lubricants, Wicked Quick, Snap On, Wynns, Rocky Lamattina and Sons, Hi Tech Oils and Pavtec.
Roel Koedam Top Fuel Bike Explosion - Slow Motion at Santa Pod
Slow Motion Footage of Roel Koedams Top Fuel Bike Explosion at Santa Pod Raceways Easter Thunderball 2010. Thanks to Ian Blackett for providing us with this footage, please check out Ians work at www.blackettphotography.com Slow motion clips of many other racers from various Santa Pod events are available.
Top Fuel Drag Racing with on board camera.
Everyone swoons at the Bugatti Veyron's paltry performance !?However, this is how it is done. 0-110
in 1 second ! 0-330 in 4.5 seconds ! The nitro-methane super-charged V8 engine's 8000 horse-power nearly rips the tubular frame apart, and sometimes does, at full speed !
