Aussies take first blood in Nitro Challenge
Damien Harris was the standout of round one of the USA vs AUS Nitro Funny Car challenge (credit - blacktrack.com.au)
The Australians have drawn first blood in the USA vs AUS Nitro Funny Car Challenge at Willowbank Raceway tonight.
The challenge is part of the two-round International New Year Series at the Ipswich facility, with Aussies Damien Harris and Ricky Steffens taking on American Jack Wyatt.
Glenella’s Harris was the standout with a ‘four second’ pass of 4.968s at over 300mph on his first run of the evening, which was followed up by a 5.028s pass at 289.76mph.
Steffens was also strong with two full passes with a five (5.768s at 186.59mph) and six second pass (6.520s at 148.87mph) for the Regency Downs racer.
“To take the American on and come out on top was very enjoyable, and hopefully we can get it up a bit further for the next round on January 16,” said Harris.
“Densham’s elapsed time is definitely something we have in our sights, we beat his mile per hour record when we ran 311mph in Perth, but he ran 4.86seconds here at this event last year and that is something we are hunting for.”
Wyatt was determined to put on a good show, however struggled with set up, running a 7.150 at 155.74mph and a 7.049 at 126.67mph after having to lift off the pedal at intervals during both runs.
“We just kept smoking the tyres and also struggled a bit with the tune up, but we think we know what the issue is now and are confident we will be on the pace come January 16,” said Wyatt.
“The Aussies are just fantastic – the fans are brilliant, so many came up and spoke to us and thanked us for coming, the Aussie racers as well are just amazing, they put on a great show tonight.”
Round two of the Challenge and the International New Year Series will take place on January 16 – visit www.willowbankraceway.com.au for more info.
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