NEWBY TRIUMPHS IN ALL RAI

FINAL ROUND

Posted: Monday 6th May, 2019

Rapisarda Autosport International star Wayne Newby defeated American teammate Ashley Sanford in the final of Top Fuel at the Nitro Thunder meeting held at Sydney Dragway, May 4.
The third member of the team, Damien Harris, finished sixth in the eight-car field.

Returning to racing for the first time since January, the RAI campaign got off to a low-key start when day one was abandoned due to rain. The day two format featured a single test and tune run, two rounds of racing followed by the top two in the points facing off in the final with the rest of the field battling for the minor places.

Newby stamped his authority on the meeting with two easy wins, coupled with swag of bonus speed and time points and was untroubled to cruise to his second final of the year.

Sanford, on a mission to score her first ever win in Top Fuel, was in superb touch posting two easy wins on her way to her fourth career final.

For the second time this season Newby and Sanford went toe to toe in a final round. Sanford led off the line and then blazed the tyres. Newby also had his share of dramas and was on and off the gas. Both cars struggled for grip and it was Newby who gained composure the quickest and was able to take the win.

Harris, chasing his maiden win this season, lost on a holeshot to three-time champ Phil Read in first round. In round two his hopes of a final berth evaporated when his car come to a halt just off the start line after the manifold tether cable came loose or had a short and shut the engine off. A cruel blow to the team that has experienced a horror run of bad luck this season.
Harris raced Read again in third round and despite a slick .08 sec reaction time, the best of the round, fell short again and would eventually finish the day in sixth place.     

 

QUOTE BOOK

SANTO RAPISARDA. “It was good to see two Rapisarda cars in the final. I would have loved to see Ashley win; she’s been chasing a win for a long time but on the day Wayne and Santino were the best team. That’s what drag racing should be about. The best car on the day winning.”

WAYNE NEWBY. “You do what you need to do to take the win and in the final that meant pedaling the car. We knew that the track was going to be cold in the final and Santino put a lot of work into calming the car down. It paid off.”

SANTINO RAPISARDA. “We had a poor test run earlier in the day and then we recovered well. The final was spectacular and I think the crowd loved it with both the cars on and off the throttle. Today was a repeat of the first round of the season the East Coast Nationals, same cars, same lanes and the same result. Wayne drove well and really deserved the win today.”

ASHLEY SANFORD.  “To get that close to a win was exciting and heartbreaking at the same time. My time will come. I want to come back to Australia and chase after a gold Christmas tree for as long as Santo will allow me to drive for his team.”

ROB CAVAGNINO. “The track temperature was down to around 65F before the final and we don’t have data for those conditions. We took a guess because on the previous run we tore up the tyres. We put a brand-new set of tyres on the car for the final because we were worried about shaking the tyres.”

DAMIEN HARRIS. “If we couldn’t be part of the final then I’m more than happy to see the other two Rapisarda cars racing off for the win. I really feel for Junior - he has worked so hard this season but lady luck hasn’t been on our side. “

SANTO RAPISARDA JR. “We have a great race car, a great team but have had zero luck this season. We did get low ET and Top speed for the meeting but what we want is a win. Congratulations go to Wayne and Santino on their victory.”

 

PIT NOTES
The number one ticket holder of the RAI fan club in Finland, 19-year-old back packer Alex Koskinen made the journey from Miles, 300 kms inland from Brisbane where he is working on a farm to join the team for the weekend.
“I first met up with the Rapisarda family when they raced at Willowbank in January,” said Koskinen. “They have been terrific to me. I help out on Wayne and Santino ‘s car and have really been made to feel part of the crew. When I saw they were racing in Sydney, well, I just had to be there.”

RAI also played host to the Canon Collective - a group of around a dozen photographers learning the ropes of how to shoot drag racing under the guidance of leading Oz motorsport snapper Richard Smith. END