CHAMPIONSHIP SHOWDOWN LOOMS FOR PREMIAIR RACING
Posted by: In: racing 07 Jun 2021 Comments: 0 Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

PremiAir Racing is readying to contest an epic Top Fuel championship showdown as part of the largest championship drag racing event held outside of North America this weekend (June 11-13).

The Gulf Western Oil Winternationals event, held at the team’s home-track of Willowbank Raceway, will host the final round of the 2019/2020/2021 400 Thunder Top Fuel Championship season.

PremiAir Racing is ideally placed to battle for the title, with team principal and driver Peter Xiberras currently second on the points ladder on 299 points – 25 points behind title leader Wayne Newby and 10 points ahead of Phil Lamattina.

While PremiAir Racing has tasted success at Willowbank before, with both Gold and Silver Christmas Tree trophies from previous events, it is yet to claim a Winternationals Gold.

“There is a lot to play for this weekend at Willowbank Raceway – the Winters win and the championship win are both on the line and it is anyone’s game,” Xiberras said.

“We have a Gold and Silver tree from Willowbank and also a Gold and Silver tree from Sydney, as well as current track records for Sydney and Perth, but the prestige of taking home a winning Winters trophy is something we are keenly focused on heading into this weekend.

“There’s no event like it and to top it off, the event is sponsored by our valued supporters Gulf Western Oil, so we will be pulling out all the stops to make sure we can secure the event and the title win this weekend.”

To prepare for the event, the team completed two test passes at the Winters Warm-Up on June 5.

“We put in some strong work at the official pre-Winters test weekend, playing around with some clutch settings to improve our short track times,” PremiAir Racing Team Manager, Tim Adams, explained.

“After recording a 60-foot time of .856 and 2.156 to the 330 in the second pass, we were pleased we had everything heading in the right direction and turned our attention to servicing the PremiAir Hire Top Fuel dragster ready for the main event.

“We will enjoy two qualifying passes at the event on the Friday ahead of a third on Saturday, before three epic ‘all in’ rounds of racing unfold across the Saturday and Sunday ahead of the ‘winner takes all’ final on Sunday afternoon.  

“We can’t wait to get after it at this fantastic event and look forward to seeing all the fans in the pits in between the runs – make sure you stop by and say hi!”

The Gulf Western Oil Winternationals will be held at Willowbank Raceway across June 11-13. Top Fuel qualifying passes are scheduled for 1.26pm and 3.23pm on Friday and 1.12pm on Saturday, ahead of racing at 3.33pm Saturday and 11.00am, 2.16pm and 4.30pm (final) on Sunday. For full event information, visit www.willowbankraceway.com.au

For more information on PremiAir Hire Racing, please visit https://premiairhire.com.au/ or follow the team on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PremiAirRacing/

SUCCESSFUL SYDNEY SOJOURN FOR PREMIAIR HIRE RACING
Posted by: In: News, racing 10 May 2021 Comments: 0 Tags: , , , , , , ,

The Gulf Western Oils Nitro Thunder event may have been shortened to a one-day hit-out due to poor weather on Friday, but that didn’t stop PremiAir Hire Racing from pulling out all the stops for a great show of Top Fuel drag racing on Saturday.

By the time all four rounds of racing were run and won on Saturday, May 8, the Brisbane-based Top Fuel outfit walked away with three round wins, two personal best Elapsed Times (ET), a new track ET record, and the runner-up honours.

Those performances came in front of a packed crowd, which obviously enjoyed having Top Fuel back on-track after a long hiatus due to the impacts of COVID-19.

“I can’t tell you how great it was to be back on the track in a competitive environment after so long,” PremiAir Hire Racing Team Principal and Driver, Peter Xiberras, said.

“The track cooled off a lot between the third round when we set the record and the final. While you can run faster on a cooler track, you have to get the tune-up absolutely spot on and we just missed that.”

“While we might not have been able to secure the big trophy, I am exceptionally happy with three rounds wins, two PBs, a new track record and the runner-up award. The team did a fantastic job all day long and I am very proud of their efforts.”

Peter and the team weren’t just enjoying themselves on the track either.

“The atmosphere at the Gulf Western Oils Nitro Thunder event was just brilliant,” Xiberras explained.

“There was a fantastic crowd and we loved having everyone visit us in the pits again after so long between competitive events.

Our sponsor, Gulf Western Oils, was also the event sponsor and they set up a corporate hospitality area right next to our pit area, entertaining more than 1200 guests.”

“The atmosphere was just brilliant, and it will take a while for us to stop smiling after this one! We love racing, and putting on a show for the fans!”

The PremiAir Hire Racing Team will now return back to Brisbane to prepare the car for testing at the Winters Warm-Up (5-6 June) ahead of the season-ending Gulf Western Oil Winternationals (June 10-13) at its home track of Willowbank Raceway.

For more information on PremiAir Hire Racing, please visit https://premiairhire.com.au/ or follow the team on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PremiAirRacing/

EPIC ROAD TRIP BEGINS FOR WESTERNATS TOP FUEL RETURN
Posted by: In: Uncategorized 18 Feb 2020 Comments: 0 Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

PremiAir Hire Racing will travel 8,000 kilometres (round trip) for 24 seconds of racing over the next two weeks, and they couldn’t be happier about it.

The Brisbane-based Top Fuel team will be part of the comeback of Top Fuel Racing to the Perth Motorplex later this month, taking part in the 49th annual Westernationals event which will be held across February 29 and March 1.

PremiAir Hire Racing will travel in a convoy with the fellow East Coast based Lamattina Top Fuel Racing team, commencing their journey this Saturday the 22nd of February.

“It might be a long trip, but it is going to be so worth it to be a part of Top Fuel racing getting back into action at the epic Perth Motorplex; it is very exciting,” PremiAir Hire Racing principal and driver, Peter Xiberras, said.

“We all can’t wait. It should be a fantastic event across two days with not only Top Fuel but also Top Doorslammer, Top Fuel Motorcycle and the Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series as well.”

PremiAir Hire Racing truck driver Adam Attard will lead the way to Perth, with Mark ‘Baldy’ Savage to drive the LTFR  transporter while none other than Top Fuel racer Phil Lamattina will drive another LTFR truck loaded up with the race cars of other competitors.

The Lamattina dragster is based in Aaron Hambridge’s Sydney workshop while the PremiAir Hire dragster and transporter is also currently in the harbour city following the Santo’s Summer Thunder event in late January.

The first leg of the trip will see Attard and Savage travel from Sydney to the Lamattina family farm in Mildura (Victoria) where they will stay the night before being treated to breakfast personally cooked by Phil Lamattina who will then join the party at the wheel of the third truck.

The convoy will then travel on to Ceduna, before stopping 100km before Eucla for an all-important selfie looking over the Great Australian Bite.

From there it will be on to the Nullarbor Roadhouse for a final stop before they reach the Perth Motorplex ready for two big days of racing before they turn around and travel all the way back home with a hopeful stop at Cal Gully on the way.

“We are expecting to see lots of kangaroos on the way over and are looking to do most of our driving during the day so we can take in some of the sights as part of our travels,” Attard explained.

“We already have plenty of Kris Kristofferson, the Travelling Wilburys, Mark Knophler and the Grateful Dead queued up too, so we will have lots of great tunes rocking in the PremiAir Hire transporter for the trip!

“It is a great road trip and it is made even greater by knowing what we will be doing when we get to our destination – it doesn’t get much better than Top Fuel at the Peth Motorplex!”

The 49th annual Westernationals will be held at the Peth Motorplex across February 29 and March 1 and will feature Top Fuel, Top Doorslammer, Top Fuel Motorcycle and the Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series. For event information, please go to www.motorplex.com.au/49th-annual-westernationals

For more information on PremiAir Hire Racing, please visit https://premiairhire.com.au/ or follow the team on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PremiAirRacing/

RACE WIN PUNCTUATES SANTO’S SUMMER THUNDER FOR PREMIAIR HIRE RACING
Posted by: In: Media, News, racing 27 Jan 2020 Comments: 0 Tags: , , , , , , ,

The PremiAir Hire Racing team rounded out their Santo’s Summer Thunder experience at Sydney Dragway on Saturday evening (January 25) with a race victory over Damien Harris.

A better reaction time (0.64s versus 0.89s) saw Xiberras better Harris by one hundredth of a second at the finish line with a 3.872 second pass at 304.46 miles per hour over the Rapisarda Autosport International driver’s 3.857s/301.60mph effort.

The victory came after a strong yet challenging weekend for the PremiAir Hire Racing team, which conducted two shakedown passes on Friday evening ahead of the three-round, all-run format on Saturday.

The second pass of Friday evening saw the team come oh-so-close to their Personal Best ET of 3.853 seconds with a 3.854s effort at 308.43 miles per hour before Saturday’s hot and humid conditions saw the majority of the field sit out the final shakedown session before getting down to racing.

In the opening two rounds, Xiberras took on Phil Lamattina, with the first pass seeing the PremiAir Hire driver off the gas early before the second round resulted in the race being decided by just 19 thousandths of a second in Lamattina’s favour following an impressive full-track, side-by-side pass (3.884s/314.46mph to 3.915s/312.64s).

The final race was yet another impressive side-by-side pass at full flame, leaving the fans and the PremiAir Hire team grinning from ear to ear.

“It was great to end the weekend with a race win, even if we didn’t make it into the final,” Xiberras said.

“With the new combination in the PremiAir Hire dragster and these hot and humid conditions, we have been struggling to get the set-up right as we are essentially learning how to make the new combo work in this kind of weather with so much water in the air.

“While our second and third passes today were definitely strong, there is a lot more in it. The team will never give up and I think we made some really great progress across the weekend.

“Now we turn our attentions to Perth! We are all very excited to be heading over to the Perth Motorplex to race with ANDRA for the 49th annual Westernationals against some great Top Fuel racers, including this weekend’s runner-up Phil Lamattina!”

The 49th annual Westernationals will be held at the Peth Motorplex across February 29 and March 1 and will feature Top Fuel, Top Doorslammer, Top Fuel Motorcycle and the Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series. For event information, please go to www.motorplex.com.au/49th-annual-westernationals

For more information on PremiAir Hire Racing, please visit https://premiairhire.com.au/ or follow the team on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PremiAirRacing/

PREMIAIR HIRE RACING HUNTING MORE SYDNEY SUCCESS
Posted by: In: Uncategorized 13 Jan 2020 Comments: 0 Tags: , , , ,

This weekend’s Santo’s Summer Thunder event at Sydney Dragway will mark the second outing for PremiAir Hire Racing’s new Top Fuel dragster following its perfect debut at the same venue late last year.

At November’s East Coast Thunder – the opening round of the 2019/2020 400 Thunder Top Fuel Championship – the team not only reset its own ET and MPH personal bests but also won the event.

After missing round two of the title chase due to work commitments, the team is now back and ready to see if they can kick off 2020 with another victory.

“It was unfortunate that we weren’t able to go to round two, the holiday season is the busiest time of the year for PremiAir Hire and our customers have to come first,” PremiAir Hire Racing team principal and driver, Peter Xiberras, explained.

“We are very excited to now be gearing up for round three which is being held at the same venue as our successful November event with the new dragster.”

Xiberras will be joined on-track by a host of Top Fuel racers, it has also been announced that NHRA star Dom Lagana will be returning to Australia to drive for the Rapisarda Autosport International team alongside fellow American Ashley Sanford and local stars Wayne Newby and Damien Harris.

“Everything is shaping up for a great event at Sydney Dragway with what should be a great Top Fuel field as well as plenty of other racers across a host of great categories. We hope to see lots of fans out at the track and look forward to seeing them in the pits,” Xiberras said.

The Santo’s Summer Thunder event will be held at Sydney Dragway on Friday January 17 and Saturday January 18. For full event information, go to www.sydneydragway.com.au/santos-summer-thunder/

For more information on PremiAir Hire Racing, please visit https://premiairhire.com.au/ or follow the team on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PremiAirRacing/ or Instagram @premiair_racing

PremiAir Hire Racing welcomes new star crew member
Posted by: In: racing 05 Oct 2019 Comments: 0 Tags: , , , , , ,

Well-known and respected Australian Top Fuel crew member Ben Patterson has signed up to be part of the PremiAir Hire Racing team.

Ben has just returned home to Australia from Finland following a full season as co-crew chief for Anita Makela’s Top Fuel program which resulted in an FIA European Top Fuel Championship.

Ben has previously spent large amounts of the Australian winter for the past ten years in the US with Torrence Racing, Lagana Racing and Scott Palmer Racing and was also part of former Australian Top Fuel Champion Darren Morgan’s 08/09 season where he worked alongside PremiAir Hire Racing team manager, Tim Adams.

“When the opportunity came up to work with Tim and PremiAir Hire Racing I was very excited to get involved,” Ben said.

“I will be part of the team until May 2020 when I return to Finland, and with the brand new car and an action-packed season coming up I can’t wait to get into it.”

Tim says Ben will bring some valuable expertise to the Top Fuel racing outfit.

“Ben and I have been great mates for a long time, and he will bring a lot of great knowledge to our team thanks to his experience with the six-disc clutch and stage seven heads set-up that we have just moved to,” Tim said.

“Everyone at PremiAir Hire Racing is very excited to have Ben working with us, starting with our pre-season testing in four days this Friday and Saturday (October 11 and 12) with our brand-new Top Fueler in Sydney ahead of the 19/20 season opener there in November.”

For more information on PremiAir Hire Racing, please visit https://premiairhire.com.au/ or follow the team on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PremiAirRacing/

WINTERS PROVIDES WARM WELCOME TO PREMIAIR HIRE RACING
Posted by: In: racing 10 Jun 2019 Comments: 0 Tags: , , , , , , , ,

While for much of Gulf Western Oil Winternationals the weather was cold and rainy, the welcome from fans and racers alike for PremiAir Hire Racing was especially warm as the team made its comeback to racing at what is the largest drag racing event held outside of the US.

Peter Xiberras and his Top Fuel racing team have been on the sidelines since a major crash at Sydney Dragway in May of last year, but has been busy behind the scenes preparing for this weekend’s comeback at Willowbank Raceway.

Unfortunately the weather and a mechanical issue combined to reduce the Brisbane-based team’s on-track time to just two passes, but even so, the atmosphere was jovial as the team made its first steps towards what is expected to be a full tilt at the 19/20 Top Fuel Championship with a brand-new car.

“What a weekend it has been at Willowbank Raceway,” smiled Peter Xiberras.

“Results wise and track-time wise, it sure didn’t go our way. Rain saw us get only one qualifier instead of three, and then in the first round of racing I was matched up with Kelly Bettes and experienced a neutral safety switch failure – the switch is designed to neutralise the car in case the clutch welds at the end of the run so it can be pushed off the track safely without refiring the engine, but it failed and instead neutralised us at the end of the burnout!

“Even so, when we review our weekend overall we are grinning from ear to ear – the welcome we have received here at the Gulf Western Oil Winternationals has just been phenomenal and we are so glad to be back in amongst all the action and festivity of Top Fuel drag racing.

“Our congratulations goes to all of the racers on a great weekend at the race track, and especially to Wayne Newby on his well-deserved event and Top Fuel championship victory today.”

With their comeback now under their belt, PremiAir Hire Racing is looking ahead to what will be a large push for the 19/20 season.

“Our brand new car has arrived from the United States. It is currently in Melbourne and we are planning on testing in late September/early October ready for the season opener in November.

“Our sincere thanks goes to everyone who has supported us in our journey to this point, hopefully we can bring home some great results in thanks for your ongoing support in the upcoming season!”

For more information on PremiAir Hire Racing, please visit https://premiairhire.com.au/ or follow the team on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PremiAirRacing/