The stars and cars of the Castrol EDGE Winternationals converged on Brisbane’s city today to provide a unique spectacle ahead of this weekend’s 44th running of the Southern Hemisphere’s biggest drag racing event.
Steve Read’s Read Speed Top Fueller was the centre piece of the exhibition – with Read and his team fielding many questions from curious members of the public.
Tony Wedlock and his PRO-FX Toyota Aurion was another popular addition to the city display, with many youngsters stopping to enquire about the sleek red machine.
A lunchtime autograph session attracted thousands of spectators who got the opportunity to meet several of the stars of ANDRA Pro Series drag racing, including Top Fuel Championship leader, Darren Morgan, Top Alcohol Steve Reed, along with Steven Ham, Rick Gauci and Jason Grima.
The racers took time out from their busy preparations for the Winternationals – which begin tomorrow at Willowbank Raceway.
All were blown away by the response the ANDRA Pro Series cars drew from a new audience.
“It’s fantastic that we can bring drag racing to the people in this way,” said Steve ‘The Pom’ Read – who set the fastest qualifying time at the previous Top Fuel meeting at Willowbank. “The response has just been amazing. Just about everyone has taken photos of the cars here and have been genuinely interested in what we do.
“I hope that will translate into crowd on the hill this weekend at Willowbank. The Castrol EDGE Winternationals is always an awesome event – it’s our biggest and favourite of the year. We made the final at the last Willowbank event, but
lost out to Darren (Morgan), here’s hoping we can go one better this weekend!”
The Castrol EDGE Winternationals begins tomorrow with qualifying for Group 2 and 3 categories, along with the first session for Pro Stock.
The ANDRA Pro Series cars will hit the Willowbank Raceway track on Saturday for their first two sessions from 11am.