Current Australian Top Fuel Bike champion Jay Upton has been struggling with a new Honda head set up. Racing from Australia’s left coast sees him ship his bike in a container across country and it was damaged on the trip to Brisbane. Previously the old Puma engine ran out of steam after the 1000 foot mark and he hoped the new Honda three cylinder head would fix the problem however here he didn’t get that far down the track as he had a burst plate let go right off the line.
Ian Ashelford had qualified second with a 6.68 best and ran a very consistent 6.69 in round one of eliminations to oust a problem plagued 20.88 by Craig Bonwick. In the semis he took an 8.59 solo when fellow Harley opponent Neville Smith lost fire on his burnout to put Ashelford up against Troy McLean. A 6.85 over Rodney Salvestro and a 6.86 over Dennis Grant put McLean into the money round – his second in as many weeks. Despite leaving first and running a quicker 6.74/211 McLean fell short by six thousandths to Ashelford superior 6.66/205 winning run.
Troy McLean came into the Nationals second in the points behind his “Boss” Brett Stevens after both fought out the final of the AC Delco race. Like fellow Queenslander, Aaron Lynch he ended up in his second final in as many races and the outcome was the same as Lynch when he too fell to opponent Ian Ashelford. Despite leaving first and running a tenth quicker his 6.74 failed by six thousandths to keep Ashelford’s 6.66 at bay, however he now leads the points championship.
