Extreme speed on way Hot line-up of nitro drag racers heading to Top End

Joining the Rapisarda team — who were the 2015 Australian National Drag Racing Association champions in the highly competitive Top Fuel bracket — on the rejuvenated quarter-mile track is another rocket man, Mark Sheehan, in his appropriately named Nitro Madman dragster.

The Rapisarda team is no stranger to extreme speed in a sport that thrives on the quickest car and driver to make the quarter-mile trip.

They set all sorts of track records one year ago in Darwin, including an amazing 4.63 second run that reached an incredible 510km/h.

Hidden Valley Drag Racing Association president Scott Maclean said his organisation was thrilled to be able to confirm the return of the growling 10,000 horsepower, 500km/h nitro dragsters to Darwin.

This year’s spectacular fol- lows the hugely successful Nitro Up North event in 2015, which saw Top Fuel drag cars in the Northern Territory for the first time.

Maclean wants to make the second coming of the big bangers a weekend to remember.

“Last year we gave our drag racing fans a taste of what we as a club can bring to the NT. This year we will be bigger again,” MacLean said.

The 2016 Nitro Up North will feature four Top Fuel dragsters and the opening rounds of the ANDRA championship for Top Doorslammer and Top Bike.

The expansion continues into the sportsman ranks, where Hidden Valley will play host to the national Summit Sportsman Series for the first time, including Super Comp, Supercharged Outlaws, Top Sportsman, Modified, Super Sedan, Mod Bike, Super Street and Junior Dragster categories.

“We have been looking to have this series at Hidden Valley for a number of years and it’s been pushed by our members, so we are pleased we can finally give our racers this opportunity,” MacLean said.

Motorsport NT president Grant Hamon said the NT Government deserved a big pat on the back for its support in bringing Nitro Up North back to the Top End.

“Motorsport NT fully supports HVDRA running a major event like this, because Territorians love their motorsport,’’ Hamon said.

“The calibre of event, organised by a volunteer-run club, is just fantastic.

“The Territory’s economy benefits significantly with the huge influx of interstate competitors, pit crews, families and spectators coming from all around the country, and they all love Darwin and its laidback lifestyle.’’