Phil Lamattina’s 4.79 on top early in Top Fuel qualifying in Perth.

Phil Lamattina and Chris Matheson lead Top Fuel and Top Bike respectively following qualifying on night one of the ANDRA Pro Series in Perth.

Lamattina’s 4.79sec blast came in the first session of qualifying and would not be bettered despite challenges from Damien Harris and Andrew Cowin.

Lamattina’s Fuchs dragster managed a clean pass despite a hot surface, giving the team some confidence in the new chassis.

“The track was warm and you don’t expect to get down there, you’re always waiting for it (to smoke the tyres), but it got down there and it held for number one so we’re very happy,” he said.

Qualifying was not without its troubles though as the team replaced motors on both passes. Lamattina said it was all part of the learning curve for the crew.

He now enters eliminations with the advantage of a first round solo, giving the team an opportunity to find out what the track will hold.

“Not having that pressure is always good and we can see where the track is at,” he said.

Meanwhile the pace of Chris Matheson again showed through as he recorded a 6.40sec time to lead Top Bike after two sessions, with one session left to run on Saturday.

Matheson explained he wanted to make check his bike was safe so his pass was actually shut down early.

“The first run we went out on a shakedown pass as we have changed the front end on the bike and we wanted to make sure the changes were good and safe,” he said. “We went out and shut it off just after half track. It’s going to be a warm day tomorrow so the track might throw some curve balls at us.”

ANDRA Pro Series eliminations begin from 6pm on Saturday.