Fast Fours Jamboree 16, 2006
‘7 SINS’ was transported with other RX Engineering cars to the 2006 Fast Fours Magazine Jamboree, at Willowbank Raceway, Queensland. This is the years premier Sport Compact event run over 2 days - Saturday and Sunday 23/24 of September. It attracts cars from all over Australia and New Zealand. A special mention also to 3 cars from Puerto Rico who came over thanks to Jon at Rx Engineering and Microtech Global. It was also the first round of the Sport Compact Group Drag Racing Series.Perfect weather conditions were enjoyed for both days, with any shade being taken advantage of early. Fog patches greeted the early risers on the way to the track.
Gates opened for racers at 7am, while spectators were allowed in from 8.30am.
Qualifying for street tyre classes started at 9.30am while slick tyre classes had to wait till 3.30pm. Due to numerous oil downs and incidences, racing concluded at 9pm. Thank you to the organisers who saw fit to add the extra hour.
If racing isn’t your thing, there was plenty of other things to do like show and shine, sound off, dyno competition, glow off and of course the customary Bikini and Jam Babe competitions.
‘7 SINS’ managed to complete the designated 3 runs for ST289 class on Saturday, albeit with a few problems.
1st pass complete with a 10.7 @ 121MPH (195.57KPH). A bad gear change was the reason for the slower than normal ET and end track speed. It was my first ever pass with the new twin plate clutch and Supra gearbox, so more passes will show the true potential of the new set up.
2nd pass complete with a 10.7 @ 133MPH (214.77KPH). No missed gear changes this time but very disappointed with the ET and being down on MPH at the end. The car ran smooth all the way but the result seemed strange. A third run would be very worth while.
3rd pass with a 10.6 @ 132 MPH (212.44KPH). No gear change problems but there is a definite problem somewhere, a boost leak most likely. A job for the obligatory pre eliminations check.
A check of all pipes and hoses on Sunday morning revealed the cause of the previous days loss of power. The wastegate hose had a split in it. Being the lowest part of the car, it must have sustained damaged at some stage. This hose leaking air would have caused the wastegate to open before the set boost level and therefore releasing exhaust gasses that would otherwise have increased boost. Hence that loss of power feeling. An easy fix though - cut the hose and reattach. Other than that, more Sunoco Supreme NOS fuel in the tank and a wipe over was all that was required for the days racing.
First elimination pass up against Richard Gauci in a Mazda RX3 (#4891) dialling in with a 8.05, saw a win by a margin of 0.363 seconds. I was feeling a bit optimistic dialling in with a 9.4, but in the end I was through the first stage. The 10.05 @ 143MPH speed indicated my boost problems were no longer an issue.
Second elimination pass up against #2563 (sorry no name ) saw problems in their lane, therefore leading to an easy win. A 9.844 @ 144.93MPH (233.24KPH) shows a typical no problems run.
Third pass ended up being a bye run. That is, a pass without any opposition. A free ride to the semis and therefore guaranteed series points. A lazy Sunday drive with a cruise through with ET of 22.746 seconds.
Fourth pass was up against a seasoned racer by the name of Chris Adams (#1497). Chris has been racing his Datsun ute for many years and is very consistant. (I lost to him back in 2002 when I had my hi-flow turbo) A faultless run would be essential in this case. Anyway, a too slow reaction time, slight bogged launch and a terrible 3rd to 4th gear change gave the win to Chris. A 10.4 ET against Chris’s 10.253
Third place netted prize money of $125, thanks to Magna Fuel/Quantum Racing Industries.
Pretty good considering a field of 35+ cars, including some very fast 8 second racers.
Chris went on to win against Pat long in his ‘Critta’ RX3 in the final.
It would have been a Supra gearbox final had I won the semis.
The weekend overall was excellent, it was well worth the wait considering not having raced competitively for over a year and a half. Congratulations to Chris Adams who won Street 289 class, Pat Long for coming second, and to Damien Mckern for top qualifier with a blistering ET of 8.235. Congratulations to all those who did personal bests and especially to the Puerto Ricans who had an absolute blast.
Thanks to Jon and Justin from RX Engineering and all the crew for their tireless help on the weekend and pre-ceding weeks.
Looking forward to the upcoming meetings.
Further results and pictures can be found at Links
See you all next time at the track
Cheers,
Rodney
