Toyo Tyres Summer Slam, 2007

On the 13th of January, the second round of the Sport Compact Group drag racing series was held at Heathcote Park raceway, Victoria ( www.heathcoteraceway.com.au ). Toyo Tyres ( www.toyo.com.au ) proudly sponsored the event. With the top 2 cars of the ST289 points table not attending the event, it would be a great opportunity to get to the top of the leader board.

‘7 SINS’ was strapped to a trailer and towed down to Victoria, where we camped at the track on Friday and Saturday night.

Friday night was a test and tune (t’n't), where some tough Victorian v8’s took to the track. It was also an opportunity for any Summer Slam entrants to do some testing, which was taken advantage by the Barbie quad rotor BMW who laid down a 7.8, and Mark from Adelaide in his ‘RX3SUM’ RX3.

Saturday morning, we awoke to sunny, cool and breezy conditions. As the day progressed, it warmed up but the breeze remained. An organised Oz Rotary cruise helped boost the number of spectators. As well as racing, some cars showed their best in a show and shine.

With qualifying for ST289 in the afternoon, we were able to watch other competitors go round and round, as small competitor numbers encouraged plenty of t’n't opportunities.

Pre-racing check over included adding Sunoco Supreme N.O.S fuel, adjustment of tyre pressures down to 10 Pound, removal of the air filter from the turbo, and a change to NGK racing 11.5 spark plugs. A check under the car revealed no leaks, but a broken exhaust pipe mount; which was temporarily fixed using a piece of fencing wire that we had found nearby!

First qualifying run was a very slippery 10.9524@ 129MPH. I had to back off before halftrack as the car slid sideways towards the centreline, indicating the track was not going to produce any PB’s for me today.

A re-adjustment of tyre pressures, and a boost reduction via the E-Boost, in a quest to find the best set up to suit the track conditions was made before the next run. A bad gear change ensured a slower ET of 11.4652 but at a higher 131.08MPH through the traps, the second time through.

Third time round produced a no problem run, netting a respectable 10.0874 @ 142.90MPH. Heading into eliminations, I decided on a flat 10.00 dial in, due to this last run.

First elimination round was up against Jason’s yellow ‘REVS’ rx7, which had come across from Adelaide for the event. A red light and problems for Jason in the other lane produced a win for us, with a 10.5245 at a backing off 115.53MPH.

Soon after this run, I was approached by Damien Mckern - ‘GRUMPE2′- ( www.mckernracing.com.au ) who indicated that other ST289 competitors had broken and were not able to front for the next elimination rounds. We then agreed to head straight into a final, with the others accepting the minor places and points.

Damien, having had trouble putting down his power throughout the day, dialled in with a ‘very slow’ 9.8, while I kept to my 10.00 Dial in. After waiting for him to lay down his customary crowd pleasing burnout, we both staged. A reaction of 0.7529 and a 60ft of 1.4097 was a good start, no missed gear changes netted a half track of 110MPH. After selecting forth gear and with the finish line fast approaching, I suddenly remembered to check where Damien was, which revealed he was behind enough for me not to have worried. I backed off to take the win. An ET of 10.1137 @ 134.45MPH was the result, compared to 10.1406 @ 139.06 for Damien. Winning this round puts us at the top of the points table with Damien.

Overall, I had a great time, and 7SINS Racing will not hesitate to head down to Heathcote Raceway again. Country track with friendly hospitality, doing a dam fine job coping with the dusty conditions and the budget that they have. Top work Russell and crew!
Thank you to Ray box and Sport Compact Group once again for their tireless work to get these events organised and running smoothly, and a big thank you to those who attended the event.

Thanks to the following business that I used for the event:

RX Engineering , Newcastle: www.rxengineering.com 02 49661235 thanks to Jon who flew down for support on the day and brought my fuel for the event,
Brook Motors and Autopro Mayfield: www.brookmotors.com.au Warren: 02 49609200
Monaco Performance (Revolution Racegear), Kotara: www.monacoperformance.com.au Jeff: 02 49570999
Self Move Hire: www.selfmovehire.com
Gundagai Tourist Park, Gundagai: www.gundagaitouristpark.com.au Margaret: 02 69441620

Further results/pictures/ reports can be found at www.sportcompact.net.au, www.fullboost.com.au , www.HiOctane.com.au , for others see links

The season is Hotting up!
See you next time at the track.

Cheers,
Rodney.