Compak Attak 2007
The 4th round of the Sport Compact Group Drag racing series sponsored by Toyo Tyres (www.toyo.com.au) was held at WSID, Sydney. Heavy rain and wind the day before lead to a bright, clear and ‘fresh’ day for racing.
‘7SINS’ breezed through scrutineering, warm up plugs were removed and replaced with NGK racing plugs, filter removed and tyre pressures sorted ready for the ST289 qualifying session around 1pm.
Meanwhile, the street tyred classes were having their 4 qualifying sessions, which started at 10am. Shane Crichton once again set a new strwd record with a 9.952 @ 149.58MPH (www.1jz747.com.au), but broke some of his gearbox internals, meaning he raced with 1st and 3rd gear in eliminations. Nicole Williams drove a Ford XR6 Turbo ‘BCNYA’ to a 11.9 @ 115MPH. Not bad considering only a mild exhaust and chip change from standard.
There was plenty to see besides racing, with a big show and shine area and sport compact related business stalls. Time and effort put into these cars are always truly amazing. The two legged entertainment was also present with bikini and “2007 Compak Attak Babe” competitions.
All our qualifying runs indicated that the change of rear shock absorbers worked for us, with consistant 1.35 and 1.36 60ft’s (our previous best was 1.31, and that was with more horsepower!). Our best for the day was run two, with a 10.157 @ 141.88MPH. Wayne Dyson top qualified in ST289 with an ET of 8.259
Dialling in with 10.00, we were first up against ‘HYPTUP’ RX3 of Richard Gauci. We both had problems on the start line (though HYPTUP succeeded in doing a 0.002 reaction!), and at the end of the 400 metres I cruised through with a 11.83 @ 129.95MPH, compared to Richards 15.943 @ 59.40 MPH, and to what I thought was a win. Richard broke his gearbox on that run, and I was disqualified due to deep staging and being ‘manually’ pushed back into stage. Lesson learnt! From there, we both had to watch the racing from the sidelines.
Paul Palermo went on to win ST289 in his Fiat, with the ‘Godfather’ Wayne Dyson accepting defeat, Damien McKern ‘GRUMP2’ took semi finals points.
Unfortunately, two racers ended up in the wall during the course of the day, Mick’s Motorsport Lancer and Peter’s ‘BLODIS’ RX3. It’s always sad to see such machinery destroyed within a matter of seconds, but we all take some form of risk everyday. Having ‘kissed’ the wall a few years ago, we know how harsh it can be on emotions of the owner and family ( and the wallet!).
Thanks to Justin, Renee and Merv at Blacktrack performance Dyno Centre (www.blacktrackperformance.com), Pat (’CRITTA’) and Rod Boyd (’IRX22C’) as my pit crew for the day.
Also thanks once again to the tireless efforts of Ray Box, who would have sighed relief after a great turnout for the day.
We are sitting in third position on the points table, with first place still a reality.
See you all at the final round, Jamboree, QLD! Losing sleep already!
For all the results for the day , head to www.sportcompact.net.au
