CASTROL EDGE JAMBOREE 17 V2
Woke to a clear and sunny morning in West Brisbane and headed to the track to try and get that number one position that was still in my grasp. The original date of August 25/26 - J17 V1- was rain affected, so we made the trek back to J17 V2. The delay in the rerun also allowed some extra competitors, who for whatever reason, couldn’t race on the original dates. For example, Tony Wedlock and his Toyota Camry, and the Gas Motorsport Celica.
Set up and scrutineering was painless with having to wait till our turn for qualifying later in the morning. I was keen to have a pass with the replacement gearbox, which Blacktrack Performance installed just the week prior to the event. The previous gearbox was giving me all sorts of grief, especially second to third changes. The gear lever position was also modified with the oxy. Straight away, the shifting felt more responsive.
Between rounds, we had been participating in the Bracket Attack series at WSID to get some practise in. I concentrated on improving my staging technique and especially reaction time, as this had been one of my downfalls in previous events.
On the first of three qualifying passes, it was evident straight away that the track conditions were different to last time. In my racing leading up to this event , my launching was slowed due to wheel spin. With the same set up, wheel pressures etc, my car bogged on the line, with a 1.59 60ft. Worst 60ft being a terrible 1.9! Best reaction time was 0.449 (on a 0.4 tree). Best qualifying run was the first with a worst than average 10.9@134MPH.
Top qualifier for ST289 was a shock to most. Archie in his RX7 came out and produced a blistering 8.43@ 169 MPH, with Wayne and Damien taking up the other top positions.
First pass was against Ben Graham in his RX3, with a dial in of 10 to our 10.15. Bogged launch with good gear changes made for a win of 10.4@141MPH, beating Ben by 0.4sec. A good start for the night.
Second pass was up against the R100 of Phil Thompson. Phil took the win as a red light ended my night. Try counting 0.005 of a second! Damn that ‘cherry’!
This finalised the championship after Damien’s semi final loss against Rod Boyd, and Wayne’s rare red light in the first round.
So, a big congratulations to Damien Mckern who gets to wear the number 1 on his car next season, and to Wayne Dyson who came second in the series, and thanks to all for the friendly ST289 rivalry - you know who you are! Also congratulations to all other competitors in the other brackets.
We believe we’ve proven that you don’t need big dollars to do well in drag racing, just attend all the rounds as you’ve got to be in it to win it. Hope to see more people competing in the next series.
For more information and final points, head to www.sportcompact.net.au
Pictures of 7SINS, head to Gallery, other pictures of Blacktrack performance cars www.blacktackperformance.com
What’s in store for the next year’s series? What changes -if any- will occur to the RX7 ‘7SINS’? You will just have to wait till the first round in Victoria.
7SINS Racing would like to thank the following people and businesses for the whole 2006/2007 Sport Compact Group series:
Ray Box, Mark Stanbury, Harry Rowsell of Sport Compact Group for the series dedicated to Sport Compact cars,
VPW, Sunoco, Aeromotive and others businesses for there contingency sponsorship in the series,
Justin Gregory, Renee Seal and Merv of Blacktrack Performance Dyno Centre,
Jon and Maretta Blanch of Microtech Global / RX Engineering,
Craig and crew at Bowers Suspension,
Lindsey and crew of Trade and General Towing,
Aaron and Peter of Seventh Vision,
All the staff at Signwave,
Warren and the boys at Brook Motors and Autopro,
Jeff at JP Engines and Fabrication,
Jeff at Monaco Performance.
Oh, and by the way, a challenge…. Take your mum drag racing!!!!
My mum Hazel had a ball with me at J17 V2, she hadn’t been to Queensland in over 26 years, and thoroughly enjoyed her first event hanging out in the pits. She loved watching all the strange models …of cars!!
