ROUND 3 - MACKENZIE'S MOTOR TRIMMING COMPAK ATTAK
MEETING REPORT
Round Three of the Toyo Tires Sport Compact Group Championship series travelled to Sydney for the Mackenzie’s Motor Trimming Compak Attak. The event at Western Sydney International Dragway (WSID) kicked off with crisp and clear winter weather despite a rather gloomy forecast. A huge entry list saw a great range of local racers as well as plenty of interstate travelers ready to battle it out on the black top.
Morning qualifying for the street-tyred classes kept the action happening on the strip, a few highlights including McKern & Assoc. Pro Turbo racer Joe Signorelli taking the wheel of the freshly imported Haltech-prepped Nissan GTR R35. For a lot of fans this was the first chance to see the new “Godzilla” in real life, and definitely the first time for many to see it used in anger! Whilst the car remains basically stock except for the new development Haltech ECU, Joe managed to real off an insane 11.12 at 124mph pass! The FWD racers put on a strong showing with Ryan Bestulic setting a new ET record in Street FWD in his shiny red Pulsar, with a quick 12.06 at 118mph pass. The well-travelled Shane Crichton also smashed the mph record in Turbosmart Street RWD a relatively slow 10.5 at a massive 156.92mph run in his BlackTrack Performance-prepped Toyota Cressida. There were a number of other GTRs also battling it out including a return with RH9 back on the strip again as well as a good mix of R32, R33, and R34 streeters. The Speed FM All Motor class has been going from strength to strength and displayed a good mix of makes and models, as well as old cars vs new cars. Telly’s old school classic “SAVANA” RX-3 was up against the likes of Luke Camilleri’s Late model Hi-Comp Performance Civic. Luke Camilleri’s H22A powered Civic was number one qualifier with a tough 11.801 at 113.53mph pass.
All of the professional classes were out in force when the slick-tyred qualifying kicked off in the afternoon, and there were plenty of great runs. McKern & Assoc. Pro Turbo was filled to capacity with a string of cars vying for number one qualifying position. The Pac Performance team have stepped up the MX-6 in recent meets, with George Rehayem once again in the number one position after a 6.96 at a slowing 181mph. Joe Signorelli and the GAS Motorsport team had been working non-stop to get the GAS Celica repaired in time for the meeting, and their efforts were rewarded with an easy 7.08 at 184mph run. It was great to see Po Tung back on the track in his Rotormaster-prepped RX-7 with a strong 7.45 at 188mph pass. There were also a huge contingent of Mazda RX-3s fighting out the rest of the positions with names like Skaramuca, Daquino, Flaiban, Tsoltoudis, and Stanbury all running well into the seven second zone. Dom Rigoli was one of the few piston engines battling it out with the rotaries, his tubbed Subaru WRX clocking a tough 7.84 at 169mph run.
Haltech Pro Compact was also well represented with younger brother Rodney Rehayem putting his 13B to good use with a 7.72 whilst Jim Magliveras in the purple 13B-powered Toyota Corolla also impressed with a 7.76. Ben Bray was smiling after smashing his PB in the “MR1200” Ute with a very quick 8.17 at 163mph pass. Another racer back after a bit of an absence was Robert Marjan back in the CRD-prepped 200SX, and back into the eights with an 8.99 at 152mph run.
Ignition DVD Super Mod was a great mixture of makes and models with a couple of crazy runs. Mark Jacobsen was struggling to put the power down in his GTR, using the steering wheel to try and keep the GTR in a straight line, and not always succeeding! Mark eventually clocked an 8.10 at 171mph and it is only a matter of time before he drops into the sevens. Grant Henderson had his tough 28x9-inch RX-3 out and recorded an easy 8.28 at 158mph. Jason Both also had a couple of crazy runs in his relatively new Dyson-prepped 20B RX-3 with and wheel-spinning 8.32 at 163mph pass the result. Frank Dabache and the crew were very happy with the Freaky4 wagon twisting its way to an 8.51 at 156mph
Street FWD and Front Mod were well supported in Sydney, and it was Danny Makdessi who impressed in his EXQZIT Civic with a new PB 9.47 at 149mph, followed closely by Robert “Backyarder” Benk who managed to somehow drive his Corolla to a crazy 9.58 at 154mph. Ryan Bestulic was happy with his new SFWD record, and there was a good range of manufactures represented in the 12-13 second range with Trent Gillespie’s Toyota Starlet, Robert Ernst’s Mazda Astina, Fred Petersen’s KH Laser all running in the twelve's.
The Bike classes were well represented with plenty of OCD Racing Sports Bike racers from Queensland traveling down to mix it up with the locals, a number of PBs were reset thanks to the cool air conditions and the class was shaping up for some really close racing as eliminations began. Also amazing the crowd were those crazy guys in the Rapid Magazine Outlaw Sports Bike classes with Leonard Azzopardi resetting the ET record with a stunning 7.62 at over 190mph!
Street 289 saw a string of very stout passes and was certainly a great class to watch, as always. Mazfix’s Archie Kajewski was in number one spot after a very close 8.04 at 170mph pass. Another Queenslander Jerry Kehl was also stoked to smash his PB in his blue Predator Motorsport Series 8 RX-7 with an easy 8.51 at 163mph. Rodney Spannenberg has given up on using the clutch and instead got a BlackTrack Performance installed Jatco Auto in his well-traveled RX-7, and it seems to work nicely clocking a 9.55 at 145mph. Veteran racer Steve McGirr was also back in his Oak Flats Muffler Men RX-3 with a couple of great runs. Dib Taouil has been flying in his TCR RX-7 recently and after an amazing 8.12 at 163mph in the early part of the event he unfortunately came to grief in the evening after skating from the left lane across into the right wall before bouncing back to the left lane again. Fortunately Dib was fine but the car will need some extensive panel beating. The setting sun had seen the track temperature plunge at a crazy rate. After extensive discussions amongst the WSID officials, ANDRA officials, and the meeting director the difficult decision was made to bring a premature end to the meet due to the potentially unsafe conditions.
Despite the cancellation it was still a great meeting for many Sport Compact racers and fans. We caught up with Ray Box after the meet, “We had a meeting and decided that it would be unsafe to continue and we make no apologies for putting the racer’s safety first.” he explained. “It was a big success crowd-wise moving to a Sunday” he acknowledged. Although it was unseasonably cold for May the organisers may now look at moving the meeting to a slightly warmer date for next year.”We certainly don’t want that cold situation again!” he said. “I really want to thank all the racers and all the WSID and ANDRA staff, as well as all the fans for making this event a great success.” There was some conjecture about what would happen once racing was halted, but that was soon cleared up, as Ray Box explained “Points were allocated based on the last completed round of racing as per the rules. Prize money has been allocated based on their relative finishing position.”
The final round of the Toyo Tires Sport Compact Group Championship sees the series move back to the home of Sport Compact racing in Australia, Queensland’s Willowbank Raceway for the Castrol Edge Jamboree held over two action-packed days on August 23 and August 24, 2008. “J18” is now entering its 18th year and is always a very well supported event with racers and fans traveling across the country (and across the ocean!) for the premier event of the season. We’ll see you there!
Don't forget to checkout the Event Gallery from the Round 3 HERE.
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2008 Toyo Tires Sport Compact Group Drag Racing Series
