2006/2007 Sport Compact Group Drag Racing Series

BIGGEST FAST FOURS JAMBOREE EVER!

 

The all new Sport Compact Group Drag Racing Championship Series kicked off to a great start at Willowbank Raceway at round one, the Fast Fours Jamboree. Now entering its 16th year the Jamboree is well known for putting on a spectacular show, and this year was certainly one of the best ever. International flavour came in the form of a three car team all the way from Puerto Rico. The Toyota Corolla "Clubman" and Datsun 1200 "Steidel Racing" both put on an awesome show running a string of PB times in the 7-second zone, amazing considering both are 13B turbo powered, and were just so smooth and straight running down the sticky Willowbank surface. The legendary Bam Bam Mazda Miata (MX-5), sorted out a few issues early on but managed to lay down an 8.6 second pass on Sunday. On Bam Bam there is not a turbo or supercharger in sight with the power coming from the tough 13B peripheral port engine with a healthy dose of Nitrous mixed in. The flame show (over the windscreen and under the car!) was something to see, and we're sure it will motivate a few of the Aussies to run this popular Puerto Rican combination in the future.

 

Also making the journey from overseas was Rod Harvey in his Rayglass Datsun 1200 coupe, Australasia's quickest 4-cylinder sedan, and also Reece McGregor who became the quickest Nissan GTR Skyline in the entire world at the Jamboree as he reeled off an awesome 7.577 at a massive 305.96km/h.

The Aussies of course were not to be outdone. Saturday night saw probably the race of the weekend with George Rehayem in the Mazda Rotary 20B powered Pac Performance MX-6 lining up against long-time rival Joe Signorelli in the GAS Motorsports Toyota 2JZ Piston-powered Camry. After a length staging battle with both drivers waiting patiently with the pre stage lights yet the eventually bumped into full stage and then it was on for young and old!! George left the line a fraction early leaving a cherry in his lane but Joe still chased him down across the finish line with Joe recording a stunning 6.889 at 327.70km/h vs George's 7.018 at 318.89km/h, notch up a win for the pistons!

 

It was great to see the Pro classes full with quality cars. The two new classes were McKern & Associates Pro Turbo for the 20B and six cylinder cars, and also the Pro Compact class which catered for the 4-cylinders and 13B rotaries. Ivan Skaramuca returned in his tough 20B RX-3 sedan and took out the McKern & Associates Pro Turbo class. Shane Flaiban's new black RX-3 looked super tough on the track with a 7.75 best, Po Tung's triple turbo triple rotor Gatorz RX-7 also dipped into the sevens with a 7.95. Craig Dyson's wild yellow RX-7 also went into the mid seven second zone thanks to the methanol 20B. Bill Nabhan was driving the wheels off everything over the weekend and moved the tough TCR RX-7 into the seven second zone also.

 

Garrett Turbochargers Pro Compact was dominated by the visiting Puerto Ricans, both lining up in the final together with Ivan Martinez taking the win over Raul Gonzalez. Peter Donchas' insanely tough little purple 1300 Wagon went 8.07 thanks to the Maztech 13B, Jim Magliveras went 8.05 in his Pac-prepped purple Corolla, George Marcevski's EAT20B went as quick as 7.74 in qualifying, and Kristian Magrin's stunning RX-7 was slightly off its PB with an 8.25. Chris Dalton made the long tow up from Victoria with his cool black RX-7 which went 7.85, fellow Victorian Grant Williams also made the journey but struggled with driveline issues throughout the weekend.

 

Quantum Racing Street 289 is for cars running slicks up to 28x9-inch in size, and some of the quickest cars in the country were on show. Damien McKern top qualified with a tough 8.23 in his newly Pac-powered 20B RX-2 "GRUMP2". Damien ran a string of low eights throughout the weekend. Also up there was Bill Nabhan behind Craig Wasson's "MR 12A" RX-3 with an 8.27 second pass from the little 12A turbo. Richard Gauci's "HYPTUP" RX-3 was representing the 13Bs and went as quick as 8.39 slightly outside his PB. Long time racer Wayne Dyson has added a sniff of nitrous to his 20B and had a few wild rides on the weekend. Other standouts included Garry Bond who stepped up in a big way with his RX Engineering prepped 13B RX-7 and went 8.59 with an auto! Fellow RX Engineering customer Rodney Spannenberg took his "7-SINS" RX-7 to a 9.84 with a street-based manual. Pat "CRITTA" Long raced well throughout the weekend only to be defeated in the final when local racer Chris Adams took the win in the final in his little CA18DET powered 1200 Ute "LOST U".

Horsepowerinabox Extreme class was a mixture of vehicles, with everything from 13B dragsters and altereds, mini funnycars, and turbocharged V8s. Ivan MR MAD Tesic top qualified with a 6.85 at 338km/h in his wild twin turbocharged Torana, who had a great qualifying run against Mark "HYPA" Uzzell who went oh-so-close with a 7.03 at 334km/h pass. Another unusal V8 was John Pesch who has an unusual Nissan VH45DE supercharged V8 in his R33 Skyline. John went 10.44 in eliminations. Flying the rotary flag was Andrew Dyson in his West Coast Customs 13B Dragster and ran a strong 7.72, Glenn Anderson is finally getting on top of his wild 13B twin turbo altered and went 7.87 with plenty left yet. Bill Nabhan was driving everything but the new Queen St matt black BMW M3 was flying with the quad rotor going as quick as 7.40 at its debut race meeting with plenty left in it yet.

 

Turbosmart Street RWD was the biggest of all fields with numerous great performances. Lee Docherty top qualified in his Need for speed imports 13B turbo Mazda MX-5 with a 10.681 and Lee battled his way through a tough field to make it to the final, only to be defeated by Richard Kuhlmorgen's "Bugger" Toyota ute. Westcoast Customs Modified Streetbike was one of the two bike classes introduced for the first time at Jamboree. The final saw two of the standouts for the weekend, with Sydney resident Leonard Azzopardi's wild Silver turbocharged Hayabusa taking the win from local racer Marty Searl, whose yellow/blue Hayabusa was sniffing nitrous for the weekend. Leonard went 7.762 without wheelie bars an awesome achievement and Marty smashed half a second off his PB with an 8.27 best. Microtech Global Street Sportsbike was well supported and Jason Hammelswang came out on top. We're used to seeing Jason at Willowbank on his insane mini-bike but he switched to his streeter for the meet and was consistent all weekend to take out the win over Alex Buxton.

 

It wasn't all racing at the Jamboree though! The show n shine on Saturday was well attended with a number of interstate vistors as well as the local crew. The wild 13B turbo TX-3 caused a few people to look twice and there were plenty of late model RX-7s in all shapes and colours. Tough Mini trucks, slammed Skylines, and radical rotors meant there was something for everyone to drool over. The ever-popular Northfield Car Sound Bikini comp and Babe show saw the crowd jostling for the best vantage spot, either high on the grandstand or up close with cameras at the ready. Emma Taylor from Ignition DVD was a deserving winner in the Bikini comp ahead of Sarah and Lauren. The Babe Comp on Sunday saw Rachael Donald take the title ahead of the always popular Brooke, with Kylie in third.

 

For full results of all classes including the Show n Shine and Sound Off competition check out Event Results Page. Overall the weekend was a great success, a huge crowd enjoyed the beautiful Queensland weather and the great racing and entertainment for the weekend. There were plenty of satisfied but tired people at weekend's end with many declaring it "The best Jamboree ever!", and we would definitely agree. The championship heads down south for round two at Heathcote Park Raceway, and there are many already booking their holidays and accommodation for the final round of the championship, at Jamboree in 2007. We'll see you there!