News

J18.........The best yet !!!

2008-09-01T05:41:00Z

Queensland and Willowbank Raceway presented their best faces for J18 with almost perfect conditions, blue skies,warm temperatures and a westerly head-wind on the Saturday.The track had 'teeth' and 14 PAC cars presented for qualifying runs.The street-tyred cars ran in the morning and the slick-tyred cars in the afternoon.Three qualifyers were allowed and the PAC team were running cars in Pro Turbo,(George in the MX6,Ivan in the pink RX3,Sam in 'The Godfather' RX3 and Rob Stanbury in the old 'PACMAN'yellow RX3),Pro Compact,(Rodney in the RX3,George Marcevski in 'Eat20B' RX3 and Jim Magliveras in the Corolla),Street 289,(Damien McKern in GRUMP2 RX2),Street RWD,(John & Russell Archer's RX4,and Paul Katar's RX4) and Super Mod,(Fred Sadek in the RX3,Karim Balloot in his RX2, Jamil Jaafar in the RX3 and Mohamed Majzoub in the RX3).At the end of the day the best qualifying times by each were as follows:

Russell Archer 11.17@120.1mph.

Paul Katar 10.09@131.37mph

Damien McKern 8.15@170.65mph

Fred Sadek 9.03@145.87mph

Jamil Jaafar 8.63@153.27mph

Mohamed Majzoub 9.53@114.77mph

Rodney Rehayem 7.50@168.73mph

Jim Magliveras 7.81@172.22mph

George Marcevski 7.71@174.82mph

Ivan Skaramuca 9.92@93.95mph

Sam Sadek 7.26@187.58mph

George Rehayem 7.12@196.94mph

Robert Stanbury 8.01@120.26mph

Karim Balloot 9.5@143mph

Saturday was a mixed bag with some good performances,but nothing that set the world on fire.Perhaps the highlight of qualifying was Damien's early evening run against Wayne Dyson when even a 0.402 light by Damien could not hold off the wily old veteran at the end !!! Great stuff and another great match up between these two.

Sunday and race-day ! The weather was even better than Saturday and there was the promise of some great racing ahead.It was time to get down to business ! First on the track of the PAC team was Paul Katar and a first round win.Russell Archer was next and another win for the PAC team.Damien McKern was next up and the lone St289 in the PAC team,but once again another win.Jamil Jaafar was next and yet another win ! Round one of eliminations was looking good ! Fred Sadek was next up and once more,another win. Mohamed Majzoub was next and unfortunately out to the fearsome VL Calais of Anthony Maatouk. Karim was having a great weekend with the debut of his new yellow RX2 until his left axle snapped on a launch, that was his racing over for Jambo 08.

The first round of Pro Compact and suddenly the place comes alive ! Younger brother Rodney was up first and a great win 7.55@178.22mph.Next up Jim Magliveras against Ben Bray and double red lights ! Ben takes the win as Jim red lights by the bigger margin ! EAT20B next up,but a little snooze on the lights by George,hands Mark Borg the win.

Into Pro Turbo and after an indifferent weekend,the MX6 lifts her skirts and George pulls off a 6.90@198.85 win for the team's first 'six' of the meet.Next is Sam Sadek against the the fearsome might of Tony Wedlock's Toyota Aurion and even another brilliant 7.29@186.26mph is not enough to win.Rob Stanbury is next and after a troubled Saturday with transmission problems,Rob pulls out a 7.59@176.89 to lose to a stronger result from Smokin' Joe Signorelli.

Russell Archer takes another great win in Street RWD to progress to the third round,but Paul Katar is not so fortunate and bows with a red light.Damien Mckern is next and another great light sees him progress to the third round.Jamil Jaafar has a bye run and runs it out the back door to check his dial-in.Mohamed Majzoud meets Mark Jacobsen's awesome R32 Skyline and is beaten by a great reaction from Mark. Fred Sadek is next and takes the win against Neil Penboss's VW.

Next round of Pro Compact sees Rodney with a bye,so wisely takes the green and backs the car out.Next out George Marcevski against Ben Bray and this time the bragging rights go George's way after Ben slows with a problem.

Pro Turbo and a bye to Rob Stanbury sees him drive it out the back door to another consistent 7.56&176.68mph run.The MX6 is on a solo as well and George checks out the launch but shuts off early.

Russell Archer is having a dream run and takes another great win.Damien is on a bye as well and just accepts the green.Next up Super Mod finds team-mates together with Jamil and Fred pitted aginst one another.Jamil is a little eager on the lights and hands the win to Fred.

George Marcevski finds himself on a bye and decides to go for it with a brilliant p.b.of 7.64@174.49mph !! Rodney is next against Billy Nabhan and out -reacts Bill for another strong win at 7.59@179.07mph.

Pro Turbo again and this time Rob Stanbury against Tony Wedlock.A strong 7.58@177.73mph is not enough to keep the Aurion driver out this time.George is on another solo in the MX6 and can't repeat his previous six with a 7.41@164.41mph pass.Sam is also on a solo and drives the 'Godfather' out the back door for another great 7.25@186.34 pass.

Russell Archer is on a bye in Street RWD and progresses to the semi-final.

Damien has made the semi-final of St289 and takes a great win over Darryl Parker in the T.A.S. RX7 to progress to the final.

Jamil Jaafar is next and takes a great 8.7 win on an 8.7 dial-in.Russell Archer is next and takes a great win to progress to the final.Russell cuts his luck a little fine and pulls a 0.366 light in the final,but is a deserving runner-up.Well done John and Russell !

The final of SuperMod sees Fred Sadek against Mark Jacobsen and a sharper light sees Fred triumphant and a deserving winner.Well done Fred ! This also gave Fred overall Champion in the Toyo Tire Series for this class.

The final of St289 sees Damien against Gary Halpin in the 2JZ powered Datsun 1200 coupe and this time Damien is the victor.Well done Damien and his win at this rounds secures him second place in the championship as well great effort !!

The final of Pro Compact sees the youngest brother Rehayem,(Rodney) fighting the 'old enemy',Anthony Rodrigues in the swoopy Cougar and even a great 7.58@165.08mph pass from Rod is not enough to keep the hungry cat at bay !! Well done to both drivers,you have done the sport proud. Although not taking the win in the finals, it was still enough to see Rodney take out Championship honours for Pro Compact. What a great achievement in his first year of racing.

Sam has made the 'B' final of Pro-Turbo and this time prevails against an ailing Rod Harvey,with a great 0.494 light from Sam and an 8.04@183.45mph pass.

The team had a great time at the event and would like to congratulate John and Russell Archer on being runner-up in StRWD,Damien McKern for winning St289,Fred Sadek for winning SuperMod, and Rodney for a great runner-up result in Pro Compact. Congrats also goes out to Mohammed Majzoub whom also took out Best Wheel stand of the weekend.

After the points were all allocated from the event, the Championship standings for the PAC team were as follows:

George Rehayem - 3rd place - Pro Turbo

Anthony D'aquino - Runner up - Pro Turbo

Rodney Rehayem - Winner - Pro compact

George Marcevski - Runner Up - Pro Compact

Fred Sadek - Winner - Super Mod

Damien Mckern - Runner Up - St 289

John & Russell Archer - Runner Up- Street RWD

We are so proud of all the achievements of the whole team and hope the new season of 09 will be just as successful. Congratulations to all, great job!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also a big thank you to all the fans and supporters and the Team's valued sponsors,Castrol Edge,Turbosmart,Garrett Turbochargers and VP Racing fuels.

Next meeting is the Fuchs Australian Nationals at Western Sydney International Dragway on Sept 12-14,so make sure you come along and support the team !!!!

The road to the Castrol EDGE Jamboree

2008-08-18T12:10:00Z

Work is well under way on the new race car and whilst the team was hoping to unveil their new Mazda 6 at this year’s Castrol EDGE Jamboree, unfortunately the debut has been delayed. The boys have been working frantically around the clock for the past few months preparing not only the new race car, but the MX6 and a fleet of customers cars to compete at the largest Sport Compact event in Australia.

The much anticipated debut of PAC’s latest weapon has been put on hold due to a heavy work load. The car is near completion but the team have just simply run out of time to have the car ready for its debut. “We want the car to be 100% when the cover’s come off and we promise it will be well worth the wait.” Says Team Principal, Rocky. The two time National Sport Compact Champions don’t believe in doing anything by halves and believes the fans will understand the reason for the delay. All work has been going smoothly but with all projects there are always challenges on the way.

The team heading up north this year will consist of, PAC MX6, Rodney’s RX3, Ivan Skaramuca’s Pink RX3, Sam and Fred Sadek, George’s EAT20B, Jimmy’s purple 13BT Corolla, Jimmy Jaffars RX3 coupe, John & Russell Archers Sports RWD RX4, Mckern Racings GRUMP2, Paul Katar’s RX4, Danny Makdessi’s Honda civic, Anthony Daquino’s black Rx3, Rob Stanbury and Mohamed Majhoub. With a line up like this make sure you don’t miss out on the action as the PAC boys take on the rest of the Sports Compact community.

The team’s official merchandise will be on sale with some great new items as well as a giant merchandise sale with items starting as low as $5 and some great giveaways. Come and support the team, hope to see you all there.

For more information go to www.sportcompact.net.au or www.willwobank-raceway.com.au

Castrol EDGE Jamboree 24/25 August 2008 at Willowbank Raceway QLD.

PAC'S PERFORMANCE AT THE WINTERNATIONALS

2008-06-17T03:18:00Z

After the long drive North to Willowbank, through marginal weather and after heavy rainfall in the area in preceding days, the team arrived to be greeted on Thursday, with blue skies and cool conditions.

The first qualifying session for Group 2,3 and 4 competitors was the afternoon of Thursday the 5th June and George guided the MX6 onto the track for the first paired pass of qualifying in the Competition class. Almost immediately on launch, the transmission decided to be uncooperative on the ultra grippy track, resulting in an overnight thrash to repair.

Friday greeted the team with fine weather and this time the 'gods were smiling' when at 8.17pm the little Rotary Rocket took the track by the scruff of the neck and blasted out a 6.98@196mph pass, to put a smile on the team's faces and leave them 0.4secs under the index, in good company, subject to the rest of the field's qualifiers.

On to Saturday and the last 'bite of the cherry'!!! With overnight rain delaying the start of racing by nearly three hours, George and the MX6 took to the track at nearly mid-day and once again another stunning 6.91@198mph pass resulted, confirming to the crew they had the set-up, 'in the zone'. The car had 60footed in under 1.1 seconds on both passes and improved its half-track speed to 161mph!! This left the team qualified 11th overall, 0.4 seconds under the index and with a third of the field for company, bring on Sunday!!!!

Finals day and a very full program to accomodate the lost time from Saturday, meant the team would have two rounds of eliminations in fairly short succession!! At 11.35am the MX6 joined Robert West's formidable 496ci Altered to face the starter, and a very good 0.485 reaction by George was never headed, resulting in a 6.86@198mph win and the team's second best e.t. by just 0.02 of a second!! The speed at half-track was almost 164mph, another team p.b. First hurdle cleared. 1.55pm and a relatively short break between rounds now saw the team face the daunting prospect of Justin Walshe in his 496ci Altered. George produced the light of the class with a 0.407 reaction which was a huge 0.31 advantage off the line, only to have it come to nothing when the MX6 slowed with a clutch fork failure.

On a weekend of records, both World and Australian, the PAC team was not to be left out, for it would appear that the three consecutive, six second passes produced would be the first time a Rotary-powered team has achieved this in mainstream competition, anywhere in the world!!! All this, and in a vehicle built right here in Australia.

The massive burnouts and menacing sound of the 20B ensured the heads turned in the stands, and the clapping and cheering confirmed the crowd was impressed, also evidenced by a steady stream of visitors to the car in the Castrol tent and the merchandise shop, ably manned by Karen and Brooke.

Overall a wonderful weekend and one in which the team was honoured to be a part.

Now it is a frantic 8 weeks for the team as they prepare for the Jamboree in August. They look forward to seeing you there and thank you all for your support, it is very much appreciated and always noticed.

A big thank you also goes out to the supporting sponsors of the team such as Castrol EDGE, Garrett Turbochargers, Turbosmart and VP Racing fuels.

MacKenzie's Motor Trimming Compak Attak

2008-05-29T07:29:00Z

Round 3 of the Toyo Tires Sports Compact Group Championship series looked in serious threat late in the week prior to the 18 May scheduled date, but the gods were smiling come race day with a beautiful blue sky greeting competitors and the PAC Performance team.

Racing on the day, the full contingent of PAC Performance customers ranging from our very own MX6 right through to the ever consistent RX4 of John and Russell Archer. Pro Turbo entrants included Ivan Skaramuca, Anthony Daquino, Robert Stanbury, Shane Flabian and the Pro Compact cars of Rodney Rehayem and Jim Magliveras.

Early qualifying started at 8.30 with the Street RWD cars hitting the cold and windy WSID surface. The cold and slippery track caught some of the big boys off guard when Pro Compact and Pro Turbo hit the track at 11am, with very few cars managing a decent time in the 1st qualifier. Both Rod and Jimmy, turned for the wall at around 200ft both resulting in aborted passes. Come Pro Turbo, the results were much the same until the MX6 came on track.

A regulation burnout and a super quick pass, saw the MX6 draw number one spot with a 7.08@194mph to get the crowd of 5000+ excited. Next on track was the GAS Motorsport Celica of Joe Signorelli. Not to be outdone, the team put down a 7.06@187mph pass to grab back number one for now.

Street 289 returned to WSID, however our two 28x9 inch hopefuls weren't to be seen, with Grant Henderson's 13B gold RX3 coupe running in Super Mod and Damien McKern's GRUMP2 RX2 taking a well earned break after returning from Perth a few days earlier.

Super Mod saw Grant Henderson's RX3 running nice consistent times in qualifying with some quick short times, eventually knocking off his PB of 8.29 with an 8.28@163mph pass which the team were excited about.

The second round of qualifying saw Pro Compact again take centre stage with both Jimmy and Rodney trading blows for number one qualifier. Jimmy threw down a quick 7.76@167mph pass which was followed by Rodney's top qualifier effort of 7.72@167mph.

Pro Turbo came out again and again, the MX6 topped the charts grabbing the top spot yet again with a 6.96@187mph pass, recording yet another 6 second pass for the team. With the track starting to warm up, the Pro Turbo RX3's starting hitting their straps with Ivan running the cleanest, and quickest pass yet, however due to a timing glitch, no time was recorded. Anthony Daquino returned in his beautiful full tube RX3 and still trying to get a baseline on the new car, Anth managed a 7.6 in late qualifying.

The Stanbury's returned to the track after a short break and recorded a 7.7 his best pass. Shane Flabian also returned to Sports Compact competition and although the team struggled with gearbox issues through the day, the team managed to still string together a new PB of 7.66.

Racing commenced at 3pm with the Chicago Shootout style Pro Compact and Pro Turbo looking to wow the crowd. However due to the record cold temperatures recorded at the track, not too many cars could get down the track smoothly. Rodney and Jimmy showed no glimpses of struggling though with 7.75@175mph and 7.76@169mph passes recorded respectively.

The event was unfortunately abandoned at around 6pm when an unfortunate incident occurred with a Street 289 competitor hitting the wall at half track. The driver escaped unharmed but due to the time that it would take to clean up the track and the fact that the track temp had dropped to 12 degrees, the right decision was made in cancelling the event due to safety reasons.

All in all, the PAC Performance team had a good weekend with some quick times coming from our cars with less than ideal weather conditions. Our next event is scheduled for the 41st running of the Castrol Edge Winternationals at Willowbank Raceway on the Queen's Birthday weekend. Racing on the weekend, will be our own MX6, looking to clinch the 2008 Competition Eliminator championship and to run some more 6 second passes. Come along and support the team in its quest, and don't forget your genuine “PAC Performance jackets” as it will be cold…

View Image Gallery

For more information visit: www.willowbank-raceway.com.au

Snap-on Nitro Champs results 2008

2008-05-16T02:14:00Z

What a great weekend of racing. The PAC team were out in force with 6 cars competing at this year’s Snap-on Nitro Champs at WSID, PAC MX6, Ivan in his Pink RX3, Flaibian brothers’ black RX3, Jimmy’s 13B corolla, Rodney’s RX3 rocket and Anthony D’aquino’s RX3.
The MX6 had a hard time in the opening qualifying sessions on Friday only being able to manage a 7.32@156mph, this qualified them in third position in Group 2 Competition Eliminator. Ivan qualified 4th with a 7.33@180mph, also in Comp, and Jimmy in his Corolla qualified 4th with a 7.6 in the Group 2 Super Stock class.

Saturday saw all the boys go out for their fourth and final qualifying run. George bumped himself up to top qualifier with a blistering 6.84@201mph, another personal best for the team, unfortunately George was eliminated in the second round against his fellow PAC team member, Ivan, who was later eliminated in the semi finals. Overall a great weekend of results.

The mainstream crowd are really now starting to embrace the rotaries and we had a lot of people coming and congratulating the team for a great effort on the weekend. The PAC team would like to extend a warm thank you to all who came and spoke to them on the weekend and showed them so much support ,it certainly is appreciated.
The boys are now preparing for round 3 of the Toyo Tires Sport Compact Series at WSID in two weeks time - 18th May 2008, be sure to come down and support the boys again.

For more event information checkout www.sportcompact.net.au or email karen@pacperformance.com.au