After being postponed last month due to bad weather, anticipation for the 2019 Sydney Grudge Kings event only grew stronger and when the day finally rolled around on Saturday, racers were greeted to some of the best event weather we’ve seen for a long while, and with track prep providing a killer surface, racers were keen to hit the track!
This year’s event would see 9 Pac cars competing across various classes, including both the Mazda6 SP and Rodney’s new 13B RX8 racing in the Pro Elite class.
3 Pac cars battled it out in Pro Modified against some stiff competition.
Fresh from his running a big 6.78@201 PB in testing on Friday, Anthony Daquino was back out in his 13B RX3 hoping to improve further on his ET and possibly jump into the 2nd spot on the Aussie 13B Top10 List.
Anthony and crew had a great day at the track running 6s on most passes with a best of 6.88@200 in the first round in a gripping race against fellow 13B contender Tony Grgich in the ‘Ghost’ RX3. It’s great to see the car running consistently and all the hard work paying off for the team.
With Jay Sadek on holidays overseas, Sam Sadek jumped at the opportunity to get behind the wheel of the RX3 Coupe for Grudge Kings. Motivation was high for the event having blasted out an impressive PB 6.87@197 Pass on Friday afternoon and while Sam had some issues early on getting a full pass during the day, things came together late afternoon with another solid 6.94@198 pass to finish off the day.
Demanding attention with its bright paint, Al’s R100 had all eyes on it throughout the day. Al too had a few hiccups during the day but an easy 7.74@152 followed by a new PB 7.55@173 late in the day saw the team go home on a high!
Kevin Awadson and his RX8 have been creating quite a stir over the past few weeks, creeping deeper and deeper into 7s on a small radial tyre. Racing in the Pro Small Tyre Fighter class at Grudge Kings, the World’s Quickest Rotary on a radial tyre ran strong all day, kicking things off with a 7.49@184 before blasting out a 7.33@191 to re set its own record.
The car continued to perform into the afternoon with Kevin putting down a 7.36@192 and moving into the finals, matched up against Craig Lewis’ Cortina which had also been running very consistent throughout the day. Set to be a well matched race, unfortunately the RX8 got out of shape mid track causing Kevin to abort the pass and hand the win and the $10k to Craig.
The return of Lee Docherty’s MX5 has been highly anticipated and Lee didn’t leave the spectators disappointed running a 7.85@179 off the trailer before backing that up with an impressive 7.51@191
Racing in the Small Tyre Fighter class against a mixed bag of street and dedicated race cars, Jamie Borg did laps in his RX3 streeter, performing well running 9s all day. Jamie and crew finished off the day with a best of 9.60@142 which is a new PB for the car.
Another streeter putting in work on Saturday was the small tyre sheriff himself, Gas in his 8-second 225 radial-wearing RX2. Unfortunately gremlins plagued the car all day with Gas only able to put down one full pass at 9.06@149. This was Gas’ first event so with more seat time we’re sure to see this beast chipping away at the 8s again in no time.
All eyes have been on the PACMAN RX8 of late and nothing changed for this event with everyone keen to see what the car could do. A 6.66@201 in testing on Friday set a great base line for Saturday with Rod and the team confident in putting down some good passes for the crowd.
The first race of the day was a big one, a much anticipated match race with big brother George in the Mazda6 SP.
The last time the boys had this opportunity was back in 2008 and as always they were not going to make it easy for each other, on or off the track…
After a brief staging battle, Rodney unfortunately jumped the gun and red lit before getting off the throttle mid track handing the win to George. Rod would go on to record a skatey 6.81@199 and 7.00@185 later in the evening before retiring the car for the day.
After taking a back seat to the RX8 over the last few months, George and the Mazda6 SP came out swinging, reassuring everyone the big dog is still as hungry as ever. A staunch 6.37@121 in the match race against Rod set the tone for the day.
Slotting into the finals against Michael Haimandos in the BK Race Engines Mustang yet again George knew it was going to be a tough race. Both cars left the hole strong but despite the Mazda6 SP getting off to a strong start the Mustang was able to slip through for the win with a 6.34@224 against our 6.37@219.
At the end of the day the whole team had a great day and were very happy with how the cars performed. Having so many cars to attend to during the day can pose a challenge but with everyone working hard to prep and turn the cars around for each round, positive results were had.
We would like to thank our sponsors Garrett - Advancing Motion, Turbosmart, Penrith Mazda, Microtech, Quick Drive & Sydney Wrap Shop for their ongoing support and all of the spectators that stopped by the merch van & came out to cheer us on!
Our focus now moves to the upcoming Brisbane Jamboree on the 24th August where again we will have several cars making the trip to compete.
