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