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.
Photo's courtesy of JustDave Photography
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