Some of the faces of the 2013 Winternationals shot on Ilford HP5 and Kodak 400n 35mm film. John Canulli TA and Jason Grima PS

Mark Jacobsen in his 35 Gtr waiting in the staging lanes.

Darren Morgan TF talking to some of the Media

Rob Tucker PS ready to race his first race in years with son Shane Tucker and daughter Kirsten Tucker-Canulli

Ben Bray  TBR live cross with Ben in the Media Team.

The Man - Chris " Sadek" Diggles

Phil TF pre racing check over on the Top Fueler

Victor Bray DS waiting in the waterbox for his pass

Top Bike - Love the beard.

Jim Read - The Story... The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Stu Bishop or Chopper Read ?

ICE BREAK SETTLES THE DRUM SOLO VS GUITAR SOLO DEBATE ONCE AND FOR ALL... VIA DRAG RACE
 

Australia’s real ice coffee brand Ice Break holds a customised muscle car drag race to decide which kicks the most ass; a guitar solo or a drum solo.

After adding a motor to a couch, your day, and their billboards, Ice Break fearlessly wades into the age-old rock n’ roll debate of guitar solo vs. drum solo.

Following on from its original and ground-breaking motorised billboard drag race, Ice Break customised two classic Australian muscle cars, one representing a Guitar Solo, a 1973 VJ E44 Valiant Charger 318 V8 and the other a Drum Solo, a 1970 XY Ford GT Replica 351 V8, and drag raced them down the quarter mile at Sydney’s Eastern Creek Dragway.

The Guitar Solo car features, amongst many other embellishments,  two in-built Marshall amps in place of the back seats, a custom guitar holder in the trunk, a Wah-wah pedal accelerator, and a colour-shifting paint job worthy of any fret shredder’s axe.

The Drum Solo car includes a snare drum air intake built into the bonnet, a Zildjian cymbal steering wheel, a fully adjustable drum hardware roll cage, and a bass drum beater gear shift.

Ice Break drinkers are also able to win both of the muscle cars simply by purchasing a bottle from the Ice Break range which includes Ice Break, Ice Break Extra Shot and Ice Break No Added Sugar in Ice Break’s ‘Win A Muscle Car’ promotion.

Another two classic Australian muscle cars, also customised in-line with the new themes of Kung Fu vs. Sci-fi will race soon after in the epic battle of the cult movie themes and these cars will also be given away to Ice Break drinkers who enter the competition.

The video of the Guitar Solo vs. Drum Solo drag race can be seen at:

And more information about the summer promotion can be found on www.facebook.com/icebreak from today.
 
To request embeddable video or images of each of the cars or for more information on Ice Break’s Guitar Solo vs. Drum Solo race, please contact Adam Cubito on (02) 8570 5555 / adam@eckfactor.com

A good start for both a new season and his on-track efforts is what five times ANDRA Top Doorslammer champion John Zappia is chasing going into this weekend’s Australian Nationals at Sydney Dragway.

Zappia has made no secret of his desire to overtake Victor Bray’s legendary six straight titles in Top Doorslammer before eyeing off Gary Phillips’ overall record of seven consecutive professional championships.

“We just need to get a good start this year and put pressure on with our performances, rather than playing catch up through out the season,” he said. “We’ve learned how to run 5.70s and we now need to try and keep there as much as we can.”

Since winning the Top Doorslammer championship in June, Zappia’s off season has been spent competing at some Slamfest events at regional tracks, which provided him with some leads on a nagging tyre shake problem.

“We solved a problem in Darwin that we were having troubles with at both Sydney and Willowbank,” he said. “We were shaking the tyres even when we ran the 5.75 at Willowbank but we got away with it. On other runs I have had to pedal and that is how we have lost some races.”

Reaction times were also an area Zappia has cited as a concern, especially following a holeshot loss to Ben Bray in round one of the Fuchs Winternationals. His average for last season was a relatively slow 0.146 seconds.

“It’s half the car and half me,” he said. “That’s part of some of the changes that we are making to try and make the car leave harder, it’s a bit soft over the first ten feet so we need to make that area quicker which will help with the reaction times.”

Zappia is planning to test the Fuchs/Procomp Electronics Holden Monaro on Wednesday at Sydney Dragway, mainly as a precaution ahead of the first round of the championship.

“We want to make sure we have no hidden gremlins,” he said. “It’s not testing anything new as such, but we’ve fixed ten things and maybe created a gremlin we don’t know about. The motor and clutch is still the same, but we’ve changed the throttle cable and moved some fuel lines, so there may be something we might have overlooked.

“We’re still confident we could go in okay without testing but if we can say it’s all good then we should be good to go.”

The Australian Nationals begin this Friday at Sydney Dragway with the Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship with the pros beginning qualifying on Saturday.
 

Australia's biggest horsepower in Australia's biggest city.

The 2012 Australian Nationals from November 2-4 brings together the best drag racers in the nation to do combat on the fabled Sydney Dragway quarter mile.

Top Fuel dragsters will throw nitro flames into the air as they wage war at 500kmh, while the supercharged Top Doorslammers will rev up for the first time this season as John Zappia seeks his sixth successive crown.

Pro Stock, Top Alcohol, Top Bike and Pro Stock Motorcycle will join the fray alongside Australia's best sportsman competitors who will be striving for national points in the first running of the new look Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship.

The Australian Nationals at Sydney Dragway will feature not only the best drag racing Australia has to offer but also plenty of fun off the track.

The XXXX Gold Retreat truck will be up on the mound providing one of the best views in the complex with performances from the XXXX Angels while Saturday night will feature a concert from Matt Schlam, nephew of Jimmy Barnes, who has carved out his own reputation for awesome live performances.

Schlam will be performing after the monster Saturday night fireworks display, making Sydney Dragway the place to be from November 2-4.

The earth shaking power of the ANDRA Drag Racing Series is not to be missed.

Schedule

Friday, November 2 - Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship qualifying.

Saturday, November 3 - ANDRA Drag Racing Series pro qualifying, Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship eliminations. After race entertainment featuring fireworks display and concert by Matt Schlam.

Sunday, November 4 - ANDRA Drag Racing Series pro eliminations, Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship eliminations. Track party, join all the winners on the track for post-race celebrations!

Click here for the full schedule.

http://sydneydragway.com.au/uploads/files/2012_AUSTRALIAN_NATIONALS_schedule.pdf

Pricing

General admission $40 ($25 Friday), children 12-16 years $30 ($15 Friday), children under 12 years free, seniors $30 ($15 Friday), family of two adults and three children 12-16 years $100 ($60 Friday).

Click here for the event entry list.

http://sydneydragway.com.au/uploads/files/2012%20Australian%20Nationals%20Entrylist.pdf

For more information including details on multi day passes go to http://www.sydneydragway.com.au.

With only a little over a week to go until the Sportsman series kicks off, the team at Maggs Racing are still working tirelessly to get the Corvette ready for battle at the upcoming Australian Nationals in Sydney.

“It’s been a hectic couple of months” replied Jason.  “It seems like only yesterday my wife and I welcomed our new baby daughter into the world, and it has been frantic ever since.  Business has been exceedingly busy, and just to throw something else into the mix we have been building a new home for my growing family.”

It was only a couple of weeks ago that the team finally had the chance to work on the Corvette and assess the damage from back-firing the supercharger at the Winternationals back in June.

“We had a partial nozzle blockage on that last run which has thrown us a bit of a curve ball, as we are fastidious with the way we handle our fuel and it is something we have never seen before” answered Robert.



He continued, “We are very lucky to be surrounded by great people like Shaun and Travis at Speedflow for sending us a tighter micron Fuel filter, Wayne from Racecomp Motorsports for cleaning up the bore, and Greame from Extreme Engines for getting the valve seats in shape for the event – Jason and I cannot thank them enough for the speedy service.”

The team at Maggs Racing is looking forward to doing what they do best at the Nationals – having fun.

Make sure you head out to Sydney Dragway for the latest installment of the ANDRA Drag Racing Series at the Australian Nationals from November 2-4.  And while you’re there, feel free to head on down and meet the Maggs Racing Team and check out there Small Block powered Corvette.

Follow us on:    www.facebook/maggsracing.com

www.youtube.com/user/maggsracing

Maggs Racing is supported by:

•    Speedflow Performance Hoses and Fittings –  www.speedflow.com.au

•    United Tools – Coburg – www.eisupplies.com.au
•    Racer Pro - Australian made Cylinder Heads – www.racerpro.com.au
•    60foot – www.60foot.com
•    Racecomp Motorsports – www.racecompmotorsports.com.au
•    Vinyl Wraps and Graphics – www.vinylwraps.com.au
•    Motorsport Connections – www.mscn.com.au

The FUCHS LTFR Top Fuel dragster opened the 2013 ANDRA Championship Season in style with a runner-up trophy and a new track record at the Racing Onn event held at Adelaide International Raceway last weekend.

After topping the qualifying sheets with a 4.33-second pass, Lamattina made his way to the final to face off against last season’s champion, Darren Morgan.

The second LTFR car driven by Luke Shepherd suffered some mechanical gremlins, which restricted the performance for the car across the weekend.

The final’s match up was a repeat of the final from the last event at Adelaide in April.

The timing boards showed a close battle in the performance figures with Lamattina's 4.45-second pass slightly quicker than Morgan's 4.47, however, the race was decided when Lamattina left the line too early, resulting in a red light.

Lamattina commented, “I’m not sure what happened but you can’t change the result, well done to Darren and his team.

“We had a great race car here and we take home bonus points for being the quickest car, the track record and the fastest recorded 1000 foot pass in Australia too.

“It was a great event, well done to the Racing Onn crew for battling through and making this a great race meeting, the crowd was huge, we had our new sponsors, Elders Insurance at the track and the teams put on a great show.

The event was a rollercoaster of emotion for teams and organisers with vandalism to the track surface on Thursday delaying the start of racing.

Lamattina concluded, “The crowd feedback on the new look car was pretty cool, the ‘Chrome Bullet’ is what people were calling it. The car went well and looks good, in Sydney it’s time to get some gold to go with that chrome.”

The ANDRA Drag Racing Series now heads to Sydney Dragway for the Australian Nationals from November 2-4.

Reigning national Top Fuel champion Darren Morgan began his series defence in the best way possible on Saturday night, taking out the opening round of the ANDRA Drag Racing Series at Adelaide International Raceway.

Morgan defeated Phil Lamattina in a repeat of the final from the last event at Adelaide in April. Despite close ET figures with Morgan's 4.47 and Lamattina's 4.45, the race was decided when Lamattina jumped the start, resulting in a red light glaring in front of the capacity crowd.

Morgan turned in consistent performances to take the team to the winner's circle.

"We used a lot of (hand) brake and (crew chief) Ben Patterson did a lot to make it work," Morgan said. "We got down the track all three times which was pretty cool."

Morgan was lucky to take a win in the elimination round when opponent Steve Read got a big jump on the startline, but he was able to chase Read down.

Lamattina, with his spectacular new Fuchs livery, was not to go home completely empty handed with a top qualifying effort of 4.33 setting a new track record for the 1000 feet distance used at Adelaide International Raceway. Lamattina put in a massive effort ahead of the event, launching a second car in just a week, however some mechanical gremlins held the Luke Shepherd-driven ride from its full potential.

The event was a rollercoaster of emotion for teams and organisers with vandalism to the track surface on Thursday delaying the start of racing.

ANDRA wishes to thank event organisers Racing Onn Promotions and Rino D'Alfonso plus the many volunteers who turned in two all-night repairs on the surface and made the event safe for teams with plenty of traction available. The results was some very quick runs in front of a large and vocal crowd.

Pro Stock ran as exhibition only with teams deciding early in the day to play it safe with the unknown surface. During exhibition runs Shane Tucker recorded the quickest run, setting a new track record of 7.13 seconds in his Monster Energy Pontiac, also enjoying his first run alongside sister Kirsten who this week unveiled her Milwaukee Tools Holden Monaro.

The ANDRA Drag Racing Series now heads to Sydney Dragway for the Australian Nationals from November 2-4.

http://www.andra.com.au

Video from the launch in Adelaide's Rundle Mall

- ANDRA.COM.AU

ROB TUCKER RACING ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH MILWAUKEE TOOLS

Adelaide S.A (Thursday October 18^th 2012)

The team at Rob Tucker Racing have kept a tight lid on new driver Kirsten Tuckers plans for the upcoming ANDRA pro series, which begins in Adelaide on Saturday the 20^th of October.

After successfully gaining her ANDRA license and becoming the first female to race in the heavily contested Pro Stock category, Kirsten is set to embark on her first season behind the wheel of the Milwaukee M18 FUEL Monaro.

So how are you feeling in the lead up to Saturday and your first season in the Pro Stock category?

Kirsten - “I’m ready for the challenge ahead and thankful for the support from my family, friends, fans and the team at Milwaukee. There is still a lot for me to learn, but I have a great team around me who will help me every step of the way”

The boys at Five Three Designs have delivered an outstanding new look for Kirsten’s Milwaukee M18 FUEL machine,  and Milwaukee Brand Manager Marcus Monch had the following to say :

“Milwaukee is very excited to be teaming up with Rob Tucker Racing and Monster Energy drink. We look forward to supporting Kirsten and Shane in their championship aspirations and hope that this is the start of a great relationship for the team and the sport of drag racing in Australia”.

Monster Energy driver Shane Tucker returns to seat of the Pontiac GXP to continue the great success that saw him take out the Fuchs Winternationals in June of this year. With a two car team, the brother and sister rivalry is sure to entertain fans around Australia.

Monster Energy’s events and athlete manager David Ellis is excited to welcome female racer Kirsten Tucker to the Monster Energy Pro Stock team, “Kirsten who is the older sister of Shane Tucker has shown great speed and reaction times at this year’s Winternationals and pre testing . We look forward to seeing Kirsten reach her goals in this fast and exciting form of drag racing. We wish her all the best for the new Milwaukee team deal, and we look forward to supporting her and the team as they compete for the coming 2012 /13 race season”.

The ANDRA Pro Stock series gets underway on Saturday Oct 20^th at Adelaide International Raceway, before heading to Sydney from November 2-4^th. For more details and a complete 2013 calendar head to www.andra.com.au

BURNOUTS are to be banned for the first time at the Gold Coast 600 in a move which will fuel anger among diehard motor race fans.

The burnout ban follows the 2010 "boob ban" when organisers shortened the track to exclude flashers in Surfers Paradise highrise buildings.

The Bulletin can reveal stunt car drivers, who for two decades thrilled Coast crowds with controlled on-track "donuts", will not be appearing at this weekend's race.

And daredevil motorcycle riders, who include drifting in their routines, are being told to burn as little rubber as possible.

Motorsport insiders argue it is "political correctness gone mad" and some fans fear the "fun police" have returned to Surfers Paradise.

But V8 Supercars management argues the post-race burnouts in Surfers Paradise are not a good image in Queensland's hooning capital.

A senior motor sport source said: "It's (a directive) from the new V8s CEO (David Malone). They think it's politically incorrect to have burnouts on the track.

"They don't want it near the corporate area. The drag racing team will not be coming for the first time in 22 years."

Drag racing legend Victor Bray, who organised the controlled burnouts on the track, confirmed his Brisbane-based team would not be at the event.

"They're having some big changes and that's from the top. We love going there -- we wish we were going there," Bray said.

"We're not going there and I don't want to comment on the reason."

Bray said his team had approached the stunts in a professional manner and chosen suitable locations on the track.

"We were very responsible with it. We believe we've always done the right thing," he said.

"We don't have to agree with everything they (V8 Supercars) say. But we don't have to throw them under the bus either."

Stuntz Inc front man Matt Mingay will be appearing but has been told to avoid smoking tyres during his popular support act, despite his routines including drifting on his Harley-Davidson.

A V8 Supercars spokesman confirmed the changes came after management conducted its annual review on the event.

"We decided we would not be including Victor (Bray) in the weekend card. We've also had discussions with Matt (Mingay) regarding that (burnouts)," the spokesman said.

"We wanted the crowd to have a little bit of fun, but do it reasonably and sensibly," the spokesman said.

Asked if the decision was made by CEO Malone, the spokesman replied: "That's incorrect. It's a decision by the sport. We don't necessarily want to promote the wrong image on the Gold Coast where hooning is a problem.

"I don't see how anyone could be critical of that."

When management in early 2011 banned post-race burnouts by winning drivers, the website Speedcafe.com launched a poll.

More than 90 per cent of fans called for drivers "to be allowed to destroy their rear tyres" which forced V8 Supercars to later reverse the policy.

A V8 Supercars fan from Perth on the website wrote: "Looks like someone has called the fun police!!! It's a burnout at a race track, where it should be allowed. Show it there and get the "hoons" to make some smoke at the race track ... not on the roads."

Fans of Mingay at Bathurst indicated they would consider organising a petition.

Mingay has promised them they would not be disappointed as he returns for his 14th year.

"Our show will be going full steam ahead. We will be putting the best show on to our ability," he said.

From - http://www.goldcoast.com.au

Orrcon Steel-backed Ford Performance Racing drivers Mark Winterbottom and Will Power reunited for the first time this morning ahead of this weekend’s Armor All Gold Coast 600. As well as taking  5 time Australian Ironman series winner Shannon Eckstein for  few hot laps. 

It wasn't long before Frosty convinced Shannon to take the drivers seat. Its not the first time the Ironman has been behind the wheel of a racecar Driving his 200h Lexus to a solid 4th place finish in the celebrity race at the 2011 F1 Grand Prix in Melbourne.

A few laps later disaster struck as Shannon lost control and beached the Falcon on the outside of the circuit.

Shannon Admiring his handy work as Frosty climbs out of the Falcon.

Not to much damage. As Eckstein said “Unfortunately I pushed things a bit too hard and came a cropper but everything is so safe and controlled in racing that we’re back here now all fine.”

Will Power chatting to Boris Said, About how now, More then ever a win on the street of Surfers Paradise would mean so much to him. With the Dan Wheldon Trophy up for grabs Power said " A win now would make up for all the failed attempts in the indycar series".

The Gold Coast 600 runs from October 19-21 on the Gold Coast.

Clarkie

In a first for Lamattina Top Fuel Racing, the team will be running two Top Fuel cars at the season’s first event in Adelaide.

It has taken a huge effort from Aaron Hambridge and all of the LTFR crew to put together a second car and have it ready for round one of the 2013 ANDRA Top Fuel Championship in a matter of weeks.

"The chassis is our championship winning car (pictured above) and the new mechanical combination is as good as our current car," Lamattina said. "We haven’t brought out another car to make the numbers, we’ve brought another car to run the numbers."

The second car will be driven by experienced Top Fuel pilot Luke Shepherd, who was originally to drive at the event with Peter Xibberas' PremiAir team until Xibberas was called away for business.

"Luke’s been around and knows the ropes, hopefully he and the crew enjoy the experience of racing with our team and our way of going drag racing," Lamattina said.

Lamattina and Shepherd will be joined by Queensland's Steve Read and Victoria's Darren Morgan this Saturday.

Andra.com.au

Santo Rapisarda has again shown massive commitment to Australian drag racing with a plan for his Top Fuel team to compete in Australia on the free weekend between the last two NHRA event of the season in the USA.

With the 2012 Australian Nationals just around the corner, the Titan Cranes team will go in as favourites, having won the event last year with Cory McClenathan driving and also winning the season-ending Fuchs Winternationals in June with Allan Dobson at the wheel.

Although having to miss the opening round of the championship in Adelaide, Rapisarda is excited to be back in front of Australian fans.

"We’ll be racing at Las Vegas Speedway in the USA the weekend before the Nationals, then Sydney for the Australian Nationals, then it’s back to Pomona in the USA for the World Finals," Rapisarda said.

The team has been travelling back and forth all year round racing in both countries.

Dobson has been nominated as the driver for the event.

The Australian Nationals will be held from November 2 to 4 at Sydney Dragway.

Porters Racing team owners Paul and Scott Porter have just returned from the USA, where they took possession of the first 2013 GT500 Shelby Pro Stock Mustang to be built by Jerry Haas Race Cars in Missouri.

The Porters, engine builder John Barbagallo and Chris McMillan spent three days at ZMax Dragway at Charlotte in North Carolina meeting up with Haas, who introduced the Porters team to a number of NHRA Pro Stock racers.

Following Charlotte, the crew then flew to St. Louis in Missouri and spent two days at the Haas workshop getting the car race ready for testing and going through the workings of the car with Haas and USA crew chief Dan Hellmer. Prior to testing NHRA officials did a full body and chassis tech inspection, checking all body measurements to ensure compliance with NHRA and ANDRA rules.

"Our new 2013 GT500 Shelby features the latest technology in suspension, design and has been built to suit our new 400 cube JB engine, which we sent to Jerry prior to manufacture of the chassis," said Paul. "We flew Adam Lambert, the drag car manager for Penske Racing Shocks, to join Jerry and our crew in setting the suspension and getting the car race ready for our Australian tracks.

"I would like to thank everyone for all their hard work, fun times and hangovers while in the USA."

Scott, team driver, said testing provided plenty of information for the team.

"To be able to test on the NHRA track at Gateway and having this expert advice on hand was a great experience and the car certainly performed far beyond our expectations," he said.

Following testing the car was loaded up for its journey back to Australia and is due to land in early November.

THUMBS UP FROM BOETTCHER AS STADIUM DRIFT ROUND SIX HEATS UP

With Raceline putting on some of the best drifting on the east coast, The crowds flocked to Archerfield raceway to watch what was sure to be some of the closet battling we have seen this year, They were not disappointed. From the first runs in practice you could tell a lot of the drivers were refreshed by tight, technical track, for others it was a struggle with mechanical issues as well as the tyres sending bars flying.

Tony Harrison always finds a way to make the fans smile with his V8 powered sil80 pumping smoke all day and proving some of the closet proximity battles seen on the tour, Today was no exception.

The top 8 is not the place to learn the feel of a new car, But that's exactly what Levi Clarke found himself doing after  mechanical issues saw the Tokage Soarer in the pits and Levi in Kris Frome's Showroom quality 34 Skyline.

Championship leader Rob Whyte was consistent all day as always despite the pressure of Tony Harrison doing everything he can to squeeze the lead down to the single digits. Including the bonus point for top qualifier.

Josh young Showing that you don't need a be HP track car to mix it with the big boys. With Josh involved in some of the most exciting battles of the day.

The winner Josh Boettcher with second place Nick Coulson and third place Tony Harrison.

For all photos from today's event as well as the rest of the Raceline series be sure to checkout dragphotos.com.au

Clarkie

FUCHS WINTERNATIONALS BEST OF ONBOARD CAMS

Compiled by Dragnews.com.au

Came across a blog post on there site had to share it great idea by the team over there thats for sure.

With the age of technology advancing and cameras getting smaller and smaller we are able to put them almost anywhere and everywhere...

Here comes some of the action from the Fuchs Winternationals !!!

Chris Halls loose in Supercompact

Steve Reed in Qualifying 1 Steering Wheel Comes off in Top Alcohol

Winning pass in Modified

Onboard z1000

Onboard with Deb O'Rourke

PACS NEW CAR

Pac Performance have unveiled their latest attempt to take back the world Mazda rotary record with the launch of their Mazda 6 SP.

Unveiled today at a ceremony held at Sydney Dragway, the Pac Performance Mazda 6 SP replaces both the recently retired and long-serving MX6 drag car and the team's previous Mazda 6 that was badly damaged in an accident just over a year ago.

At the unveiling, head tuner Rocky Rehayem indicated that the main goal for the new car is to take the competition to the Toyota and Nissan drivers in the Factory Xtreme bracket, which has been running as a demonstration at events such as the Fuchs Winternationals.

“We've been to plenty of finals in the last few years but because we've had a performance deficit, they [the other drivers] know that they don't have to go very hard on the tree,” he said. “With this car I want them to know that they have to be on their game whenever we're in the other lane.”

The new car is a testament to Australian ingenuity with Turbosmart and Haltech again joining the Pac Performance engine combination.

Driver of the Mazda, George Rehayem, said the team had made some changes to the performance of the Mazda 20B motor in order to step up to the tasks to come.

“We've been working hard, all the boys have, to make sure that this car is built exactly the way we want it to be built,” he said. “We'll be taking small steps until the car is behaving correctly to the 60ft and 330ft timers and from there we'll let it have fourth and fifth gear - and then what happens, happens.”

The car made some demonstration burnouts and launches at tonight's (20 June) Hi Tec Oils Race 4 Real Wednesday street meet.

Image and story used with permission courtesy Performance Garage - http://www.performancegarage.com.au

Video over at http://www.perfomancegarage.com.au

Full Coverage http://www.performancegarage.com.au/blog/pac-mazda-6-sp-unveiled

Greg and Kim Clayton had no plans for drag racing during 2012. It was decided to put their supercharged altered Competition car away in the workshop and concentrate on business and family life for the year.

That was until a long overdue catch up meeting with an old friend to talk business, cars, life and whatever else turned into a new look BB/Altered, carrying new components and new corporate backing from Qld Tyre & Retreading (QTR) and Bridgestone Select Salisbury.

Clayton performed without missing a beat through qualifying at the Fuchs Winternationals, earning a number one spot with his run of 6.30 seconds in the second session. This was backed up during eliminations with a 6.27 second pass giving the team a new national record. Unfortunately they went out in the semi finals but were still happy with their efforts.

“We are extremely grateful that QLD Tyre and Retreading have given us the opportunity to chase the national record, without their support we would not have run the Fuchs Winternationals this year,” Clayton said. “We also had several teams pitch in and help run the car during eliminations for the rescheduled race day on Tuesday, as our team had work commitments. For this we cannot thank them enough.”

The QTR team are now looking forward to contesting the 2013 ANDRA Drag Racing Series.