NEWS - ITEM 246

A CHALLENGING SYDNEY JAMBOREE

Date: 23/03/15

Sydney Dragway again was THE place to be for the 2015 Sydney Jamboree presented by Shannons Insurance, and the annual snapshot of the scene again revealed that there's plenty more life in the concept. Over 140 drag racing entries turned up for battle, with more than 120 permanent licensees showed that people are still building and racing some serious machinery. Most notably was the competition debuts of Mouhamed Ibrahims ex-Kirsten Tucker GTO with Maatouks RB30 power (Precision Turbo Factory Extreme), Steve Dimechs new Mazda 6 with his potent 13B from his old Datsun 1200 (MTQ Pro Compact) and Ray Fairfulls full-chassis Falcon (Haltech Modified Compact). The Just Car Insurance Drift Exhibition was again set up in the pits bigger and better than ever, and the Show-N-Shine was again jam packed with amazing quality and quantity. The favorable weather allowed for the race schedule to commence on time, although several delays on-track with breakage and tricky track conditions saw the timetable stagger throughout the day. It was during round 2 of Precision Turbo Factory Extreme that saw the largest incident of the day, with Malcolm Glassett, driving the Top RPM Celica for Milos Pavlovic, lose control of the car past the finish line at speeds approaching 220mph, almost collecting Scott Porter in the process. The Celica swapped lanes, rolled over a number of times before making heavy contact with the concrete wall in front of Porter, who swerved to avoid a collision and swiped the wall on Glassetts side! Glassett continued to slide the rest of the way down the track on his roof before ending up in the sand trap where the Celica righted itself. Reports on the cause varied from a split intercooler to a blown engine, but post mortem inspections revealed these items to be still intact. Either way the car turned hard left before the parachutes were deployed and the rest is history. Thankfully both drivers walked away for the incident.  Pavlovic has a new car in the US nearing completion and vows to return with vengeance, and is glad that his best mate Glassett survived the incident unscathed.

Factory Extreme: Jacobsen
Precision Turbo Factory Extreme saw 9 entries qualify, but was reduced to 7 after the Glassett/ Porter incident. Queenslander Mark Jacobsens R35 Skyline is considered to be the most accurate Factory Extreme entry in the country, with its unmistakable body and even more unmistakable VR38 power plant belting out 6.50's nearly all day long, top qualifying and winning 2 out of his 3 rounds of racing. He faced Joe Signorelli in the final, after the Gas Racing Scion struggled to get the mighty 2JZ power to the ground, but doing enough to score 3 wins from 3, with a 6.62 being his best time before the final.

Signorelli and Jacobsen were both primed for big numbers in the final, but the Scion went wild whilst the Skyline stayed in the groove, running his best time at a 6.53 to a 7.65.

Pro Compact: Rigoli
MTQ Engine Systems Pro Compact again showed that the smaller-engined category is as exciting as the larger engined counterparts, with wild passes, decent numbers and tight racing. 13 entries were eventually paired down to 9 for round one. Sydneys Dom Rigoli qualified his 4G63 Eclipse at number one, and met Chris Tait's 3RZ powered 200SX in the final. Rigoli used passes of 6.97, 7.01 and 6.92 to earn his spot, whilst Tait had troubles with the gearbox early, recovering to use an 8.18, 7.63 and an early-click 7.70 to meet Rigoli in an all-piston final. Rigoli then peeled off a 7.21 against a shutting-off 10.71 Tait to claim victory.

Pro Turbo: Maiolo
McKern and Associates Pro Turbo had 9 entries turn up, and Sam Sadek returned from a 2-year hiatus with his rebuilt 20B Rx3 to top qualify. However in the heat of competition, a few entrants had to withdraw before round one. Loues Consentino however remained strong with his 2JZ-powered RX7, as did Victorian Dominic Maiolo with his RB26-powered R32. Both drivers saved the best for last when they met in the final, with Consentinos 7.43 narrowly losing to Maiolo's 7.42. It was Maiolo's first ever final, and the debutant winner was jubilant, considering he had issues with his bump box button throughout the day eventually swapping it out for a simple toggle switch to help stage the car!

Modified Compact: Cousins
Haltech Modified Compact was strong with 17 entries, anchored again by Scott Cousins immaculate 7-second 2JZ powered Datsun 1200 coupe. Attrition took its toll on the field, but awesome displays were nonetheless revealed throughout the day. Also in the 7's was Trent Whyte driving Mercury Motorsport's "Nitto 2" R32 GTR to a new world record on radial tyres for a GTR, running a 7.85/180 in round 2, whilst Cousins scored 3 from 3 wins with passes of 7.89, 8.06 and a coasting 16 second 3rd round solo. Ray Fairfull had recently stepped up from his stock-chassis EL Falcon to a full-chassis version and still using turbo Falcon six power. His passage to the final was a tale of how well the new chassis fared, with passes of 8.482 (8.48 dial), 8.487 (8.45 dial) and 8.469(8.46 dial). However he slowed to a 8.60 on a 8.44 dial whilst Cousins used a better-leaving 7.88 on a 7.70 to snatch another win.

Pro 289: Tung
The 28x9 untubbed formula is still a great formula for all sorts of vehicles, and 24 vehicles were entered for battle. The top 8 qualifiers were then placed in Speedflow Pro 289. After recent dyno pulls showing over 1700hp to the rear tyres, Po Tung and his 2JZ supra again topped the charts, but not before having to settle on a tuneup that could take the tricky track conditions. Moey Obeid was another debutant to make a final, with his immaculate RX7 ready to pounce if Po overstepped the mark. But when Obeid faltered with issues on the line, Tung used a 7.93/181 Solo to win yet another final.

Modified 10.5: Wilkinson
Mazfix Modified 10.5 featured 10 entries, and showed a bunched field that made the racing exciting, albeit with a number of cars being auto-equipped. This made staging the cars on boost and leaving on a heads-up tree with a decent light the winning formula. After testing with a 7.80 during the week, Queenslander Justin Wilkinson travelled to Sydney to try his RB VL Commodore combination against the field. After top qualifying, Wilkinson ran passes of 7.76, 7.81 and 7.78, all at over 180mph. He met previous winner George Haramis in his RB VL Commodore in the final, after George ran passes of 7.73 and a backing-off 8.23 before facing Wilkinson. However Haramis was unable to repeat his early form, slowing with issues whilst Wilkinson ripped out another PB of 7.69/183 to leave no doubt in anyone's mind that his subtle deal is made of the right stuff.

Street 289:Pascu
Microtech EFI.com Street 289 had plenty of fight in it, with a heap of close 9-second action. But the field reduced per round, leaving Ciprian Pascu in his 13b auto Rx2 to face Russell Archer and his 13b manual Rx4. Pascu ran as quick as a 9.35 during racing, whilst Archer ran as quick as a 9.56. However in the final Archer had problems allowing Pascu to roll through for victory.

All Motor: Costanzo
Torque Calibration Services All Motor saw plenty of aspirated variety, from Alf Axiaks 20B PP rx7, Victorian Peter Moraitopoulos amazing ex-USA Scion FWD a gaggle of VW's and even Jane Smith's and Geoffery Azzopardi's 13b powered mazda 1300 wagons. With probably the loudest car in the venue, Charlie Costanzos 9-second clutchless equipped 13BPP Datsun 1200 took pole, and proceeded to carve up the field with passes of 9.75, 9.77 and 9.89. He met Daniel Meredith in the innocent looking K24 powered Honda Civic. Meredith was consistent with passes of 12.43, 12.35 and 12.41, but wasted a 12.40 on a 12.34 dial in against Costanzo with a red light, whilst Charlie rubbed salt into the wound with a breaking out 9.62 on a 9.70 dial.

Extreme: Sorbello
Wolf Motorsport Extreme was thin on the ground numbers-wise, but made up for it in cubic inches and the number of cylinders. From the twin-turbo 355 Holden VK commodore wagon of Andrew Darby, Joe Sorbellos turbo LS powered GC210 Skyline, to Craige Lewis' twin turbo windsor Cortina and Jed Sladdens twin-turbo hemi-powered Valiant street car. With Darby withdrawing with issues, it was left to Sladden, Lewis and Sorbello to fight it out. Sladdens heavyweight beast did not have it's usual 8.50 pace, whilst Sorbello ran consistently in the high 8s. Running on 275 radials, Lewis had only debuted his new car in November, and was improving with every attempt. In the final Sorbello out reacted Lewis and used a 9.03 on a 8.90 to snatch the win, but Lewis kept the foot down, running a breaking out 7.88/177. This was a personal best for Lewis, and puts the car up in the country's top for running on 275 radials.

Street Compact: Ryan
Who said you can't turn a street car into a winning race car? Micheal Ryan carved through the field to reign supreme in Turbosmart Street Compact. His EB falcon was chased all day, and was consistent, running a spot-on 16.15 on a 16.15 dial in round 2 and never straying too far from his other adjusted dial-ins. Ben Clark on the other hand had his VL turbo at the sharp end of the field, sticking to his 11.00 dial in, going as close as 11.04 and 11.05 enroute to his final opponent. However Ryan used a .075 light, a 5.25 second head start and a tight 16.24 on a 16.25 breakout in to see Clark break out more with a .163 light and 10.97 on a 11.00 dial.

Outlaw Extreme: Mamone
Barrier Promotions Outlaw Extreme saw a lot of cubic inches, many large turbos and only one blower car do battle on a track that threw every entrant curve balls all day. With only 7 cars, a total of 3944 cubic inches fronted the track for massive displays of torque and tyre shake. Nikki Hepburns Gemini was an early casualty with a twisted diff housing, But not before Troy Papadopoulous in the 632 BBFTT Mustang reeled off a 6.48/222 beside her. On the very next pass of round one, Top Qualifier Zoran Gajic and the Gas TTHemi Mustang also went 6.48, but at 240mph. Frank "mister 10.5" Mamone finished the round with an easy 7.11/213 with the bad, black, blown 521 BAE Nova.

Round two saw Papadopoulous run 6.32/233 beside Michael Kalaitzakis' 565 BBCTT 315 radial Supra's feathering 7.83/201 whilst Gajic turned the screws up to run 6.22/242 against a troubled Steve Athans. Mamone pedaled beside Johnny Briscas' 572 BBCTT Corvette with a 7.00/219 to a quicker, but slower leaving 6.52/213.

Gajic then eased the Mustang's power in more, running a 6.15/241 beside Briscas' consistent 6.53/217, whilst Mamone improved against Kalaitzakis with a wild 6.84/166 to a tyre-boiling 8.38/136.

The final saw Gajic face Mamone in a classic turbo vs blower, small tyre vs big tyre showdown. But there wasn't enough finesse left for Gajic, shaking away his chances and shutting off, whilst Mamone used his best pass of the day at 6.53/193 to snatch victory.

Other awards:
Torque Calibration Services Light of the Night (Best Reaction Time (During racing)): James Thomas: .027
Shannons Insurance Sky's the Limit (Best Wheelstand): Frank Mamone
Shannons Insurance Smoken (Best Burnout): Micheal Baghdadi/Micks Motorsport
Performance Garage Crew Style (Best Presented Crew): Chris Tait/Sonic Performance

And that's how the 2015 Sydney Jamboree went down!