NEWS - ITEM 61

SUN SHINES ON COMPAK ATTAK

Date: 30/3/09

To say the weather forecast for the March 15th Queen St Racing & PSR Car Care Compak Attak was less than favourable would be an understatement!  In the week leading up to the Compak Attak the forecast for March 15th changed from a few showers to fine and back again.

On Saturday afternoon before the event, the forecast was for a few showers & possible thunderstorm. Things weren’t looking good…  On Saturday night, Sydney was drenched with torrential rain that hadn’t been seen for a long time and we all feared the worst for the following day.

We awoke Sunday morning to a beautiful day and were crossing our fingers it would stay that way and it did.  The forecast was for an afternoon shower or two but thankfully it didn’t happen.

At 7am the competitor gates opened and over 200 drag & show competitors streamed in.  With a record 197 competitors, it was going to be packed schedule starting at 8.30am with a programmed finish of 8pm.  A slow start to the day caused the event to be an hour behind schedule but by lunchtime we were back on schedule.

First to hit the track in qualifying was the MRT Performance Street Compact.  Street Compact is a new class for 2009 catering for cars 11sec and slower from the old Street FWD, Street RWD & Street AWD classes that saw 63 competitors taking part.  Quickest after qualifying was Bryan El-Hassan making a welcome return to the track with an 11.029 @ 131.93mph/212.32kph from his Subaru WRX.  In racing, Jim Turner in his Nissan Silvia took the win a hole shot over a losing Russell Archer’s RX4 with an 11.217.

OCD Racing Sports Bike fielded 18 entries from QLD, NSW & VIC. 2008 Series Champion Jason Hammelswang from QLD on his Yamaha R1, took Top Qualifier with a 9.702 @ 141.43mph/227.60kph.  Hammelswang also reset the Sports Bike 1 record with a 9.702 sec and was runner up in the final after pulling a cherry against Mike Darcey.

Speed FM All Motor saw 18 atom cars fighting it out with the traditional Honda vs VW vs Rotary taking the majority of the spots.  Without a turbo or nitrous in sight we saw Crag Wasson in his 20B powered Mazda RX3 take the number 1 spot with a 9.483 @ 137.05mph/220.56kph. In an all QLD final Glenn Alcorn in a Honda Civic took the win with a 14.732 against Peter Lawson with a 13.753 in an RX7.

We had originally planned to combine Super Mod and Extreme together to create one class called Modified Compact but there were too many vehicles that wouldn’t fit the mould.  So we dropped the Extreme class back in, which saw Jamie Farmer from NSW in his turboed big block Chev powered Ford Mustang take Top Qualifier with an 8.306 @ 169.06mph/272.07kph.  Vince Santoro in a Pro Charger equipped XW Ford got the win with a 12.042 against Joe Kurtovic’s FED after red lighting with a –0.006.

The Gas Motorsport Street 289 class ran using the ANDRA Oz Mod rules for the 1st time and all competitors under went a class compliance check before racing.  All 26 vehicles were allowed to compete but all received a letter after the event informing them of any issues that needed addressing. At the end of qualifying Wayne Dyson was on top with an 8.152 @ 167.47mph/269.51kph.  The final came down to Dyson vs. McKern with McKern the victor after Dyson’s red light.

Next up saw 24, Turbosmart Modified Compact vehicles on track. Modified Compact caters for vehicles 10.99sec and quicker with chassis modifications limited to ¾ chassis taking in AWD, FWD & RWD vehicles.  After qualifying Vince Rigoli had the top spot in one of the Datsun 1200 utes he was driving powered by a 3.8ltr V6 Holden motor with an 8.107 @ 165.11mph/265.71kph.  In a battle of the RX2’s John Chetcuti edged out Karl Neil for the win.

Hi Octane Performance Coatings Pro Compact fielded 9 competitors including Rotaries of Rehayem, Daquino, Borg, Lisle, Magliveras & Criticos taking on the 4 cylinders of Bray, Rigoli & Willshire.  Top Qualifier was taken out by a super consistent Anthony Daquino in his Pac prepped RX3 with a 7.644 @ 177.51mph/285.67kph.  That consistency paid off in the final against Rodney Rehayem.  Rehayem got out of shape past the 60foot mark and had to button of, ensuring Daquino the win with a 7.593 @ 174.80mph/281.31kph pass.

McKern & Assoc. Pro Turbo was equally as strong with the 20B’s of Stanbury, Rehayem, Tsoltoudis, Skaramuca, Malass and Sadek taking on the 6 cylinder 2JZ’s of Signorelli, Glassett & Penna.  Glassett had his Gas Toyota Solara well sorted taking the number 1 spot with a 6.886 @ 204.48mph/329.07kph.  In a piston vs. rotor battle final, Glassett took the win with a 6.986 @ 201.91mph/324.94kph over Nick Tsoltoudis’s RX3 after he experienced problems.

For the 1st time at a Sport Compact event we welcomed the APSA Pro Street classes with 21 vehicles on the entry list with a special thanks to Craig Hewitt who sponsored the classes.  In a fitting position Craig Hewitt took top spot in Pro Street Blown with a 7.812 @ 182.30mph/293.38kph.  Hewitt also took the win in the final in his VL Commodore with a 7.992 over Michael McGrath’s 8.039 from his LJ Torana.

Pro Street Unblown went to Jason Mansweto with a 7.522 @ 181.54mph/292.6kph and Jason also took out the Torque Calibration Services Light of the Night award with a 0.001 reaction time.  Come the final, Mansweto was back with his Capri to take the win with a 7.487 against the LX Torana of Peter Papaioannou with an 8.516.

Modified Street Blown TQ went to Simon Kryger with an 8.282 @ 167.18mph/269.05kph.  The final saw Johnny Wilson’s Torana with a 9.316 beaten but Kryger with an 8.34.

Modified Street Unblown to Colin Soleiman with a 9.755 @ 137.54mph/221.34kph.  Soleiman went on to take the win over Peter Hammond with a 9.801 to a losing 10.193.

Add to that a bumper crowd, the Difftrans Babe & Bikini Comps, the 50 plus show cars on display helping make the 2009 Queen St Racing & PSR Car Care Compak Attak the biggest ever! A full list of results from the event can be found HERE. Also checkout the 1,000 photos in the Gallery HERE.