Jason's Dribble

2010 - My pick of the bunch Part 1

2011-01-02T23:35:00.000+11:00

Once again I have neglected this blog quite a bit over the past few months but I thought that to make up for it I would look back at my work from 2010 and try to pick out my favourite frames. It may seem like a simple thing to do however, any photographer would know, scanning through terabytes of files before sifting through them to pick out the best is anything but simple.

This post is more about the images that anything else so i will keep the chatter to a minimum and let the images do the talking. They are in no specific order however; I have tried to keep certain things in groups for no reason other than I figured they should go together.... Let's start shall we?

A big majority of my photographic work is event coverage and by far the highlight event for me in 2010 was the World Time Attack Challenge held at Eastern Creek Raceway in Sydney. The atmosphere during the event was amazing and the car; oh don't get me started about them... Their quality and performances were amazing!

The above image is of my favourite car of the event. The Pan Speed FD. And this was not just because it was a rotor either. The car was, in my eyes, perfect in every way and that's all I’m going to say.

Driver Kouta Sasaki was a cool-cat as well, having no problem interacting with the annoying media folk as you can see in this photo. This image is in fact one of my favourites from the event and funnily-enough, one of the hardest to capture due to the craziness of the pit area. It was the exact shot I was after which made me pretty happy to say the least.

You can't talk about the 2010 WTAC without mentioning gun-driver, Eiji 'Tarzan' Yamada. The man is amazing behind the wheel and watching him fly around ECR in both the awesome Cyber Evo and Tomei/Cusco WRX was a great experience for me.

Another super-tough car at the event was the wide 'n' low R-Magic FD

The Fernandez Motorsport XR6T Falcon was a car I was keen-as to see hit the track at the WTAC. Unfortunately despite a solid effort, the car was unable to keep up with the imports. It wasn't for lack of power though, that's for sure. I feel that after some more track time, this car will post lap time more indicative of its build. Check it out here as driver Jose Fernandez locks up the front brakes coming into turn two.

Who needs full racing slicks? Not these guys.

WTAC was the first circuit event I have shot and it also provided me with my first taste of drift, from a photography point of view anyway. While admittedly Panning has never been one of my strong-suits, after a bit of practice I managed to get the hand of it.

Shooting these cars as they run flat-out at high speed into the corners, sliding door-to-door was a real buzz.

Drifting into, through and out of corners at highway speeds, it certainly must get the heart pounding and the adrenalin pumping.

During the time it took me to get the hang of panning with these guys, I tried to get some different angles where possible. Like this low shot of the eventual Drift Challenge winner, Beau Yates in his AE86.

This R32 left huge smoke trails through each and every corner like it was nothing

Who say's you need a sports coupe to drift?

Nicely crossed-up if I do say so myself...

Well-known drift personality, Danny Vahoumis took this corner a bit too wide in his S15 as he tried to out-perform Beau Yates's turbo'd Sprinter

Another first for me in 2010 was shooting the 2010 Meguiar's MotorEx. As one of, if not the biggest and most prestigious car shot in the country, MotorEx provided a plethora of immaculately-presented machines for me to point my lense at.

Watching the response from the massive crowds as a number of stunning cars were unveiled for the first time was cool.

Another awesome part of the event for me was shooting the Charity dinner for Motor Active. I got to meet Meguiar's head-honcho Barry Meguiar which was pretty cool.

He is quite the TV personality and it was cool to see him at work, filming during the event for his show in the US and online, 'Car Crazy'.

Drag racing, as you would already know, is what makes up a large majority of my work and so, I have included a heap of shots from various events I attended in 2010

One of the sickest cars out there, Jeremy Callaghan's twin turbo 427ci LSX Torana is a thing of beauty!

Everybody loves wheelstands so I here are my favs from the year gone by.... My decisions were made based on my love of tough, street-based drag cars and stuff that's outside the square so to speak.

This image of the PANNIC RX3 wheels-up is my favourite. Great timing, combined with the off-camera flash resulted in an awesome image both sharp and clear. What do you think? It’s a decent effort hey!

This street-driven Mazda 1000 ute is a very cool rig. The combination of a potent 13BT engine, light-weight chassis and sticky slicks results in awesome wheelstands as you see here.

VWs are notorious for lifting the front wheels with ease due to the lack of weight over the front end and engine in the rear. Westside Muffler's Beetle, dubbed 'JUNKA', manages to scrape its bee-sting exhaust on every pass. I figured a low angle from the rear would result in an interesting shot and this was the result.

Ok, well this might not look like the wildest wheelstand you've ever seen but take one thing into account about Paul Mouhayet's Skyline. What you're looking at is a 4WD GTR lifting the front wheels before laying down an eight-second pass on drag radials. Nuf said!

The Pro Street guys love their nitrous and when they move into stage and purge the system, it can make for some cool shots with the off-camera lighting. Check out the snaps below of Peter Pronesti's Mod Street LJ and Craig Hewitt's Pro Street VL. PSSSSSHHHHHHHTTT..... Even Brian Earl Spilner would be proud!

One of the upsets of the year was the horrific accident involving Steven 'Junior' Abreu's and Anthony Daquino's RX3s. Steven is a close personal friend of mine as it was very upsetting to watch the car barrel-rolling violently several times after crossing the line at over 140mph.

This is the lauch on the cars last pass. As usual, straight-as and on a mission...

but sadly ending up like this in the deep end. Amazingly Steve and Anthony managed to walk away relatively unscathed however; the same cannot be said about the cars.

Rodney Rehayem's RX3 is my all-time favourite Sport Compact drag car and one that I cannot get enough of shooting! Unfortunately, Rodney's car also came to grief colliding heavily with the Sydney Dragway wall late in the year. Thankfully the car is repairable and although Rodney did sustain some serious spinal injuries, he is on-route to make a full recovery and will be back in the driver’s seat in 2011.

Speaking of Pac Performance. How could anyone forget the amazing feat the Pac crew have managed over the last few months of 2010. Setting, defending, taking back and extending the world record for the fastest rotary. Their determination and drive is that to be admired by all motorsport fans and it is this that will see them continue to excel in 2011.

George Rehayem's smile says it all. 6.58@208mph!

Well I think that's enough for one post. Stay tuned for Part 2 which I should have up in the next day or 2. Plenty more drag stuff and some of my static shoots as well.

Jason

Long time no see

2010-08-11T21:47:00.000+10:00

I just realized i havn't posted up anything new on here for a while. My life has been super hectic with a wide range of different work and personal adventures. A few shoots here, event coverage there and my fiance and I even set a wedding date finally, so it's only going to get busier from here on in.

One cool thing was i got to meet Meguires head-honcho Barry Meguire while covering the 2010 Meguires MotorEx at Homebush in Sydney. Such a genuine and all-round nice guy.

As i had to cover the All Ford Day at Eastern Creek Raceway on the Sunday i was only attending MotorEx on the Saturday, but what a jam-packed day it was.

Starting at 8am i rolled up thinking it was just going to be a normal event coverage gig only to find out i am an official event photographer for the event... So the day was spent doing general event coverage, shooting the unveiling of the new cars, trophy presentations and 'Superstars' group shots before packing up my gear and heading over to the Novotel to cover the charity dinner. By the time it all ended and i got home to Wollongong it was almost 2am. Needless to say i was buggered!

Overall i was amazed at the cars in attendance for what was an awesome event of epic proportions. Keep an eye out for the full event coverage in upcomming issues of pretty much all the EMG Performance Motoring titles Like Extreme Performance, Street Commodores, Street Fords and Extreme Holdens.

Zoom magazine new website now online

2010-06-27T11:42:00.003+10:00

Be sure to check out the new Zoom Magazine website now online zoommagazine.com.au. Expect to see a heap of extra content you don't get to see in the mag as well as a load of other cool stuff to come.

Be sure to add it to your favorites and keep checking back for regular updates.

Jason

Zoom Magazine issue 148 - My first cover shoot

2010-06-27T11:39:00.002+10:00

I don't know how i forgot to mention this on here but this months issue of Zoom features my first cover shoot on a cool twin turbo RB-powered 240Z and not one, but two other full feature shoots. Needless to say I'm pretty happy to see it on the stands and the feedback i have received so far has all been good.

This 9sec R33 Skyline from Wollongong workshop Motortech Racing is one of the best i have seen. Extreamly subtle looks do a great job of hiding the beast beneath.

A dynamic Duo indeed. These two angry rotors from Sydney Workshop SDR Motorsports are as tough as they come.

So make sure you get down to your local newsagent and pick up a copy of the mag pronto.

Jason

Driving Sports Twilight Drifting - Eastern Creek Raceway Sydney

2010-06-26T21:58:00.005+10:00

After hearing about the Driving Sports Inc 'Twilight Drift' event from a few work mates i thought i would head down with them to check it out. Held at Eastern Creek Raceway, this twilight drift event featured 3 drift arena's including the wet skid-pan or 'Peanut' as they call it, a figure 8 and the advanced course, turns 4 to 12 on the main track.

I was hoping the lighting was going to be good so i could get some nice shots but unfortunatly wasn't and due to my progression into slow-panning being exactly that, slow, it was a bit of a challenge. But not to worry as i still enjoyed my time there especially when my good friend and work colegue Phill from Fast Fours magazine invited me into the passenger seat of his 180SX.

This experience was a first for me and while i would not consider myself a huge fan of drifting i will admit, even being in the passenger seat and on the small course it was a load of fun.

Phill managed to link a few corners which looked pretty cool and was even better when i was sitting shot-gun. Linking corners is not as easy as you think, and most of the time you end up like this

Not the outcome you want but still a load of fun!

Look at Phill all crossed-up and lovin it!!!

Tom Hall, or 'Biggie' as he is known to his mates, editior of Fast Fours was also out in his awesome drift-spec 180 and was cutting-sic with the best of them.

I'm in love with Biggie's 180, the black TE37's look hot and are a great contrast to the silver duco. the stance is just perfect IMO. Wouldn't you agree?

Phill and Tom love to pose for the camera.

Make sure you log onto http://www.fastfours.com.au/ to check out all the latest Fast Fours goss and more cool shit you don't get to see in the mags.

I'm a big KE70 Corolla fan and i was glad to see a few cool Keysev's out on the pad. This fluro green example was pretty awesome and was difinatly the best presented on the night

I really like this shot. As you can probably guess by the plates it was running a 20V 4AGE under the hood

Whip that shit!

This 70 had some sort of a turbo conversion, most likely a 4AG of some sort i would imagine

Such a cool shape. I heart KE70's!!

A drift event wouldn't be the same without a few Hachi's in attendance

Denting panels, smashing lights and loosing bumpers i'm told is all part of drifting.

This R33 love-tapped a witches-hat and in retaliation it lashed out and ripped off his front bar, i kid you not!

This S14 was loud as running a straight-through pipe from the angry SR. The thing was on the deck too...

This neat S13 with JI65AW plates had some nice lock-to-lock trasitions going

180SX's are a very popular drift platform and for good reason too. The chassis is very well suited to drifting and once you have your suspension set up right it's on like Donkey-Kong!

The next twilight event is due to take place on 20/8 and will feature the same awesome drifting action. I will definatly be back for a second look and will try and get some pics from the figure 8 and if i can gather the energy, the main track too...

For more details make sure you check out the Driving Sport Inc website http://www.drivingsports.com.au/ where you will find all information on pricing, event calender and other usefull info.

Ausrotary Meet

2010-06-20T20:06:00.001+10:00

Several members of the popular Internet forum Ausrotary descended on the spacious picnic grounds at Cordeaux Dam just north of Wollongong.

I though i would take a quick break from moving house to head down and check it out. With about 40-50 cars it was a decent turnout although unfortunately by the time i arrived a few had left or where leaving. Never the less i grabbed my camera and had a walk around.

Was good to see a few original restored cars in attendance, although a few were sporting some decent upgrades under the bonnet if you know what I'm sayin ;) There was even an neat original RX5 cruising on Historic rego.

RX2's and Capella's made up[ a big part of the crowd, some original, and others far from it.

These two were super neat, the green sedan was in great original condition and one would assume still has the 12A twin dissy buzzing away under the hood. Where as the Coupe, while it was very well restored on the outside to original specs you will see further down that the old 12A is long gone...

Immaculate and original, just how i like my rotors!

This epic 1000 ute really stood out from the other with it's eye watering orange paint.

Obviously running a turbo donk, the wastegate positioning was awesome, venting to atmosphere with not even a pipe off the gate flange. The cooler is also very neatly mounted behind the R100 grille.

The tray has been crafted from alloy with nice big rolled tubs, cool strip tail lights and polished checker-plate top.

I told you there were a lot of RX2's. This Coupe was clean-as. Gold FR's are a perfect match for the white duco and the lower pin-strip helps to break it up a bit. the interior was also trimmed up neatly.

This blue sedan was also very neat and had some nice dish on the OM's but i think it needed a set of lower springs as it was a tad high. Never the less a gorgeous car.

These two RX4 coupes well presented. I am a big fan of the 4's as i have owned a few of them myself, although all were sedans.

One thing i have never been keen on is the later model Mercedes style front end, however the owner of this particular car has done a good job of overcoming the not-so-nice front end by ensuring the rest of the car is well put together. hat's off to him or her...

How can you not love the old 323 hatches. I still have trouble understanding why these are not more popular than they are. Cool unique looks, light weight and sooo easy to convert to rotor-power.

Check out the cool REAPS style exhaust tip on this RX2/Capella

This R1/1200 was stunning. Beautifull paintwork, awesome billet wheels, huge brakes and super-neat trim it had it all, except.....

It was missing two tail light.... I'm not sure what happened here, maybe he ran out of money or something? Definitely a unique rear end that's for sure.

Now one of the most sort-after Mazda's in the country and for good reason, the 1300 wagon's are just plain cool. These two examples were two of my favorite cars at the meet. Both tastefully modded and put together.

Another great part was the engine setup in the yellow wagz. Ported rotors are getting scarce on the roads today due to increased pressure from the plod.

The lack of rear seat means there is plenty of room for the shopping and of course a bit of NOS...

Judging by the plates this RX3 dips into the 11's down the quarter

Rotor air-fresheners, that's something i haven't seen before

No wonder these guys love the dam as a cruise destination, the sign say's it all... Where else would you get designated rotary parking ??

just like a nice warm winter stew, this RX2 was BEFDUP

RX3's, the most popular rotor of all time. Classic shape, timeless styling, you just can't fault them

When it came time to hit the road the engine fired into life and the rotors began to roll-out

While most of the guys were more than happy to cruise out of the park...

there were, as always a few that felt the need to let loose the wrath of their rota. Remember this stock-looking coupe i mentioned earlier on? Ain't no twin dizzy under that hood that's for sure!

The little wagz lets it rip

Not bad for a piston-powered 808

I got a bit worried when this RX3 lined me up...

No need for smoke shows when your rota is this perfect.

Tough!

For some reason there is always at least one VL at an AusRota cruise, don't know why but there just is.....

Super-clean RX3 coupe. Looks like the driver needs some glasses with all that white interior though

It was great to get out and enjoy the smell and sound of a big bunch or rotors in the park and good to see there are a few cars out there that you don't see or hear about every day on the forums.

There are some more images up on my website http://www.jngimages.com/ in the event gallery if you want to check them out.

For those not familiar with the forum, you must be living under a rock or something but hey, why not check it out at http://www.ausrotary.com/ . If you are a rotor nut like i am then you will fit right in.

Jason

McKern Racing smashes 7's takes the home the championship

2010-06-17T22:07:00.002+10:00

Damien McKern has stunned the crowd at the recent Winternationals when he laid down not one but three consecutive 7sec passes in his stunning 20B RX2.

The crew have long been hunting for that elusive sub 8sec pass and after some fine tuning of the rear suspension prior to the first round of eliminations Damien finally got the monkey off his back and flew down the track for a 7.978@150.30, even after backing off slightly in the deep end. Needless to say the team were over the moon with the time, but as we all know, it doesn't mean much if you can't back it up.

Damien rolled up to stage for the second round against another Qld local Brice Miller in his stunning RX3 sedan. With all eye's on the little green rocket it once again bit down hard out of the hole and ran through flat-chat for a 7.917@175.21. Not only did the car back up the previous pass, but it went even quicker.
With this win Damien also took out the championship in Super Compact and while this was a great finish to the season his day was about to get even better.

In the final Damien would line up against another super-quick small tyre car in the form of Matt Lisle in the Extreme Rotaries Gen1 RX7. With both cars performing extremely well throughout the event the air was thick with excitement and the stage lights lit up. As the lights dropped both cars left the line hard but in the end it was a one horse race with McKern pulling away from the 7 to a blistering 7.864@180.84mph. WHAT!! Yes, it's not a miss-print. Damien Mckern and the Pac Performance crew had pulled off what was an amazing few days of racing and walked away on top of the world and the 289 class.

All i can say is you better get ready for Jambo, because it's going to be one event you won't want to miss!

2010 Wold Time Attack Challenge attracts world-wide audience

2010-06-06T22:33:00.004+10:00

Well what can i say about the 2010 World Time Attack Challenge? It would have to had been, without a doubt the best motorsport event i have attended so far. The cars, the racing, the atmosphere. It was amazing and an event that will set the bar for any future events that may follow.

Unfortunately i was unable to make it to the track on the Friday due to new work commitments but i made sure i was at the track nice and early on Saturday to have a good look around before the racing started. Being my first time covering an event at Eastern Creek Raceway i wasn't sure what to expect and what access my media pass would allow so i will admit i was a bit hesitant entering the team garages at first but did spend a good part of the morning have a good snoop around, most of the time admittedly without putting the camera in front of my face as i was genuinely inquisitive about the whole 'Time Attack' thing as it is all new to me.

The event drew a nice variety of different cars in all different platforms ready to compete in the 3 classes. the Wynn's Pro Class, Motor Magazine Open Class and the Yokohama Advan Clubsprint Class.

The Tomei/Cusco Subaru WRX was one of many cars that made the trip from Japan and was driven by the legendary Tarzan Yamada. Tarzan would be an extremely busy guy for the entire event not only steering the WRX but also the eventual class winner the Cyber EVO.

Everywhere you looked, EVO's were everywhere. From mildly worked street-based cars to all out track monsters

This sexy beast was spotted in the pit area. Obviously still a work in progress but judging by the setup under the hood it's going to be a force to be reckoned with once complete.

As you may know I'm a bit of a Rota-Head so i spent a fair bit of time checking out the R Magic and PanSpeed RX7's

Both where amazing cars that looked fast just sitting there. I could have stood around staring for ages at the amount of work that has gone into the aero on these two cars. I mean, check out the crazy rear splitter on the PanSpeed 7, it's insane! Kind of like the stuff you see on those Gli Lancers that cruise around Sydney, but not... This stuff is actually there for a reason, a big one at that!

the Cyber EVO had some engine drama's on the Friday and things did not look too good but after a huge effort from the crew that night to replace the engine and sort out the tune the car was ready to go out swinging Saturday morning, and that it did.

A very interesting car i found in the pits was the DMW Motorsports Swift which has full EVO 4WD running gear including brakes. Now I'm not 100% sure but i believe it was the first outing for the car with the new 2.4L stroker engine as well. Quite an amazing engineering effort if i do say so myself.

tyre choice of the day for racers was of course the Advan A050. One can only imaging how many sets these guys went through across the 2 day event.

As the cars began to line up ready to hit the track i stepped out to take a few more snaps of the PanSpeed RX7. The thing is just stunning both on and off the track.

Driver, Sasaki-san seemed to be real relaxed giving me the thumbs-up. Obviously looking forward to laying down some quick lap times.

As the cars lined up ready to roll i decided it would be a good time to suss out a good vantage point to shoot the action on the track.

The action was thick and fast. This was the first time i have shot an event like this, or any form of circuit motorsport for that matter and i was utterly amazed at the speed these thing do entering into the corners. Just when i see them flying in and thinking to myself that he's going to loose it for sure, the car just sticks to the track like glue and drives through the corners like it's on rails. Simply amazing!

The Pro Cars were spectacular to watch and so were the cars in the other classes of which i spent most of the morning shooting from both inside and outside of turn 2 with fellow photog and good friend Jason Churchill. Big shout out to JC as i would have been lost without him on the day and probable would have ended up shooting from all the wrong places.

I found that turn 2 offered a great view as you could get nice and close to the action while still being out of harms way. I was also able to lie down nice n low and get some nice shots of the cars as they came though the tight corner

Even though it is a time attack race where each entrant is competing against the clock, there were still times when car's would catch up to each other on the track even though they are let out several seconds apart from each other.

The driver of this Gen 1 RX7 came into the corners pretty hard giving the car a good flick a few times.

Benny Tran's NA Civic was up there with the best in the Open Class finishing in the number 10 spot with a 1:41.2360 lap time.

Proving that you don't need a fancy new chassis to get in there and compete. Ben Barkers Datsun 1600 lapped the course in just 1:43.8200 ahead of a selection of WRX's, Supra's, EVO's and RX7's.

this R34 was just plain sexual.

carbon was everywhere at WTAC. Carbon Fibre doors would have definitely shed some weight from this EVO

As the Pro cars came out my heart-rate increased dramaticly. The sound of these cars flying down the straights and into the corners was pure audible ecstacy.

All the way from the US of A was the car so good they had to name it twice. The visually stunning Sierra Sierra

Filled with more carbon goodies and one crazy aero kit the super-quick Evo was a big force and driver David Emprigham managed to secure the number 2 spot behind the Cyber Evo

Making it's racing debut was the Fernandez Motorsport XR6 Turbo Falcon owned and driven by Jose Fernandez. The big power being generated by the turbocharged 4.0L straight six seemed to be a sore point for the falcon as at times it seemed to be just too much for the rear tyres to handle. Jose had a few moments coming into corners a bit hot and either locking up as you can see in the image below or running wide costing him precious seconds on his lap times.

The aero on the front bar seemed to be getting a bit of a work out too, often coming into contact with the track surface during the tight corners. Jose finished the event in 13th spot with a lap time of 1:40.2170

My favorite car of the event was the PanSpeed RX7. The sound of the hi-revving turbocharged 13B was just as awesome as the the cars looks.

The 13B performed flawlessly throughout the event and just goes to show that the rotary engine is a potent performer is many different forms of motorsport with the car finishing in 5th spot with a fastest lap of 1:32.4540 just behind the lotus Elise of well known Aussie racing legend Warren Luff.

The BMS Motorsport R32 Skyline driven by David Loftus did very well keeping up with the big guns lapping the Eastern Creek track in 1:35.8760, slotting into 8th spot

All eye's were on Mark Berry's Advan/High Octane Racing R34 as he did his best to represent the home team

Although Mark didn't manage a podium finish things still went well for the crew as they finished in 7th position with a 1:34.1090 lap time

Another local, well known Aussie motorsport icon Warren Luff took the wheel of the Prep'd Motorsport Lotus Elise and managed to lay down a V8 Supercar killing 1:32.2730 lap, unfortunatly just missing out on a podium finish

What would an event be at Eastern Creek Raceway without a big Aussie dinosaur to compete against the turbocharged imports? Mal Rose drove his ex V8 Supercar to a best lap time of 1:39.3230 finishing in 12th spot

Despite blowing a gearbox on the Friday the crew had the Tomei/Cusco WRX on the track and kicking arse Saturday morning

Driver Tarzan Yamada showed the Aussie race fans just why he is considered to be one of the best drivers in the world. Clinching 3rd position Rat the end of racing by running a best lap time of 1:31.9010 in the WRX before jumping out having a quick drink and jumping into the Cyber Evo.

The car that everyone's talking about was the mighty Cyber Evo. I felt honoured watching this machine fly around one of Australia's premier race tracks and break the 11 year old track record for the fastest lap.

The main man, Tarzan Yamada and the Cyber Evo crew not only beat the record they smashed it with reletive ease.

The car left all other competitors in it's wake with a blistering 1:30.5870 lap time to succesfully secure the top spot and take out the event.

In the Open Class the competition was just as feirce with several street-based cars laying down some very impressive times.

The most impressive car was the Pulse Racing Evo driven by Steve Glenny. Steve drove the arse off the car and managed to run a best lap of 1:36.4980 which got him the number 1 spot in his class.

Steve's best lap time was fast enough to have put him into 9th against the Pro Cars which is a huge effort for what is considered as a pretty basic setup compared to the front runners

The num,ber 2 spot was taken out by Jason Hart in the Ultimate Tunes WRX with a best lap time of 1:39.9540. While this was an impressive time is further evidence how quick the Pulse Racing Evo really was.

Rounding out the top 3 for the Motor Magazine Open Class was the Honda S2000 of John Boston with a best time of 1:40.0730. The turbocharged F20C sounded beautiful as it cut through the corners with precision.

The Yokohama Advan Clubsprint Class was full of street registered weekend-racer type cars that proved just how potent some of these import turbocharged cars really are. Even in mildly modified cars were putting on a great show and giving the drivers a chance to compete in front of a huge crowd.

Nicholas Kalis drove his neat Evo 9 to victory with a 1:44.3780 lap time over a second faster than his nearest competitor

Duncan Forrester took out number 2 in his lightly modified R35 Skyline. His best for the weekend was 1:45.0090

Jason Naidoo rounded out the Clubsprint Class in his 'BADASS' Evo8 with a best of 1:45.0260

While the WTAC played host to some of the best circuit cars we have seen in Oz it also featured some balls-out drifting that helped fill the breaks between racing. Once again this was a first for me shooting this style of driving and was much different to the stright line stuff i am used to. After a few practice runs i managed to get a hand of the motion and got stuck into shooting what is fast becomming a popular Australian pass-time.

While i'm not a huge fan of drifting, i did enjoy shooting it and was happy to come away with some top shots.

It was amazing watching eventual contest winner Beau Yates slide parralel to his competitors all the way around the course in a display of awesome vehicle control

The Toyo Tyres backed 180SX looked stunning as it slid around the course tyres blazing

On board camera's are everywhere now and they really get a work out on the drift cars, some even looking a bit worse-for-ware after the runs

Ok, well thats the more formal side of this Blog. I have added a few other shots below that i thought deserve a spot in this post and the full gallery from the event is now online at http://www.jngimages.com/ so be sure to check it out.

Overall i feel the event was a huge success and judging by the feedback i have both heard and seen on the net from sources around the world im not the only person that feels this way.

The event organisers did a great job at putting it all together and i was amazed at how smoothly the event was run. hats off to you guys for doing a outstanding job.

Now the question is, will we see a WTAC 2011? here's hoping that my prayers to the car gods be heard and Australia once again be chosen to host this awesome event!!

Catchya L8R

R-Magic...

Tyre, tyres and more tyres...

GTR's of all guises are always a car to be taken seriously on the track

This Supra had some pretty crazy rear diffusers and not to mention one HUUUGE rear wing!

The JDM Concept Integra was one of the best presented cars at the event IMO

Danny Vahoumis getting a bit too close to the edge

I'm still trying to work out why these guys run mirrored stickers on the side of the car??

The driver of this R32 got a bit toey coming out of turn 2 and had to counter-steer it back into line

Supercharged 350Z frying the tyres

This cool 240Z was in the pits and had a tough 2JZ conversion

A drifters wet dream. An off-tap SR20

I had to add some straight-line rota love into this post somewhere. Danny's 8sec 13BT RX3 should fill the gap nicely...

Jason

2010 Nitro Champs raises the bar for ANDRA Pro Series drag racing

2010-05-30T16:57:00.002+10:00

The 2010 Nitro Champs held at Sydney Dragway will go down as one of the greatest ANDRA Pro Series events to date. After a shaky start to qualifying on Friday the clouds parted and the sun shined bright for two days of some of the best drag racing i have witnessed and from the feedback i have heard i am not the only person that feels this way.

Some of the biggest names in Australian drag racing descended on the world-class Sydney facility for a hard-core weekend of racing and the crews did not disappoint.

As always qualifying was intense with crews working tirelessly to ensure the cars were running to perfection in an effort to lay down the quickest pass possible. As we moved into eliminations each and every crew out there stepped it up 10 fold with numerous upsets, tight finishes and some blindingly fast passes all keeping the crowd on the edge of their seats.

As the classes quickly started to thin out and the final elimination rounds came about things started to get serious. It was a case of now or never for the crews left in the race for a golden tree. Cars and crews were pushed to the limit, some over. We saw big names fall victim to an itchy right foot and hit the throttle too early and a few runs so tight that officials almost needed a third umpire to decide on a winner Hole shot wins are always awe inspiring and are what keeps people like me coming back for more.

Overall from my opinion the 2010 Nitro Champs was an extremely successful event and a big change from the 'wet n wild' Summernationals held earlier in the year. The guys at Sydney Dragway should be commended for putting on such a great show and making it all happen with the event running smoothly with very minimal delays.

Now i know you all came here for the photos and not for my blabbering so here were a few highlights from my days at the track. the full gallery from Sat & Sundays racing is now up on http://www.jngimages.com/ so make sure you check it out.

Ben Bray was really on the ball steering the Scion.

We are starting to see the full potential of that chassis as Benny pushes harder and harder on that 10.5in tyre

Tony Wedlock had a few issues with the Aurion apparently unintentionally inventing a 2 piece crank for the 2JZ

In a David & Goliath effort Frank Cannistra drove his small-tyred RX3 into the final of Pro FX

It just goes to show that drag racing is not all about having the fastest car but having the most consistent

Joe Signorelli charging home in the GAS Motorsports Celica

Zoran Gajic finished on top in the Beemer after taking on Frank in the final

As you may know i am a big fan of cars that can run the numbers while still having that streeter look and Super Sedan is a class that always has my full attention.

Jim Bolovinos is always a high-flyer in Super Sedan giving the media a good look at his undercarriage as often as he can. This event was no exception

Another driver always keen to put on a show is Craig Hewitt in his immaculate 632ci Walkenshaw . Check out an up-coming issue of Extreme Performance magazine for a full feature on Craig's stunning racer

Hows this for a sleeper? Con Pakos has jammed a 408ci V8 into the Mitsu Express van. As you can see by the launch this workhorse really lives up to the name

I am really starting to admire some of the tough American Muscle cars that fill the staging lanes at these big meets and Gavin List's big Chev is one of my favorites. Just look at that thing pick up the wheels. Savage!

Take one light-weight Gemini and add a 400ci Chev and this is what you get. huge wheel-stands and low 9's at the drop of a hat. Looks damn tough too

Shaun Kerkman took out Best Engineered with his awesome tubbed Monaro. The supercharged 406ci coupe was making good use of the wheelie-bars during this 7.9sec pass

Peter Pisalidis AKA 'Pistol Pete' brought out his weapon of a Camaro and tried his hardest to get the power down through those small 10.5in tyres

As you can see the car does manage to get traction at times and when it does it carries the front left wheel to half track before it levels out. Unfortunately Pete was eliminated in the 3rd round but not before laying down a few consistent 7.7sec passes

Rob Campisi twin turbo Mustang is Australia's fastest and quickest turbocharged car with a 6.412@228mph. And there's plenty more where that came from.

Marco Tolomeo's GT loves the camera. You just can't seem to take a bad shot of this car.

Trick & Manswetto Racing's Tristan Triccas had the ride of his lift in the insane 604ci Capri.

Tricky left the line hard before getting a bit out of shape and ending in the other lane. Luckily it was a solo pass

Another personal favorite of mine it Mark Hinchelwood's turbocharged BBC 540 altered. marks an all-round nice guy too but i still think he's mad for squeezing into that tiny drivers seat.

Mark had a few gearbox issues during the event, now by few i mean a lot... However he still managed to limp his way through into the final and even though he was unable to front up for the last race he still took out the runner up spot

Now i love my Rollas so Neil Maxwells KE25 was an instant hit with me. Check out Neil frying those huge tyres

Jim Ioannidis is an extremely fierce Super Stock competitor in his VS Commodore

The ability to lay down consistent mid 9's with the Holden 308 is a great accomplishment. And a love the near stock exterior appearance.

Les Heintz brings the wheels up in his stunning Pontiac GTO

Nick Karantonis' Dodge Avenger is another stunning car competing in Super Stock. Nick made it all the way to Rnd 3 of eliminations but was unfortunately knocked out by eventual class winner Ralph Perri in his Pontiac.

The event would not have been complete without a few passes from Frank Mamone in the Hemi powered Nova

Every pass that this car lays down is just gold from a spectator point of view.

This is a car that gets the crowd on it's feet whenever it comes into stage and there was no better example of this than when frank lined the Nova up against another blisteringly quick 10.5 tyre car, Ben Bray's 2JZ Scion.

To give you an idea of the excitement behind this run i didn't want to put the camera in front of my face. With all eye's set firmly on these two awesome cars both left the line with all they had and flew across the traps to new PB's. A 6.73@212mph for Frank and 6.68@209mph for Ben. Now in a pass this epic it was not about who won, more so how epic these small tyred cars are and what a spectacle they are to watch and if everything goes to plan this pass was just a taste of whats to come for Australian drag racing.

Pro Stock supplied some of the best racing at the event. The consistency of these cars is amazing and so too is the presentation. Just have a look at the Team Mopar car of Lee Bektash.

it doesn't get any sexier than that! The car not only looks a million dollars but hauls arse too!

Rick Chilton's Pontiac is another well presented car.

Aaron Treymayne worked his way through the field to claim his very own Pro Stock golden tree

As i said, the cars were stunning.....

Bill Kotsias warming up the tyres prior to a 7.1@191mph

Shane Tucker pulling away from Denis Whiting in qualifying

This was the first time i had ventured down to the deep end of the track to shoot the cars with their laundry out. Loved every minute of it and can't wait to do it again.

Bikes of all types put on a show during the event. I am slowly starting to get the hang of shooting these 2-wheelers in a way that can capture the excitement rather than having them look like they are sitting static.

Slowly getting the hang of panning. Slowly.....

Nitro Voodo, Crazy!

these pro bike guys really do a lot of work keeping the bike balanced during the run.

Sometimes leaning over similar to circuit racers on corners just to keep the things straight

Luckily for this rider the belt snapped around the 60' mark and not towards the end of the run

Here you can see Ivan Skaramuca taking aim at me in his Corvette Top Doorslammer. Ivan is no stranger to fast cars as he also owns and steers the worlds fastest RX3.

Mark Belleri shows us that Doorslammer's can pull big wheel stands too. Mark got at least another 30cm higher than in this shot but some silly photographer didn't keep his finger on the shutter long enough.....

This image shows you just how low John Zappia's Monaro really is. While this crew member is a pretty big lad it's still a very sleek body

Frank worked his magic and made it to the final in Top Doorslammer

but had to settle for runner up after loosing to Maurice Fabietti's Monaro

Matt Abel had a few up's and down's at the event, literally. In this pass the car did a bit of a hop n skip ending up on it's nose

The car also suffered some major tyre shake in an earlier run resulting in the car lifting the back wheels off the track surface

It's times like this i love off-camera lighting. Stuart Bishop with the foot buried and eye's fixed

The spectacle that is Top Fuel was top notch at the Niro's. You just can't beat the heart stopping noise and the huge header flames these machines produce.

A huge thing for me was i caught my first Top Fuel explosion courtesy of Mark Mariani.

It was good luck to be down the deep end with fellow photog's Kyle Sharp and Joe Maday as the engine let go just as he was coming across the finish line.

Now usually you would be pretty pissed if you just blew up a several thousand dollar engine like this but Mark didn't seem to be fazed at all as the win put him through into the next round

Darren Morgan also suffered some engine issues in the deep end on this run.

The crew got back on the track for a few more runs before being eliminated by Mark in Rnd 2

Although he missed out on running in the final he did walk away as the Louie Rapisarda Tribute top qualifier

Phill Read peddled the Auto1 rail into the final with a blistering 4.69@315mph

As both Phill and Mark strapped in for the final you could just see the concentration of the guys faces

Mark Mariani had his eye's set hard on that gold tree and he was not about to let anything get in his way.

Both drivers left the line hard giving it all they had and also giving me a face full of Nitro in the process. thanks Mark.

before Phill, closely followed by Mark rolled through the traps with engine in flames.

but as the time boards lit up it informed all that this years golden tree winner was Mark Mariani with a 4.975 against Phill's 5.052sec pass

The Marianni/Rapisard crew celebrated and was quickly congratulated by the Auto1 team for what was a great few day's of racing from both teams

Santo Rapisard is seen here enjoying the replay on the big screen

A stellar effort from both drivers that was celebrated by all

With the Niro Champs done and dusted for another year the 2010 Winternationals at Willowbank Raceway are coming up quickly and are sure to live up to it's tag as the biggest drag racing event outside of the US. Unfortunately i am unable to make this years event due to work and other commitments but there is sure to be some great coverage form the other awesome photog's out there.

That's enough dribble from me, make sure you check out the website for the full gallery and please feel free to leave some feedback, good or bad.

Jason

2010 Haltech Compac Attak - Sydney's premier Sport Compact event

2010-05-11T22:15:00.003+10:00

Well people the wait is finally over. I have sorted, processed and uploaded all my images from the 2010 Haltech Compac Attak event (all 1107 of them) held at Sydney Dragway last month, and what an event it was.

Compac Attak is Sydney's premier Sport Compact event and it just keeps getting bigger and better every year and fortunately for us, so does the weather. At this years event we were welcomed with clear blue skys and perfect weather for racing.

Proof of the events growing popularity the 2010 event drew some international visitors that were keen to strut their stuff on one of this countries best drag racing facilities in front of the eager crowd. Gary White of Titan fame travelled all the way from the USofA made the journey across the way to steer the ex-Titan come GAS Motorsport Scion, and Rod Harvey from the land of the long white burnout cloud in the Rayglass Celica. Each of these car lay down consistent 6 second passes and joined our already impressive line up of quality Pro Turbo cars.

So enough blabber, lets get to the pics shal we??

It is becoming more and more common to see several high-dollar exotics scattered through the pit area including a few Ferrari's like this Marenello Red example

Anthony Daquino's full chassis RX3 is probably the most extreme old-school bodied car in Oz and is in a league of it's own in terms of looks with the RX3 slammed as low as it can go

Making it's second appearance at the strip was the 1200 Coupe owned and driven by SDR Motorsports head man Steve Dimech.

Powered by a methanol guzzling single turbo 13B and clutchless box the little coupe had already laid down some impressive debut passes at the Full Throttle Friday event prior to CA and was again out to impress.

Joe Chetcuti's RX2 is another super consistent racer from the SDR stable

Domenic Lopinno's insane twin turbo Mustang was running in the Extreme class up against the other turbo V8 heavy hitters Rob Campisi and Cino Sorbello. Like in the US these huge power turbo charged combs are starting to pop up and are really taking Australian drag racing to the next level.

One car that caught my eye was this Ford Courier dual cab ute. Long gone is the clapped out 4cyl engine and its replacement...

A Quad cam 4.0L V8 with a heafty shot of giggle-gas. hows that for different.

The Ruggier brother brought out their sexy RX3 coupe with a fresh bridge-port 13B and new methanol fuel system.

Probably one of the nicest looking cars at the event was Glen Hunter's 20B Lancer wagon. Gone is the matt-black exterior, the wagz looks a million dollars now with the new coat of paint and definitely has the show to match the go!

Under the bonnet is even more impressing that the outside. The Plazmaman W2A cooler and fluid reservoir takes pride of place up front and check out the reverse mount turbo.

The action on the track started nice and early with the racers keen to get onto the track and make use of the cool early morning air.

The All Motor class is all about noise, revs and feather weight cars. As always the class was filled with ported rotars, VW's and VTech Honda's. This years event was headed up by Craig Wassan in his NA 20BPP powered RX3, top qualifying in the with a wheels up 9.64ET

But it was the VW Beetle of Peter Page that ran away with the class win in the end after defeating Joseph DeGiorgio in the final who unfortunatly broke out in his Honda Civic

Whats a NA class without a screaming VTech Honda. Joe DeGiorgio's Civic is no shrinking violet either able to cut down many a turbocharged foe and run consistant 11sec passes.

Alf Axiak's RX3 is another strong NA car litterally revving it's tits off on it's way down the strip and into the 10's. A little bit slower than the times we used to see this car run with a 13BT/clutchless setup but still damn impressive.

Sport Compact is a very street orientated class with an 11sec cut-off, although we did see a few cars run under this. Michael Ryan took out top qualifier in his turbo charged (like you can miss it) early model Falcon with a 11.01@120mph.

Mohammed Khan's little green 1300 went against the conventional rotor conversion choosing a SR20DET transplant instead.

Matt Rice proves that you don't need a big dollar car to run the numbers. With a basic 13BT/TO4E package in the light weight 808 he gets plenty of wheels up action and 10sec time slips. Roumers are that Matt will be returning to the track soon with a few upgrades and maybe a new look to chase down a 9sec pass.

Street cars make great Sport Compact racers too. Aaron Murphy's Typhoon went round for round and eventually took out the class with a 14.36@90mph. Yes that's not fast at all but in DYO racing it doesn't need to be.

Adrian Hodgson AKA 2RISMO had the Skyline out with a fresh setup and E85 tune. He walked away with a new PB for the car running 10.71@128 even with a lazy 60'.

The GAS Motorsports ST289 was one of my favorite classes to watch on the day. Over-powered cars skating down the track with drivers using every inch of their lanes when pulling gears, what more could you want? The class is always highly contested and with a big number of cars entered it was always going to be great racing

Top qualifier for the day was and eventual class winner Chris Hall in the Mazfix backed S6 RX7 with a best of 8.52@159mph

Well known Sport Compact racer Rodney Spannerburg would line up against Chris in the final after taking the win against Antonio DeOliveira and his 1000 Ute but all his hard work would go to waste with a red light in the final.

Robert Iacono had MR12A frying the tyres but unfortunatly still seems to be having issues with the car

This RX3 proves you don't need an all out race car to have fun running in the ST289 class

Joe Pascua slams through the Liberty-geared Toploader in his gen1 RX7 and was aiming for a spot in the final but like Rodney a red light ended his day prematurely

Shane Chriton in the Cressida representing the family sedans in Sport Compact and knocking on the door of an 8 second ET

Outlaw 10.5 is another exciting class to watch. Think ST289 with an extra 1.5 inches of rubber but also a few extra HP to boot.

Jason Both secured top qualifier and also set a new record for the class with a 7.55@179mph pass but was later sidelined when a $2 part failed

Peter Pisalidis pushed his Camaro to a 7.84@186mph to come in as 2nd qualifier. Peter would make it all the way to the final and line up against George Haramis in the VL but unfortunately had to settle for second after he suffered issues and was unable to get the car down the track.

Damien McKern is usually a force to be reconed with in Outlaw 10.5 but didn't make it through eliminations this time round. He did however lay down some of the biggest burnout of the day.

Sydney Dragway regular George Haramis took out the class with an 8.62 against Pisalidis in the final.

Frank Canistra is always ready to put on a show, this is a very tame launch compared to what we usually see for MRHELI.

Modified Compact had a decent amount of variety at this years event. From turbo 4Cyl's, rotors, 4WD's, FWD's and the odd-ball Buick V6TT Ute.

While Vince Rigoli top qualified in the V6TT 1200 ute with a 8.07@167mph although engine drama's saw him packing up early.

Close on Vince's tail was Nikki Dunlop in her super quick EVO running a stunning 8.62@161mph

Nikki was later eliminated by David Mercieca in the Silver rotor powered 1200 ute.

Joe Chetcuti would go all the way to the final where he lined up against Mercieca and thanks to a great reaction time he walked away with the crown running 9.78 against Mercieca's 10.10

David Mercieca would have to settle for runner up this year, but put on one hell of a fight.

Ryan Blank had his S14 on song all day

Another tough car from the SDR crew is the Soprano's R100. Huge burnout, crazy launches and apparently awesome pizza's.

Pro Compact is where things start to really heat up. All of these cars are running in the 7 sec bracket and provide plenty of edge-of-your-seat racing. This years event saw all of the 3/4 chassis 20B and 6Cyl cars move out of Pro Turbo and into the Super Compact class for some awesome heads-up action.

Vince Rigoli would start off as 3rd fastest in qualifying with a solid 7.73@175mph but was knocked out in round 2 of eliminations by Steve Dimech

One of my favorite SC car's Rodney Rehayem's 13BT RX3 managed to secure the 2nd spot in qualifying behind Sadek with a 7.45@182mph. Rodney would work his way through the field and into the finals where he would match up against Steve Dimech's 1200 coupe.

The car of the day had to be Steve Dimech's ex Puerto Rican 1200 Coupe. Steve has obviously built a setup to take full advantage of the extremly well setup chassis. Steve was on fire throughout the whole event getting quicker and quicker with each pass. On only the cars second outing it he scored a spot in the final against Rodney. Set to be one of the best races of the event Rodney left the line with a great reaction time however he had issues and was forced to abort the pass as the 1200 blitzed away for another killer pass.

Ben Bray was pushing the SR powered ute as hard as he could but was knocked in Rnd 2 of eliminations when he had trouble building boost on the line

Anthony Daquino running a 7.48@178mph in qualifying

Pro Turbo saw the best of the best from Australia and oversea's on the track going head to head. This is the class everyone comes to watch. The ongoing battle between the big gun 2JZ's and 20B's creating some of the most exciting racing in the world.

Nathan Farrugia managed to score enough point in eliminations to see him end up in the finals after despite loosing in round 3 to Wedlock with a 7.07@192 against Nathan's 8.19@178mph

Titan Motorsports Gary White made the trip back to OZ to steer the Scion and managed to get through to the 2nd round of eliminations but was knocked out by Wedlock in the Aurion.

Rocky Rehayem can put on a mean BBQ while sitting on the 2 step in the Mazda6. Rocky made it through to round 3 where he cam out on top against Archie Kajewski in the Prolux but had dramas during the pass and was not able to make it back out.

Glen Hunter 20B lancer wagon was running strong but unfortunately didn't make it through to eliminations

Archie Kejewski was doing well in the 20B PROLUX qualifying 5th with a best of 7.26@183mph but issues in round 3 saw him bow out of the competition

Rod Harvey would unfortunately be sidelined very early on after damaging the crank in the first round

Tony Wedlock would end up in the final against Nathan Faruggia and with a 7.16 against Faruggia's 7.71 he took the win and top spot.

The whole gallery of my images from the event are now up on http://www.jngimages.com/ so make sure you check them out.

Nitro Champ stuff will be uploaded real soon so be sure to keep an eye out for those.

Thanks for your patience, im hoping the quality of my work makes up for the slight delay in getting these uploaded.

See ya real soon

Jason

Sydney Dragway Test n Tune 24/4/10 - Pre Nitro Champs warm up

2010-05-08T00:37:00.002+10:00

Another month comes to an end and another long awaited race meet is uploaded online. I am glad to report i am almost cought up on the backlog of images and will have the last 2 events uploaded in the next 2 days, those being the 2010 Haltech Compac Attak and 2010 Nitro Champs bith held at the world class Sydney Dragway.
Hit the read more tab for the full run down

Moving forward i have now uploaded the full gallery from the 24/4 Test n Tune which was a great opportunity for racers to get thier cars on the track for some last minute tuning in preperation for one of the biggest events on the ANDRA calender, the 2010 Nitro Champs.

There were a bucket load of tough cars out testing which held great promise for things to come. Straight off the bat, the first car i pointed at was Jake Edwards Single turbo V8 Torana and left the line with a huge wheelstand. The yellow rocket then proceeded to makes it's way down the 400m wheels spinning but unfortunatly threw a rod in the deep end effectly pressurizing the engine to the point where the intake blew completly off the engine, through the fibreglass bonnet taking the windscreen with it. Not fun at all.

Take a close look at the image below and you will see the intake in mid air after making it's escape. Thankfully Jake managed to bring the car to a stop and was ok.

Once car you don't usually assosiate with drag racing would be the Mazda MX5, or Miata as they are known by the guys over the water. Commonly reffered to as a hairdressers car, this little machine didn't do much to remove itself from such comments with it's pink exterior.

But once you noticed the chute on the rear and big slicks under the ass end you started to catch on to the fact this is no normal MX5.

When the driver started her up a very familiar brap or a 13BT filled the staging lanes while it made its way through the burnout and into stage where once the required revs were made through the auto box it leaped out of the hole like a frog on a hot plate busting out a 9.4@142mph for it's first pass of the day. Thus dismissing any further comments on it's appearence.

Making its first appearance after a complete ground up re-build was the Castle Hill Exhaust turbo LS1 VT Commodore. The guys have moved to a 3/4 chassis setup running a huge 33x16.5in tyre. The 408ci donk has been treated to a pair of high flowing AFR heads and the whole shebang is now running on methanol.

Although i don't have an engine bay image to show you from this meet i can tell you that under the bonnet is a work of art. Loads of high temp coated piping and not to mention a mother of all turbos up front. The GT55 hits you right in the face the minute you pop the bonnet and is kept in line by a 60mm Turbosmart wategate.

The cars previous best prior to the makeover was 8.9@161mph all on a much smaller tyre. On this particular meet, the first full pass for the car with Dale Helier behind the wheel it layed down an easy 8.2@155mph.

Once the car is fully sorted and the guys get a bit more track time under their belt expect to see this thing depp into the 7's Not bad for a taxi ;)

To give you an idea of the sound and grunt this thing is packing, check out this clip of the car on the in house dyno at CHE. INSANE

I noticed the Sadek RX3 sedan sitting in the staging lanes but it was a surprice to see that neither frank nor Sam would be behind the wheel, rather it was Sam's 18yo son having a go behind the wheel of the methanol guzzling 13BT.

Although the yound lad wasn't able to get a decent full pass in im sure it was not for lack of trying. A bucket full of nerves im sure is what held him back having issues getting off the line with the clutchless box. But i will say that he did give it a go so hats off to him, i can only imagine what it would be like to start off drag racing driving a 7 second rotor......

In true Sadek style he was not afraid to get into it in the burnout putting on a decent show for the camera. Im sure with a bit more practice we will see him wheels up and flying down the strip with the best of them

What do you consider a fast street car now days? 10 sec? 9's maybe?? How bout hitting the streets in your 8 sec GTR.... This stealth black R32 owned and driven by Paul Mauhayet has gone as quick as 8.93@159mph to make it the unofficial worlds fastest and quickest Street GTR.

Shooting down the black top on street leagal MT drag radials and with full GTR interior apart from 2 light weight Kirkey front seats. What will blow you away even more will be the image below. How many 4WD cars have you seen lift the front wheels off the line?? Although the owner told me this was not expected nor ideal resulting in a slightly off the pace but still damn impressive 9.2@158mph run.

With hints of an upgrade to a pair of slightly larger turbos i am chomping at the bit to see this thing out on the track again soon and on its way to eclipse the current official worlds fastest radial tired GTR of 8.55@165 held by the Croyden R32 drag car. Considering paul has got to the level he has with what is still considered a street car, i can't see this being an issue

One car that seems to be gathering some momentum is Brad Woods PIG323. The little white hatch put on some great tyre frying action in it's pre run burnouts before laying down a few impressive passes with a best of 9.4@144mph, a big improvement on its previous meets efforts.

Peter Pronesti's PRO05L Torana is a stunning looking car and never fails to impress at the track running several low 8 sec passes on the day.

The madman himself Frank Mamone was out in the Outlaw 10.5 Chev Nova. After laying down thick black lines along the whole 400m on several occasions.

This pass he unfortunatly ended in the kitty litter after the chutes failed to deploy properly.

Not a fun thing to do on a Saturday afternoon but it was good to see that car towed back down the return land with next to no dammage at all.

There was a real battle going down for the toughest LC/LX (I can't remeber how to tell them apart :( ) Torana. In the running was Anthony Fichera in HYP400,

Simon Kryger in the STAUNCH-mobile

and Jim Bolovinos in the Coupe

My personal favorite for the meet would have to be Anthony's tough as nails black on blue sedan. A very street orientated beast that had no issues showing off it's undercarriage on every pass. Just what we like to see!

Being the last meet prior to the huge national event there were a few Pro Stock guys out testing on the day as well. Some exciting passes were seen on the day and was just a taste of what was to come.

The appearence of both Bill Perdikaris and Ian Browns cars was awesome as was the sound

Rob Campisis Twin Turbo Mustang never fails to impress.

PRO100 would have to be one of the sexiest rotors in the scene at the moment. It just oozes toughness

Zoran Gagic with a nice big burnout in the 2JZ Beemer accross the line ensuring those big bags are plenty warm

Go the 120Y YEW!

Oh so close to that 10 sec pass for Neil Griffiths 1UZ Turbo S13 with an 11.0

NITRO VOODOO!!!

These guys are nuts i tell ya, NUTS!

Check out the crazy clouds above Mark Hinchelwood's monster turbo altered that cam towards the track in the afternoon, luckly we didnt get even a drop of rain

Mark with his signiture 'Thumbs Up' burnout, great work as always Mark.

And while it is always good to end on a bang, the closest thing i got is some nice Top Fuel header flames ala Mariani. Toasty...

Well thats it for another post. All images from the meet are now up on http://www.jngimages.com/ in the events section (TNT240410) so be sure to check out the loads of other awesome cars that attended.

I will be working my ass off to get the remaining 2 major meets done, uploaded and covered by Sunday ready to hit it hard again with Superlap in 2 weeks time.

Until then, keep on it!

Jason

EXTREME PERFORMANCE Issue #65

2010-04-28T15:20:00.003+10:00

Those close to me would more than likly be aware that i recently started working for Express Media Group as a staff writer for 2 of the best Performance Motoring magazine titles in Aus Zoom & Extreme Performance. Yes, someone has been crazy enough to let my dribble be published... Please don't laught too hard...
While my work does not start to flow through until issue 66 for Extreme, and 148 for Zoom if can't help but show you guys what a jam packed issue of Extreme we have hitting the stand at the end of the week, 30/4/10 to be precise. Just take a quick glance at the cover car and you will know what im talking about. Jeremy Callaghan's 427ci LSX powered LH Torana sporting 2 huge 82mm Turbonetic turbo's is one mean bit of gear and has stunning looks to go with the grunt.
Backing up Jeremy's Green Machine is a host of other tough feature cars and event coverage, as well as in the builds, new products and inductry news.

So make sure you bolt down to your local newsagent and pick up a copy. You won't wanna miss this one.

Jason

Up-Up & Away, it's another Full Throttle Friday!!

2010-04-19T23:17:00.001+10:00

Never underestimate a Full Throttle Friday meet at Sydney Dragway. What started out looking like a rather poor attendance turned into a night of high flyers, skatey passes and 2step flamage. Once again proving that the Friday night meets are not to be missed if your a drag racing nutter like me.
Click on the 'Read More' tab for the full run down

Now if your into rotors then the name Pac Performance would be very familiar to you. Known for being one of Australia's and the worlds best rotory workshops they have a reputation for producing some extreamly tough rotary powered cars that give a big F-U to their piston powered competitors. Two such cars were in attendance for this meet and they both put on a great show.

Danny Petrevski, the owner of this hot looking RX3 Sedan (also the opener image) known as PANNIC was in for a surprise when he let go of the transbrake on his first run of the night. Showing just how much grunt the Pac-prepped 13B is packing under the hood and how much grip those chunky rear slicks get on a well prepped track.

The car pulled those front wheels up hard and towards the end the car headed for the cetreline and the tree as well, but Danny was able to control the beast and bring her down safely without any major damage. As a result he was able to complete many more passes on the night with a best of 8.5@156mph.

Another RX3 wearing the typical PAC livery is Rodney Rehayem in his Pro-Turbo Sedan. This would have to be one of my all time favorite cars to shoot and watch fly down the track.

The exterior paint scheme is fukn hot and so are the massive 2step flames this thing throws out. Just take a look at that flamage!! And this is mild compared to what i have seen Rodneys 3 produce on the line. Not only does the car look good and throw flames just as impressive as a top fueller it absoloutly hauls ass down the 400m too, spitting out 7.20's with relative ease.

Another car known for its flamage and just as impressive quarter mile runs is Nathan Farrugia's S6 RX7. 2010 see's a new paint scheme for the seven and while it does make it a bit harder for me to get a good shot of the beast (thanks Nathan, like i need any more of a challenge) i will say it does make it look rather impressive with the new black base.

This mobile BBQ spits out flames almost 24/7 when it staging, with every blap of the throttle comes a flash of flame, even more so on the 2step.

Another impressive car on the track is this stealth black VW Beetle wearing the very contasting JUNKA plates. This NOS fed NA flat four must pack some killer punch as it has no problems sitting up on the rear wheels. I mean, yeah most Beetle tend to do that but have a close look at the rear view sequence i shot. The damn thing sits on the rear exhaust tip as it goes almost verticle towards the centre line!! I wish i had of held the shutter down a tad longer as the Dub came down with a shower of sparks from the underside. However, just like Danny's Mazda, it too came round for several more runs that night.

Matt Gildon was out hunting for that 7 sec pass and early on it looked like it would be his night after managing a 8.07@165mph,

but his night was cut short after busting a chain in the middle of a pre-run burnout. Matt was not real happy as you can tell from his expression :)

Peter Pronesti made an appearence in his Staunch LJ. Judging by this image either his on-board kettle has well and truely boiled or he is runnin abig hit of giggle gas..... Hmmm, im thinkin the latter...

The ROTORG33K himself, Jamie Ruggier got behind the wheel of his goegeous marble RX3 Coupe. A big burnout was the order of the day with the new Meth fueled 13B. However after only it's first run of the night it suffered engin dramas and was put back onto the tilt tray for the trip home.

It's always good when you find a driver that doesnt mind having a camera pointed their way, or even interacting with you when your shooting as is the case with Mark Hinchelwood in his turbocharged Chev altered. Thumbs up for big burnouts!

This is one neat Torrie!

Tony had a converter issue with the stunning yellow Motortech VL, so unfortunatly no 8 sec passes for the night and a long trip back to the Gong.

V.I.P Automotive Torrie, sensational!

PRO100 is shaping up to be a killer combo running the quarter in mid to low 8's still in testing. An how hot is that candy paint job. It's definatly got the go to match the show!

Well i think thats enough dribble for tonight. Check out the full gallery of the night on http://www.jngimages.com/

Stay tuned as i am hoping to have my Compac Attak images up shortly along with my coverage of Saturday's Test n Tune on the 24/04.

Take care and keep it poppin!

~ Jason ~

Long time no see... Long overdue 2 event drag update.

2010-04-17T22:51:00.147+10:00

Yes i know, it's been like a month since i last uploaded new contecnt onto the web and blogged about my travels to the track but you will be happy to know i have just uploaded images from the 14/3 Track Championship and 27/3 Full Throttle Friday meet.

Hit the 'Read More' tab for a few highlights from the 2 events.

Will start off with the Track Championship meet,

It was good to see Bill Nabham out again behind the wheel. This time he has steering Craig Wassan's 20BPP SHERIFF RX3 to mid 9's.

Rocky Rehayem had the front wheels of the Mazda6 up in the air on every pass and 6.90's are becoming a walk in the park for the Pac Performance crew as they look to increase the lead as the Worlds fastest rotary.

If you look upthe word 'Insane' in the dictionary there should be a picture of Frank Mamone. This guy is mad. His super tough Chevy Nova is running a Ex Top Doorslammer engine up front and trying to put all that power to the ground through a pair of 10in tyres! Event with the setup currently running on a very lazy tune the car just frys the tyres as it tries to make it's way down the track.

At the most recent Track Championship meet (yes, the one i wasn't able to attend) Frank managed to peddle the Nova to a 6.9 with the tyres turning the whole way. INSANE!

Dave Miller seems to be getting the hang of steering the little red 1000 Ute knocking over a few mid 9's. The car looks to be a real handfull to drive with Dave still strigling to keep into it for a full pass. With some more track time im sure we will start to see some times indicative of the cars full potential

Anthony LaPenna had the 2JZ Lux cocking the front left wheel up on every pass looking like a dog pissin on a tree, but one of the last passes of the day he suffered some major tyre shake resulting in the front headlight falling off the car and shattering into a million pieces on the track. Not to metion giving Anthony one killer headache i would imagine!

Sam Sabato's Monaro might not look like much on the outside but with launches like this on every pass and slapping gears though a manual box he is always one to watch

Another tough Monaro out on the track was Carlo Luisi's PURPUL GTS. Such a smooth sounding car as it picks up the front and fly's down the 400m

Always one of my favorite's is Matt Grubisa in the big red 57 Chev GRUBEE. Such an awesome looking car and it has some big balls under the hood too.

Phil Read and Mark Mariani were both out in the Top Fuelers absolutely shaking the stands

Lately i seem to have become a magnet for cars as they seem to aim for me when they get out of shape. This was the last shot i took before i jumped away like a girl. Ha ha, i need to stop doing that, i miss out on some pretty good shots as a result...

Anthony Wilsons altered is one awesome looking machine!

Moving onto the 27/3 Full Throttle Friday meet we will start off as usual with some hard core rotor action with the long awaited debut of SDR's Steve Dimich's Ex Puerto Rico Datsun 1200. The old Steidel coupe has been given a visual freshen up, along with a new 13BT setup. Steve had the little coupe throwing out some mad flamage on the 2 step and while he didnt manage to get a full power pass in on the night the car was launching very hard and straight out of the hole. I believe this car will become a real force in the Pro Compact class.

Another new car stepping into the scene is this imaculate R100. PRO100 is in fact the old NOSPIG and has been given a full rebuild and 13BT/Liberty combo. GAS Motorsports Joe Signorelli was in the drivers seat for this meet putting down a few test passes in practice for Compac Attak

RX3 sedans just look right in white...

Now this is one car we havn't seen on the track for ages. MR12A is back and ready to show those bigger rotors just what the little 12A is capable of.

The Envy Dyno R33 drag car managed to break into the 8's but not before getting a bit out of shape and knocking down all but one of the timing markers like pins in a bowling alley.

Bozin Georgievski's Maatouk backed VL Calais spat out 9.2@145mph

Matt Gildon is still pushing for that 7 sec pass on the turbo Busa. It shouldn be too long now.

Capri's arent usually my thing but in the case of these two i will definatly make an exception. RAMMER is just an animal

and the twin turbo lexus powered Capri is one tough 9sec street car

Top Fuel Bike. Leonard Azzopardi you are insane!!

PMPGAS, one sexy RX3 steered by Pac's George Rehayem

Now i will leave you with the wheelstand of the month curtesy of Chris Papadopoulos in the GT Falcon. Up-Up & Away.....

Full gallery is now up on http://www.jngimages.com/ so check it out.

I am still catching up on processing my images from the Compac Attak event due to my current CS3 program not wanting to open the D3s files from the Body i borrowed on the day, so once i get CS4 up and running i will be sure to get them up ASAP. I also have photos from last nights Full Throttle Friday meet (17/4) all ready to go, and boy i cant wait to show them to you. Some crazy ass wheel stands let me tell you...

Till then, catch ya at the track.

Jason

Mechanix Wear marketing

2010-04-14T21:50:00.003+10:00

Recently i was given the opportunity to do some marketing work for a company called Mechanix Wear. They wanted to get some images of some crew members from certain race teams using thier range of work gloves, with the big focus being the Auto1 Top Fuel team. The image above ran in the April issue of Street Machine Magazine and will also be used in an up coming Auto1 catalogue.

For those that may be interested, click on the 'read more' tab for a run down on the whole shebang.

The brief for the day was to get in close with the crews and snap away when they return back to the pits after a run and are checking the engine over etc.. No staged shots, just images of the crews getting into it. While this seems like an easy task, if anyone has watched a Top Fuel crew working on their rail during a competition you will know that it is a mad house of many crew members in a very small space busting their buts to get the car ready for the next round, the last thing they need is a pesky photographer jamming a camera in their faces while they work.
At the end of it i walked away with a load of very basic snap shots and a few decent ones which the company liked which is always a good thing. While they may seem like plain old snap shots to me, they were exactly what the client wanted so who was i to argue?
They also asked if i could get some shots of the Top Fueller on the track taking off with header flames ablaze. Now that was something a bit more challengine and exciting for me and i snapped a few clean crisp shots which we were both real happy with.

At the end of the day the client was very happy and i am hoping it will lead to more work in the future.

Jason

Last FTF for summer a huge hit!! Perfect evidence that we need more of them...

2010-02-28T14:06:00.020+11:00

Well what can i say, this most recent Full Throttle Friday meet was one of the best, if not the best i have attended. An awesome number and selection of cars racing throughout the night, together with some Top Fuel header flames, skatey passes, sparks flying from under cars and a few new and exciting racers out testing.

This meet we would see the quickest ever side by side Sport Compact pass on Aus soil, with the GAS Motorsports Celica, and the M&M racing Hurricane Solara putting down mid 6's that was followed by a big cheer from the crew and the crowd. Joe Signorelli in the Celica managed a 6.46@217, and Malcom Glasestt's Hurricane a 6.50@218. This is a sign of big things to come at Compac Attak in March.

Something that really cought my eye in the pits was this engineering masterpiece Mazda 1000 Ute owned and driven by David Miller . It was the cars first outing and was looking to get a few test passes under his belt. The little ute sure has a lot going for it on the outside with its extended cabin (due to the driver being 6' plus) and the welded tray (usually a seperate part).

But its under the bonnet, and the chassis that is where the real workmanship is. The tube frame work that joins up to the OEM full chassis on the ute is complemented with a custom steering and suspension setup. The 13BT block sits well back into the cabin area (im talkin only about 5" of block sits forward of the orig firewall profile!) for better weight transfer, while the huge turbo, intake, piping and fuel cell takes pride of place up front.

the first pass saw a bit of a clutch hop off the line, litterally, with the front wheels lifting, followed by the rear

The 2nd pass started a lot better, after a skatey burnout the car launched out of the hole well another minor issue put an end to a chance of a full pass. This car will definatly be one to watch in the coming months.

Another new car out was this beautiful HR Holden. While it does look super neat on the outside with the depp blue/purple exterior, pollished Weld Magnums up front, its under the bonnet that is the real feast for the eyes, and if you look at the plates you would be able to figure out why...

Immidiatly you are hit in the face with the gloss black piping and detail work, and the massive turbo jammed into the bay hanging off the 400ci V8.

The driver did only manage to do one pass, and with a very slow take off and 60', once it came on boost, the thing just picked up and flew down the track for a smooth 9.05@164. I was amazed at how calm and quiet it was, bit still managed to run a flat 9. With a better 60' and further testing this car should run effortless 8.5's while still looking/sounding like a neat streeter. Just perfect!

Vince Rigolli brought the little Fiat powered 1200 ute for a run and pulled off a quick 7.8@169 pass. A great effort for the little 4cyl donk.

Frank Cannistra was running very consistant throughout the night, reeling off several 8.3's, and getting a lot of air under the front end over the 60' in true 'MRHELI' style.

Oak Flats Muffler Men's Steve McGirr finally sorted out the 2step in the coupe and boy did it show, with Steve pulling some huge launches out of the hole, and one that got a bit out of shape resulting in a tank slapper across both lanes and ending up resting the front against the opposite lane wall. Luckly for the team the car only suffered a few minor scratches. Hopfully with some tweaking of the suspension and the bars we will see the car push closer towards 8's at CA.

GAS Motorsports also brought out the 2JZ Beemer that shot down the track for a 7.0@192 which may be a PB for the crew.

This strip tearer 808 driven by Matthew Rice managed a 10.9 pass out of what i am told is a very basic 13BT setup.

This Maatouk sponsored VL tore up the track with some big burnouts and slipped out a few 9 sec passes along side George harmis in the blue VL.

It was a real shame we didnt get to see a good pass from Jeremy Callaghan's 'SUBTLE' twin turbo Torana. The Profab backed is stunning in appearance and if those 2 huge huffers hanging out the bonnet are anything to go by, the car should rocket down the strip once sorted.

Tony Jovanoski from Wollongongs Motortech see here attempting to take off while snapping a driveshaft clean in half. This sleeper has reeled off a high 9 sec pass previously.

Paul Calegia had a few stall issues with the 6Cyl Turbo 'CORTYA' Cortina

Yes, that is a truck flapper on the verticle dump pipe.... This S13 Silvia houses a 1UZ V8 coupled with a dirty great big Holset turbo and Ebay wastegate poking out the bonnet. It managed mid 11's with a stock, un-opened quad cam block.

Peter Pronesti had some crazy passes in the PRO05L LJ. This thing has serious power, mixed with a lot of traction and was pulling wheel stands to half track like a yo-yo drawing big cheers from the stands

When you see these things side on you can really notice how stretched they really are. And when runnin low 8's and into the 7's, i would want as much length as i could get too. And they still lift the front!! Crazy!

Craig Hewitt giving a quick purge of the NOS.

This shot is testimant to why i love off camera flash. just look at the detail work on this car. Stunning.

Jeorge Leraio slapped through the gears in his super neat Torana. A very neat and consistant car.

Paul Cannuli tore through the clutch packs in his Doorslammer Comaro, not once but twice. Looks like there's a sparkler stuck under the car....

Mark Mariani in the Top Fueler moments before the engine went up in flames.

unfortunatly i wasnt quick enough to turn around and catch the action, only got a povo pic of the smokey aftermath.... Shocking ha ha.

And how could i forget the highlight of the night, the unveiling of the new Pro-Bunny Group 1 class. This lone racer put on a good shot but was later kicked off the thrack due to not having a ANDRA approved roll cage...... ;)

Full gallery is up on my website http://www.jngimages.com/, and make sure you become a member & look out for the up-coming video footage at http://www.rotorg33k.com/.

until next time, stay on it!!

Jason.

Summernationals rained out....Again....

2010-02-19T16:02:00.021+11:00

One of the most weather cursed events on the Aus drag racing calender would have to be the Summernationals. Its has been 5 years from memory since the event has been run in its entirity over the full 2 days. Maybe it's just me, but i think it's wierd to have the words 'Summer' & 'Rain' together, maybe they should change the name to the Wetnhumid Nationals instead...

We did at least get through most of a days racing, with 2 rounds of qualifying for the Grp 2-4, and the first round of Grp 1, but only jusst. Its was not long after the Top Fuelers got the first passes done and dusted, that the heavens opened up and threw down one of the biggest down pours i have been in for a while now. Within about 15 mins, there was a river of water almost 3" deep running through the pit area, that later turned into a river of mud as the dirt washed off the hills surrounding the area. It was not fun being stuck down the back under a almost collapsing GAS Motorsport tent for over an hour before it calmed down enough for me to run back to the media room and not get my gear soaked. But lets get down to business...

A highlight of the day, at least for sport compact fans was the 2nd exabition run for the new Group 1 ProFX class, and the first for Sydney Dragway spectators. It has taken a lot of time and effort to make this happen, and to finally see SC cars running in the same class as the fastest drag cars in the country, Top Fuel, Top Doorslammer, Top Alcahol , Pro Stock and now ProFX. A nice showing of high tech turbo muscle made their present felt with cars running in the class for this event.

Teams racing in the exabition included GAS Motorsport with the GAS Celica, driven by Joe Signorelli, and the new Scion pioloted by Ben Bray

Craig Dyson in his freshly painted Celica, which looked to be on a mission before things got a bit skatey and the car viered toward the opposite lane at half track.

Malcom Glassett in the Hurricane Solara

Tony Wedlock in the TRD Aurion

and Rockey Rehayem in the Pac Performance Mazda6, currently the only non 2JZ powered car in the class.

The Super Compact class saw two Qld cars make the trip to show the NSW guys how things are down in the sunshine state. Damien McKern in the GRUMP2 RX2

and Mark Jacobson in the off tap Godzilla Motorsports R32 GTR. Now both of these guys no how to put on a show, with huuge burnouts and tonnes of smoke that almost blocks the sun... No wonder mother nature hates us...

Johnny Critos, aka MRROTA ran hard as always putting on a good show for the spectators in the JCRacing R100.

Sam Sadek and his mean coupe will be one to watch this year. With Ivan Scaramucha's sedan having a small break after the slight incident with the wall at the recent NZ nats, will the Godfather push to take the #1 RX3 spot... Only time will tell.

And a big surprise from the Pac Performance crew was the return of the always stunning Pac 626 with George Rehayem behind the wheel. The sight and sound of the big 20B is music to any rotor heads ears and down trackside it was like it never left. After a issue on the startline for the first qualifying run, the team came out for the second round and launched hard for a nice 7.35@187mph. Hoping to see the car out again soon, and cant wait to see a side by side Pac 6/626 pass.

Super Sedan usually has a good amount of SC cars but we only saw a few enter for this event. the Soprano's R100 owned/driven by brothers Jason & Victor Acuri, looked like it was going to start ripping heli's in the burnout box before pulling a big wheels up trans-brake launch for a solid 8.79@152mph

The East Coast Bodyworks RX7, driven by Moustafa Sakina strugles to cut a clean pass, with 500+rwh and a 26x8.5 tyre, its not hard to understand why. Musa doesnt back off the throttle though which makes for some exciting passes.

Gary Haplin is a SS regular, i cant remember an event where he didnt compete. His little Datsun 12oo Coupe has a 2JZ stuffed under the bonnet and manages to get down the quarter in low 9's consistantly with help from the guys at Rocco's Performance.

Peter Pisalidis and his ProCharger HB Torana putting on a show. i could only imagine the torque that goes through that little chassis....

Kit Hunter's VL is a stunner, and an animal on the track capable of mid 9's @ almost 140mph

This tuff VR/VS commodore, driven by owner Jim Loannidis and runs a very angry 308 thats good for mid 9's and is the current ANDRA Super Stock B/MSA national Record holder .

Carlo Luisi had the Goodyears biting down hard out of the hole.

Rodney Spannerburg representing Sport Compact in Super Gas.

Maroi Polito's ITSBAK GT sounded very strong and had no issues lifting the wheels...

The Deno's Racing Camaro got a bit sideways in the burnout but didnt back off any, thats what we like to see!

but unlike the Deno's car, this Camero was un-able to keep off the wall when it stepped out just passed the 60' . Only suffering a small amount of dammage it did makethe other photogs jump back pretty quickly....

Mike Janis put a few scratches on the new paint work after he to came into contact with the Sydney Dragway barrier. back to the panel shop for 'Wild Willy'

This meet was also a special one for me personally. I got to witness my first sub 5sec 1/4mile pass, well 2 actually. The fastest pass of the day went to the FUCHS Fueller driven by Phillip Lamattina, with a amazing 4.81@286mph. Definatly got the blood pumping thats for sure!!

Well that about covers it for the short Summernationals highlights from me. Full image gallery is up on the website http://www.jngimages.com/ .

Next event should be next weeks Full Throttle Friday and also the Sydney Power Cruise from Eastern Creek Raceway. If you can, make sure you get down there and check it out. You will not get to see some of the toughest street, track and drag cars cruising around like this anywhere else. Its definatly a unique event. For more info see the website http://www.powercruise.com/?site=sydney

Jason

Pre Nationals Testing

2010-02-11T18:53:00.018+11:00

With the previous weeks Testing cancelled due to bad weather, and the Summer's just a few days away Sydney Dragway decided to let the racers test out the cars and gather valuable data for the weekends event in place of the usual Wed night off street meet.

A combination of a mid week date, and short notice the afternoon started off very slow (and damn hot!) with very few cars showing up until later on in the afternoon. Once the temp started to cool down a bit cars started to filter through at a quicker rate which was welcomed by everyone.

A big attraction for the meet, well for Sport Compac fans was the new GAS Motorsports Scion (Ex Titan). Out with a new slick metallic grey paint job and piloted by none other than Top Doorslammer championship winning Ben Bray. "Benny the Kid" as he is frequently called has been given the task of wheel man of the Scion for the 2010 season. Although he only managing a few test passes it is safe to say that the car will be at the pointy end of the Field once everything is sorted, and with a reported .98 60" time so far in the car, the team are confident it will run mid 6's at the summers. Oh, and yeah, and its still running a 10.5" tyre .Fingers crossed. .

The awesome looking, and very tuff "MR ROTA" R100 made an appearance. Owner and driver Johnny Critos of JC Racing had the little R1 up on the back wheels and shooting down for mid 8s without breaking a sweat. Cant wait to see more of this weapon on the weekend.

Another car that really gets the blood pumping is this Turbo LS1 ute from well known Sydney workshop C&V Performance. With a sexy custom paint job and a huge single turbo strapped onto the big injected V8, the car absolutely flies down the track in style, running a best of 7.1@193mph on the night. There is nothing like the sound of a turbo V8 going flat chat down the strip, its not a ear busting noise like the top fulers and doorslammers, but a deep burble with the distinct whistle as the car struggles to maintain traction for the whole length of the track. I for one welcome a Pro class for these cars in the future.

The VL Turbo brigade were well represented with Julian Barberra & George Harmis dueling it out in their rigs, both working on hitting that elusive 7 second pass.

This sparkling green sedan that was sure giving its street tyres a hiding off the line. This was one of the few street cars they allowed into the meet to fill in the gaps.

SDR Motorsports RX2's made a brief appearance, Joe Chetcuti in his 13BT powered sedan, a very consistent Super Sedan runner.

and Bill Massi in this red coupe running the bigger brother 20BT package, and as with Joe's car, both run a C4 Auto. If your like me, and a big fan of the SDR team, check out their new website just finished at http://www.sdrm.com.au/

This super clean RX3 made a single first pass of 10.03@133mph and unfortunately that was all we saw of it for the night which was really disappointing...

This capri could win a race before the green light. Could you imaging lining up next to this thing?? Look at the size of that blower!! ANIMAL.

A cool little old schooler mixed with some forced fed motivation.

Sean Mifsud waited until his last run of the night to pull out a low 6 in the "Shoebox" Top Doorslammer

Little dragster on a big track. I really like this photo for some reason...

I'm a big fan the simple blue on white paint scheme of the Lucas oils Doorslammer.

This neat Stang sounded very tuff and looked great without all the usual sponsorship decals all over the place.

"Wild Willy" was testing, and with a flash new coat of paint.

Macca's advertising, its everywhere. No wonder shows like the biggest looser keep coming back every year....
That's enough dribbling from me, The full gallery from last nights racing is up on my website for your viewing pleasure. www. JNGIMAGES.com

In addition to just clicking the mouse and having a look around, if you have any suggestions or comments, good or bad, drop me an email and let me know. I value your feedback.

Make sure you get your ass down to Sydney Dragway tomorrow and Sat 12-13/2/10 for the Summernationals. If the weather co-operates and we can have some clear sky's its going to be a hit. If for some reason your lazy and cant get off your lounge for a few hours you can tune in and listen to the live feed from the track. Follow this link. http://energy08.egihosting.com/18321

Hope to see you there!

Jason

BLinG bLiNg ShowCar Sunday Shines...

2010-02-01T11:54:00.027+11:00

If your a big fan of candy paint, huge chrome rims, leather interiors and onscene amounts of speakers & monitors then this was the show for you. Not my usual scene but wanting to get out there and cover something a bit different i made the trip to Rosehill gardens (a fairly prestigeous horse racing facility) for the event.

Greeted at the gate by crazy beats from the on site Dj's and many barely dressed promo girls we entered the first hall to see a nice mixture of late model hi-tech turbo cars, old school muscle, euro's and slammed low riders. Im not a big fan of shooting indoor shows due to tightly packed cars, huge crowds n lighting that is not the most desirable but it was good to see that things were laid out nice and open which made my job a lot easier, but damn, i wish i didnt forget the tripod.... Hi ISO n Flash it is then eerrr.

The first car that cought your eye as you entered the hall was this iridescent blue FD RX7

With not a standard part left to see it was a big crowd drawer with its smooth paint, salmon leather interior (def not my preferred colour..) Huge sound install and a seemingly very modified 13BT engine. Not to be out done there was much chrome and pollished parts in the bay too.

Another car representing the rota heads was this ol school R100, although the paint and wheels treatment was given a modern touch..

I am a big fan of the deep red cany paint, i feel while being a very modern choice it still suits the style and shape of the R1 very well. The FR17's definatly look at home on any early model car, but coated in gold offset the body colour nicely. With the bonnet removed you could also get a good look at the neatly displayed, and more than likly very tuff 13BT. Complete with IDA injection setup, Gilmer Drive pulleys and pleanty of pollished componants. Nice & neat, just how we like them!

Show Car Sunday was even the place for some tuff cars from the drag scene. The M&M Racing Solara was on show with its newly finnished makeover. Not sure if im a fan of the new colour scheme but its fkn quick on the track so who cars....

MMMMM Carbon Fibre.........

JDM style, mixed with some bling made for an interesting looking S14. Dumped low on big deep dish rims is nothing we havnt seen with a Silvia before, but throw in bright eye watering paint that extends to the detailed wheels and red/white walled tyres and you have something very unique and stylish.

Bike's were also welcome at the show with this detailed and glowing GSXr on display and a few tuff choppers as well.

Air brush work always seems to suit bikes well, no matter what the style sport bike or cruiser...

There were plenty of RB powered cars on on show in all types of forms, from this group of VL's (reminds me of a packet of skittles..)

to full race prepped ball tearers like the Queen St Gemini and this Candy VK.

Turbocharged and NA mixing it up..

This Gemini was a standout for me. The combination of colours that seemed to just flow with eachother, extending into the interior was extreamly well done.

Old VS

New, power figures aside, but i know what one i would be choosing.....

You can only wonder where people get the money to buy these things, let alone modify them.....

The ultimate cruisers, with a tribute to a legend. E.A.Z.Y

More dead cows than a you could poke a stick at. Moooooooo.

Overall i left the show pretty happy with what i saw, and the modest entry fee was welcomed too, unlike another prominant car show i wont bother naming.....

A gallery is up on my site with some images from the day. www.JNGIMAGES.com

Look forward to next years event which will no doubt be bigger and better. great job guys.

Jason

Jason's Dribble

2010 - My pick of the bunch Part 1

Long time no see

Zoom magazine new website now online

Zoom Magazine issue 148 - My first cover shoot

Driving Sports Twilight Drifting - Eastern Creek Raceway Sydney

Ausrotary Meet

McKern Racing smashes 7's takes the home the championship

2010 Wold Time Attack Challenge attracts world-wide audience

2010 Nitro Champs raises the bar for ANDRA Pro Series drag racing

2010 Haltech Compac Attak - Sydney's premier Sport Compact event

Sydney Dragway Test n Tune 24/4/10 - Pre Nitro Champs warm up

EXTREME PERFORMANCE Issue #65

Up-Up & Away, it's another Full Throttle Friday!!

Long time no see... Long overdue 2 event drag update.

Mechanix Wear marketing

Last FTF for summer a huge hit!! Perfect evidence that we need more of them...

Summernationals rained out....Again....

Pre Nationals Testing

*BLinG bLiNg* ShowCar Sunday Shines...

BLinG bLiNg ShowCar Sunday Shines...