Saturday 11/7 saw another Test n Tune day commence at WSID. As i made the effort to get to the track a bit earlier this time i was welcomed by a thick fog that spread over the whole complex. There were already a lot of eager crews out and about getting cars off trailers and prepping to hit the strip.
I had planned to spend the day with the crew behind Steve Barnfather's tuff little 12A RX3. You may remember the satin black sedan from the last test n tune that ran a seriously quick 9.00 ET.
Earlier in the week Dale & the team at Castle Hill Performance had the car back on the dyno for some further tuning and managed to squeeze an absolutely outlandish 701hp at the wheels! This was up from a prev best of around 470. Big things were expected from Steve & the car that features an owner built 12A engine, he didn't disappoint...After a few small issues with getting the car to prepped in the morning, thanks to a loose injector plug connection, Steve got suited up and strapped in for what was sure to be a crazy ride. Pushed into the staging lanes and trying to calm the nerves Steve waited...
One solid burnout later Steve was staged up and ready to let loose the semi PP powerhouse. A hard launch, rev limit changes 2nd & 3rd getting a little out of shape over the 60' the car was on a mission.Pulling hard across the 400m and the time board lit up and the crew gave out a cheer... 8.3@158mph. Steve had not only ran his log awaited 8 sec pass, he smashed it! The crew & Steve were over the moon and very keen to get the car back into the pits for a check out the data logs & dial in a tad more boost in hopes of a even lower ET.
Unfortunately for Steve and the crew, it would be the cars only pass of the day, with the car suffering from a snapped 5th gear selector stud during the next burnout.
Even after the mammoth effort Steve put in the remove and swap his gearbox with one donated by fellow racer Craig Wassan's SHERRIF RX3, it was not enough as ignition gremlins put an end to a long day.
Disappointing as it may have been not to see the car go back out, the crew & Steve went home with a new PB and a lot to look forward to next time.
This was of course not the only fast car out on the day, with many others lining up ready to run.
Steve aka "Junior" has his newly completed Tubbed RX3 sedan out for its maiden pass for both driver and car. Full of nerves Jnr didn't hold back with a credible 10.2 on his first run, followed up with a 9.8 & 9.7 on only low boost. The car was running perfectly but unfortunately on the last pass, the chute did not deploy properly and the car brushed the end wall causing a small amount of panel damage and a buckled wheel as seen in the pics below. A solid first effort and a lucky escape.
The Blue series 6 RX7 was out again this month, now known as the "Drift RX7" after its tail happy runs, the car was up to its usual crazy launches, this time getting very crossed up in the 60' and parallel parked against the side wall, luckily only very minor damage.
Joe Signorelli in the GAS Motorsports 2JZ Celica was on fire with a stout 6.503@217MPH
Also from the GAS stable, Malcom Glassett ran 6.62 in the Solara
Nick Tsoltoudis had the Queen St Coupe running those big trap speeds all day with a best of 7.3@191MPH
The guys from Motortech had a customers fresh and super clean VL out for testing, and surprised the crew with a best of 8.9.
Below are a few of the other cars that ran or were on display at the track, was not able to get many times as i was wandering around and chatting to people much of the day. I will have more images on my FlickR stream soon.http://www.flickr.com/photos/jngimages/
J19 Fast Fours Jamboree in sunny QLD is comming up quickly stay tuned for a wrap up.Jason.
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