It was a totally different track on day two of the official Fuchs Winternationals Warm Up with the sun putting some good heat into the track which promised there would be some good numbers from a few teams.
Anthony Begley finally got to have a skid in his long skinny car. The team elected to run early in the morning and they were rewarded handsomely with an early shut off 4.95 at 260.86mph followed up by a late afternoon 4.96 at only 270.10mph, leaving the team to pack up from the weekend very happy. The car ran straight and true and stayed on full noise until Anthony came off the throttle at the bottom end.
Peter Zelow came back out to test his recently acquired TA/D and managed several passes on the day. First pass in the morning the car shook hard and crossed the centreline, then he came out for his second pass of the day and pulled out an early shut off 6.25 at 183.87 which showed real progress for the team. A third attempt netted a clutch dragging 6.47 at 199.67 on what proved to be a steep learning curve for both the crew and driver.
Gary Phillips had an ordinary day on the Saturday with two passes with huge shake and shut off but that was all forgotten with a 5.45 at 250.55mph in the morning and satisfied they found the answers they were looking for packed up and went home. 30s for the Winters?
Darren Fry in his Top Alcohol Funny Car experienced the same issue he had yesterday with tyre shake on his first pass but still managed a 5.75/254.09, but a last gasp pass on the day produced a 5.59/257.68.
Bill Goonan ran a best of 6.36 but a broken rod found later in the day was a devastating blow for the team who have only just rebuilt the entire car.
John Cannuli had two cracks at the track behind the wheel of his Camaro but both attempts ended in massive shake and shut off passes with a best ET of 7.71 for his troubles.
Peter Kapiris could not get his Top Doorslammer off the line and his last two passes went into violent tyre shake and shut off before quarter track.
Tyronne Tremayne headed the field for Pro Stock with a first up 6.99 at 196.13 with a 1.003 short time which made the team happy after the engine dramas they had at the recent X Champs. Aaron Tremayne was only just behind with a 7.02 at only 188.81.
Jason Hedges had his first skids of the weekend, starting with a 7.18 at 190.94, then improved in the next session with a 7.09 at 192.06 followed by a shut off 10 second pass on a day which proved to be a mixed bag for the team.
Wayne Daley’s Avenger took a big leap forward with a first up 1.002 short time to a 7.01 at 193.71 but could not improve on that time with a later 7.05 at 194.60 and a 7.03 at 187.81 showing good consistency.
Denis Whiting had several aborted passes during the day with various dramas but had a best of a 7.14 at 178.19.
Ian Brown also had sorting out dramas and could only manage 7.21 at 183.89 as his best pass for the weekend.
Chris Porter carried the front wheels for the first 300ft to a first up 6.56 at 213.20 in the morning which left the crew with smiles all round.
Mark Drew on his new scooter had a wild pass on his first attempt, pedalling multiple times to a 7.72 at a big 203.40, followed up by a 6.60 at 209.43, then carried the front wheel up high past half track to a 6.67 at 214.42. This bike is proving to be an absolute weapon and will definitely be one to watch in the future.
Colin Willshire came out again in his little four cylinder Eclipse and shook and carried the front wheels first up to a 6.88 at 206.51, later eclipsing that (no pun intended) with a 6.81 at 204.11
Three other Factory Extreme cars were testing and each had their own issues. Darren Kehl again had his 20B powered RX-7 out and kept on getting bogged down on the start line and could only manage a best of a 8.19 at 171.21.
Ben Bray launched hard in his Nissan Altima but spilled fluid under his tyres at quarter track sending the car into a wild spin, pulling up sideways at around mid track.
Scott Porter also had a big moment in his Nissan Infiniti, going into horrendous shake off the line which speared him straight across the centreline 60 feet out, pulling up sideways mid track.
Kate Harker came out to play in Competition with her AA/FC. Running against a 6.34 index she could only manage a best of a 6.36 at 221.52 with what sounded to be an easy tune up.
Omar Sedmak had his new A/AA out for some passes and ran a best of a 7.29 at only 148.29, showing so much more in the altered.
Kevin Magner had clutch dramas and struggled to get his A/MP Firebird down the track but still managed to get one solid pass in with a 8.46 at 166.11 to be .36 under the index for the class.
Tony O’Connor made steady improvements during the day with his A/MPA Falcon besting with a 8.58 at 157.48 to be .24 under his index.
Daniel Donnelly was having a blast in his father’s Corvette, showing some reasonable consistency with a best of a 6.82 to a 6.87 all around the 210mph region.
Mark Smith had his gorgeous blown Monaro out for some testing in Super Sedan, getting loose at about 1000 feet down the black top and crossing the centreline sideways, having a good close look at the car in the other lane not once but twice.
Images courtesy of Blacktrack.com.au & Dragphotos.com.au
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