Pro Street 10.5 Outlaw trail blazers Paul Mouhayet and Simon Kryger are set to lead more than 100 Pro Street racers to Willowbank Raceway next weekend, with the World and Australian record holders both confirmed for the upcoming Pro Street Shootout tomorrow.
As the world’s fastest racer on a 10.5” tyre and Australia’s fastest nitrous-powered racer respectively, Mouhayet and Kryger are perfect ambassadors for the headline Outlaw 10.5 class which is gathering a cult following on Australia’s Pro Street scene.
For Mouhayet, the Willowbank Raceway event will cap off a half-year of highs and lows which saw him go from claiming world records to rebuilding his Boss Buckets Moits 10.5 Ford Mustang after a tyre blow-out caused extensive damage during testing for the Sydney Pro Street finale in November.
“Before we broke through for our world speed record it was held by American Brad Personett at 250 miles per hour and only one racer in the world had run a ‘five second’ pass – America’s Brad Brand,” said the 39 year old workshop manager from Thornleigh in Sydney who is supported by Boss Buckets, CV Performance, Moits and Thornleigh Auto Body.
“In August at the Sydney Pro Street event we ran a string of 6.0 second passes at 248 miles per hour before finally cracking through for a 250 mile per hour pass and then a amazing 5.99 second pass at 252 miles per hour – clinching not only the world 10.5 speed record but also the Australian 10.5 speed and elapsed time records while becoming the first in Australia and the second in the world to go ‘fives’ in a 10.5 car.
“No one has gone faster, and I am confident that once we are back in the groove with the rebuilt Boss Buckets Moits Mustang we will be able to up the ante and go even faster with quicker ETs to boot.
“Having said that though, I am making a change this year to focus more on going rounds and chasing event wins – that isn’t something you can easily do when you are chasing the big numbers as your focus on consistency goes out the window.
“I really have to thank GD Race Cars for all of their help in getting the car back up and running ready for the March Pro Street event – while it will be early days for us back on track, we will be doing everything we can to put on a great show while focusing on consistency and going rounds, you never know maybe we can pick up a win on the way!”
While Mouhayet may be focusing on going rounds next weekend, for APSA co-director Kryger the attention will be focused squarely on beating the world record in his nitrous-powered 68 Camaro.
“Right now I am the fastest nitrous-powered car outright in Australia (6.59 seconds and 217 miles per hour) and previously I have held the top spot in the world for nitrous 10.5 mile per hour which is currently set at 6.40 seconds and 220 miles per hour by American Mo Hall,” said the 40 year old car builder and Plant Mechanic from Albion Park in New South Wales, who is supported on track by sponsors Westend Performance, Steel City Fabrications and Innocent Motorsports as well as his crew of wife Angela, daughters Caitlin and Courtney and friend Tom.
“When it comes to the Pro Street Shootout at Willowbank Raceway that world record is where all of my focus will be – I want to go out there and claim it for myself on both the elapsed time and speed fronts.
“I know we can do it, we haven’t been pushing the car recently but with a whole new set-up now in place we are set to be go all out at the Pro Street Shootout to chase down that record, and if we get a event win along the way that will be a really nice bonus too!
“To me shooting for the big amazing numbers is what this class is all about. As one of the directors for APSA our motivation for getting this Outlaw 10.5 class going was all about wanting to create an exciting and entertaining class where people could really push the limits, if you take a look around it is pretty clear that it’s working with racers like Paul Mouhayet who is the world’s fastest taking part – if you ask me that is pretty incredible!”
Wade Wagstaff’s Outlaw 10.5 Chevy will make its competition debut.
At the other end of the Pro Street class scale, local racers Janelle Scott and Tony O’Connor will be going head to head in a battle for the title of Australia’s fastest True Street racer.
Three-time and defending APSA True Street Champion Scott became the fastest True Street racer in the country and the first into the ‘eights’ when she laid down a 8.98 second pass and then a 8.96 second result aboard her 1977 Chev-powered LX Torana Hatch at Sydney Dragway in May 2013.
However it wasn’t long before the Stockleigh resident saw the accolade snatched away, when developing True Street star O’Connor of Springwood officially set down an 8.80 second pass aboard his Ford XD Falcon at Sydney’s Pro Street Grand Finale in November.
Each racer is sure they can do it again, setting the stage for a thrilling on-track battle of not only the sexes but also ‘the brands’ as the Pro Street Championship enjoys its first outing for 2014 at Willowbank Raceway this weekend.
“Going into the eights in Sydney not once but twice was a mind-blowing milestone. It was a goal we had really been aiming for and to achieve it was just awesome and since then I have been able to run eights at each track I have raced at including my home track of Willowbank Raceway,” said 49 year old Scott, a car parts sales representative with All Carbitz who is supported on track by her husband Colin and Janelle Scott Racing crew member Brett Reilly.
“When Tony went faster to take the record it was certainly expected and I hope it to be a fun challenge with him this weekend at Willowbank – it is home turf for both of us and it is obvious that he is a very tough competitor with a lot of power in a very purpose built car.
“The competition in this class is definitely on the increase – winning three championships hasn’t been easy, each and every year has become more difficult and in 2014 the competition is going to be even more fierce.
“At the moment we are playing the 2014 Pro Street season by ear as we seek to lock in some sponsorship to allow us to go to all of the rounds, but I can say for sure that we will be shooting to take back that record as a start! If we can be there for the whole season we will be – this sport is an absolute addiction, my Torana has more bonnets than I do shoes!”
For O’Connor – an engine builder for his own business Toca Performance – Janelle is a respected opponent and one he will be very mindful of as he hits the track this Saturday.
“Janelle and her team are awesome racers and are definitely a big threat on-track, as three-time champions they know what it takes and she is a great driver, they are very passionate and I really respect that – I know they won’t take me snatching the record away lying down so I am expecting some great competition this weekend,” said 51 year old O’Connor, who is supported on track by his son and crew chief Nathan as well as sponsors Toca Performance, Precise Automatics, Wizard Fabrications, Race Car Engineering, Pat’s Pro Restos, Newstar Service Centre, Wishart and ACT Diff Dr.
“It is the classic Ford versus Chevy battle, I work with all kinds of engines in my business Toca Performance but I have a real passion for Fords, so I am glad to be able to fly the flag for the Ford camp in my own way.
“Heading to Willowbank Raceway for the Pro Street Shootout I will be looking to re-set the record and I am pretty confident we can do it – before I set the 8.80 second pass in Sydney I ran a 8.70 second result in private testing at Willowbank – hopefully we can duplicate those results and at the same time, get our championship chase off to a good start.
“We will certainly have a target on our back this weekend as the record holders – the competition is extreme in this class and the level of performance across the board is continually stepping up, I think in a couple of years you will be looking at 8.30 second results for those who have the budget, the potential is already here in the field.”
Meanwhile Australian Pro Street Association X275 champion Terry Seng will soon depart his Toowoomba base to compete in this Saturday’s Pro Street Shootout.
Making that journey a little more interesting is the fact that Seng – who won the X275 class at the same event last year after a 13 year break from regular competition – and his family will journey to Queensland’s premier drag racing facility in none other than his championship-winning twin turbo LSX-powered Holden VC Brocky Replica, complete with trailer in tow.
Seng is well-known around Pro Street circles for driving his race car – which was a finalist in the 2013 Street Machine of the Year competition – as far as Sydney before enjoying on-track success and then driving back home (that’s a round trip of more than 1,700 kilometres).
While this weekend’s road trip may be much shorter, the stakes are just as high as the owner of Paramount Performance seeks to repeat the break-through success he and his car enjoyed on debut at last year’s Willowbank Raceway Pro Street shootout.
“This event in 2013 was our very first for this car, we literally finished it the night before and then licensed and tested the car during qualifying,” said the 37 year old Seng, whose appearance at the event signaled a return to regular competition after a 13 year hiatus during which he competed only sporadically at the wheel of Paramount Performance customer cars.
“Really the whole year was like a fairytale whirlwind from that very first event right through to the our second event win at the Sydney Pro Street meeting, our runner-up result at Benaraby and the final round in Sydney where I just missed out on the finals but had the points to take the title, it was just huge.”
So why does Seng insist on driving his obviously finely-tuned race car thousands of kilometres?
“First and foremost this car is a street car – why wouldn’t I want to experience the fun of driving, to get the full enjoyment possible out of it,” said Seng, who in July 2013 shot through to a personal best time of 8.10 seconds at 169 miles per hour at Willowbank Raceway.
“When we built the car, we did so with the intention of creating a street car first, a race car second. This meant that when it came to making decisions during the build process, any clashes between ‘road’ and ‘race’ were won by the road car element.
“Because the car is able to be road registered, we can cruise around with the family, tow a trailer with everything we need, and get the best out of a car that is driveable and the maximum bang for our buck – which really is the whole point our business Paramount Performance – working with street cars to get the best out of them for their owners for the money they spend, and our car is a test dummy for that in some respects.”
Seng’s racing pursuits are supported by Paramount Performance, Kyle at 6 Boost, Robbie from Abbott Engines and the Seng family, wife Anita and sons Jaidyn (10 years old) and Caleb (8 years old) – all of which have been actively involved in Seng’s preparation for Saturday’s event.
“We are definitely aiming to do everything we can to defend our title, both as the event winner last year and as the overall champion for the APSA X275 class – the car is constantly evolving so we will be doing everything we can to give ourselves the best chance of victory,” said Seng.
“Having said that, with the racers lining up for X275 this year I think it will be a massive achievement to just get an event win – the competition is going to be extremely fierce, with a lot of new racers to the class.
“X275 delivers very, very close racing; a lot of the cars are street registered like mine, and it is one of only a few places where you can see all different engine combinations like nitrous-powered, turbocharged, supercharged and naturally aspirated all going up against each other – it is fantastic to watch and great to be a part of.”
So be at Willowbank Raceway this Saturday for a wide array of Pro Street racers across the Outlaw 10.5, Outlaw Extreme, Pro Street Blown, Pro Street Unblown, Mod Street Blown, Mod Street Unblown, Radial Outlaw, True Street, Pro Street Bike and DYO categories that will be smoking the bags and scrapping the bumpers.
{fcomment}
