Ford fans will have a new team to cheer on come this weekend at Sydney Dragway with Peter Blake making the competition debut of his Racetech Steel 1970 Ford Mustang Top Doorslammer in the ANDRA Pro Series.
The Kurrajong, NSW racer has entirely built his own race car, joining the ranks of drivers in Top Doorslammer such as Russell Pavey who have chosen to find their own path to speed.
Blake will find out if the unique approach has been worth the blood, sweat and tears put into his 3000 horsepower sedan, capable of reaching up to 400kmh in six seconds.
“It’s not every day you can say you have designed and built your own body, your own chassis and manufactured your own engine,” Blake said
“We are super happy with how the very first shakedown tests went, they were relatively slow runs, but that was our intention.
“Our half track (incremental times) were only two tenths slower than where we need to be to be remotely competitive. Most importantly for me the car went straight and is a pleasure to drive.”
Testing is one thing, but in the crucible of competition Blake is still confident the Mustang will stand up to opponents who have much more data and experience on their cars.
“This weekend we hope to step it up and keep an eye on our short (incremental) times,” he said. “Our combination and set up is well suited to the first half of the track and we will be pushing hard.”
The team plans to get as many runs under their belt as possible with the new car, heading to Mildura following the Sydney event before coming back home for the Nitro Champs in May.
With some changes made in the camshaft area of the supercharged V8 race motor, Blake is looking forward to making it to race day.
“We will be crossing our fingers and hoping for a chance to be at the very least competitive and possibly even make our first ever ANDRA Pro Series field,” he said.
The ANDRA Pro Series featuring Top Doorslammer, Pro Stock, Pro Stock Motorcycle and the Rocket Allstars Racing Series is held on March 24 and 25 at Sydney Dragway.
Qualifying (Saturday) and racing (Sunday) both begin from 10am and tickets cost $35, with two day passes available for just $60.
