Reigning Australian Super Gas champion Matt Forbes has given his new Lucas Oil Chevrolet ’57 Corvette Roadster the thumbs up following its debut runs in Australia yesterday.
In private testing at Adelaide International Raceway ahead of this weekend’s Fuchs Springnationals, Forbes ran six passes, the first a 9.92 second run straight off the trailer, leaving the Ballarat racer confident he can win with the Corvette on debut.
“The Lucas Oils Corvette Roadster was great from the get go. It ran straight down the middle of the lane on the first run and was just two-hundredths of a second off the 9.900 Super Gas index, so I have no doubt we’ll be competitive on race day,” Forbes said.
“We’ve had a bit of a play around with the set up to find out what worked and what didn’t and that’s given us a really strong base for the weekend.”
Forbes purchased the NHRA national event-winning Don Davis-built car from champion U.S. bracket racer Tommy Phillips and unveiled in June in front of Lucas Oil’s visiting Director of Motorsport, Tom Bogner.
He currently leads ANDRA’s Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship Super Gas bracket with the maximum allowable 300 points.
Forbes is on a 12-month winning streak and is closing in on back-to-back Super Gas titles with just two rounds remaining – the Springnationals and the Australian Nationals at Sydney International Dragway later this month (31 October – 2 November).
“It has been an unbelievable 12 months. I’m confident it can continue and believe the new Lucas Oils Corvette will take us to a second championship,” Forbes said.
“I’m really excited about the new car, I just have to make sure I don’t make any mistakes on the weekend – we like to give the Corvette the welcome it deserves and come away with a win.”
Qualifying for the Fuchs Springnationals at Adelaide International Raceway begins at 9:00am this Saturday, with eliminations from 9:00am Sunday.
