The weather gods were once again unkind to the Sydney Jamboree, but Team Bray Racing still managed to make powerful strides forward with the new set-up for Ben Bray’s Toyota Solara.
After the original March 16 date for the event was rescheduled to March 30 due to forecasts of heavy rain, more of the wet stuff following by heavy winds caused a delayed start and a shortened racing schedule on the new date before the final for the Factory Xtreme bracket was ultimately called off.
Ben’s TBR team-mate Rod Harvey was declared the winner of FX for the event, courtesy of his consistent results across the passes he was able to complete on the day.
“Rod is definitely a deserving winner, of the four passes he did at the Sydney Jamboree three of them were in the ‘fives!’” Ben said.
“The weather was certainly a pain, but everyone did what they could to keep the show going and we certainly did all we could to make the most of the opportunities on track that we did have.”
The TBR Toyota Solara has undergone a host of upgrades recently with the team working hard to make sure they were taking advantage of the new set-up, which included a Garrett 106mm turbo from Garrett Advancing Motion, a new cam shaft from Franklin Cams NZ, a custom exhaust system from CRG Manifolds, a custom designed all-billet intake manifold from CPC Custom Plenum Creations and also changes to the converter, gearbox ratios and drive train.
“It may not have been our event this time around but it was successful for us all the same – we made the most of Friday’s test day to fine tune the car after all the upgrades and also made some good progress across the passes we were able to run on the weather-affected Saturday,” Ben said.
“We have been totally blown away by the support of our partners in the run-up to this event and we can’t thank them enough for everything. The new set-up is amazing and we are really looking forward to truly unlocking its potential.
“Next up for the Solara will be some local meetings at our home-track of Willowbank Raceway for testing purposes ahead of the Brisbane Jamboree in August. In between we will also be looking to defend our Gulf Western Oil Winternationals Factory Xtreme title.
“We are also really looking forward to the newly announced Swan Hill Jamboree later this year.”
While there is plenty going on for the Factory Xtreme program of the Gulf Western Oil-supported TBR, the team’s Pro Slammers will also be receiving plenty of attention now that the Sydney Jamboree is run and done.
The penultimate round of the 400 Thunder Series for Pro Slammer will be held at the Gulf Western Oil Nitro Thunder event at Sydney Dragway across May 3 and 4, ahead of the Gulf Western Oil Winternationals at Willowbank Raceway in June.
