01: Paul Mulcahy
was at DC last year
with his twin-turbo,
supercharged,
V6-powered Austin
Lancer but this year
he threw a turbo 408ci
LS motor along with a
Turbo 350 and 9in into a
ratty VH Commo wagon
and ran a best of 12.06
in the K&N DYO class02: Narrow-minded
street machiners
might look down on
Toyota’s 1970s coupes,
but Canberra’s Glenn
Archer reckons Toyota’s
almost plug-and-play
performance potential
is terrific: He installedan ex-Soarer twin-cam
head on a 3.0-litre Supra
short motor, and with a
DIY-built Garrett turbo
set-up, was an easy
mid-11 car all week. And
with gal Sarah riding
shotgun, he drove it
from Canberra and
home againBELOW: First-time
entrants Shane and
Carly Dale line up
Shane’s 502ci-powered
Sandman pano for
scrutineering. Prior
to DC the orange
behemoth had eighth-
mile race cred but no
proven highway miles or
quarter passesT
HERE’S nothing more boring than talking about the weather,
but in the case of Drag Challenge 2017, it’s unavoidable. The
shocking conditions that competitors endured throughout the
week are a big part of the narrative.
Apparently Mother Nature had gotten wind that Scotty Taylor
had devised a rigorous course of strip racing and street driving
through South Australia and Victoria to determine who has Australia’s
quickest street car in 2017, and she just had to get in on the action. Nature
was an absolute bitch all week, throwing down scorching heat, plagues of
flies, buckets of rain, and we’ll blame her for all the potholes too!
Starting and finishing in Adelaide meant most competitors had to
drive or trailer their cars over great distances before the real challenge
had even started. From every state and territory except NT (again),
they converged on the hot and flyblown AIR strip for driver rego and
vehicle scrutineering.
Despite a few pull-outs during the weeks and hours leading up to the
event, a healthy field of 110 very tough cars fronted to be checked for
safety by ANDRA and have their windscreens stickered up with DC
decals, numbers and class names.
It’s testament to the esteem in which Drag Challenge is held that
many former competitors had thrashed to put together new combos
(almost everybody had switched to bigger turbos this year), but this
also meant that some showed up without much test time.
The two-time Drag Challenge-winning LH Torana of Quentin Feast01:Paul Mulcahy
was at DC last year
with his twin-turbo,
supercharged,
V6-powered Austin
Lancer but this year
he threw a turbo 408ci
LS motor along with a
Turbo 350 and 9in into a
ratty VH Commo wagon
and ran a best of 12.06
in the K&N DYO class0 2: Narrow-minded
street machiners
might look down on
Toyota’s 1970s coupes,
but Canberra’s Glenn
Archer reckons Toyota’s
almost plug-and-play
performance potential
is terrific: He installedan ex-Soarer twin-cam
head on a 3.0-litre Supra
short motor, and with a
DIY-built Garrett turbo
set-up, was an easy
mid-11 car all week. And
with gal Sarah riding
shotgun, he drove it
from Canberra and
home againBELOW:First-time
entrants Shane and
Carly Dale line up
Shane’s 502ci-powered
Sandman pano for
scrutineering. Prior
to DC the orange
behemoth had eighth-
mile race cred but no
proven highway miles or
quarter passesHERE’S nothing more boring than talking about the weather,
but in the case of Drag Challenge 2017, it’s unavoidable. The
shocking conditions that competitors endured throughout the
week are a bigpart of the narrative.
Apparently Mother Nature had gotten wind that Scotty Taylor
had devised a rigorous course of strip racing and street driving
through South Australia and Victoria to determine who has Australia’s
quickest street car in 2017, and shejust had to get in on the action. Nature
was an absolute bitch all week, throwing down scorching heat, plagues of
flies, buckets of rain, and we’ll blame her for all the potholes too!
Starting and finishing in Adelaide meant most competitors had to
drive or trailer their cars over great distances before the real challenge
had even started. From every state and territory except NT (again),
they converged on the hot and flyblown AIR strip for driver rego and
vehicle scrutineering.
Despite a few pull-outs during the weeks and hours leading up to the
event, a healthy field of 110 very tough cars fronted to be checked for
safety by ANDRA and have their windscreens stickered up with DC
decals, numbers and class names.
It’s testament to the esteem in which Drag Challenge is held that
many former competitors had thrashed to put together new combos
(almost everybody had switched to bigger turbos thisyear), but this
also meant that some showed up without much test time.
The two-time Drag Challenge-winning LH Torana of Quentin Feast