Street Machine Australia — January 2018

for longevity, going 400rpm for 10 years, not
10,000 revs for around five seconds. We are
overloading the products, no question about
that. Over the weekend there were hundreds
of runs, so when we see belts being abused
as much as they are, I think the failure rate was
relatively low.
I didn’t see all that much of Top Fuel running
over the new 1000-foot distance. I don’t think
the spectators sitting in the grandstand would
have noticed much difference. But like it or
not, 1000 feet is what we’ve got now, so let’s
move on.
The question of 16-car versus eight-car fields
is back in the news, as Sydney was able to
attract 19 entries, so the race organisers went
with a 16-car elimination format. My preference
is to go with the bigger field. The problem we
are always going to have is that we need to run
an extra round of racing, and that can screw
up the running of the event. Basically, we are
out of sync with the rest of the Pro classes that
run eight-car fields, so the challenge is how to
fit the first round into the format. If we are to

do four rounds of racing on the one day they

should advertise the fact that Doorslammer

races early in the morning. That would keep

sponsors and fans happy as well. The reason

we like the 16-car field is so eight cars aren’t

parked in the pits, but if no one is watching the

first round it defeats the purpose. There are a

few issues that need to be resolved before we

run 16-car fields permanently, but if you look at

the car counts at Sydney, then we do need to

look at what’s best.

The Nationals was the first time I’d been out

to a race meeting in a while and got to mix with

the public. I had a great time and can’t tell you

how much I missed being around the fans and

the other racers. Mentally it was a real boost,

though physically I was really stuffed at the end

of the day. I was overwhelmed by the number of

people who came around to say hello and pass

on their best wishes. I’ve got a bit to go before

I slip back behind the wheel. Being away for six

months or so made me appreciate the quality

of the racers and fans, and how much I missed

being around drag racing. s

1

2

MAIN: Ben Bray behind

the wheel of his Corvette

at the East Coast

Thunder Nationals at

Sydney Dragway. He

was looking good until

a blower belt broke in

his second-round run

against John Zappia

01: Team Bray’s US

import Frankie Taylor

(left) and Moits Racing’s

Paul Mouhayet, first and

second respectively in

the Pro Slammer final at

the East Coast Thunder

Nationals

02: Frankie piloting

Team Bray’s new Gulf

WesternOil Corvette

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