T
HE past month or so has been an
amazing time in the history of Team
Bray Racing. Where to start? First up
we went from Brisbane to the Perth
Motorplex, then back home to celebrate
the 90th anniversary of Century
Batteries. The Jamboree at Sydney Dragway
was the next stop, then across to Adelaide
International Raceway for the Southern
Thunder and ANDRA Grand Finals, and
finally back to Willowbank for Santo’s Super
Thunder. Our truck driver, ‘Pops’, clocked up
around 12,000km.
The Perth meeting was great; the track
was probably one of the best we have ever
experienced in Australia. Frankie Taylor, who
races for TBR, and a couple of the American
tuners at the meet agreed that the track
was world-class, up with the best they race
on in the USA. A big pat on the back to the
Perth management – I think every single Pro
Slammer ran a PB.
Century Batteries has just celebrated 90
years of manufacturing in this country, so to
mark the achievement we built them a 1928
van painted up in company colours, which will
be going around Australia over the next 12months. That’s going to be really cool. Century
has been a great supporter of TBR over the
past 25-30 years; they’re a great company
making great Australian products.
Ben finally got to run his Toyota Solara in
the Sport Compact class at the Jamboree in
Sydney. Our plan was to run the Jamboree last
year, but that didn’t work out, with a faulty torque
converter ruining any chances of a good debut.
This year Ben ran a new converter of his own
design for the category that’s totally different
to what we run in the Doorslammer car.
One of the biggest reasons behind Ben’s
success this season with the Toyota has
been Justin Simpson from Horsepower
Solutions coming on board as a tuner. Ben
has known Justin for over 15 years; he’s a really
switched-on, enormously talented guy and is
really working well with the Haltech people.
Everyone is excited about the future.
There have been a couple of hiccups along
the way, but that’s to be expected while
developing such a new project. Ben’s runninga 1FZ straight-six out of a Toyota Land Cruiser.
Most of the guys are using the 2JZ, which has
enjoyed enormous development for many
years now, but you see a lot of 1FZs in the
sand drag machines that are popular in the
Middle East.
Ben ran 1sec-flat for the 60-foot and finished
with 7.20 at around 190mph, and that’s only
running around half the boost of most of the
other guys. For his efforts he also got the
runner-up trophy for the weekend.
Back home in the workshop we have taken
steps to go of f the grid as of ten as possible by
using solar power. We have installed around
300 panels and a 10-battery three-phase
system. Since the news got out, we have
had a lot of interest from people and some
have come down to see what’s happening.
Setting up has been
a pretty expensive
experience, but in
line with the business
plan laid out for me
we should be in front
in around five or six
years. The other side
of the coin is that wehave CNC mills and lathes as well as around
40 3D printers, and we just can’t lose power
while we are printing. So the system has been
set up so we use the solar power first and if it
has to switch over, or there is a blackout, the
printers and all the machines and equipment
still keep operating.
The componentry and technology are
impressive, and when the system is all up and
running I’ll take some pics and send them to
Street Machine’s Facebook page.
We have also installed LED lighting
throughout the shop. It has been a real learning
experience for me personally and proof that
you can teach an old dog new tricks. If any of
our readers are interested in finding out more,
drop me a line at Street Machine. I’m more than
happy to have a chat.
I think it’s long overdue that I pay tribute to
our truck driver, Trevor Shaw, or ‘Pops’ as he’s
known to everyone in the industry. He drives
for about a dozen teams. We give him our car
transporter and know he will get to the racetrack on time and in one piece. He’s also a great
guy to have around the pits, hard-working and
with a terrific sense of humour. He just loves
driving; his second home is behind the wheel.
I just wish he would stop hitting kangaroos.
After Perth, Frankie had to go home and
missed Adelaide. He competed at South
Georgia Motorsports Park in a radial event
called Sweet 16, and it paid $101,000 to win.
Frankie was tuning for Alex Laughlin, who
qualified but didn’t take the big money home.
The race was won by Mark Micke driving a full
steel-body 1978 Chevy Mailbu.
Adelaide fans are great, and it’s a shame that
we don’t get to race there very often. I get a
lot of texts from people there wanting to know
when we are coming back. I’ve made a lot of
friends over the years and really enjoy catching
up with the people. I wouldlove to see drag racing go back to two races
in each state: a major championship event and
another lower-key race meeting for the diehard
fans. Adelaide International Raceway can best
be described as an older-style race track, and
over the years it has been home to some of the
best racing in the country. Sitting up there on
the hill is not the most comfortable place, but
that’s all part of the experience.
The Adelaide Pro Slammer meet was
memorable, but not for the best of reasons.
The class ended up running over the eighth-
mile after there were some issues with safety,
compounded by strong crosswinds. On race
day we went up against Mark Belleri, and
even though we lost on a holeshot, we ran
our quickest pass with a 3.89. Zap took the
win to keep his championship hopes alive.
One thing’s for sure: The battle between the
Moits team and Zap will be worth the cost
of admission at the Winternationals, to say
nothing of another 20 or so Slammers trying
to spoil their party. sn e n s e t x e e
up with the people. I wouldWILD AT HEART
VICTOR BRAYVIAT ADELAIDE WE WENT UP AGAINST
MARK BELLERI, AND EVEN THOUGH
WE LOST ON A HOLESHOT, WE RAN
OUR QUICKEST PASS WITH A 3.89
OVER THE EIGHTH-MILE