Once again it's that time of the year-Fast Fours Jamboree time. The 14th annual event was held September 18 and 19 at Willowbank Raceway in the state of Queensland on the northeast coast of Australia.
For those who don't know, the Jamboree is the largest sport compact event in the southern hemisphere. With more than 18,000 spectators attending the two-day extravaganza there is something for everyone: manufacturers midway, car show, db drags, tons of hot girls, and of course drag racing.
This was the first event in Australian sport compact drag racing history to be held under ANDRA (Australian National Drag Racing Association) sport compact official rules. So everyone was out trying to set the bar high to get into the record book.
One of the crowd favorites was unfortunately unable to attend this year. Joe Signorelli, the owner of the old Abel Ibarra K&N Filters RX-7, crashed and destroyed the Mazda a few weeks prior during a testing session. Joe was taken to the hospital and released after being checked out.
So that left the door wide open for the other heavy hitters in the Pro RWD class to lay their claim as the official quickest and fastest down-under car.
Archie Kajewski was definitely race prepped and ready to attempt setting an official six-second run in his three-rotor Chevy Beretta. It was not to be. The best time Kajewski was able to click off during the weekend was a 7.28 at 190.11 mph. The quickest run of the event came from Pac Performance and their three-rotor Pro RWD Mazda MX6. The high-revving rotary ran a best time of 7.085 at 196.42 mph. That puts Pac Performance into the record book as the fastest Pro RWD vehicle in the southern hemisphere. The first official six-second pass is still up for grabs. Who will get it? We'll just have to wait and see.
Not to forget the man who made Easy Street Motorsports the fastest new gen WRX in the world. That's right, Dominic Rigoli of Tony Rigoli Performance showed up. His WRX wagon has gone a staggering 8.81 at 154.09 mph. Alas, the best he could muster was an off-pace 9.86 at 138.12 mph.
Another notable entrant was Queen St. Smash Repairs "Barbie" BMW that was featured in Turbo magazine early last year. The ANDRA rules do not accommodate a quad-rotor engine so "Barbie" was forced to run in the ET class under the Dial Your Own bracket. "Barbie" still ran an impressive 8.22. Not bad for a car that has just as much show as it does go.
Making the trip from New Zealand was Rod Harvey, owner of the Rod's Rayglass Boating sponsored Datsun 1200 coupe. Rod blasted an 8.43 at 162 mph. That was his personal best, running three tenths faster than back home in New Zealand. Pretty impressive stuff.
The Online Performance del Sol had serious engine problems halfway down the track on its second qualifying pass yet still ran 9.86, The damage was done and it was an early retirement for the Honda.
A new class for ANDRA is the Oz Mod class. This is a class for old school Mazda rotary-powered vehicles that are untubbed running a maximum tire size of 9x28. Over 25 cars attempted to qualify for this class. That definitely makes it one of the most popular and most needed classes down under.
The car show, held on Saturday, was a real eye-opener. Over 150 vehicles were on hand to enjoy spectacular weather, girls, and just a great day at the track. Among the vehicles were mini-trucks, a Skyline with a Nissan V8 under the bonnet, trucks with WRX engines, widebodies, and heaps of old school, which is Australia's calling card.