Challenge 1: Driveability

The first challenge in the series was designed to get a gauge of each competitor’s vehicle as a pure driving car. The competitors gave their keys to driving guru Ian Luff to take them for a spin.

A simple 3-leaf clover course that was undertaken on the skidpan at DECA, with points awarded based on each car’s handling, braking and acceleration.

All the guys had a ball as Luffy put the cars through their paces and smoked the tyres. With such a variety of vehicles on show our judges described it as “lighting the fuse and holding on”.

Luffy seemed to handle all the cars superbly with the notable exception of Andy’s Corvette – which came undone and spun around a few corners.

He also had a few issues with Andrew’s Nissan 200SX which proved difficult to drive and could easily get away from you.

Dom’s clutch problems had an impact on his drive and Luffy made some interesting comments about Jeremy’s Commodore (“this car has big potential for the series”).

Challenge 1: Score

Name	Car	Points
Jeremy	Holden Commodore	100
Dave	Holden Torana	80
Dimitri	Ford Falcon	70
Mohammed	Ferrari Modena	60
Dominic	Mazda RX7	50
Andy	Corvette Stingray	40
Andrew	Nissan 200SX	30

 

Challenge 2: Speed

The second challenge was designed to test out and out speed. A combination of a ¼ mile and ½ mile drag.

The winner of this challenge would have the best average time across both distances.

The original location was to be Shepparton Airport – a superb commercial airport strip in the centre of town - however after some emergency flights required clearance we were shifted to Mangalore airport – while the strip was suitable for distance and safety clearance, the downside was a lot more loose gravel than we would have liked.

While the majority of vehicles were in convoy on their way to Mangalore, Dom was busy trying to get a new clutch. After some quick calls Exedy Clutches were good enough to provide a free clutch and they sent that up from Melbourne. Once the new clutch arrived it was a race against the clock with Dom having two hours to replace the clutch and get himself to the starting line or else he would be disqualified.

Back at the airport the guys were putting the final tweaks on their engines before the speed challenge. After the briefing and some words of warning about the loose track, Andrew decided to give his tyres a warm-up and during the burnout he managed to snap both his drive shafts. Our first major casualty!

After being reduced to 6 competitors for the speed challenge, it was time to get started. With only minutes to spare, Dom arrived with his brand new clutch.

The most notable point of the speed challenge was the driver’s abilities (or inabilities). A number of the competitors missed gears down the runway and lost valuable time.

The clear standouts were without doubt Dave and Dom – both had clean runs off the line and had seamless gear changes down the track.

Challenge 2: Score

Name	Car	Points
Dave	Holden Torana	100
Dominic	Mazda RX7	80
Mohammed	Ferrari Modena	70
Dimitri	Ford Falcon	60
Jeremy	Holden Commodore	50
Andy	Corvette Stingray	40
Andrew	Nissan 200SX	0

 

Challenge 3: Supersprint

With Andrew still out of action and calling every contact in Victoria to try and replace his drive shafts, it was time for the third challenge – the Supersprint.

The Supersprint course, a simple yet effective layout that tested the cars overall abilities and more importantly, the drivers’.

After the course instructions and a test lap from Luffy in the little Hyundai it was time for the sprint.

When it was time for the competitors to hit the track, there was a lot of heavy right feet with most spinning during the tight turns.

After having the advantage of seeing everyone spin out, Dom was last on the track and took full advantage – knowing without a spin he was a certainty to win, Dom took a more conservative approach and was the only one to complete the circuit without spinning.

Challenge 3: Score

Name	Car	Points
Dominic	Mazda RX7	100
Jeremy	Holden Commodore	80
Dave	Holden Torana	70
Andy	Corvette Stingray	60
Dimitri	Ford Falcon	50
Mohammed	Ferrari Modena	40
Andrew	Nissan 200SX	0

 

Challenge 4: Advanced Driver Course

With challenge 4 not requiring the cars, the competitors let loose at Springnats to let off some steam, and it proved costly for Andrew – having his car pushed off the skidpan after yet another mechanical failure. His car had proven without doubt the most temperamental of the group.

The advanced driver course was a challenge designed to test their pure driving abilities against the other competitors.

Challenge 4 was split into two sections – the first course was undertaken in a small front wheel drive car and then we put them in an old rear wheel drive Falcon. The average of both times was taken to determine the results.

While all the competitors had a ball during this challenge in front of the Springnats crowd, it was the two worst placed competitors thus far who took out first and second.

While their cars had let them down so far, both Andrew and Andy were stoked to take out the top two spots and gain some much needed points. And for Andrew is was even more important – after gaining 0 points on two previous challenges and having the worry of another prospective disqualification with his current car troubles – these points were all about saving some pride!

Mohammed proved to be one of the fastest out there but he was hurt after running through the back of the garage in the Falcon – this meant he was disqualified for that section and ensured he took home the wooden spoon for the Advanced Driver challenge.

Challenge 4: Score

Name	Car	Points
Andrew	Nissan 200SX	100
Andy	Corvette Stingray	80
Dimitri	Ford Falcon	70
Jeremy	Holden Commodore	60
Dave	Holden Torana	50
Dominic	Mazda RX7	40
Mohammed	Ferrari Modena	30

 

Challenge 5: Super Slalom Course

Under searing heat and in front of a live Springnats crowd, it was time to hit the skidpan for the Super Slalom course.

The course was simple, navigate the cones from a standing start and pull up in the garage at the end of the course.

After another nervous night spent fixing his car, Andrew just made the start line for the Super Slalom course. And with a couple of practice runs under their belts, the boys were ready for the challenge.

With all competitors having clean runs with the exception of Andy, some of the big powered muscle cars struggled with the cones when it came time for turning.

The results were surprising – Andrew finally had a win within his own car which held together nicely (much to the disappointment of Mohammed), Dom also handled the course superbly to take out second and Mohammed took out third.

The three imports showed the Aussie muscle cars how it was done but unfortunately the American muscle of Andy’s Corvette was just too much to handle.

Challenge 5: Score

Name	Car	Points
Andrew	Nissan 200SX	100
Dominic	Mazda RX7	80
Mohammed	Ferrari Modena	70
Dimitri	Ford Falcon	60
Jeremy	Holden Commodore	50
Dave	Holden Torana	40
Andy	Corvette Stingray	0

 

Challenge 6: Go-to-Whoa

Challenge 6 is simple – a straight line challenge that tests the car’s power and braking. The 100m course that contains an electronic beam at the start and two at the end.

The winner will be the competitor who has the fastest time between the first and second beams without breaking the third beam (1m from the second beam) – instant disqualification.

A supposedly simple challenge – this event caused the greatest controversy amongst the competitors and had a massive impact on the overall leaderboard.

Again, in front of a live Springnats crowd and with temperatures pushing 40 degrees, both cars and competitors began getting a little hot under the collar. The go-to-whoa challenge saw almost half the competitors being disqualified after breaking the third beams.

While Andy and Mohammed took the news of their disqualification pretty well, Dominic was more than a little upset. While electronic timing sensors told the judges that Dom had broken the third beam he wasn’t prepared to accept the decision and launched a tirade at the judges for being biased against his car for not being a V8.

Heading into the business end of the series could one of these guys have done their chances of winning the title?

Challenge 6: Score

Name	Car	Points
Jeremy	Holden Commodore	100
Andrew	Nissan 200SX	80
Dave	Holden Torana	70
Dimitri	Ford Falcon	60
Mohammed	Ferrari Modena	0
Dominic	Mazda RX7	0
Andy	Corvette Stingray	0

 

Challenge 7: Show N Shine

This challenge saw our judges providing points based on the following criteria:

• Paint
• Engine Bay
• Interior
• Undercarriage
• Overall Style

Mohammed finally broke through for his first win after impressing the judges with his custom Ferrari.

Jeremy, Dimitri and Dave again placed highly with their rides keeping the overall leaderboard tight.

Andrew was let down badly on this challenge by his car’s paint and interior but knew he was always going to struggle in this challenge.

Challenge 7: Score

Name	Car	Points
Mohammed	Ferrari Modena	100
Dave	Holden Torana	80
Jeremy	Holden Commodore	70
Dimitri	Ford Falcon	60
Andy	Corvette Stingray	50
Dominic	Mazda RX7	40
Andrew	Nissan 200SX	30

 

Challenge 8: Dyno

This was the challenge that every competitor was waiting for – it’s where all the talk stopped and we found out once and for all who had the most grunt.

Dominic had been talking up his power output from the start and after pushing out over 490hp he proved it to take out maximum points in this challenge. Dimitri also poled well after his Falcon GT punched out 441hp and Andy with his torqued up Corvette placed third with almost 429hp.

Mohammed didn’t push his Ferrari too hard because of the brand new engine and Dave’s little Torana was always going to battle hard against some of the bigger monsters of the group.

So the challenges were over – after taking part in 8 challenges over 6 days all the results were in. So how did the final leaderboard look?

Challenge 8: Score

Name	Car	Points
Dominic	Mazda RX7	100
Dimitri	Ford Falcon	80
Andy	Corvette Stingray	70
Jeremy	Holden Commodore	60
Andrew	Nissan 200SX	50
Mohammed	Ferrari Modena	40
Dave	Holden Torana	30

 

 

The Final Standings

Name	Car	Points
Jeremy	Holden Commodore	560
Dave	Holden Torana	530
Dimitri	Ford Falcon	510
Dominic	Mazda RX7	490
Mohammed	Ferrari Modena	410
Andrew	Nissan 200SX	390
Andy	Corvette Stingray	340