The Blood Sweat & Gears series will see each of our competitors battling it out over 7 challenges. Each challenge is vastly different and has been designed to provide a clear indication of the most well rounded, modified car in the country.
While specific challenges will suit certain competitors while others will struggle, over the course of the series these advantages will be evened out and it will be the most consistent will take out the Blood Sweat & Gears title. When the cameras are rolling and the pressure’s mounting who knows how they’ll handle it – will they shine or will they blow-out.
This year sees the addition of a test car – the Chrysler 300C SRT8. This stock level monster will set the benchmark for each competitor to give the viewers a base level estimate of each challenge.
Some challenges will also see some guest experts – they’ll be there to set the high level benchmark and show the guys how it’s done.
Let’s take a closer look at the individual challenges:
To start the series our competitors hand over their keys to driving guru and expert judge Ian Luff. Luffy will take each of the vehicles, with our competitors riding shotgun, on a couple of laps around Winton Raceway and provide an honest assessment of their ride.
Luffy will be judging the cars on the following criteria:
- Acceleration
- Braking
- Handling
- Controlability
- Lap time
The ¼ mile drag, a test of pure speed. Held at Shepparton Airport this challenge will see each competitor receive two runs with their fastest time recorded.
The competitor’s time will begin once their car’s nose crosses the first beam and will be tripped again as the nose crosses the finish line to provide their exact time.
Turtle Wax ambassador Elvis Barbieri will be on hand with his Ford Capri GT Drag car to show the guys how it’s done.
This challenge is designed to test the competitors’ pure driving skills. And to make sure it’s a level playing field, the familiarity of their own vehicles will be removed as each competitor competes in the Chrysler 300C SRT8 Test Car.
The course has been set up to test their ability to control the car – competitors navigate their way through a slalom course followed by a wide sweeping turn before returning back through the slalom cones to a figure 8 before picking up the speed and stopping within the garage.
Obviously the aim to navigate your way through the course in the fastest time possible while being careful not to hit any cones as they result in a 2 second penalty. Failure to come to a complete stop in the garage will also cost our competitors dearly with an instant DQ for that run.
The competitors get back behind the wheel of their own cars in the versatility challenge. The Versatility challenge is made up of two parts – the Super Slalom followed by the Go-to-Whoa.
The Super Slalom course has been set up to test the drivers’ throttle control and knowledge of their car’s handling and reaction. The course itself is simple; competitors are to navigate around each of the three cones in a clockwise direction before coming to a complete stop in the garage.
The second part of the Versatility challenge is the Go-to-Whoa. Competitors start from the first white line picking up maximum speed before jumping on the brakes to bring the car to a complete stop inside the garage.
Simple in theory, the Go-to-Who is much harder than it looks with that garage approaching very quickly. This is a great test of not only the car’s acceleration and braking ability but also the driver’s knowledge of their car.
With the second timing beam located halfway in the garage it was crucial that competitors didn’t brake to early, then on the flip side braking to late would see them sail through the back of the garage and receive a DQ for that run.
The Show N Shine challenge will be one of toughest of the series to judge. With such a mixture of great cars of varied ages, purposes and body types we have enlisted the help of a couple of expert judges.
We’ll also have Turtle Wax Ambassadors Mal Parkinson and Con Kouvela on hand with their show winning cars to provide some advice on prepping the cars and setting them up.
The judges will be awarding points based on the following judging criteria:
- Paint
- Bodywork
- Engine Bay
- Interior
- Undercarriage
- Wheels
- Tyres
- Engineering
- Overall Presentation & Style
The Power challenge is a test of raw horsepower! The cars put it on the dyno and rev it up to see who has the most ponies underneath the hood.
Each competitor is given two runs on the Dyno if they want but with the extreme pressure being put on the engines, many of the competitors may only choose to do one run.
The final challenge is the Flying Lap at Winton Raceway where the competitors lay it all on the line. After a thorough education session on the course and preferred lines and a walk through of the track it’s over to the competitors.
After the warm up laps each competitor is given a 2 lap timed session with the best lap time being recorded. Being the last challenge of the series, the pressure will be well and truly on to see who can take the Blood Sweat & Gears title.