whatsisname

I know you didn't offer an apology, I just took it. My humour is probably a touch subtle.

There's nothing wrong with the level of club competition, over 60 cars at the IPRA Nats end of last year, strong comps in each state. But there's little the low budget IPRA can do about the state of their local race track. Without the premier class to inject funds or encourage state government to do so the IPRA have to make do with what they've got. And bad luck if the V8SC choose to use a street circuit instead, cause that means once the party is over the track ceases to exist.

Its a bit rich using the cigarette advertising as a reason to knock Fred, half the bloody field had cancer stick sponsors. You can only beat the opposition you're up against. As for the rest of your points, nothing to do with the car. Your beef is with the team owner or drivers. I grew up in the old days of the ATCC and I'd almost prefer those years over the contrived motor entertainment we get from Cochrane and his circus today. I also dislike the negative impact V8SC has on our dedicated race circuits throughout the country. Their preference for international events and street circuits in pursuit of the almighty dollar means our grass roots competition suffers with tracks such as Malalla falling by the wayside. I'll stick to my Improved Production (car 74 SA IPRA) at least its more about the motorsport and less about dollars.

djr81, yep got you now, makes sense. I couldn't agree more, I've little interest in V8SC motor entertainment but one thing I know is the Kelly's are not the team I'd want representing my brand. Action Dan, apology accepted.

It's a bit hard for Nissan to have current results in the premier class of touring car racing in Australia, the last time they were involved was 1992! He also referenced Nissan only winning in the rain, which sounds like the infamous 1992 Bathurst race. As for the 'banned' comments, the facts remain that from the beginning of the 1993 ATCC season turbocharged cars were no longer permitted resulting in the banning of both the GT-R and Ford Sierra.

I may have misinterepted your comments but if not I'd suggest you go and look at the 32 GT-R race results during its time in the early 90's ATCC... I think you'll find that Nissan did more than win in the rain! In the 1991 ATCC (predecessor to V8 series) the GT-R won 7 out of the 9 rounds in the championship, and rain was rarely a factor. This is just one example. Do some research.

John Teulan is the name of the guy that owned and drove the silver 33 GT-R in the old Nations Cup - later replaced by Aust GT. Teulan's 33 GT-R was always going to struggle against vastly more powerful and newer exotics... and Teulan himself, not exactly the sharpest driver in the field (don't think he won anything in over a decade of trying).

Oh I forgot to add one other thing I dislike about the V8SC circus, the strong arm control over media coverage of other classes of motorsport. In the early years of V8SC the support categories began to draw more than their share of fans, the GT and Production classes in particular. I often attended events to watch these classes rather than the main event. The TV viewers also liked what they saw... next thing you know no more prime time TV coverage. Less TV coverage meant less sponsorship exposure, less exposure lead to less sponsors, which meant the main event soaked up most of the limited resources... and still does.

Nissan set to 'return' to V8 Supercars ... what a load of crap! They've never been in V8SC. The last time Nissan were directly involved in touring car racing - not including the short stint as the official pace car - was back in the early 90's before Tony and AVESCO took it from the ATCC to V8SC. No more forced induction, no more six or four or ten or twelve cylinders and no more rotary engines. Just those manufacturers by the name of Holden and Ford with a pushrod 5 litre V8 need apply. Fast forward to recent years and the V8SC entertainment show has fallen from its previous peak in popularity, I say entertainment show because let's face it it's more motor entertainment than motorsport, with ridiculous safety car periods to produce contrived close finishes and so on. In order to survive the series needed to reinvent itself, attract a new band of followers, and that's where the Car Of The Future concept comes in. The COTF with its full compliment of control parts means a grid of much the same metal under the skin with multiple brand names to attract the fan base. Well... I'm not buying it. I'll be happy enough to see the Nissan brand in our premier motor 'sport' but that is about it. A few years back Ford and Holden and to a large part V8SC/AVESCO turned a number of other manufacturers down, Toyota and Mitsubishi to name two... Toyota Aust even ran an ad campaign off the back of the rejection highlighting their involvement with real V8s - Toyota were still active in F1 and producing their own in-house V8 F1 engine - and now all of a sudden V8SC are open arms. I would rather see the series gone altogether and replaced by one that provides real variety, uses and encourages more dedicated race circuits to give something back to the sport at grass roots level, and is a touch more about growing the sport rather than just dollars. Of course we live in the real world and money makes the world go round. Till then I'll see you all at Malalla for Rd 1 of the SA IPRA championships (JWM Motorsport car no: 74 - I'm the M in JWM) come and say hi and enjoy some good old fashion racing with no contrived results and plenty of variety.

Clispal is in March, barriers not available till well after Clipsal therefore no barriers for AIR till end of March limiting drag events to 660ft. ANDRA Group 1 meet is in April, April comes after March... which means the barriers required will be available by the Group 1 event. Seemed obvious enough to me

Judging by Rino's comments on his FB page it appears the plan is to run off-street 1/4-mile events in the future when additional concrete barriers become available to complete the RHS track safety barrier - I noticed a comment stating the additional barriers required are currently set aside for use at the Clipsal 500. "Racing Onn Promotions Hi, it will be 1/8th mile again for reasons beyond our control, we are not able to secure the Clipsal 500 walling until after Clipsal..." The venue as it currently stands (plus completion of all safety barriers) will never see a return to ANDRA Group 1 1/4-mile racing due to the lack of run-off and no room for expansion. A lack of Group 1 racing over the 1/4-mile doesn't automatically mean no 1/4-mile of any kind... so fingers crossed. The ANDRA Group 1 meeting 13-15 Apr will run over 1000ft (304m).

It was good to catch up with some familiar faces and some new ones from the SAU crew. 'Build it and they will come'... and boy did the crowd turn up, cars parked along the road for klms in each direction. It felt just like old times out there today, hey MattyR, MattyT, and Nightcrawler? I can't wait till the return to full 1/4 racing! I saw Zappia run 4.29 @ 178MPH just before I left at 730pm.

I'll be out there tomorrow - and again once the full 1/4 strip is ready for business.

Cam, Get the boost drop issue sorted first, then begin the process of elimination from there - assuming after the boost drop is sorted it still falls sort of expectations. You are basically getting 235rwkw @ 13psi, which is about what I'd expect from those modifications and a GT3076 with 0.63 exhaust housing, give or take 5-10rwkw. Get it to hold 17psi and it will gain quite a bit of addtional power at the top end of the rev' range. Do you know what your external gate actuator spring is rated to, 10psi, 14psi? Running an external gate it really shouldn't struggle to hold boost, unless the turbine housing is simply too small (or the exhaust) and is choking it up - I doubt it. A few years ago my 33 produced ~270rwkw at about 17-18psi. However, winding the boost down (or switching the EBC off and running off the aftermarket actuator ~13-14psi up top) it made 240ish.

Awesome skills hey? The guys that can fly like that are seriously talented! I figured flying a toy 3ch heli was so easy that a proper single rotor RC heli couldn't be overly hard to master... wow I was wrong!

Give the links a shot now.

And now, for something completely different... I recently got in touch with my inner nerd and decided to learn to fly RC Helicopters... you know, to go fishing, like on the Farmers Union ad I've owned RC cars in the past, so this time I wanted a real challenge. No point mucking around with the little toy helicopters (although I did buy a couple of them for shits'n' giggles) straight into the single rotor serious stuff. About $250 delivered (plus about the same in extra spares and batteries and tools etc.) and I'm making progress. This is my third attempt ever at hovering/flying. These things are not easy to fly, trust me! A microsecond is all it takes to lose concentration and write the thing off in a big way! And here's what I aim to be capable of with a bit more practice, a shit load of practice actually! What happens when you get it wrong... this is a $400-500 helicopter Anyone else into RC Helis or tried flying a 4-6 channel single rotor heli?

It could be worse, we could be living in the US.

Not that I've weighed it, but I reckon the R33 boot lid is pretty bloody heavy!

Go on Matty, you know you want it. Take the stickers off and you've got a nice sensible daily

From what I can tell, each venue owner is aiming to improve their facilities over time - Rino at AIR is starting with 1/8 mile with the aim of full 1/4 racing once they're up to standard. I’d be incredibly surprised if digital timing display boards weren’t part of the improvements.

Thanks Andz. I'm so glad I got involved in this thread, as it just jogged my failing memory! My bro-in-law did up an awesome framed picture of the magazine article for Xmas last year. My missus put it away for safe keeping till we identifed a good spot for it... and I'd completely forgotten until just then!!! And Lee, I'm really liking the Legnum + R33 GT-R rims combo'.

I can't recall who took this shot, but I like it. I really need to get my other half to fire up her new camera (it cost enough!) and take some good quality photos that I can frame and mount in the shed.

There's no doubt the attendance level of competitors and spectators at AIR of old declined in the latter years. The substandard track surface and inadequate facilities (partial dirt access road, no timing boards, no spectator stands etc.) all contributed to the demise. However, the biggest factor of all; the venue did not have ANDRA sanctioning. Without ANDRA you cannot draw elite level competition drag racing, the kind of regular events that draw crowds, spectators, and sponsorship dollars. I also recall a number influential drag racing identities actively avoiding AIR due to a combination of the owner/s and the lack of ANDRA sanctioning. All three potential new facilities are actively seeking ANDRA affiliation and sanctioning, which means basic drag racing standards must be met. I have no doubt all three venues are planning digital timing displays for each lane as well as a host of other features that will enhance the experience for competitor and spectator alike.

The run against the Torrie was without doubt my best launch to date (it's the 2.051) and I even got a good solid shift into 2nd and 3rd. Unfortunately, the Torrie got out of shape at the 1000ft mark and I lifted off the throttle whilst doing some high speed decision making, 'do I nail it and go by the carnage unfolding, or do I hit the anchors and try to pull up clear of it?' I nailed it. Ended up with a mid 12 at 110MPH after completely lifting off the throttle at 1000ft. Still reckon it was the 11 I'd be chasing for 6 months. Fast forward 5 years later and here we are discussing AIR reinventing itself.