GALLERY: RACEWARS

It’s drag racing, but not as we know it – flat-out over 1000m!

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IT’S an unlikely place to see some of the country’s fastest cars at full noise, but Wyalkatchem Airport in rural Western Australia can now lay claim to having the fastest 1000m of bitumen in the land – and the first to have a car go over 200mph!

Yep, that rough and bumpy strip of tarmac saw Steve Jones go 322.62km/h in Anthony Scali’s R32 GT-R Skyline at Motul Racewars 2015. It’s a seriously impressive achievement, and to rub salt into the wounds of the previous record holder – Keir Wilson – it was into a pretty stiff headwind.

Jones and Scali continually improved, wowing the crowd with a 310km/h run, a new Racewars record at the time, before following it up with a 316. Not many people actually thought they could find another 6km/h, but they must have turned that wick up pretty high because the car let out a massive cloud of white smoke as it crossed the line and had to be towed back.

In another highly impressive display, Eddy Tassone went 305km/h in just 800m. When he popped the chutes, the car got very loose in the rear, but thankfully Eddy gathered it up and pulled off the save of the day. When it was time for the 1000m runs, it was Jose Jardim from ITP Race Cars that got strapped into the yellow bullet from Active Automotives, but the best he could manage was a 291.50km/h pass, which included a scenic trip into the bush. Thankfully there was no serious damage.

While the majority of cars at Racewars are gun-metal grey Japanese units, there is always a smattering of classic metal in attendance, and the most impressive of these this year was Phil Watson’s XW GS Fairmont. The high-revving 363-cube Windsor sounded mint, and the car was planted and solid as a rock as it clicked off 239.58km/h, which in real money is just shy of 149mph. Phil’s got some new bits on the way, which should see a pretty serious power increase, so who knows how fast it will go next year?

All up there were 27 cars that topped 250km/h, which is really hooking when you’re on a pretty loose surface, driving into a headwind and with only 400m of braking area. I think a few people will be reconsidering their braking packages for future events, because they sure as hell don’t have any problems making them go!

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