UPDATE, January 10: Saturday has seen the overall Haltech Horsepower Heroes record has tumble again, Dan Szabolics HQ Holden beating its own record it set yesterday to the tune of 3786hp.

It was a fitting finale to an impromptu 3000hp shootout on Saturday afternoon, which saw Adam Rogash’s Mk1 Capri, Darren Portelli’s HQ sedan and Dan Szabolics HQ Monaro all throwing down in a real showcase of incredible horsepower.

Adam’s Capri thumped its previous PB on the dyno, opening the batting with 3554hp, and a second run of 3616hp. He and the MPW Performance crew were stoked with the result, and showcasing their capabilities in front of a packed-in crowd.

Darren Portelli’s HQ pulled several runs in the 3500hp range, before Szabolics churned out near on 3800hp. Both the HQs will have to return tomorrow for the finals [Adam’s Capri is not part of competition], where the Summernats 38 Haltech Horsepower Hero will be crowned.

Friday, January 9: It has been a mad 24 hours in the Haltech Horsepower Heroes, with the overall horsepower record smashed twice by two HQ Holdens with Dandy Engines twin turbo, big block Chevy combos.

In qualifying today, Daniel’s Monaro threw out three runs, the first a 3449hp, 3541hp and then the final belter of 3682hp. It eclipses the record set by fellow Dandy Engines customer Darren Portelli, whose HQ sedan thumped out 3513hp yesterday to initially hold the record.

We spoke to Frank Marchese from Dandy Engines about the epic run, who was on hand with the laptop during pulls.

“You’re always looking for a result, there’s a lot of anticipation – you know what should work, but sometimes things don’t work.”

“You’ve got a massive crowd, as a tuner and engine builder I have a lot of that on my shoulders, and what makes it worse is I have two customers here fighting for one spot, so you need give everyone an equal chance.”

The boys took their time between each of the three mandatory qualifying runs, shutting the car down, pulling spark plugs and taking due care to get the most out of the package to create some proper Summernats history.

Both Daniel’s Monaro and Darren Portelli’s sedan will have to return on Sunday to duke it out in the final, but as Frank pointed out, the 3000hp Mainline hub dyno might be at its limit copping this much abuse.

“We experienced something Adam [Rogash] is going to look at, but the engine just got grabbed, so we don’t know if the dyno has just grabbed the engine and stopped it,” he says. “So, we might have reached a point where we’re out of dyno.”

“I’ve still got some nitrous up my sleeve that I’ve always wanted to do infront of a massive crowd,” says Frank.

There’s still a whole day of qualifying left to go tomorrow before Sunday’s finals, so stay tuned for any more action via our socials and website.