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VWMA - Portland Drags 21 - 22 Feb 2009
Presented by VolksWagen Magazine Australia and
Southcoast Raceway
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Portland Drag Meet
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21st to 22nd February 2009
The success of the inaugural 2008 Portland
VW Drag Meet - and of course the absolute ball had by all who attended
- ensured that the number of club members who marked the dates on their
calendar with a very bright high-lighter, was very large indeed. With
the experience of 2008 under his belt, organiser Craig Hughes from VWMA
- and none of the fear of first time out failure - took the opportunity
to extend the programme and attract an even larger field of
contestants. |
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The first of the VEC contingent packed up
early Friday morning and headed up to Tailem Bend to re-group and
travel
in procession to Portland. The group comprised 6 trailered cars, 4
campers, 3 beetles and a golf. A string of cars left through the day
and some even waited til Saturday to head off. By the time all
had assembled at Portland, the head count reached 45 VEC related
people.
If you were lucky enough to be driving at highway speed, you would have
had the pleasure of over-taking a pair of KG's making the leisurely
trip south. George (LH drive lowlight) and Karmie were in no rush, what
with a couple of hour stop-over for wine tasting and lunch, they
stretched out to journey to almost 10 hours, arriving at Portland after
7:00 pm.
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The VEC Racing Team is now well and truly
established. This year, to handle the extra cars and to make room for
guests, the team hired two large marquees. These were all erected and
waiting for the cars to arrive. Having such a facility certainly makes
preparing the cars easier and really does look impressive. All up,
including those cars that couldn't fit in the tents, the VEC fielded 11
cars for the weekend, an incredible turn up.
As per 2008, competitors and pit crew were given the opportunity of
camping at the race-track. Another benefit of the marquees is that they
make a great wind-break: parking behind them is a great way to keep out
of the southerly which seems to blow constantly in Portland. Those who
didn't want to camp spread themselves out among the various motels and
B&Bs available in town.
Friday's dinner was kept fairly short to allow spectators and drivers
to get back out to the track for the evening's action. Some gathered at
the Henty bay Hotel while others found their way back to Pinos
Pizzeria. The South Coast raceway run regular drag meets and on Friday
nght the track was open to all. This meant the VWs were lining up
against a field comprising mainly of big 6's and V8s. There were all
sorts of cars out for the night: from street registered Commodores to
extreme drag machines with more litres of capacity than the average
drag VW carries in fuel. Very interesting to watch the street
registered cars and motor bikes in action.
This all made for a very entertaining night of racing. The organisers
had set up a Chicago Shootout, with entrants practicing first to get
the feel of the track, then dialing in a time for the finals. Pairs of
drivers then ran off against each other, with the winner progressing to
the next round. A few of the VW drivers hit the track for a run, but
none managed to get into the finals.
For those that love seeing a car tortured, the evening's entertainment
culminated in a burnout competition. This attracted the drivers who for
some reason felt their cars had not suffered enough during the racing.
Expensive grippy tyres were swapped for cheap, stock road tyres, and
one by one the drivers took their turn on the burnout pad: brakes on
hard (or line locker on), grab a gear, rev the engine to the max and
then wait for the wheels to start to spin. Once the tyres get
really hot, release the brakes and steer the beast round in circles.
Points are gained for time spinning the wheels and for graceful
maneuvers; and lost for rolling on to the grass verge. A successful
driver holds the car in motion til the inevitable happens: first one
tyre then the other bursts under the strain. A really good driver
disappears beneath a cloud of blue tyres smoke - don't know how they do
it, but they manage to keep control and stay on the pad. By the time
they finish, the cars are usually damaged: exhaust glowing red hot,
radiators over heating, rims mangled, and even engine seizure. The real
challenge seems to come from buying the cheapest car which can manage
to spin its wheels, spending a few dollars getting it race ready, then
thrashing the living daylights out of it - maximum fun for minimum
spend.
First event for Saturday morning was a street parade. The cars
assembled at 9:30 am and headed off to town, along the main street and
then down on to the foreshore. Unfortunately the early start to the
tuna season meant that the intended parking place was full of 4WD with
boat trailers attached, so an alternative location, adjacent the
Maritime Centre was found. The static display proved a good chance for
the public to check out the cars and for all the drivers and spectators
to stand around and chat. Its a great time to check out the race cars
and those just along for the drive. One of my personal highlights was
talking to a young lad whose dad had his Subaru Engined Manx Buggy on
display. He was a wealth of information and seemed to have truly
inherited his father's passion. Another highlight was catching up with
James C, a former VEC member, now based in Melbourne, who had brought
his T3 Fastback out for the weekend (ably supported by his wife &
littlies).
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The display had to wind up early to allow
the racers to get their cars back out to the track. Before long the
racers were back out doing their thing. The grippy track once again
proved the undoing of many of the racers. Drivers who tried to put too
much power down off the line, found themselves retiring to the pits
with expensive bits clanging in the back, or in the most serious cases,
getting towed back. Higher tyre pressures and a bit less pressure on
the throttle seemed the recipe for success. Andrew C, who debuted in
2008, once again took his daily driver to the track. A different car to
last year, but he was wearing the same grin. Kathleen C took the chance
for a couple of runs in Adam's buggy. It was good to see two women on
the track this year. The other lady driver, in a bog standard "herbie"
look alike managed to run consistently all day - definitely slow and
steady. Every event seems to bring out one stand out car. This year it
was the little Googoomobile, with is tiny supercharged motor. Looked
just like a bathtub on wheels, but that thing could really move.
One of the new events for 2009 was the tappet cover
racing, an event popular years ago, which fortunately has been
undergoing something of a revival. Bary & Jeff had built the track
in the lead up to the event and took great pride in getting it ready
for the night's racing. 16 highly modified tappet covers lined up to
see who would become the inaugural champion. The builders had put an
enormous amount of effort in to creating the racers. Low friction,
plenty of weight and a low centre of gravity proved the key. The
title was
eventually taken by Louis F. The event will certainly earn a place at
the Warwick drags later in the year. Maybe a practice night or two at
the General Meetings will help people fine tune their racers.
After the tappet cover racing was complete, participants headed off
to their various camp sites to sleep or sit around and talk over
a few drinks. The number of campers was probably double that of 2008,
so plenty of atmosphere for sure.
Sunday's drags are an all VW event. The casualties from
Saturday certainly cut the size of the field, but there were still
plenty of cars out running. The VEC drivers really appreciated the
support they received from the crowd on the mound. Seemed like half the
crowd were VEC members. Rene & Barry kept up their very close duel.
Andrew C just made run after run, staying very consistent, always
conscious of the need to keep the car alive so he could make the drive
home again. In the end he ended up with 2 trophies, most consistent and runner up.
Although quote a large number of people left when the
racing was finished, a group of diehards stayed on. On the strength of
last years experience (and confirmation from a few members who had
visited the night before) a crowd of around 35 converged on Pinos Pizza
Restaurant for dinner. It certainly turned out to be an excellent
night. To finish off the evening, Ken & Roma opened up their rental
house for a bit more celebration.
Then, too quickly it seemed, Monday morning was on
us and it was time to say goodbye to Portland once again.
The VEC extends its thanks to Craig Highes at VWMA and to SOuth Coast
Raceway for putting on such a great event.
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