TURBOED TRUE STREETERS TO JOIN PRO STREET WAR AT WILLOWBANK
2 March 2011
Next weekend will see the return of the Pro Street Shootout to Willowbank Raceway, led by new category True Street Blown.
One racer who is particularly happy about the new category, operating at the event under a trial by the Australian Pro Street Association, is Capalaba’s Johnny Hyde, who will be competing in the True Street Blown category with a factory six cylinder turbo VL originally built for his wife Peta.
Hyde said he was looking forward to being a part of the new bracket which will give the fans a chance to see some spectacular turbo-powered street-appearing cars in action.
“It is funny how these things start, it all started as a joke around the pool on a Sunday with mates, and then I was building the VL for my wife to get into racing the Powder Puff series,” said the 37 year old.
“We were having some dramas with it, and I didn’t think it was appropriate for Peta to drive it at that time because of that.
“Moving forward it became more that it was so easy to extract power from it, it is now so ballisticaly fast, so I doubt she would ever drive it anyway!
“That is where I come in, it’s a good excuse for me to drive it now, and with the new category it will give us a real great chance to really showcase its capabilities.
“She probably wants to wrestle the reins off of me, but at this point I don’t think I will be handing it over – if she went faster than me I don’t think I could ever go home!” he laughed.
While the car may have been destined for his wife’s steerage to start with, now Hyde is clearly attached to his car and the idea of racing it in the new True Street Blown category.
“I have been racing on and off since I was 18 at Willowbank Raceway, and a few times I have run into the drama of building a car for the True Street brackets and then not being able to run the car for various reasons,” said Hyde.
“In those cases I instead would run in the bracket of Modified Street, which brings both aspirated and blown vehicles together and saw me a bit behind the eight ball due to the variety of cars in the bracket.
“Now, I am really excited that we have the chance to run the car in True Street Blown, and hopefully we can keep the class going so we can see more and more of these cars in action in a class just for them.
“I think the fans are in for a real treat, as they are going to see those tough street cars that they see around the place but stepped up to the next level, and we can open our eyes to just how fast these things can go.
“As far as I go I will be just going out there and trying to race myself, if I win or get to a final that is a fantastic bonus, but my mind will be bent on going faster than the time I did before. As a new class, its going to be hard to judge what we will be up against, so I will be focusing on getting that PB and going better than my 8.94 second, and if I can do that, I will be a happy little camper!”
Drag racer and Australian Pro Street Association co-owner Johnny Wilson said the introduction of the new class was due to popular demand from both potential competitors and spectators.
“The March Australian Pro Street Association Shootout is going to be a show for everyone to see, with street car enthusiasts and car lovers like able to come and watch Australia’s fastest Pro Street cars battling it out for prize money and bragging rights,” said Wilson.
“This time around, not only will we have our usual contingent of colourful wheel standing, aggressive launching Pro Streeter including the 10.5 Outlaw guys, we will have some new guys on the block in the way of the True Street blown category.
“This will be chance for True Street Warriors with blower nitrous or turbos to get in and have some fun with the rest of the APSA clan, and is something we are really excited about.
“This class is being trialed, due to popular demand, and is sure to have some great combinations coming out to play Pro Street style.”
Following next weekend’s Pro Street Shootout, the racing action will continue at Willowbank Raceway with ANDRA Pro Series drag racing hitting the Ipswich quarter-mile across March 25 and 26, bringing with it Top Fuel, Top Bike and Pro Stock Motorcycle action.
April will then get underway with the all-new Queensland Auto Spectacular, to be held at Willowbank Raceway on April 10. All the while, test and tune events, bracket events and street series events will be run as usual, seeing Willowbank Raceway a hub of constant activity.
Willowbank Raceway's official website - www.willowbankraceway.com.au - is the place to go for more information on ticketing and upcoming events, including the season-ending Castrol EDGE Winternationals.
The Queen’s Birthday long weekend event will take place across Friday June 10 – Monday June 13. Featuring all of the ANDRA Pro Series brackets as well as the Rocket All Stars Racing Series making their final fights for their championships, fans are guaranteed non-stop action.