7 February 2011
Despite threatening weather, a track record crowd were packed on to the recently extended spectator mounds at Portland's South Coast Raceway as rain began to fall with fourteen Doorslammers in the staging lanes and about to fire up for their qualifying round.
All the drivers agreed that the show must go on. When it became clear the weather wasn’t going to clear in a hurry the decision was made to postpone racing until Sunday morning.
To ensure a good crowd next day, the organisers of the Slamfest Series, Pro Modified Australia also decided to open the gates up and offer free admission. When the postponement announcement was made to the thousands of spectators huddled under umbrellas they were invited to bring as many friends and family along with them as possible next morning and the resulting cheers and applause was extremely encouraging.
The strategy was a huge success with a new record crowd estimated at over four thousand people on hand under cool but clear skies next morning to witness the first appearance of the Slamfest Series at the western Victorian facility. They were rewarded with not only the 14 Doorslammer drivers putting on three great rounds of racing with track records smashed but also a demonstration by the RAAF Roulettes aerobatic team overhead, stunt bike theatrics from Matt Mingay and partner, a team of extreme motocross riders and a smooth running show featuring a strong field of sportsman racers.
Due to the postponement the Doorslammers were run on a slightly abbreviated format to fit in the restricted time frame. After all cars ran in the qualifying round they all returned less than ninety minutes for the elimination round where the two quickest winners gained entry straight into the final.
Ben Bray topped the qualifying sheet with a 4.38 just ahead of Peter Blake’s 4.40 with Maurice Fabietti and Scott McLean both in the 4.6s. The elimination round saw some very tight races and a couple of wild runs with Peter Kapiris and Dale Clothier both getting over the centre line. Peter Blake reset the Doorslammer track record to 4.222 to be the quickest of the winners just ahead of Scott McLean’s 4.238 to join him in the final. Ben Bray was a bit unlucky blazing the tyres over the finish line at 161 mph for a spectacular 4.264 to just miss out while Mat Abel reset the outright track speed record to 176.47 mph on his way to a next best 4.343.
In the final Peter Blake’s consistency took him to a very well deserved first Slamfest Series win with another good 4.255 at 171.76 mph wile Scott McLean had a wild ride just clipping the fence before the finish line on his way to a 4.42 and the runner up spot.
Round Two 2011 Slamfest Series Run Data
Whilst thanking the huge crowd for their support after the final, Peter Blake was glowing in his praise of the South Coast Raceway saying, “It was great for the team, Racetech and all our sponsors to get the win but the fans here are just fantastic and really make it even better. The way they sat it out in the rain yesterday waiting to see us race I’m just so glad it all turned out today. This is a great facility and we can’t wait to come back.”
The event was part of a huge weekend of activities in Portland raising funds for the Make a Wish Foundation and proved to be a fantastic promotion for the sport of drag racing and a real credit to the volunteer South Coast Raceway Team and Pro Modified Australia.
The Slamfest for Wishes event will receive extensive television coverage with one hour shows on Speedweek on SBS and Inside Speed on Foxsports plus stand alone one hours self titled Doorslammer shows on FuelTV, Foxsports HD and for international distribution. An additional 30 minute Full Noise show will also appear on Foxsports. The first broadcast will be SBS Speedweek on Sunday February 27.
The 2011 Slamfest Series will now move on to Mildura on April 2-3 for Round 3. The following event on the calendar is at North Queensland’s Palmyra Dragway in Mackay on June 25 before the Slammers head back to Melbourne’s Calder Park Raceway for the Grand Final in November.