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PRE
SEASON TESTING POSITIVE FOR TEAM BRAY Ben Bray saved his best effort for last of the pre-season testing at Willowbank Raceway where he pushed his Castrol EDGE Monaro through the quarter mile timers in a career best of 5.863 seconds. He became just the third driver, to break the 5.9 sec barrier in an ANDRA legal Doorslammer last Friday.
Test tracks aren't usually conducive to fast times due to the lack
of runs being laid down and early signs on the day pointed to a
tricky quarter mile track, but on the third attempt the second generation
dragracer drove his car straight down the middle and through the
timers at 247.53 miles per hour . Unfortunately with the shortened off season and limited testing available with the new combination and the wait on some new components to duplicate the new setup in the Chev former Top Doorslammer champion Victor Bray has decided to sit out the 1st round of the ANDRA Pro series, in order to refine and further develop the combination the team is currently testing in son Ben's car. " I have become frustrated over the past few events with the lack of results from the Castrol EDGE Chevy and if we can get some repeatability in Ben's car then hopefully we can transfer it over to the Chev and be ready to get in the mix at the pointy end of the competition again" Victor stated. Victor Bray 1957 Chevy:- "We have spent just about every waking hour working on this combination, in what has been the shortest ever season break in my drag racing career. I feel the combination that we are currently working on, has a lot of merit and should be fully transferable to my car. But in saying that, a lot of this is all new and although some of the changes are quite simple there is also some chassis modifications and clutch mods that do require considerable time to instigate. Therefore I would like to make sure this is the right way to go." "I love racing and one part of me is disappointed. On the other hand, although John Zappia and I are good friends, and I am sure he will be the bench mark again this season, I want to do all within my ability to become competitive in the class I once dominated and feel sacrificing my attendance at this event is the best way forward. " Ben Bray Monaro CV8Z:- "The last time Dad missed a round was the Tin Tops back in 2005 on that occasion I did him proud. By not only winning the event and securing myself my second Australian Championship, The class has changed a lot since then and there are now numerous fast competitive cars. Although my Castrol EDGE Monaro has been competitive over the past season we feel we needed to gain some consistency and look for some more performance. Top Doorslammer as a category has moved forward in leaps and bounds and if we are to stay at the pointy end we too need to keep abreast of emerging technology. "If I had to choose, I would prefer to have dad racing, but as that is not going to be the case this week-end, We as a team will be working through the new combination with the view of getting Dad's car back into competition at the Nationals." Mat Abel 1957 Chevy:- "It is very exciting being a part of the R and D that has been going on with in Team Bray, during the off-season. I would have liked to put the combination in my car also, but what I have is good and if I can go one round more than I did at the Castrol EDGE Winternationals, that will be a good week-end out.
Three Qualifying sessions are scheduled. |
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