GAZZANATS DARWIN
GAZZANATS TAKES OVER HIDDEN VALLEY FOR ONE DAY OF FIRE, SMOKE AND FURY
The Myers clan take their travelling skid circus north to Hidden Valley Raceway
NOTHING beats heading north for a few days in winter to take in some sun and drink beer on balmy evenings. And if you happen to be in Darwin on the right weekend, you can head out to Hidden Valley Raceway for Gazzanats. I wasn’t the only one escaping the single-digit temperatures, with 16 cars hauled up and over from WA, as well as a truckload of Riverina Thrashers cars from NSW. For most it was the first of a two-phase mission in the NT, with Red Centrenats being held in Alice Springs just two weeks later.
It’s a massive trek to the Top End, but well worth the effort as Darwin is such a great place to hang out, with a laidback vibe and a multicultural experience like no other in the country. To sweeten the deal for burnout competitors, there were spots in the Summernats and RCN Masters up for grabs. The highly desirable Summernats ticket went to Robert Cottrell in his Ls-powered XD Falcon, 4DH8ERS. Considering Cottrell practically tore the corner off the XD at Summernats 32, it was great to see it back and doing so well. In the crash, the shock tower was pushed in and back a considerable amount, so it required a fair bit of massaging to get right, and then a new front corner was welded on. To remind Rob of the history, and to proudly show off the car’s battle scars, the welds were only partly finished off before painting. Thanks to a bunch of help from his dad, the car lives to fight another day. Let’s hope he has a better time in Canberra next year.
The efforts of Andrew Coen and Billy Seton cannot go without mention. Sharing driving duties in the SILYTOY VK Commodore, which was sporting a brand new, untested 6.0-litre combo from Warspeed Industries, the pair smashed eight sets of tyres between them. Even when Coen tapped the wall after a botched tip-in, he backed up and got back into it and put on a killer show. A ratchet strap and a Land Cruiser sorted out the dent, while cable ties sorted out the rest. The repairs held up and Coen went on to take third place while Seton took the win in the Normal class, and they topped it all off with a trophy for Best Engine Bay.
But when it came to stellar performances, nobody came close to Anthony Page, who put on a master class in the Super Skid competition, blazing his tyres way past the timing tower on the main straight: “No one told us where to stop, so I just kept going!” He basically ran out of road before he ran out of
FOR BURNOUT COMPETITORS, THERE WERE SPOTS IN THE SUMMERNATS AND RCN MASTERS UP FOR GRABS
ONE THING GAZZANATS NT IS NEVER SHORT OF IS VARIETY, WITH EVERYTHING FROM 70S-BUILT T-BUCKETS TO BRAND NEW PORSCHES LAPPING THE TRACK
tyre smoke, buttoning off after laying almost 500m of rubber down the track. In fact, he had a blowout on his second attempt because there wasn’t enough rubber left on the tyre. A switch to 17-inch tyres – thanks, Jake Myers – ensured the tyres survived the next two super skids and he easily took the win ahead of runner-up Joel Sykes in his LETSGO HK Belmont, who improved each time he went out.
Pagey also schooled everyone on the burnout pad with two killer skids that showcased his aggressive style, but as he’d already qualified for the Masters, the ticket went to Rob Cottrell.
One thing Gazzanats NT is never short of is variety, with everything from 70s-built T-buckets to brand new Porsches lapping the track. The show ’n’ shine had some neat stuff on display, and while some were happy to just park up for the day, quite a few of them hit the track, including the King of Show ’n’ Shine, Mark O’callaghan. He did a bunch of laps on the track in his Deep Impact Blue ’69 Mustang coupe and showed a clean set of heels to many of the cars in the roll racing.
Another car I was familiar with from last year was Matt Berry’s Toyota Starlet EVIL TWIN. He’s spent a lot of time tuning the motors – yes, motors; there are two of the suckers! – over the past 12 months: “I’ve figured out that if I put more power in the front it pulls the car straight, so the front motor has 300hp and the rear about 270.” It was stupidly quick last year, and a bit squirrelly, but this year it looked like it was on rails and even quicker! It’s destined for a nine-second timeslip for sure.
While the humidity may play havoc with your tune up – or more importantly, your hair – Darwin and the people of the NT are well worth paying a visit. Make a holiday of it and enjoy a part of this big brown land that’s unlike any other. It has a fascinating history, lots of great food and plenty of pubs to check out. Just don’t go in the water, as one of the locals warned me: “We get it drummed into us as kids, everything in it wants to kill you or eat you!”
GO-WHOA
1st: Jack Seaman – HQ One Tonner LOOSEQ 2nd: Rebecca Harris – Nissan Silvia CHNSMNRO
SUPER SKIDS
1st: Anthony Page – HZ ute PAGEY 2nd: Joel Sykes – HK Belmont LETSGO
ROLL RACING
1st: Dave Carpenter – ’68 Camaro 68SS 2nd: Warren Eustace – HQ Kingswood WAZ-308 3rd: Lachlan Bell – Toyota Supra MKIV 4th: Telfer Thorbjornsen – Toyota Supra SPOOLN1
BURNOUTS - FEMALE
1st: Brooke Harris – OFFTAP 2nd: Debs Benedetto – ANDROMEDA
BURNOUTS - BLOWN 1st: Anthony Page – PAGEY 2nd: Robert Cottrell – 4DH8RS 3rd: Frank Paesel – RUB1OUT
BURNOUTS - NORMAL 1st: Billy Seaton – SILYTOY 2nd: Kevin Mantach – ALCOTRAZ 3rd: Andrew Coen – SILYTOY
BURNOUTS - SIX-CYLINDER 1st: Jesse Guy – SLUTLUX 2nd: William Waddell – LOGANBGN 3rd: Bradley Jackson – WHYBSHY
BURNOUTS - BIGGEST TIP-IN Ben Lugg – COLLATERAL