|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
STORY
ASH MCPHEE |
PHOTOS CHRIS THOROGOOD |
|
|
|
|
Sandown
International Raceway turned up the wick for
the hottest Easternats action ever |
|
 |
|
4.
Jeff Gatt’s HG Monaro made it’s presence well and truly felt with a
sensational complete package made up of a blown 350 Chev, 19-inch
billet rims and a ripper paint job. One of our favourites for sure
5. Mark Camilleri’s blown ‘57 Chev Belair scored a gong for
Best Paint, backing the string of nine-second passes it recorded at a
recent off street drag meet. Sensationally presented thro-ughout, the
Chev is motivated by a 540-cubed Merlin based big block
6. Con Verginis was one of Chris Kurumolla’s victims in the
hotly contested street drags, however he turned it around by making
the Top Ten and winning Best Four Door in the Show ‘N’ Shine and
scoring himself a feature in this issue of Street Action in the
process |
 |
|
|
1.
Dave Vearing made the trek down from Wagga in his HZ Panno, finishing
within 0.05 of a point from the winners spot in the Burnout Comp. Dave
told Street Action that it’s pretty easy to smoke ‘em up when you’ve got
not only a phat stroker V8, but also a pair of Eaton M90
superchargers providing grunt
2. James North finished tenth in his tunnel rammed LX
Torana Hatch, handing the keys over to his partner Helen on a couple of
occasions. The tough Torrie houses a strong 304-cubed motor good for
around 400hp
3. One of Melbourne’s fastest genuine streeters is this HK Monaro
owned by a man who needs very little introduction; George Haddad. Whilst
chatting with George on the Saturday he informed Street Action of his
intention to run a nine second pass in 100 percent street legal trim at
a coming off street drag meet. The HK already has a 9.73-sec PB to its
credit with the pipes off and anyone who knows the street and strip
scene would not dare doubt George’s ability to achieve his goal |
|
 |
 |
|
|
7.
Denis Maloney travels the length and breadth of Victoria with his blown
360-powered 1940 Dodge pick up, entering Burnout Comp’s whenever they are
on, and regularly finishing in the Top Ten as he did at this years
Easternats
8. Chris Kurumolla was knocked out in the semis of the street drags
in 2006 by Daniel Nunziante. In 2007 the pair met up once again, this time
in the final. Kurumolla looked the goods at half track before running out of
nitrous, telling Street Action just how tough it was to even get that far in
the first place. Chris was actually using a borrowed 3V headed 383 Cleveland
from his mate Peter Georgiou, which is good for 9.80’s in the untubbed
XEFalcon
|
 |
 |
|
9.
Being bailed up in a hospital bed is a pretty good excuse for missing your
cars first big outing. With David – the pick up’s owner – out of action,
Frank Pintaudi and the boys rallied together to do their good mate proud
10. Daniel Nunziante made it two in a row in the Street Drags with
his big cube Windsor powered TC Cortina. Easternats
don’t actually have timing in operation for the Drags, although we have seen
Daniel scorch the Heathcote Raceway quarter mile to the tune of 9.4-seconds
with a sniff of the gas. It’s not entirely a track car though with an award
winning paint job and stunning custom interior – easily one of the cleanest
and most respected tough street cars in Melbourne
11. Vanessa Perry had a dip at most events in her gorgeous HK Monaro, which
features a tunnel rammed small block, good for 510hp |
 |
 |
|
ising against any potential bad publicity, caused by an attempt at
sensatio-nalist reporting news services on the second day of the
event, Jon Davison and his hard working crew pulled it all together to
stage one of the best gatherings of hardcore modified car enthusiasts
in years, at the 2007 Easternats.
Competitors from all corners of our great land turned out in all manner
of vehicles from an army of V8 Holden’s through to a sprinkling of
buzz boxes and everything else in between. Blowers were certainly the
flavour of the month with at least two dozen enormous injector hats
poking through the hoods of some of the toughest cars seen this side
of the black stump in a long time.
Individual events ranged from the hotly contested Street Drags, Go to
Whoa and Burnout Comp to the niche categories including Show ‘n’
Shine, Sound Off and Dyno Challenge, without forgetting to mention the
track cruising over several hours of all four days.
If the Melbourne news media is to be believed, Police and local hoons go
to war every weekend in a never-ending battle. Not so at the
Easternats, with the boys in blue providing a friendly and welcome
presence. Naturally there were squad cars waiting with radar guns
outside the gates at the end of each of the four days, however no
confirmed reports of bad behaviour by either entrants or spectators
have arisen, on a weekend when 10 people died on
Victorian roads.
Sandown appear to have struck the perfect balance of events as well as
providing spectators with a constant source of regular and fulfilling
entertainment, despite culling a handful of events from previous
years. With Melbourne turning on its best weather in weeks, a
grandstand and standing room area chockers with spectators cheering on
heroes such as Peter Gray, Michael Voase and George Haddad and a full
book of 750 entrants told the real story, with the greater car loving
community speaking with their feet and their hearts.
Monday – the final day – played host to the finals of most events and was
the big day spectator-wise as thousands turned out to witness the
toughest burnout and street drag fields in Easternats history. Just
how tough? 2006 Summernats burnout champion Peter Grmusa could only
manage 43rd place in a field of 50, behind Glen Eastwood in the
burnouts as less than a solitary point separated the top seven
competitors.
Pretty tough, until you consider that so fierce was the war being raged
in the street drags that eventual runner-up Chris Kurumolla had to
defeat a handful of nine second cars to make the final, running out of
nitrous at half track, whilst in contention in the decider, won by
reigning champ and local boy Daniel Nunziante.
Perennial hero George Haddad’s 9.7 second HK Monaro struggled to make
it past the second round in one of the closest races of the weekend,
causing an enormous hush to fall over the massive crowd.
Winner of the Dyno Challenge spun the rollers to the tune of 767hp, ahead
of Voase’s 718hp. Not bad for a six cylinder Toyota Supra, although
sixes have taken home the gold in this event a number of times over
the years.
The largest applause from the punters all weekend took place when
promoter Jon Davison announced that no matter what the do-gooders
tried, Easternats is here to stay for as long as Melbourne’s car folk
continue to attend in their droves. No one was left in any doubt how
happily that news was greeted. Indeed talk had already begun by the
final evening of just how we, the modified car fans can make 2008’s
Easternats the biggest yet.
Can’t wait for that one... |
|
 |
|
12. Kamal Chatila
cruised the circuit all weekend long, except when he was giving the
opposition a hard time in the Street Drags. We caught up with Kamal
after Saturday prac-tice and he mentioned that he’d forgotten to pack
his slicks and had to run on the wrong tyres. He made no mistake come
Monday and den-ted the hopes of a number of wa-nnabe contenders. Kamal’s
genuine XE ESP has a 10.5 second time slip in full street trim under its
belt, with power coming from a well built 416-cubed EFI Windsor
13. Adam Morandin was another to find his ride spouting fire
during a Sunday burnout. Never mind, said Adam and off he went for some
Street Drag action the following day. They breed ‘em tough down Mexico
way
14. Michael Voase’s LX Torana hatch is a veteran of the Pro
Street drag scene and was one of the first untubbed streeters to score
an eight second pass. At this year’s Easternats, Michael competed in a
number of individual events, placing in the top four in each one
con-tested, confirming its true all rounder status
15. Mark Hill’s ‘69 Camaro is the epitome of tough, with a
496-cubed big block and a genuine 680 horse-power
16. Bruce Stell ignited the hearts of spectators as well as his
rear tyres whilst performing a burnout in his big-block powered XD.
We’re not sure whether he meant it, but one thing’s for sure it was
bloody great to watch and gave new meaning to the term burning rubber |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Courtesy of
 magazine |
|
|
