Ben Bray's Sensational Save Of The Day In Wa

SpoolMan · 12-03-2006, 12:21 AM

Brilliant driving by dual Top Doorslammer champion, Ben Bray, was the only thing that kept his brand new Castrol Edge Holden Monaro CV8Z from slamming into a concrete wall at close to 200 mph (312 kmh) during the first round of eliminations at the Westernationals in WA on Sunday
night.

It was one of the wildest rides of Ben's short but spectacular drag racing career but the young star, who turned 22 last Thursday, handled the frightening incident with the cool nerves of a veteran. After a copybook launch in the right lane, the Monaro, lost traction at around half-track and lurched up onto two wheels before crossing the strip's centre line ahead of surprised competitor Robin Judd. At one stage Ben was actually following Judd down the left lane as he fought to regain control, eventually returning to the right lane and pulling the car up.

Back in the pits, Bray who had qualified the Monaro sixth in only its second meeting, was more upset about losing the elimination round than
two-wheeling his 3000 hp (2237 kW) Monaro. So what happened?

"I don't really know," Ben said shaking his head. "It shook hard from 60 feet (18 m) on and I just tried my hardest to get down the track. We were pushing too hard and we changed about 50 things before the round, including the blower. We really didn't know if the car was going to
leave the start line."

With times so close and a chance to close the points gap to championship leader, West Australian John Zappia, Ben and father Victor stepped up the tune of the Monaro's 499-cubic inch (8.0-litre) engine in an effort
to stay with older, more developed cars.

"We had to do something," he said. "Juddy had gone 6.11 and 6.10sec in the heat of the day and so we put in the (engine and clutch) combination that ran 6.08sec when we first tested the car, but the track couldn't
hold the car."

For team owner and six-times Doorslammer champion Victor, the long trip produced a rare DNQ. Victor, who has contested 68 of the 69 Top Doorslammer events (he missed one round due to illness) and had only failed to qualify once before, ironically at Ben's debut meeting, which
he won.

While Victor's '57 Chev felt good from the driver's seat in critical final round of qualifying, the time sheets, didn't agree. The Kwinana Motorplex round was the first time Victor had used a new lock-up clutch (and Ben's second) and he admits the team has a little to learn about the new technology yet, but data gathered in WA will be helpful for the
final two rounds of the championship.

"We had a few dramas this meeting but according to the data, the car should have gone down the track," a disappointed Victor said. "We started off pretty average with a 6.40 sec in the first round of qualifying. In the second round I had the supercharger blow off and had
a pretty wild ride."

When the supercharger lifted off the inlet manifold, it created a gap through which air was being sucked in at high volume, and although the engine was no longer supercharged, there was still enough air and fuel being rammed into it to over rev it, so Victor had a dilemma to overcome
while trying to stop the car.

"I could have put my foot on the clutch but that would have blown the engine up, so I tried to hold it with one hand on the handbrake and one on the steering wheel. It was slowing down but not enough, so I let go of the steering wheel for a split second and hit the magneto shut-off. I
didn't have a spare hand to pop the 'chutes!

The crew changed the supercharger for the final round of qualifying but Vic's ET of 6.401sec wasn't good enough to make a very tough final eight. "My car has been playing up for a while and I guess this DNQ has been coming; we'd been jagging our way into the fields lately," Victor said. "We'll do some testing when we get back to Brisbane and come out
hard at the Tin Tops at Willowbank on April 8."

Thx NMD for the story...

AUIII XR8 MAN · 12-03-2006, 03:53 AM

Nothing like a good scare to make you feel alive. I'm sure they will be right for the next round.

347_XR8 · 12-03-2006, 12:17 PM

Good to hear that he recovered it

302donk · 12-03-2006, 12:49 PM

i was there it looked worse then what it realy was , the car rattled the tyres and benny stay in the throttle a little to long and got it out of shape

302donk · 13-03-2006, 02:08 PM

heres a pic of ben getting close to robin judd note the tyre marks on the track

klawsterfobik · 13-03-2006, 02:10 PM

this thread is useless with out pi.... video?

Quadcams · 13-03-2006, 02:16 PM

Maybe Ben just wanted to have a chat to his fellow competitor at 200mph something different, seriously those skid marks show a bit of a wild ride.
Goto give it to those guys there a angry piece of machinery they drive.