AERO Racing is the technology arm of Aero Group Pty Ltd, specialising in the extreme sport of ANDRA competition drag racing. Drag racing is the fastest growing motorsport in Australia, and offers participants a high profile extremely entertaining experience.
Click on the 2011/2012 Racing Calendar to the right for more information on advertising and racing dates.
AERO RX-7: Best time of 7.05 @ 198mph
TOP FUEL
AERO Racing had an excellent Top Fuel meeting by winning the B Final in Supercharged Outlaws, much to the delight of the crew. The first two meetings were learning experiences for the team, as they started the progression to the next level of competition in Group 2.
In front of a Top Fuel crowd, the AERO RX-7 laid down a personal best off the trailer with a 7.050 @ 198.67mph - with a 0.025 reaction time. "That was a relief" said PC, "We went back to the Mickey Thomopson tyres and repaired the rear end, and the prep we did in the shed paid off with that pass - fantastic!". Second pass for the night was a 7.113 @ 195.65mph, with poor leakdowns the only challenge for the team.
The compulsory qualifier at 5.30pm on Saturday was another straight pass with a 7.154 @ 193.54mph win over the big block of Steve Yozzi who ran a 7.333 @ 183.67mph. That placed the team fourth in the Outlaws smaller field of eight.
First eliminator round saw the team up against Mark Rothwell in the Nova, who had been struggling with ignition issues all meeting. "We dialed in with a conservative 7.05 to Mark's 7.37 - leaving me to catch him down the track. But after a good launch I knew Mark had found some power - that Nova was hauling and I could not catch him. At about 1000ft I saw his bonnet go boom and explode off the car, and I could see he lifted and backed off. Our 7.163 @ 193.96 was enough for the win, as Mark did a huge breakout 7.085 @ 166.96mph (a six pass there on the cards)". The 0.088 reaction time and run got the team a B Final up against newcomer and fellow Harris Engine sponsored Commodore of Justin Taylor.
"Our mph was showing the standard Lexus heads we have were suffering some leakdown issues, so we estimated with the air turning around at 10pm a slightly better 7.13 - 7.14 may be on the cards. As it happened our final was a solo, as Taylor suffered a cruel blow with a small part found missing on the engine prior to coming out".
The B Final saw the AERO RX-7 lay down another long smokey burnout with the quad cammer screaming. A 7.145 @ 195.65mph was an excellent result on a 7.12 dial in, and the team came away with a great result to reward the hard work in the weeks before.
The AERO RX-7 will be out again next after the installation of the new upgraded engine package:
Upgrade from 282ci to 350ci - with new 3.85" bores, and a 3.75" custom build stroker crank.
New AERO/High Speed Engineering Billet Heads
Compression increase from 9.0:1 to 11.0:1
GOLDENSTATES 2011
The AERO RX-7 presented for the Goldenstates and encountered severe tyre shake. A pedal on the first qualifier resulted in a 7.50 @ 198.00mph, and the second qualifier was abandoned after shake. Damage to the rear ladder bars put an end to the meeting for the team.
2011 Grand Opening
AERO Racing presented for the opening meeting of the 2011/2012 ANDRA Racing season, anticipating some quick times in the Outlaw RX-7. The weather was picture perfect in Perth, with 25 degrees forecast.
"With some extra power now in the quad cam V8, the first pass shook the tyres for the first time ever" said PC, "My racer friends tell me that I am now making decent power, and now the real tuning of the car begins! I pedalled the car as it went right towards the wall, and the car pulled very hard and went through for a 7.503 @ 188.28mph. Good signs for a possible six second pass later in the night.
Back in the pits the crew went over the car and all was ok for the next run at 6.20pm. The temperature was dropping and other cars were going quick on a good track. After a short sharp burnout, I staged the car and on the tree I received a red light. Not exactly sure why - I did not move at all, and the next racer in that lane received the same result - perhaps a track timing issue. I launched hard (broke the wheelie bar rod end) and the cammer took off. I hit 10,430rpm in first and drove it out the back door at 198.67mph and pulled the chutes. The new twin air operated Stroud chutes have been hitting very hard since fitment, and the chrome moly attach brackets failed on this run. So the car went from minus 2G decelleration to zero as the parachutes broke free and were left at the finish line - I broke hard and locked the rear slicks, going sideways and finally pulling the car up before the turn off. The Motorplex staff seemed more distressed than I did after getting out of the car - apparently it looked worse than I felt in the car. A close call they kept saying. Unfortunately we had to have the car returned to the pits on the back of a truck, as the left rear slick was cut as the bracket failed."
"Overall we are thrilled with the car and how it is going, despite the damage. Taking the car to the next level - six second passes - shows up any design flaws. This car has been built in house and upgraded several times from a super sedan eight second car to what it is now, so the evolution continues. Looking at the numbers on the last run, it may have come pretty close to a flat 7.0 or even a six, but that is only a guess really. Next meeting will give us the opportunity to test that theory again".
All is set for the 2011-2012 Drag Racing Season for AERO Racing. Testing saw the RX-7 lay down a PB 7.08 @ 196mph, and the team is all set for Supercharged Outlaw duties. First meeting is 29th October 2011 [Event Details]. [Entrance List]
2 0 1 1 - 2 0 1 2 H I G H L I G H T S >
Grand Final
The last event of the Perth Motorlex season saw the weather turn colder than the last sixty days in Perth, and brought plenty of personal best times over the meeting.
AERO Racing fronted both RX-7's for racing, but Brad Morris's Super Compact CC/SC had electrical gremlins all weekend. That was despite the upgrade in power from dyno tuning by Mike's Pro Race Products during the week where the car flawlessly put out over 550hp at the rear wheels. See the video [HERE]
Paul's AERO Outlaw RX-7 surprised everybody with an off the trailer 7.188 @ 191.89mph. Unfortunately the parachute failed to open correctly and Paul steered the car into the sand at the end of the strip. See pictures and a write up on the Perth Motorplex website
"That came out of nowhere really. I knew the air was good, and John Zappia told me I would maybe go a tenth quicker. But the sixty foot time went back into the 1.10 that run - something that has eluded us since we changed the gearbox ratios - and contributed to the quicker et. Our mph was pretty close to our 7.30 runs of previous meetings, so we have found some wheelspeed with a set of old tyres I fitted".
The crew worked for four hours to repair the front clip, and get buckets and buckets of sand out of the car - and were able to front for the compulsory qualifier at 6.30pm and laid down a 7.589 @ 172.08mph due to ignition problems. That placed the RX-7 fifth out of the eleven starters on the qualifying list, and a first elimination run against equal third Championship contender Mark MacKay in the altered.
"We were unsure of our dial in, as the first pass was so far out of our normal baseline data. We opted for a 7.29 dial in based on our data over the season factored for weather. But the little cammer loved the good air, and ran stongly to a 7.202 @ 188.67mph breakout.
"The quicker altered cars come by pretty quick at the finish line, but I did not see Mark out of the corner of my eye, so got off the throttle early, but the dial in was obviously wrong. Sadly Mark blew the tyres off and did not contest the run to the finish".
Overall we are happy with the season - finishing fourth overall in the points. We look forward to next season where the AERO RX-7 will be attempting to break into the sixes.
[In Car Video]
Nitro Funny Cars
AERO Racing presented the Outlaw RX-7 for Supercharged Outlaws racing at the popular Nitro Funny Car event, and managed to win the A Final and boost their chances of a top three finish in the WA Championship.
The weather was simply supurb - mid to high twenties and reasonable air. The RX-7 managed a 7.341 @ 186.33mph off the trailer, against our good mate and sponsor Simon "Gonzo" Travaglini in his new slammer.
Second run in qualifying was a dud with driver Paul "PC" Carey taking off in second gear after red lighting. "That took the smiles off my crew's faces, so I put my head down and prepared for the first eliminator against Del Caro in the funny car. Our 7.341 was only good enough for 11th position out of the 13 cars competing in Outlaws".
"The burnout was a little hairy as the RX-7 got a little sideways and scraped the headers. I staged and a killer 0.010 light and 7.355 @ 189.07mph on a 7.30 dial in got us the win over the chasing funny car, who managed to go 6.971 on a 6.870 dial in, and promptly ended up in the sand as one chute failed to open".
That run gained us an A Final against Foster in the big block Ute, but he was unable to front after kicking his rods out on his eliminator run. So a solo final saw me red light after the trans brake failed conveniently and I rolled through the beams. Luckily the rules state that I only have to accept the tree and I win, so it was an exciting time for myself and the crew celebrating our first event win in drag racing".
With 100 handy points for the win, we managed to draw equal third in the WA Outlaws Championship, and look forward to the Grand Final on the 9th April.
Westernationals
The 40th Westernationals is the biggest drag racing event in WA, and the AERO Racing Team presented PC's AERO Outlaw RX-7 in Supercharged Outlaws, and Beefy's RX-7 in Super Sedan.
Saturdays qualifing was in perfect weather conditions on a killer track, and in Outlaws the black RX-7 had some difficulties on the first pass with the magneto dual drive jumping a tooth resulting in a slowing 8.389 @ 151.77mph. A quick fix in the pits and the car was back out for Q2, and with no battery and trans brake PC only managed a 7.994 @ 182.92 after a red light and false start.
"We were a little behind the eight ball after two runs, and I wanted to be in the top half of the field - so I hotted up the AERO Lexus and a personal best 7.306 @ 189.07mph was the result. That still only put us 16th in the 22 car field, and gave us Ladbrook in round one the next day".
"I detuned the car and dialed in a 7.350 against Ladbrook's 6.690 dial in, but ended up breaking out with a 7.315 @ 187.11mph. Fortnuately Ladbrook's reaction time of 0.440 and 6.413 breakout handed us the win. I was surprised the car went that quick - maybe the track was better than I thought".
"I left the tune alone for Round 2, and drew Mackay in the altered. I dialed in 7.250 to Mark's 7.000 and although I had a great 0.046 reaction time, the car got out of the groove to the left and I short shifted into second to correct. Mark drew past me and took the win with a 7.089 on his way to the final".
Beefy rattled of a 10.539 @ 133.33mph off the trailer with his new anti-lag two step activated in the Motec, and then drove out the back door for a personal best 10.015 @ 136.77mph on Q2. A missed gear on the final qualifier did not improve his standing of 31st out of 46 in the field.
Beefy drew Warrick Pike in the turbo ute making it an EFI Turbo match race. Beefy dialed in a 10.00 flat and red lit to a 10.364 @ 129.87mph loose, Pike having fell asleep on the line and running a 9.978 on a 9.55 dial in.
"Although both cars were knocked out early, the AERO Racing Team had a great time over the three day event - and managed personal bests in both cars. Thanks to High Speed Engineering for the use of their van for towing duties - the vinyl wrap a great showcase for their high tech work".
Top Fuel
With a tropical cyclone warning hanging over the Top Fuel meeting in Perth, AERO Racing headed off to compete in Supercharged Outlaws with the AERO RX-7, and in Super Comp with Beefy's RX-7.
PC was first out and knocked out a 7.406 @ 187.5 mph with an 0.039 reaction - a great start to the weekend. Beefy missed third in his first pass and went 13.137 @ 118.26 mph, then fourth on the second run for a 11.072 @ 109.09 mph. Seems the pesky standard Mazda box was giving him some grief. A tube of lube was put in overnight to try and smooth out the shifts.
The 2pm qualifier was a little slower for PC at 7.660 @ 181.08 mph. "I tried a different technique on that run" said PC, "basically seeing if I could short shift at 9000rpm and still go quick. Answer was no - the little cammer needs to rev to carry it through into the tall second gear". Beefy managed a better 10.625 @ 126.93 on his next qualifier.
Back out at 5pm for the compulsory qualifier with the air at 2400ft corrected, a 7.507 @ 180.72 mph was impressive in the Outlaw RX-7. Other cars were three and four tenths off their normal pace. That landed us 11th in the field of 19 cars. Beefy drew Andrew Andreou in the B/APA sedan, and a 10.831 @ 119.36 mph was not enough to beat Andreou's on the index 7.951 @ 145.39 mph.
"The elimination semi final was at 8.30 in Outlaws, and we drew newcomer Russel Ladbrook in his funny car. He dialed in at 6.59 to our 7.45 - meaning a long wait at the lights for him. I cut a reasonable 0.048 light and ran it through for a 7.581 @ 182.92 mph green light win, despite Ladbrook running a killer 6.289 @ 203.16 breakout pass, after falling asleep on the line (0.664 reaction)".
The win was not enough for an Outlaws final, but has kept the team fifth in the Championship so far. Next meeting is the 40th Westernationals in March.
Night of Fire
AERO Racing presented the Outlaw RX-7 for racing last weekend at the Night of Fire local National Open Meeting at the Perth Motorplex. There were 12 racers in the Supercharged Outlaws bracket, with some fierce cometition in the top half a dozen positions in the Championship.
"After sorting out our gearbox problems" said Paul Carey, "the crew spent time servicing the standard heads ready for this meeting, and I put a new fuel system on the car with a bigger pump to handle the future power up program. So we were really just looking for consistent trouble free racing this weekend. Well we almost pulled it off!"
First pass of the day at 1.20 netted a solid 7.449 @ 187.89mph, and the mid afternoon run was another good straight pass with a 7.407 @ 188.67mph. Third pass and compulsory qualifier was 7.406 @ 187.11mph giving good consistency in times.
"At about 1000 feet I notice out my right eye the drivers door just dissapear! No dramas - I held it flat to finish the run as the car behaves so well. The new lightweight composite door appeared to have failed structurally at the bonded joint - would never have picked that to happen. I raced back to the AERO Group workshop in Bayswater and picked up the original steel door, and got it back on in time for the semi finals".
"The 7.406 had qualified us eigth in the field, and came up against Kevin Lyle in the Funny Car 37 Chev Coup who ran a stout best of 6.984. We dialed in a 7.37 and got the start on Kevin with a 0.025 reaction time and ran it out the back to a winning 7.523 @ 186.72mph, despite the Chev flying past me before the finish line on a massive breakout 6.768 on a 6.90 dial in".
"Our package netted us fifth place just missing out on the B Final, but gaining enough points to stay fifth in the Championship. The car needs little work now for the next meeting - Top Fuel".
Photos and videos [HERE]
Nitro Funny Cars
With good Christmas cheer the AERO Racing Team headed down to the Motorplex for the next round of Supercharged Outlaws - running fourth in the Championship and wanting another finals berth.
The weather was against any fast times, with 3500 feet air and most teams a couple of tenths off their normal best. The Powerglide had been repaired by Chris Dimhoff who put new billet gears and output shaft in, along with a stronger ringless input shaft.
First pass for the AERO RX-7 was a 7.622 @ 184.04 mph in the heat of the day of 35.7C on a 55.7C track. Second Qualifier was a 7.53 @ 183mph (run was not recorded in the system for some reason) which set us up against Brendan Freer in the dragster for Round 1.
"We dialed in 7.52, as we had pretty average leakdowns and did not expect to go any quicker. After a magic 0.018 reaction, the AERO RX-7 ran through for a breakout 7.497 @ 188.67mph well ahead of Freer who fell asleep in the other lane, but his breakout of 7.008 on a 7.010 was a hundreth better than hours so they took the win".
Photos and videos [HERE]
Goldenstates
The Goldenstates is always an exciting two day event for Aero Racing, with the Top Doorslammers and Top Bikes in town for the Pro Series. Friday night saw the Outlaw RX-7 run a PB 7.336 @ 186.7mph, which was due to some pretty good weather. Second qualifier on the Sat was plagued with a parachute coming out at half track - the RX-7 still managing a 7.74 dragging the chute! The compulsory qualifier was run earlier at 4pm and we managed to get a run alongside Frank Mamone in his 10.5 Nova.
"I holeshot Frank off the line and ran the Lexus out to 9500 in first, hit second and the Powerglide let go. I then saw Frank pass me at half track with his wheels in the air!"
Photos and videos [HERE]
Top Fuel Match Race
Aero Racing raced the Outlaw RX-7 in Supercharged Outlaws last weekend, on the back of a Runner-up effort in the first meeting for the season. The weather was not as good with high temps, humidity and corrected altitude.
First qualifier saw the little screamer do a 7.474 @ 182.18mph with a 0.033 reaction time, and the compulsory 6pm qualifier a 7.450 @ 183.29 mph with a 0.031 reaction time. That gave us a first elimination run against Batson in the Holden Ute.
"I had not raced in the right lane since last season, said PC, "and we need a mirror in the car for me to see the tree. Unfortunately I could not see all the bulbs, so a conservative reaction of 0.251 set me back, as a 7.530 @ 180.00 mph on a 7.41 dial in was not enough to beat Batson's 6.878 on a 6.78 dial in.
"We are running the car fairly soft until the new billet heads arrive, and the car is pretty consistent. We look forward to the Goldenstates in a couple of weeks.
Motorplex Grand Opening
Aero Racing presented Paul Carey's Outlaw RX-7 for racing in the Supercharged Outlaws class, with Brad Morris a late withdrawal, and managed to collect the Runner Up trophy and prizemoney.
The team had numerious difficulties, including two blower belt failures during the event, but a 7.411 @ 191.08 mph with a 0.046 reaction earned them a spot in the A Final.
The Final against Foster was over in a flash when the RX-7 blew the tyres off on the hit.
Photos [HERE]
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