Gary Curmi, better know as il-Mibrum, staging for his best et of 9.3sec with 10psi of boost.
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VIDEO (Gary Curmi in his Supra powered dragster. Testing it for the second time, and clocking 9.718sec with no turbo boost.)
In the weekend between the 25 and 27 of February the Malta Drag Racing Association organized its first of seven events of this year at the well renewed Hal-Far Raceway. Although the weather was a bit cold, the track was in a very good condition, with the help of a fresh layer of grip-juice waiting to get blazed. The three-day racing started on Friday 25th (test day), with the tuners making their final tests on engines and drivers all looking forward to clock better times. This was also a good occasion for the street modified car enthusiasts to test out their vehicles true power in a safe and secure way.
Edmond Azzopardi, in his Lotus Sunbeam.
Qualification runs in all categories were reserved for the second day of the meeting. The Competition Altered class again drew attention. Edmond Azzopardi, in his Lotus Sunbeam, Alan Zammit, in Emanuel Mangion’s Altered Escort, and Emanuel Muscat, in his white Cortina, stole most of the limelight and keeped the crowd present entertained. There was also Gary Curmi’s (Mibrum Racing Team) debut in his brand new Toyota Supra Dragster. It’s worth mentioning that this Dragster powered by a strait 6-cyclinder Supra 7MGTE engine, is the first one in the whole world. During testing, he was assisted by by the knowledge Joseph Tabone, of Sieheb Racing Team.
Alan Zammit, in Emanuel Mangion’s (Dilja) Cosworth Escort.
On Sunday, it was the time for elimination and final runs. Competition Altered class racing was again to the fore. Azzopardi, in his Sunbeam equipped with a 2.2-litre T6 Turbo Lotus, confirmed his previous best elapsed time with an 8.4-second run. The Zoqdi Racing Team of Charles Camilleri, who tunes Mangion’s (Dilja) 2.1-litre Cosworth-fitted Escort, were all over the moon when Zammit blasted his way to a best ever elapsed time of 7.807 seconds with nitro. Zammit was only 0.1 of a second away from the Competition Altered class record. At present, belongs to Chris Polidano (Kalanc) in a 2.2-litre Cosworth Escort, who didn’t take part in this event, as he is still fine tuning and making the last settings ahead for the next MDRA event.
Zammit, clocked 7.807 sec. Only 0.1 awat from the CA record.
In Open 1 class, Polidano registered 8.6 seconds in Pippo Borg’s Escort which is powered by a T6 Turbo Cosworth engine and tuned by Manty Bugeja of Power House Racing Team. Driving an Altered Cortina, tuned by Joe Catania, Muscat clocked an impressive personal best elapsed time of 8.6 seconds in the Open 3 class with nitro. Karim Cassar was the best driver in the SS2 class with his Street Legal Escort powered with a 2.1-litre Pinto. He registered an 11.4-second run.
One of the most interesting races, Zammit vs Muscat.
Mario Attard (Xambekk), in his Volvo, won the Trucks Open class final in 13.3 seconds. In the handicap category, Attard had a personal best of 13.2 seconds. Joe Carabott (Mr Whippy), in his Chevy 454 Blown dragster, registered another personal best elapsed time, with a 7.4 quarter-mile run.
Curmi preparing for this first ever burnout.
Curmi’s Supra dragster clocked his best elapsed time of 9.3 seconds with only 10psi of turbo boost while more testing. The team intends to power the Custom Turbonetics T76 Turbo with a boost of 40psi and hoping to touch the 7sec figures in the April event. This was said by driver/owner Gary Curmi who also confirmed that Greek ECU tuner Mike Charalamous of JMC Automotive will be present for the next event to monitor and tune the Supra engine.
News, Photos and Video by Holger Camilleri (Malta).
Many Thanks Holger!
