Sick Week, Kenda Radial Series, NZ Nationals

It’s been one helluva week for Haltech teams with an avalanche of wins, trophies and PBs. Here’s the lowdown:

Haltech Trifecta at Sick Week

It’s a feat of strength to just survive the Sick Week, let alone to come out on top but that’s just what these three teams managed to achieve. After five days of racing, each followed by a several hundred mile long drive, Tony Niemczyk emerged as the winner of the Sick Week Freaks class in his 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse.

“I made some changes to the car this year. We started with a brand new fuel system, different fuel type and different injectors and a bunch of other changes completely untested. But thanks to a great Haltech engine management system and data match technology from Fuel Injector Clinic the car ran dead on target AFR with zero additional tuning on our first test hit.”

After a near-flawless performance all week, Tony proved he can be fast and also consistent, a winning combination for events like the Sick Week.

“I never thought a DSM would be able to pull this off. 8.70s for a week, 800ish miles towing a trailer. And literally didn’t work on it at all other than routine swap over from street to track and back. Absolutely incredible.”

Australian Bean Neal took the runner-up spot in his Barra-powered Cresta with Rob Courtney in the third place in his 1995 Honda Civic AWD. Tony and Ben also claimed “Quickest” trophies in 4cyl and 6 cyl classes respectively.

Cleetus McFarlane debuted his new Haltech-controlled build – a Godzilla powered Foxbody Mustang dubbed “McFlurry”. Driven by “Jackstand” Jimmy, the twin-turbo, 7.3L combo ran a PB of 8.2@156mph on its first pass before hurting the bottom end and forcing the team to retire.

NZ Drag Racing Nationals

Held at Masterton Motorplex, the NZ Drag Racing Nationals attract the fastest teams and the most dedicated drivers in the country. The star of the show was Adam Prestey behind the wheel of the Pirtek Taranaki Racing Pontiac Grand Am. Adam took the win in the Top Doorslammer class with a PB of 6.35 @ 223mph. The twin-turbo, 520ci big block Chevy is controlled by a Haltech Nexus R5 and tuned by Mike Ekdahl of Diesel and Turbocharger Service Taranaki.

Graeme Bates campaigned his Vauxhall Cresta in the Top Street class. Graeme pushed the car to a PB of 7.21@193mph claiming the NZDRA National BB/TSi record in the process. He then went on to win the class against Stu Goldsworthy. What an awesome effort by the Haltech New Zealand team!

“I’m still blown away at how well the Haltech system has the car running. We will be back at MMP for the final event there on the 18th and 19th of March where we hope to lean on it a bit further.”

Kenda 660 Drag Radial Series – Sydney

Unpredictable weather played havoc with the Sydney round of Kenda 660 Drag Radial Series but we still got plenty of action and even a few PBs before the storm rolled in forcing the organisers to throw in the towel.

All eyes were on Moits Motorcars / Lotus Caravans brand new Pro Radial Camaro, known as “The Purge”. With a Noonan ProCharged 4.9L V8 and the whole Haltech catalogue onboard, this beast is set to make waves! The guys managed a 4.01 @193mph in challenging weather conditions yesterday getting plenty of data.

A PB of 4.6@157mph for Brad Cullen and his Haltech-controlled, supercharged, big block Valiant ute.

Kenda 660 was also the first outing for Tim and his new Corolla. Powered by a Haltech-controlled, 1000hp RB30 the car sounded awesome and went hard too! Tuned by Micks Motorsports.

New engine, new warpaint and a new attitude for Bennett Motorsports twin-turbo LS Pontiac. The team managed to sneak in an overnight gearbox rebuild, after what we suspect was one too many Page Ups during Friday’s testing.

Aarong Gregory brought the ASG Motorsports twin-turbo LS Holden Panel Van down and didn’t hold back during the Saturday morning qualifying. If you want to see more of this amazing build – check out our Haltech Hero Feature.

Daniel Fisher‘s twin-turbo LS-powered Holden Commodore ute saw plenty of action on both days. This is one quick ute! Controlled by a Haltech Elite 2500 and tuned by Dale Heiler.

It was great to see our favourite pocket rocket, Disco Dean‘s Ford Escort Panel Van out and racing again. Powered by a turbo Barra, the car recently underwent a host of upgrades including a brand-new transmission and a few more Haltech goodies.

Clint Hepburn‘s Gemini is a sight to behold. More grumpy than friendly, this particular “Casper” runs a 540ci big block Chevy aided by two massive turbos. Controlled by a Haltech ECU and tuned by Justin from Horsepower Solutions.

“Go Hard or Go Home” It’s obvious which option Phil Penny decided to go with here! It was great to see the Rising Force Honda S600 in action again. The little Honda S600 is powered by a 2JZ turbo and controlled by Haltech Elite ECU.

Josh Prescott‘s Falcon ute was out testing on Friday. Powered by a twin-turbo Ford V8 and controlled by a Nexus R5 and tuned by Dale Heiler.

Whatever your opinion on Barra-swapping may be, there’s no arguing Nathan Peters‘ purple beast is well done. Very well done. The Haltech-controlled Valiant looks immaculate, sounds awesome, goes hard and turns heads wherever it goes.