MOUNT Gambier was well represented on the weekend at the Street Stock Tarmac Nationals event at Winton Motor Raceway in Victoria.
Several drivers from the region attended, with Paul Razum claiming the honours ahead of fellow Limestone Coast driver Anthony Beare.
The pair were clearly quickest for the meeting, finishing first and second in both heats, before starting from the front row of the grid in the final and going on from there.
For Razum it was a rare drive, as he usually concentrates on building engines for customers in the speedway class.
However, he built his car – a VY Commodore – from scratch, which was finished just before the weekend and he certainly made his mark.
After qualifying he started from the front row of the grid for the first heat, claiming the win ahead of Beare.
Positions were reversed for the second heat, with Beare and Razum coming through from the back of the field to finish one/two respectively.
In the race Razum skipped out to a handy lead and was able to look after his car as the laps wound down, winning by a comfortable margin.
It was also a change for the vehicles, which normally run on clay ovals, rather than the fast bitumen circuit at Winton.
The event utilised the short circuit, which cuts out the back straight and much of the front straight as well, but was still hard on equipment that is built for a different style of racing.
Razum said he was pleased with the win, especially considering he does not normally race at the moment.
He said he chose to take part in the event for a couple of reasons, one being he simply likes to race on bitumen.
“The main reason was the prize, which is entry to the Aussie Driver Search at Phillip Island for the winner,” he said.
“Now I go to Phillip Island in September with 30 other drivers.
“We will race the V8 utes, the Toyota 86 cars and BMW improved production.
“Entry into that event is worth $3000.
“The top 10 go through to the final and whoever wins that gets a $150,000 racing budget for any racing you want.
“But also, for once a year we are racing on a V8 Supercar track, so just to get that opportunity in our own cars and race side by side, that does not happen very often.”
Previously the event had been held as a time trial, but this year saw side-by-side racing to add to the thrill.
Beare said that was a big attraction, with the one-two result for Mount Gambier pleasing.
“Just to be a part of it, the type of track it is, was what it was all about,” he said.
“To even go there and have a run was a good start, but then to place was amazing.
“I always want to win, but to place, I was over the moon.
“Last year we were pretty slow, so to improve was a good thing.
“Mount Gambier has always been strong in street stocks, so to finish one-two was great.”
For Razum a lot of the weekend was about the car – which is now up for sale – how it would hold up and how fast it would go.
He said he simply hoped to qualify the fastest and see where that took him.
“I knew my car was capable, I just had to do it,” he said.
“In a race anything can happen, so I was not going there confident to win.
“I was hoping the car would hold on and nothing would break.
“I had a 13 second lead towards the end and the last half of the race I did back off a bit to look after it.”
While Razum’s car may be up for sale, Beare’s certainly is not.
His was also a new car before the event, which he will use this speedway season.
He said the car performed well which looked good for the season ahead.
