EXHILARATING WEEKEND OF V8’S AT LAKESIDE Thunderous roar of 20 V8s hitting the rev- limiter, that is what spectators witnessed for Round 3 of the Queensland V8 Series held at Lakeside Raceway on the 17th June. Chris Brown and Ex-V8 Supercar driver Kevin Heffernan were the stand out drivers amongst the large field. Heffernan did a blistering lap time of 0:59.1314 he was one- second quicker then the rest of the field, lodging into pole position whilst driving Steve Voight’s VK Commodore for the weekend. The qualifying session lured plenty of spectators along the fence line. The rumbling engines, screeching tyres around corners and the originality of the old-style and modern V8 powered muscle cars. Opening race Heffernan didn’t get a fantastic start to the race. Heading into the first corner he was swamped rather quickly by Dan Cuda, Chris Brown and Tony Grant. Cuda slotted to the front leading the V8 freight train through the Karasell followed by Brown and then Heffernan. Front-runners Cuda, Brown, Heffernan and Grant put on a great show and crossed the finish line in that same order. Not too far behind in the rear vision mirror the VH- VK Commodore guys, Scott Taylor, Murray Kent and Jim Spence were delighting the crowd with their speed and competitiveness. Second race once the lights went green Chris Brown pounced off the start line ahead of pole sitter Cuda. There was plenty of aggression and tight racing amongst the front-runners Brown, Cuda and Heffernan. Grant overtook Taylor on the opening lap, he tried several times to regain his position but Grant was too quick. Positions stayed the same for the entire 7-lap race with the finishing order being: Brown, Cuda, Heffernan, Grant, Taylor and Smith. Unfortunately Mike Exley and Mick De Winter received a DNF. Final race on lap 2, the crowd witnessed a spectacular and somewhat slow-motion crash with Mick De Winter loosing control of his immaculate VK Commodore in a full sideways lock on the grass through the kink before smashing the safety fence. De Winter walked away from the incident unhurt, he was only suffering a mild case of wallet shock. Due to the last incident, race 3 was cancelled. The overall winner in first place for the weekend was Brown and Cuda tired on 142 points, Heffernan on 120 points fand closely behind Grant with 108 points for the weekend. ISSUE #2, JUNE 2012