Category Archives: Cars

Private Track Day

JDMyard organised yet another private track day at Wakefield in Goulburn today, and of-course I was there with bells on.

Hands down, private track days are THE BEST track days out as you’ve got a small group of drivers, an open pitt lane which means you can go out at any time you like, and there aren’t any time restrictions. IE: You could even stay out all day until your fuel ran out (or car blows up), it’s your call!

This time around we went one better and hired the cabins on the track. What we didn’t plan on was getting whack the night before (hey it was JDMyard’s race driver Adam’s B’Day afterall!). Hilarious really as the whole concept of staying out there the night before is meant to be so you could rest up and hit the track fresh the next morning!

PS: I took the MX-5 despite it’s engine being on it’s way out. Dale from DM Motorsport did a great job on the alignment. It’s exactly what I wanted. The car is slow, so a really tail happy set-up made the car twitchy and a whole lot of fun. The steering wheel requiring a lot of input in order to keep it on the circuit when on the limit. I tried my best to hit a 1.16 (which was my best time in my old MX-5 on semi slicks, keep in mind my car has a sick high km’s engine and street tyres!). I managed a best of 1.17.002. .002! Sigh (haha).


Adam’s DC2R, unfortunately his engine blew first session of the morning the next day! Bad luck B’day boy!


Zi’s newly acquired S2K. Thing if beauty! We waited for the traffic to die down and we drove swiftly through the night.


The cabins were once for the Olympians during the Sydney Olympics. Heaps of bedrooms, 3 single beds/room and showers, toilets and sinks line an entire side of the hallway. Totally functional!


We were all starving, and just as we rocked up the guys who were already at the cabin served a killer hot pot! Perfect for the freezing Goulburn temps!


Escalated so quickly. Keep in mind it was FREEZING out there. This was followed by running around the circuit in pitch black, and much much more hilarity ensued till way past everyone’s bedtime!


B’Day boy got his cake.


And ate it too!


This is what happens when you pass out.


The cold woke us all up, but we were greeted with the warmth of the sun.


Cars were cold too, a few had a little trouble starting up!


My socks were wet, so I jammed them in the heater in the lounge room (the only heater in the cabin), saved my ass!


So good to see the bike boys out. Jing, Brandon, Matthew. So rad! Jing let me have a go at his BRZ and I’m happy to say the hype is real. First lap out I had full oppy lock without even trying. The thing is a LOT of fun on the track! I lost control a couple of times but never quite spun out (it’s easy to catch the tail). Miss the apex and it understeers bad, but get it right and it’s a hoot!


Winner of loudest car of the day.


Kiet’s EG. Still a work in progress, but a 1.08 ain’t too shabby!


Photographer extraordinaire Matthew Mead’s new car, which took quite a lot of people by surprise, she’s pretty quick!


Hungry Jacks on the way home has become a tradition over the years.


Just what I needed to get home without sleeping at the wheel!

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911

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This has been my dream for a little while now… I still can’t afford a super clean 911 at the moment (still not ready to let go of my R32 Golf!), so I’ve been wanting to buy a piece of shit one instead, strip it back to the shell then buy a rotisserie and just have the shell on display at Zen Garage for inspiration.

Old mate Iain Kelly (ex-editor of Motor Magazine) saw a facebook post of mine and chimed in:

I saw your post about wanting to gut a 911. All i can say is do it. There is something cathartic about stripping a car down as far as it can go, plus once there it is easier and cheaper to then get the inner structures blasted (i know a REALLY good guy) before paint stripping the sheet steel chemically (got a red hot tip on how best to do this from a coachbuilder i know).

Just make sure you have shitloads of space to put all the parts. I am still blown away by how much space all the crap for my car takes up.

NB: With an old car id suggest planning on installing a chassis table made out of I-beams to fix rust on. Dont wanna tweak that frame.

So right now, 100% it’s more tempting to me to buy in rather than saving up to buy a clean car at $45k+. Besides, I love the build more than anything else and I could stare at that shape all day every day, so slow progress suits me fine!

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Jamboree Sydney

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Serg and Rob.

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The view from our Zen Stand. Amazing! The grand stand on the right and the strip on the left.

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The Zen Stand.

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Wouldn’t be Jamboree without a Bikini Comp!

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Schembri!

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Zen Sponsored drivers Schembri and Jabbit of Blaze Unit going off as usual.

Attended my first Jamboree yesterday. We were given the primo position for our Zen Stand, right at the top, overlooking the drag strip. Was a fast paced event, the action on the drag strip was amazing, so many 6 second passes! The drift shows really broke up the day too, probably the closest the crowd has gotten to drift action in some time.

Unfortunately it rained at around 4pm and that sent everyone packing, we packed up and bailed, but found out afterwards that the rain stopped and racing re-commenced at 7pm! Shame to miss the finals, there’s always next year though!

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MX-5 Update


NA8C at JDMyard getting full MOTUL fluid flush, Hardrace Bushings too.

More updates on Zen Blog: http://zengarage.com.au/2014/03/na8c-track-hack-update-4/

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Top Gear Festival Sydney – Media Day

Sergio, Ved and I were invited to Motoring in Motion, a preview to the 2014 Top Gear Festival Sydney at Sydney Motorsport Park.


Look what I painted! That Jayson Fong is so talented. His painting was going to be displayed in the Senna Tribute display. So cool.

A very small group of media were treated to an awesome day out. First up we had lunch (the steak and salmon were great!) and had the Australian Top Gear presenters run casual Q&A’s with Craig Lowndes, Robert Dhalgren, Neal Bates, Beau Yates, Lee Holdsworth and Will Davison. Amazing that they got all these top shelf drivers in to chat in front of us! Very cool.

Next up we were introduced to Volvo’s new S60 Polestar. Got to love that blue. What’s better we got hot laps in it on South Circuit with Robert Dhalgren at the wheel. He muscled that car around, the brakes were damn amazing. Super punchy.


Beau Yates’ 86.


This thing was a beast. Seeing it squat and drift… awesome.

After that we got to ride shotgun in either Beau Yates’ 86 or Neil Bates’ old school Celica rally car. I got to jump in with Beau (I’ve been a fan of his ever since seeing him drift at Oran Park when the Japanese D1 Drifters first came to Sydney). Damn his car is amazing. When it grips, it’s got so much torque, the shifting is amazing and the whole car just feels so smooth when sliding. Beau treated me to 2 laps, what a champ! Was great having a bit more of a chat than the past couple of times I’ve run into him.

After that we got happy laps on South Circuit in a couple of 911’s. I jumped in the convertible. Lovely car, my driver did a little grip driving and a little drifting too, full locking it nice and smooth.


Ved snipering Jeremy Clarkson.

Then the new Mclaren 650S was revealed to us. Bit of a treat as this car was only just revealed at the Geneva Motor Show 3 days prior.


What a thing of beauty.


Senna and Ved!


Ved’s Zen Snapback signed by Bruno.

To top the day off we got to meet Bruno Senna and check out Ayrton Senna’s 1988 McLaren MP4/4 F1 race car.


Ramspeed Twin Turbo Gallardo spotted in the carpark.


I walked away with this poster… oh noes it might be game on again!

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WTAC 2013 Video


World Time Attack Challenge 2013 from Downshiftaus on Vimeo.

Awesome World Time Attack Challenge 2013 Video. Better late than never right?! PS: Look out for the cameo appearance by yours truly (and my GT-R) at the start of the video!

Filmed by Jordan Barr – Above The Barr Videography for Downshift.

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Small Car Club


More pics from last night’s impromptu cruise on Zen: http://zengarage.com.au/2014/02/post-100mm-hangs

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Krysti’s KE55

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I’d just gotten back home from my fishing trip. I was on the couch, TV on, just poured myself a glass of wine and then I hear a “meep meep”! Zen’s resident arty chick Krysti Mclellan had brought over her newly acquired KE55!

Lovingly named “Audrey”, she bought it from a guy on Toymods who had owned it for the last 10 years. Audrey’s a very clean and original 1979 KE55 2 door which has only done 182,700 km’s.

I had to have a blat, and I’m so glad that I did. The first thing that took me by surprise was the gearbox, it’s so tight, direct and even has a notchy sporty feel (great gearknob too). Clutch feel is perfect and surprisingly the brakes are great too.

I was grinning ear to ear the whole drive. “She’s a 4 speed! So cute!”. Ultimately, cruising in Audrey was so fun largely due to the fact that she’s just so easy to drive.

The fuel gauge, heater and the clock doesn’t work. She has A/C but it’s not hooked up. There’s some hail damage and some minor rust appearing on the rear wheel arches. Some of the seats are worn and torn too but it’s not going to take much to bring this little car back to it’s former glory.

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Harry’s Cafe de Wheels

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Catalina featured on Motoring Con Brio

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My Catalina Park write up has been featured on my fave automotive blog out there. Motoring Con Brio.

Check it out here: http://motoringconbrio.com/2014/02/11/guest-contributor-justin-fox-on-catalina-park-the-hidden-race-track-of-katoomba-australia/

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