MSA DRAGS: BATTLE FOR THE CROWN + VIDEO
Event date: 28 February 2015 | Words & photos: RaceMasteR J | Killarney International Raceway

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Excitement was at an all time high when we got news that Quentin Boylan was making his way down to Killarney to challenge long time friendly rival Bradley Van Rooi in the Pro-Fit K-addy bakkie. Now for those of you who don’t know, Quentin is the owner of the gorgeous yellow Honda Civic drag car which graced the covers of last month’s Speed and Sound Magazine.


What makes it so interesting is that it’s a 10 second naturally aspirated front wheel drive car. At the time of the article in SnS, it was the fastest N/A FWD car in the country, until Brad came along in his N/A FWD K series Honda powered VW Caddy bakkie and smashed that record with a time of 10.2 seconds over Killarney’s quarter mile.


Now this battle wasn’t new as it was going on for quite some time and it seemed it was far worse on social media platforms, worse in a good friendly way. What we mean is that it never got dirty, which was great! But egos and friendliness aside it was time for Quentin to retake his title as Drag King, fastest N/A FWD car in all the lands. It was going to be an epic sight to see these two go head to head for once.


It started off looking positive for Quentin because if he could do those times up in Joburg, surely he could better it down at the coast? But would added power solve his royalty issues or make things worse for suspension setups? Only time… about 10 seconds of it, would tell. Some people even said he would run a 9 second here at Killarney. But that’s easier said than done.


The rest of the day was pretty much calm and relaxed. The number of cars weren’t what I expected being the first MSA event of the year. I thought the guys would be itching to get back onto the strip after the December break. There weren’t even any bikers present; they all went to a bike rally. Oh well, bikers will be bikers! On the up side it meant that there was a lot more track time available for competitors…


Which these two made the most of. I actually got tired of watching them pull up to the starting line and pull 11 second passes all day long. But it seemed I wasn’t the only one who got tired of it, the cars eventually said enough is enough and they had to call it a day. That’s what happens when you let the computers run everything.


No high tech million dollar tech here though. Don’t get me wrong, management systems are not cheap, but at least they don’t tell you when you need a change of underwear. And it was the same case here as they went on and on, and on and on in the pursuit of happiness; trying to better their times. But no such luck unfortunately.


It seemed Jason James had all the luck on his side as he improved his personal best time from an 11.8 to an 11.5. That’s a jump of about 4 spots on our drag list. Well done Jason! It’s always great to see guys getting quicker and quicker.


The great thing about events like this is that you get to see crazy match ups like these. David VS Goliath. A 4 cylinder Mk1 Golf taking on a mighty Chevy V8 and the Mk1 wins… up to a certain point.


MSA Drag events are a great place for newbie drag racers to hone their skills. Plenty of time with plenty of runs. No pressure, except for the crowds cheering you on.


Chatting to one of the Killarney marshals, he mentioned how amazing it is to just tweak here and put a little bit of software there and see new cars like this A45 AMG do 12 second runs all day long. It’s not even point and squirt. It’s just squirt, that’s how easy it is to run a 12 in today’s day and age.


This sexy Veilside RX7 made an appearance out of the blue (gold and white).


So back to our title fight, the battle of who would be crowned Drag King once and for all. Well, there’s no easy way of saying this. But the Pro-Fit K-addy… broke! More specifically, the gearbox broke. Yes, that’s racing! I just hope Brad kept his receipt for that gearbox… But wait, it didn’t end there. The fuel pump on Quentin’s Honda gave up too! So he was also potentially out for the day. How sad!


Brad and his team from Pro-Fit came to the rescue by offering Quentin the fuel pump off the K-addy, even though it was their last one, they said Quentin could have it, how sweet! Sounds like the start of a bromance to me!


Make way! Drag Cartel coming through!


So it wasn’t a complete wasted trip for the Drag Cartel boys after all. They managed to get a good few runs in on the day even after fighting with traction issues. But would they beat the standing record of 10.2 set by Brad? No, they didn’t. They came close though crossing the line in 10.3 seconds. Brad managed to hold onto his title by the skin of his teeth.

So at the end of the day Bradley Van Rooi was left standing by his car and not racing it, watching on as the yellow Civic tried to beat the 10.2 record without success. I have a feeling this won’t be the last time we see Quentin and his crew. This isn’t over, not by a quarter mile it isn’t!


Check out the rest of the pics below.

Junaid Hamid
RaceMasteR J
twitter: @racewebmag