For most of us, being diagnosed with
cancer would spell the end of the world. For Allan Lewis, it proved to be the
beginning of a new chapter in life, thanks in part to the gift of a Mk2 Focus
RS.
These days, Robbie Ward is a household name
within import circles and a regular name in NZPC. Like many, he first featured
in NZPC in Under Construction, in Issue No. six, circa 1997. He had been
playing with Nissans for a few years and sent in a picture of a Datsun 1200
coupe he was building as his serious drag car. Oddly, that picture, or perhaps
the solid moustache he rocked in the accompanying photo, saw him win the
monthly prize, a V1 Link ECU. Which logo can now be found on Robbie’s door?
That of Vi-PEC, of course.
“I
was doing all the servicing and repairs for a car yard when the first GTS-TS
started coming to the country. A salesmen took me for a ride in one. It was
only a 2.0-litre turbo, but, at the time, I was like, holy f**k”
It was early days, but the mechanic from
Rotorua was already beginning to stamp his name on Meremere Dragway. “I was
doing all the servicing and repairs for a car yard when the first GTS-Ts
started coming into the country,” Robbie says. “A salesman took me for a ride
in one. It was only a 2.0-litre turbo, but, at the time I v/as like, holy f##k.
I bought cne, did it up, and sold it off, and then did another and another, and
away I went." His first GT-R was only just around the corner, and netted
Robbie his first ‘0-second time slip. That would become somewhat of a regular
occurrence over the next 10 or so years, as Robbie’s two- man shop, R.I.P.S
Racing, churned out brutal Skyline after brutal Skyline for customers around
the world.
All those time slips started to stack up as
his own builds became more serious, and, as he attempted to feed the need to go
as fast as possible, vehicles like the seven-second 240Z and six-second FED —
both NZPC cover cars — claimed national and world records for the R.I.P.S team.
That
would become somewhat of a regular occurrence over the next 10 or so years, as
Robbie’s two- man shop, R.I.P.S Racing, churned out brutal Skyline after brutal
Skyline for customers around the world.
The next challenge came in the form of a
Stagea, a test mule to prove the worth of his new inventicn, a 4WD Powerglide
trans for an overseas customer, Dave Greenhalgh. The problem he was trying to
overcome was the fact manual transmission GT-Rs seem to struggle to leave the
line smoothly — they would unleash all that power violently on the line and if
the gearbox didn’t break, the pilot would be in for a wild ride as the car
darted left and 'ight with every gear change.
MGAWOTI proved its worth in the cne and
only season it raced, running a best ET of 8.76 at 257kph in nearly 100-per-cent
st-eet trim, with a tank full of E85 and a WOF and rego on the window. Next
came Daves own MGAWOT II, a low eight-second R34 GT-R he races in the UK, which
featured in NZPC Issue No. 2C0.
Back here at home, MGAWOT III was about to
get underway, as Robbie explains: “Glen (Suckling] had mentioned a few times he
was thinking about selling the GT-R, but I had told him I wouldn’t want the
engine or gearbox. Somewhere along the line he rang me and said yeah, I will
sell it without the motor and box. It was the right colour and he is just a3
fussy a3 I am, so all the work he had done, I didn’t have to redo. He was very
supportive, he wanted to see me get out there and do well.” Robbie had a new
goal in mind: the long-standing world GT-R record, held by fellow Kiwi Reece
McGregor in the Heat Treatments R32, with a 7.41 at 310kph.
Robbie
had a new goal in the mind: the long-standing world GT-R record, held by fellow
Kiwi Reece McGregor in the heat treatments R32, with a 7.41 at 310 kph
What Robbie was purchasing was no
unfinished project some unknown guy had cobbled together from parts off Trade
Me and a $100 MIG welder; the GT-F had been built to the highest level, had a
7.91 under its belt, a world record for the fastest manually shifted GT-R, and
it had graced the cover of NZPC Issue No. 150.
