Brendan Wakeman is not one to shy from a challenge so when the opportunity to race in the V8 Dirt Modified Sportsman category came up he jumped at it.
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With his customary No.35 emblazened on the side, Wakeman will race the high-powered vehicle along with mounting a defence of his NSW, Queensland and Newcastle Street Stockers titles.
His season starts on Friday night with the opening round of the Newcastle Street Stockers Championships when he will lock horns again with mate and on-track rival Shane Carlson.
The duo battled until the final race before Wakeman claimed the Newcastle title. He also beat Carlson for the NSW title but the Raymond Terrace veteran got one up in the big one winning the Australian.
Wakeman said there would be plenty of challenges this season with racing the V8 and getting the most out of his new car in the street stocker series.
“I’ve been privileged enough to be sponsored a ride in a V8 Dirt Modified, which is a much bigger car than I’m used to,” he said.
“They started out as modified hot rods and they grew into this new category. There are two classes the sportsman and open class which run together.
“Open are big engines and big money, whereas the sportsman are a more crate type engine which you can buy off the shelf.
“We’ve got a run in late November at Valvoline Raceway in Sydney and another one in March.”
Wakeman said the Newcastle series opener at Gunnedah would be followed by a race at Narrabri in November.
His focus will then shift to the Australian title at Gilgandra on the Australia Day long-weekend and the NSW title at Valvoline in early March.
Wakeman said he had made some adjustment to his new street stockers car, but he needed to change his racing style to get the most out of it.
“I’ve just made a few little subtle changes to the suspension to try to get it back to what my old car was,” he said
“There is about 120-130 kg difference and about 120mm difference in the wheelbase and it’s wider by about 80mm.
“It doesn’t sound much but when you put it on a race track it is completely different. I think it’s promising that I’ll get more speed, but I have to change my own driving style.
“It is a real sideways car, you’ve got to throw it into the corners and then try and get it straight.
“The other car you’d wash a bit of speed off it and drive around the corners and drive it down the straight it really loved that.”
