The world’s quickest rotary powered car, the Mazda 6 of George Rehayem, hit a snag in qualifying when he had a methanol fuel leak catch fire after backing up from his burnout. The invisible flames covered the front of the car and other drivers and his crew tried to extricate Rehayem from his burning car. He was out safely and the beautiful yellow coupe came back and ended up winning the event on a count back.

As the day went on so the Pro Turbo cars fell by the wayside with only three left by the third of the Chicago Shootout rounds. Joe Signorelli came into the third round with two wins and Harvey and Rehayem with one win apiece. Joe Signorelli faced off against Rod Harvey’s Celica but Signorelli lost in the third round to Harvey’s winning 6.730. In the end all 3 racers had 2 wins apiece and the shortened schedule the win was down to the quickest ET of the round and the Pac Performance Mazda 6 ended up winning by a one thousandth margin with his 6.729 solo pass.

New Zealander Rod Harvey has been racing in Australia for the last couple of years, as there is more competition here and much better tracks. After running in the 6.4 range at the Brisbane Jamboree last year Harvey topped the qualifying ladder in Sydney with a 6.46 at 222mph. His 6.730 saw him take his second win over Joe Signorelli in the final round of eliminations. With all three finalists coming away with two wins each victory was then based on low ET of that final round with the Kiwi losing to George Rehayem’s solo 6.729,
 by a mere one thousandth.