NEWS

New PSI blower for Judd team Willowbank, Queensland, 20 January, 2003

Perth Top Doorslammer Racer Robin Judd has joined the fast guys and added a PSI screw supercharger to his parts inventory. Statistically, the screw type supercharger is superior to the “rootes” style. The PSI produces higher boost and a colder air charge. The mechanical blower itself also needs much less horsepower to run, leaving more for the back wheels. Racers such as Peter Kapiris, Victor Bray, Ben Bray and Brett Stevens all run PSI superchargers.

Judd said, “It was only a matter of time before we did this. The PSI blowers are now consistently producing quicker ET’s than the rootes. I almost put one on when I started racing a few years ago because they were technically much superior to the rootes. Scotty Cannon helped me in the beginning and the success he had with the rootes swayed me to go that way. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t regret that because at the time only Victor (Bray) was doing well with a PSI but his performances were also very inconsistent. History dictates we did very well with our Littlefield 16-71 but if you want to be at the pointy end of the bracket nowadays, you need to run the best stuff you can get. There are some conditions that favour the rootes but those occasions are reducing fast. We will keep the rootes combo on the shelf complete for the time being, in case we ever want or need to change back. Another issue we had was weight. The minimum for a rootes car is 2550lb. We used to be on weight but with additional safety items such as bigger fire bottles and more chassis bars we have been racing all season well over that weight. With the competition so stiff and weight being so important we had to do something. We could have increased the size of the engine but decided the better option was to go with the PSI. The minimum is 2700lb and which we can achieve much easier. I can’t wait to see how it goes”.

The blower was purchased from the Brackam/Brew team that achieved a low ET of 5.65 in a Top Alcohol Dragster with it. When asked how the testing went at Willowbank after the Nationals, Judd said, “We bolted on the PSI in the pits after the Nationals and had it running fine on the stands. The hard part will be finding the right gear ratios and clutch tune-up to suit the new blower and extra power but I’m lucky to be surrounded by the right talent. With the help of my crew chief Lee Brailsford, Mark Brew and of course, the all round experience of John Scialpi we should be right in no time.”

When asked when we will see the new combo in operation Judd said, “I hope to do some testing on our home track in February and be ready to run the new combo at the next round.”

Round 4 of the ATDC is scheduled for March 1&2, 2003 at Judd’s home track at Kwinana