16/08/2026
*Collie Southwest Cup Recap*
Qualifying:
A poor handling car but some quick times was the story of quali. Cono locked in 5th position, with his time less than half a second of his PB. It was Blake Watson in his pink rocket that stole the show but, putting his mini in 4th with a stellar time that was over a second quicker than his best ever.
Race 1:
A good start saw Cono pull along side Blake into turn 1, Blake had the line however and held the position, a late braking move around the outside of Blake into the last corner on lap 1 saw Cono take the position, only to select the wrong gear and gift it straight back, also allowing the Bondi Monaro past in the process. A terrific drive from Blake saw him hold off the Monaro at every challenge, with Cono hot on their heels. Bondi and Cono ran out of brakes during their heated battle, both taking an off track excursion which allowed Scott Mackie in his Torana to strike, flying past both and taking 5th position.
4th: Blake
6th: Cono
Race 2:
Blake had the better start in race 2, jumping the Young Torana and putting some distance between him and Cono. It was short lived however, with the Torana reclaiming the position heading into the bowling alley and Cono getting great drive onto the back straight and pulling past Blake to take 4th. The next 3 laps were a hard fought battle between the two flying bricks, each gaining and losing ground in different spots. Cono started to stretch the gap and slowly pull away, Blake had an issue with the car in the dying laps and dropped back, finding later that he had lost the harmonic balancer bolt. Cono started catching the Young Torana and Cates Mustang, finishing a terrific 3rd with the Johnson Falcon failing to finish with yet another issue.
Race 3:
Unfortunately Blake decided to not go out for the last race, a smart decision to not risk any additional damage. An absolute monster of a start from Cono saw him place the 22 car into the lead from third on the grid heading into turn 1. The Cates Mustang took the lead back but Cono didn’t let the Mustang get far while also holding off a persistent Torana driven by Stuart Young. A tight three way battle saw Cono get under the Mustang heading up to bowling alley with two laps to go, the power of the v8 took over however and cates went back past and parked himself on the entry to the corner with Cono going deep under brakes and running wide allowing the Young Torana through to take P2. A great race to finish the weekend, videos to follow.
