MWM V8 Issue 1

THE ULTIMATE READING EXPERIENCE VOLUME 8 ISSUE 1 - APR 2018

Published by TreeFree Publishing a Division of Webtronic Enterprises

Official Charity of MotorWerks Magazine

MEGA

TIME ATTACK ISSUE

Garage Built Wonder Audi R8 1:1 Tin Top

Revolution

TCR in NA

TVS 900 for Cooper RSR

Docol R8 for safety!

Spring Fling with a BMW M2

Motorsport News from MotorWerks Magazine

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P u b l i s h e d B y Tr e eF r e e P u b l i s h i n g a Division of Webtronic Enterprises

Ed i t or - i n - Chi e f / Pub l i s h e r Ian Rae EDI T ORIA L We s t C o a s t US A Ed i t o r Mi d We s t US A Ed i t o r E a s t C o a s t Ed i t o r S o c i a l Me d i a D i r e c t o r Mi d We s t Me d i a S e n i o r Wr i t e r S e n i o r Wr i t e r

No r ma n Ne l s o n Da v i d L e w i s Cr a i g Ne l s o n Je s s e Ne l s o n Je n n i f e r L e w i s A s h l e i g h Mo r r i s C a l l u m Ne w s h a m

PHO T O GR A PH Y Photographer Photographer Photographer Photographer Photographer Photographer Photographer Photographer Photographer Photographer Photographer

No r ma n Ne l s o n Mar k C a mp b e l l Cr a i g Ne l s o n Ke v i n Ehr l i c h Jo h n S c r o e d e r A l i c y n Dr e w Ja k e G a l s t a d Di t o Mi l i a n To m Ma x w e l l Ja n i s Ra e S a m Mo o r e

HO W T O RE ACH US

Phone: (905) 467-5148 ianrae@motorwerksmag.com

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CONTENTSMay

FEATURES 30 Motorsport Spotlight - Time Attack 60 Spring Fling - The BMW M2 68 Garage Built Wonder - R8 1:1

RACING ROUNDUP 22 Au-Yeung shatters records 24 WCR launches E-TCR 40 Around the World - Time Attack Profiles

44 Ben Morouski

46 Chris Boersma

48 Matteo Gualandi 4

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50 Sally McNulty

52 Christopher Kennealy

54 Colin Dorward

58 Kevin Wong

77 Mike Bennett 78 Knockhill unveils Rockstar Chase Series 80 Against the Clock at the Speed Ring 92 Swords at Dawn - Touge Battle 106 Tin-Top Revolution - TCR

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TECHNICAL 26 Twin Vortice Fun with a MINI 40 Racing Breeds Innovation - Docol R8

REGULARS 4 From The Editors Desk 6 New Products 20 On The Grid 142 Featured Photographer 116 Contact Point - Visit our Advertisers Motorsport News from MotorWerks Magazine

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From The Editors Desk

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he past year has been an experience to say the least, from being diagnosed with multiple myeloma to having a stem cell transplant, the year truly has been a challenge. But having said that, it seems that my health has turned the corner, the doctors are happy and I am on the mend.

All the down time allowed me to think about where we were going to take the magazine. Discussing it with my West Coast editor, Norman Nelson we both agreed there was scope to cover other makes and models in addition to our traditional BMWs, MINIs and Minis.

The little travelling, I did in 2017 was with my friend James Houghton to Time Attack events. For those of you who do not know what Time Attack is, we aim to enlighten you in the pages of the magazine. Time Attack will feature heavily in MWM going forward.

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It is a competition against the clock where the person on the street can use their street car and compete without breaking the bank. If they so wish they can move through the classes to the Unlimited class where big power, big aero and being very brave are the three requirements needed to win in this arena.

We are also going to feature Autocross regularly; another motorsport where a street car can be entered in the entry level classes. Autocross has been the starting point on the motorsport ladder for many top drivers like Randy Pobst and Danny Popp.

Some people are quite content to stay in Autocross as it is so affordable but others like Randy have moved on to be very successful in wheel to wheel racing.

I am also very excited about getting our project MINI, Cooper RSR back on track, by the time this is published the Docol R8 rollcage will have been completed at RJ ProFab in Rochester, NY. The car will have been displayed at that 2018 Motorama Custom Car Show on Motorsport Expo on the weekend of March, 9-11 at the International Center in Toronto. We will be showcasing our new product partners, Harrop Engineering, KW suspensions and a AED Motorsport Products. In addition, we will be available to talk to attendees about such long-time partners as Racepak, Forgeline and Powerbrake.

So, with this change we intend to bring you wider exposure to entry-level motorsports but also show you the levels you can attain if you wish to progress to the top classes. Thanks for your continued readership of MotorWerks Magazine and we look forward to hearing from you about our change in focus.

Regards Ian Rae, Editor and Publisher

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NEWProducts Professional Awesome offers More for Less

Canadian Racers Go Hollywood

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-Tuned racers James Houghton and Chris Boersma have gone Hollywood and created a podcast focused on the sport of Time Attack. Their first issue was rushed out early on Nov 30th but the norm will be a new issue released every Thursday evening.

So what did we think of it? It was great! The chemistry that these two have at the track transposed into a well put together program with a few laughs thrown in to keep the mood light.

Future issues will feature guests from within the sport as well as manufacturers and specialized companies that focus on Time Attack racing. Will some secrets come out? Not every one but the plan is to give something back to the sport the pair love and have been very successful at.

The first guest will be none other than the hottest guy in Time Attack just now, Andy Smedegard, fresh off his win at Global Time Attack’s Super Lap Battle.

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alking to PA’s Mike Lewin the other day we talked about the latest deal the Indiana based aerodynamic specialist have come up with. Lewin said, “Combine buying our aero products and you save your hard earned money! Racers that buy our vents, diffusers and vortex generators at one time will actually save money as opposed to buying them separately.”

Professional Awesome Vents: Designed and Optimized in CFD to ensure the best possible performance in a small package.

The vent’s design promotes extraction by interrupting the boundary layer flow and creating a low pressure “bubble” to increase efficiency.

Sides on a vent system are of critical importance as they insure that the “bubble” created by the inclines are not instantly filled by air wrapping around its edges, effectively reducing the vents usefulness.

They significantly reduce under fender pressure by extracting air, which reduces lift.

Vents can be used on either the hood or fender locations.

Use in conjunction with our Splitter Diffusers to

maximize your downforce gains.

Engineered by Professional Awesome and manufactured in the U.S.A. Made from high-quality, durable ABS plastic.

Dimensions: 12″ long, 3.5″ wide, with a 1″ flange.

2 vents included per purchase.

Note: These are racecar parts and will need to be cleaned up to be showcar ready. Designed for outright performance at a fair price, not for impressing at NOPI Nationals!

Professional Awesome Diffusers: Designed and optimized using CFD to ensure the best possible performance.

Once installed, diffusers create a low-pressure transition zone that greatly increase the downforce potential of any splitter.

Designed to be installed on an otherwise flat splitter, instantly turning it into a high-end, active front element for a fraction of the price.

Dimensions: 12″ long, 6″ wide, 2.5″ tall, with a 1″ flange.

2 diffusers included per purchase.

Install tips: Ensure adequate room in front of and behind diffusers to ensure airflow isn’t constricted for maximum performance. Designed to be riveted, bolted or bonded to a splitter and then have the rear flange removed to ensure the diffuser keeps its shape during install. Please ensure your splitter is properly attached to the car. These can, and will, create much more downforce and can rip the splitter from its mounts. YOU’VE BEEN WARNED! Professional Awesome Vortex Generators: Designed and manufactured in-house, Professional Awesome Vortex Generators are the next step in controlling airflow and bending it to your will. By generating energy in the slow-moving boundary layer, our vortex generators can delay local flow separation and aerodynamic stalling. This can improve the effectiveness of wings, spoilers and diffusers, all while reducing drag.

• 3D printed from ABS plastic.

• 10 vortex generators per package.

• Install at a 15 degree angle to the direction of airflow

Use in conjunction with our universal vents to maximize downforce gains.

Engineered and manufactured in the U.S.A. Made from high quality, durable ABS plastic.

Dalziel Bring Race Car Coaches to You.

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lorida domiciled Scottish racer Ryan Dalziel has just started a new business, RaceCarCoaches. com. He told us, “We are a network of highly experienced race car drivers, available for coaching services across North America. Whether it be for Motorsport News from MotorWerks Magazine

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a track day, race event, or simulator coaching, our network of carefully screened coaches is at your disposal. Finding the right coach for your track day or race event can be difficult. We want to simplify the process of connecting customers to our network of high qualify coaches, becoming the main source for your event needs. Each coach is unique, so we’ve made it possible for customers to review each coach’s resume and services offered. Our services are location based, making it easy for customers to find coaches by zip code. Even after taking your first racing school, continuing your training in race craft can be a long process. There are always areas to improve your lap times, and better your knowledge and understanding of the race car and track.

Coaches bring a wealth of technical knowledge and experience that can prove to be invaluable both on and off track. The best race car drivers in the world will all tell you the same, no matter how much you think you know, there is always more to be learned.

R56 Race Bumper now available.

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P Garage in Italy now has a front race bumper available for the R56. It gives extra space of a front intercooler and comes with no cutouts allowing the racer to install whatever openings they require.

You can follow the link to the GP Garage website to find out more. www.gpgarage.it/store/3621/Paraurti-R56-24h.html 10

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The LexusSPORT Cup goes Ice Racing

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oted scribe and racer Russ Bond is pleased to announce the 2019 LexusSPORT Cup will be part of the Minden Ice race series in 2019.

Here is the basic premise.

LexusSPORT Cup 2001-2004 Lexus IS300.

Spec tire- no mods- spec street stud.

Must conform to all CASC ice race rules.

Cars must have two front seats. passengers are encouraged.

It will be an enforced non contact series.

All races will be on Sunday’s only.

Prize money: Champion 1500$, Runner-Up 750$, Third 250$ This could change to be top five instead of top three as we get closer to race time.

LexusSPORT Cup clothing, jackets and touques will be provided to every series entrant.

There will be a 3500$ claimer rule to encourage playing by the rules.

The series runs as part of Minden Ice Race championship which runs in the Minden Fair Grounds from mid January to March every year, weather dependant.

DAYTON, Ohio – Team Dynamics has announced the relocation of its US operations to Forgeline Motorsports in Dayton, Ohio. The Team Dynamics USA office in California is now closed.

Team Dynamics is a leading British wheel manufacturer specializing in alloy race wheels for smaller vehicles such as Lotus, BMW, Spec Miata, formula cars and the Ariel Atom as well as rally wheels for cars such as Subaru, Focus RS, Volkswagen, Audi and more. “Having known Forgeline as a company and its superior quality products for some time, we find it an extremely exciting time reaching an agreement for them to become our partner for the United States.

Hopefully, both our products will complement each other perfectly, giving US motorsports and tuning enthusiasts no other place to look for wheels,” said Matt Neal, Rimstock Brand Ambassador and fivetime British Touring Car champion.

companies. Team Dynamics is known for making quality alloy race wheels including the racing wheels for the British Touring Car and Australian Supercar.

Forgeline has built a reputation for manufacturing high-quality, extremely lightweight performance forged aluminum wheels. We both realized it would make good business sense to combine forces,” said Dave Schardt, president of Forgeline Motorsports.

“With the combination of Team Dynamics and Forgeline, we will be able to supply everyone from a beginner HPDE driver to a professional racing team and everything in between.”

In addition to Forgeline stocking thousands of completed wheels, Team Dynamics will ship blank wheels to Forgeline where they will be drilled and finalized for custom applications, giving Forgeline the ability to make special offsets, center bores and bolt patterns.

About Forgeline Motorsports For over 20 years Dayton, Ohio-based Forgeline Motorsports has designed, engineered and manufactured premium, custom-made one-piece and threepiece forged aluminum street performance and racing performance wheels for the ultimate combination of fitment, performance and style. With a reputation for excellent quality and outstanding customer service, Forgeline creates bespoke wheels that are American originals. For more information call 1-800886-0093 or visit www.forgeline.com.

Forgeline Motorsports will now serve as the sole distributor and importer of Team Dynamics wheels and all Team Dynamics products for North America and will now ship from Forgeline’s Dayton warehouse. Forgeline will handle the sales, customer service, shipping and warranty of all Team Dynamics wheels sold in North America.

“We met Matt Neal at the Performance Racing Industry Show in 2011, and started a friendship. Over the past few years, we realized there was some overlap between our two

Follow on Facebook: forgeline, Twitter: @ForgelineWheels or Instagram: @forgeline.

Team Dynamics Forges Alliance with Forgeline Motorsports in North America

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Klaus Composites Debuts Swan Neck Wing Package

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wan neck wings avoid a common pitfall associated with flow separation on the underside of the wing surface brought on by intrusive underside mounts, especially in high camber wing profiles running at high angles of attack. Swan necks rose in popularity between 2008 and 2009 in response to a change in ACO regulations that dictated LMP wing elements be reduced in span and chord by 400 and 50 millimeters, respectively.

To regain the 30+% decrease in downforce (~600 pounds) over the previous year’s larger rear wing setups, LMP chassis builders took to their workstations and wind tunnels, developing new profiles and, most importantly, the swan neck mounting scheme, clawing back almost all the downforce lost by the rule change. Swan neck wings have, since then, become ubiquitous in LMP and GT car competition.

The Klaus Composites swan neck wing’s custom high-camber profile was specifically tailored to coupe and sedan body styles and is intended for use in 250 to 500 horsepower racing applications. A rounded leading edge reduces pitch sensitivity, providing more stable and usable downforce regardless of vehicle attitude changes under braking and acceleration.

The all carbon fiber wing element uses a longitudinal corrugated core and leading-edge splice eliminating 12

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potential for leading edge joint separation. 3D printed ABS mount carrier inserts are formed into the wing core, tying all three wing components together into one optimized, load sharing assembly

for maximum strength and minimum weight. The integrated gurney flap increases aerodynamic efficiency. Bonded in black anodized aluminum mounts provide six distinct angle of attack adjustments. The wing is fully finished to a mirror polish using a high quality UV stable automotive urethane clear coat. Custom finishes are available upon request. The wing element weighs eight pounds fully finished and assembled with end plates.

Current models come with a maximum sixty-six inch overall length with a twelve inch chord. Optimized all-carbon end plates are included. The uprights are carbon fiber hollow construction again finished with high-gloss UV stable automotive urethane clear coat. Custom finishes are also available upon request. Uprights are placed twenty-four inches on

center, with custom mounting widths available upon request These position the wing at roof-height and approximately ten inches behind the rear bumper on BMW E36, E46, E9X, and F3/8X platforms.

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approximately ten inches behind the rear bumper on BMW E36, E46, E9X, and F3/8X platforms.

The uprights can be custom tailored to suit other makes and models as well as mounting positions if necessary. Each upright weighs approximately 1.5 lbs, for a combined (wing, uprights, and end plates) weight of eleven pounds.

The uprights are designed to pass through the trunk skin and attach to vertical, adequately braced structural mounts (customer furnished) to transfer downforce directly to the chassis without excessive

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deflection. Trunk skin mounting is not adequate on its own and the chassis mounts must be capable of supporting approximately five-hundred pounds of sustained downforce and be sturdy enough to remain rigid in all directions in response to forward, back and side to side loading from drag forces and turbulence induced wing vibrations. Use two thrubolts with large fender washers per upright to attach the solid carbon upright bases to this structure. Use of blue Loctite is recomended on all fasteners.

The kit ncludes stainless steel binding post hardware to mount wing element to uprights, and stainless screws for attaching end plates to the wing element. Additional hardware for bolting uprights to reinforced mounting structure must be supplied by the customer.

Availability – Typically we keep one to two units in stock. Lead time in case of backorder ~3 weeks.

The wing kit is available from Klaus Composites, Morehead Speed Works, and BimmerWorld. It retails for $4000 USD. Klaus Composites can be found on the Internet at http://klauscomposites.com, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/klauscomposites/ and on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/ klaus-composites-llc/

Racepak Vantage CL1 a winner out of the gate.

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or two years Racepak Data Systems has been working on a new system radiacally different that anything they currently produced. The Vantage CL1 uses one base ‘black box’ and with different cable packages racers in Karting, Jr Dragster and Track Day/Autocross are all be able to use the cloud based system.

The Vantage CL1 data kit merges the power of Racepak’s exclusive D3 App mobile technology with a vehicle mounted CL1 data box for the most advanced, yet intuitive track day data system available. Sensor data is transmitted via Bluetooth from the CL1 data box to a vehicle wheel-mounted, D3 app-equipped mobile device, displaying sensor and lap timing data to the driver, while automatically uploading all data to Racepak’s secure cloud service

via the phone’s cellular connection. Data is stored locally on the mobile device for immediate analysis upon return to the pit area.

In addition, the use of mobile technology also provides the exclusive ability to remotely view live on-track and recorded data from any worldwide location through the use of Racepak’s D3 app installed from the internet-connected Android or iOS device, utilizing Racepak’s subscription based cloud service ($99.95 US a year) Powered by 4 AA rechargeable batteries (included) installation is easy.

The Vantage CL1 won SEMA’s Best New Performance Racing Product and Best Engineered New Product at SEMA 2017.

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FORGELINE SPONSORS NEW OPTIMA(r) BATTERIES DRIVEAUTOX SERIES DAYTON, Ohio - Forgeline Motorsports has signed on as an official sponsor of OPTIMA(r) Batteries’ DriveAutoX series. The brand new series was created to bring a fresh perspective to autocross style events. With classes for all years, makes, models and modification levels, DriveAutoX combines legitimate driving competition and fun at each racing venue throughout the series.

Forgeline has worked previously with the event creator, FM3 Marketing, as well as other sponsors of the DriveAutoX series throughout the years, including OPTIMA and Ride Tech, in addition to the company’s long-standing involvement in the OPTIMA Search for the Ultimate Street Car series.

With their reputation for manufacturing superior wheels at their Dayton, Ohio facility, Forgeline combines their wheel expertise with their passion for motorsports with this new event sponsorship. The company’s wheels have become the wheel of choice for many of the vehicles competing in the series primarily because of their ability to withstand the heavier weights of the cars involved in this type of competition.

“DriveAutoX was created to serve as a good entry level series that allows new drivers to learn the skill of autocrossing, and we’re glad to be involved because we’re big supporters of autocrossing and we want it to succeed and prosper in the future,” explained Dave Schardt, President of Forgeline Motorsports.

Forgeline is also a sponsor of the SCCA CAM Challenge, Goodguys autocrossing and the Midwest Muscle Car Challenge being held in Indiana on May 18 and 19. DriveAutoX is the company’s newest sponsorship, and Forgeline hopes to build positive brand awareness and sales through their involvement.

The series schedule is as follows: * April 7-8 at Zmax Raceway in Concord, NC * June 23-24 at Grissom Air Force Base in Peru, IN * August 18-19 at Gateway Motorsports Park in Madison, IL * October 13-14 at Mineral Wells Airport in Mineral Wells, TX About Forgeline Motorsports For over 20 years Dayton, Ohio-based Forgeline Motorsports has designed, engineered and manufactured premium, custom-made onepiece and three-piece forged aluminum street performance and racing performance wheels for the ultimate combination of fitment, performance and style. With a reputation for excellent quality and outstanding customer service, Forgeline creates bespoke wheels that are American originals. For more information call 1-800-886-0093 or visit www. forgeline.com. Follow on Facebook: https://www. facebook.com/forgeline/, Twitter: @ForgelineWheels or Instagram: @forgeline.

“We are thrilled to partner with the Forgeline brand.

Their commitment to quality, their passion for the grassroots racing enthusiast and their love of family goes hand-in-hand with the DriveAutoX series.

Their products are a perfect fit for the DriveAutoX competitor,” said Jimi Day, DriveAutoX founder and competition director.

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The Test, a racing novel by Jeremy Walton

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ost books about motor racing tend to be factual or technical. Noted British author Jeremy Walton has strayed from his normal comfort zone and has written his first novel.

A thriller with a human heart; we follow apprentice AngloAmerican Grand Prix racer William ‘Win’ Norton and his overworked mechanic as they venture across Europe. Set in 1971-72 when motor racing was really a deadly sport, the book opens with a comprehensively expensive accident. One witnessed by a glamorous scout for Scuderia Roccia, an Italian Formula 1 team in desperate need of a fresh young driver.

And that is all I am going to say about it.

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There are many books with the Walton byline sitting on the shelves of my racing bookcases. Most have survived my trip over the Atlantic when I moved to Canada.

As a former race car driver and current motoring writer, Walton has created thirty-one original non-fiction books since 1978. He regularly writes for consumer magazines and bookpublishers in both America and Britain. His books have been translated into French,German and Italian.

A strong sense of humour and the ability to improvise characterised his fourteenyear stint as the UK correspondent of the largest Italian motoring magazine.

In 2012, he completed another fourteenyear stint as a columnist and feature writer for a 75,000 circulation American monthly magazine, one that continues to broaden his creative horizons to this day.

Covering biographies and multiple editions, co-authorships and translations, total sales for Walton’s factual books are estimated at 451,000. Ghost writing for sports personalities and appearing in TV advertisements were entertaining diversions over the years.

Presenting regional TV programmes and creating an exotic supercar book with a follow-up diary for a major UK retail outlet were just another couple of diversions added to the Walton resume over the years.

He continues to contribute to newspapers and magazines on both sides of the Atlantic, including a regular by-lined American column and in British classic car magazines.

So how is his first novel? Let’s say this, we are away to the races!

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Link ECU the official ECU of Global Time Attack

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ur friends at Link ECU are raising their profile in North America by working with the Global Time Attack series and will be the official ECU of the series. Great job Andy Millard, John Hughes and Torry Skurski, this is a great series to be associated with. In December of 2017 Jason Deinhart issued this statement, “GTA would like to welcome Link ECU to our family! Link Engine Management is now the Official ECU of Global Time Attack for the 2018 season. Help us thank them for the support by giving them a Like and Follow @linkecu”

companies do not sit on their laurels. They all strive to improve the product and bring a better solution to market. The racers are the ones that win out here because of that. Untill the website is completed check out www.facebook.com/PowerbrakeCanada.

The website will be at www.powerbrake.ca

Millers Oils join CSCS

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Powerbrake Canada launching in Summer 2018

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an Rae of Webtronic Enterprses is pleased to announce that they have added Powerbrake Canada to their WE Group of Companies. “It is the perfect fit for us adding Powerbrake to our product line it fits hand in hand with Racepak Data Systems and G-LOC Brake pads. All three are quality products that will make any racer more competitive in any form of motorsport. “I like the fact that all three 20

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ill Comat of Millers Oils Canada is pleased to announce that Millers Oils has joined forces with the Canadian Sport Compact Series as a Series sponsor. After the recent series opener at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park’s Driver Development Track Comat commented, “We’ve been involved with Time Attack in Canada for the last year supporting James Houghton and his super successful Unlimited FWD Acura Type R. I have to admit it was a motorsport I was not totally familiar with, but seeing the quality of cars with high revving, highly stressed motors I knew it was an arena where Millers Oils could provide a quality lubrication solution for the racers and their wild race cars. A dialogue was opened with Millers Oils Ltd in the UK and Performance Racing Oils in the USA and together we came up with a plan to raise the profile of Millers Oils in Time Attack events. The guys at CSCS were contacted and a deal was brokered to give Millers Oils series naming rights along with Pirelli, the tire of choice of the series.”

To help racers understand their oil requirements Comat and his associates from Ultraray Motorsports/ Millers Oils Canada will be on hand at the events with their deep knowledge of racing and lubrication.

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OnTheGrid New or Updated Cars 2018

Richard Boake Racing - Toronto, ON. Canada We sat down with Richard in early February and he talked about plans for his ‘Black Storm’ Subaru.

Working with Can-Jam Motorsports, Boake would not elaborate too much on what was going on but the end plan is to return to the M1 Concourse for the Speed Ring event where he took home Motovicity’s $20,000 in 2017. What I can say is that the upgrades made in the pre-season will go a long way to helping him bring home a quantity of American green backs again.

Blackbird Fabworx - Canoga Park, CA. USA We’ve seen a number of time attack cars built by Blackbird Fabworx, including this recently completed Subaru built for a customer to run in GTA LAWD. We asked Moti Almagor, owner of the southern California fabrication house, to share some info on this build: “We started with removing a whole lot of weight, built a very stiff cage with integrated seat mounts, installed a small fuel cell to reduce the weight further and then fabricated an aero package that takes care of all the basics and a bit more.”

Sean Fenstermacher - Los Angeles, CA. USA Sean has chosen a fourth generation Mazda MX-5 Miata (ND) as his weapon of choice for autocross on the USA’s West Coast. As expected his Limited Slip Differential of choice is a OS Giken, the company he works for. The Miata will be campaigned in the heavily supported STR class.

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James Houghton - Kitchener, ON. Canada Never one to sit on his laurels James and Eric Lavigne have been hard at work fitting a new front end on the Acura Type R to cover wider Pirelli slicks and new Konig wheels to match. Houghton also surprised people by showing up at Global Time Attack Road Atlanta with a Garret turbocharger installed in place of his normal supercharger. New car blues stopped Houghton from performing well at Atlanta but a win and FTD in the CSCS opener proved he was on the right track.

Callum Newsham - Inverness, Scotland With his father being former BTCC driver Dave Newsham you just knew young Callum would progress up the motorsport ladder. 2018 sees him leave karting for the UK MINI Challenge in a family run team. Callum will also be writing a column for MotorWerks Magazine about his first year in cars and the super competitive UK MINI Challenge series.

Two of his fellow competitiors are three-time BTCC Champion, Matt Neal’s boys, Will and Henry so watch for the Newsham/Neal battle to continue.

Pani Pastou - London, England After previous years success we have changed the set up for this year to a 2.4 litre motor that has been supplied by Norris Designs. I don’t really want to go to far into the spec but can confirm the car is now twin charged and runs a Garrett GTX42, has a new custom built intercooler, exhaust system, custom built pipe work and is capable of running big BHP. The team have been working hard to achieve maximum horse power but not forgetting reliability.

A new aero package to increase downforce has been added for 2018 giving the car a different look.

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Civic Rule!

Au-Yeung Slashes Records

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ince returning from the World Time Attack Championship in 2017 Kitchener’s Will Au-Yeung took the knowledge he gained in Australia modified his 9th Gen Civic, added Sasha Anis of OnPoint Dyno as his tuner, rattled his saber and slashed records all around North America.

He started off by heading West for a quick trip of 4000+ kms to Buttonwillow for a Global Time Attack event where he laid down a 1:37.308 to not only take the Unlimited FWD record but also became the quickest Time Attack car ever around Buttonwillow. Jeff Westphal and the Unlimited AWD GST Motorsports Subaru held the previous outright Time Attack record with a 1:38.967 recorded back in 2014.

The next event for the Vibrant Performance/PZ Tuning Civic was the Global Time Attack event at Road Atlanta in May. Au-Yeung said, “We could not have imagined what how wonderful the event would be! We set out to beat our previous record and came on top with a FWD record with a 1:19:5 lap. That was not only good enough for the class win but took also took the overall record in the Unlimited Class as well. Our win was even sweeter when I also took the overall record with the Vibrant Performance/PZ Tuning RSX in the Limited FWD class. Four records on the same day, not bad at all for a little team out of Canada.”

Not content with stamping his authority on the first two events of his season Will and the Vibrant Performance team teading to Gridelife’s showcase event, the Midwest Festival. Now in it’s fifth year the Midwest Festival is held at Gingerman Raceway in Michigan. The combined motorsports/music festival brings a great turn out of spectators and exposes the fans to Time Attack and Drifting during the day before rocking the night away mith a multitude of bands. It is the perfect place for Will to show what a 24

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mere Honda Civic could do on the race track.

Those who said “oh look, a Civic just like mine were in for a shock as Will not only lowered the class record but shattered the overall record too. His 1:23.775 on Thursday afternoon was proof of how hard the team works on their car. In a motorsport when records are improved normally by tenths of a second the jump from the previous 1:27.534 was impressive indeed.

Unfortunately some issues with the car prevented Will from putting many miles on the car but from

our conversation with him he will be back better and faster.

In an effort to make his mark on the WTAC in 2018 Will has a new motor being built and is hoping to get it on the dyno soon. In what he stated would be his final trip to the WTAC he intends to go out on a high.

With MotorWerks Magazine heading to OZ for the WTAC we look forward watching history being made!

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WSC launches E TCR

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new concept for Touring Car racing WSC Technology Ltd., a subsidiary of WSC Ltd. the body behind TCR, has launched E TCR – a new concept of Touring Car racing vehicles solely powered by electric motors.

The Cupra E-Racer that was exhibited at the Geneva International Motorshow on March 8-18 is the first electric vehicle for Touring Car racing built in total compliance with the E TCR Technical Regulations.

WSC Technology plans to organize promotional and media events during the 2018 season before launching a racing series.

Further details will be unveiled in the near future.

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Above: FIA President Jean Todt absorbing all the details of the Seat Cupra E-Racer shown below.

Photos courtesy WSC Ltd

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THE PROOF

Seven National championships, multiple podiums.

The Powerbrake X-Line BBK come with 325x28mm two piece rotors and a X4-ES four piston billet caliper.

All mounts and hardware are included in the kit as are stainless steel braided Teflon brake lines, a spares kit and a comprehensive installation manual. These brakes are designed for competition but innovative design of the internal wiper seal has allowed Powerbrake to built a caliper that is not only up to the rigours of racing but can see long term street use without issues.

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Motorsport News from MotorWerks Magazine

27

T

N U F E C I I T N R I O M V A H T TWIN WI

hey say the best things in life are worth waiting for! That is the case for the TVS 900 supercharger using Eaton’s Twin Vortices technology.

Australian company Harrop Engineering brought their TVS 900 kit out in the second half of 2017. It was designed and manufactured by Harrop to OE standards as a direct replacement for the Eaton M45 Supercharger installed as standard in the R53 Mini Cooper S. The Harrop TVS900 utilises the latest generation Eaton TVS supercharger technology including four lobe rotors (160 degree helix) and revised inlet and outlet port geometry to achieve greater thermal and volumetric efficiency.

Although designed as a direct replacement there is 28

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a performance advantage as the TVS supercharger is larger. The original M45 is 45 cubic inches or 737.4cc, the TVS is 900cc or 54.9 cubic inches. With a standard Harrop 70mm pulley the TVS will work well on standard motor with an OEM DME. Reduced diameter pulleys or modified engines will require a tune and maybe larger injectors dependant on the motor spec.

My TVS arrived in a sturdy shipping box and was well packed. Harrop did a good job of coming up

with a good shipping solution for that long

trip from Australia, I like a company that

thinks through the whole solution to getting

their product safely to the customer.

When Harrop calls this a TVS 900

supercharger kit, they are not

kidding. Everything you need to

change out your M45 to a TVS is here

including the electric water pump

conversion that is required. So no

more issues with that troublesome

PTO that drives the mechanical water

pump on the M45.

Harrop made full use of their access to the Adrad Group foundry to make their cast components.

Harrop GM Heath Moore said, “Harrop makes use of their Harrop Casting Technologies foundry to manufacture their cast components “Being able to leverage our vertical integration allows us to have more control over our products and the quality control. Aluminum cast parts allow us to offer an OEM level of fit and function to the kit and importantly the durability demanded by our customers”

The kit also comes with all the hoses and fasteners required to install the TVS in the factory position in the R53. In fact if you were did not know there was a TVS on the car it would be hard tell what supercharger was installed it fits so well. When running only an expert ear can tell a TVS is fitted as it is actually quieter than the M45 originally installed.

Some purists, myself included were supporters of the ‘Got Whine’ team and will lament the reduced whine but the trade off of more power will more

than compensate for it.

Because of the design of the TVS supercharger the water pump can no longer be attached to the inboard side of the supercharger via a Power Take Off (PTO). Harrop’s solution to this is an electric water pump. As the original car’s pump is mechanical, Harrop had to come up with a solution to feed 12V power to the new electrical pump. To that end they include a small wiring harness with fuseholder in the kit.

You will notice from the photo below that there will no cursing and swearing and damaged knuckles if you decide to change a pulley on a Harrop TVS. It comes with a 70mm pulley as standard and can be reduced to as small as a 55mm. The pulley is held on by six bolts and is positioned to use the standard OEM belt path and tensioner.

So using a statement commonly used on the Internet, what are the numbers? Well that is like asking how long is a piece of string. MINI owners are well known for have their Motorsport News from MotorWerks Magazine

29

own car personalized and that personalizing will make for various results as will the various dynos over the country. What I can say is those who have already fitted a Harrop TVS to their cars are having trouble stopping smiling.

Californian Jim Ahl is one such soul, Ahl has a RMW 1800 stroker motor that he had Jan Brueggemann fit a Harrop TVS 900 kit to. You can see from the dyno graph below Jim’s motor made 301.7 whp and 228.6 lb/ft of torque. On Facebook Jim commented “I don’t

have any videos but putting the TVS on Jan’s 1800 block along with BVH, cam and header made a big difference. It pulls hard all the way to 7600. Lights it the tires in 1st 2nd. Love it.”

I was lucky enough to have Mike Bradley in California offer me a competitive ride in his RMW 30

© MotorWerks Magazine - The Ultimate Reading Experience!

engined, Harrop TVS 900 equiped R53 and give my butt dyno some experieince of the TVS. Right after Global Time Attacks Super Lap Battle at Buttonwillow last November I headed South to Fontana where a SCCA Autocross was running in a parking lot beside the kart track.

The other racers were great, very welcoming and hoped I would enjoy my time with them. Did I say I soon had a grin on my face? Mike’s MINI for sure hauls the mail and I had a great time driving a car that was super responsive and really ripped on the straights. I have to thank Mike for the opportunity and would love to say I let the car owner win but those out West know Mike is a tough guy to beat when he is on form. His mother Sharon Malmen normally runs the car along with Mike and graciously gave up some seat time to allow me to experience the TVS 900 first hand. Thanks guys.

Portugal’s Jony Bernardo loved the changes after he added his TVS, “I’m doing about 12 seconds 100 to 200km/h, before the TVS it was taking 14 seconds with the M45. Also something iIve noticed is that beyond 200km/h it’s still pushing instead of dragging with the M45.”

Randy Smalley, the team principal of RSR Motorsport has lots of MINI experience considering he ran the last MINI team in the halcyon days of Grand Am racing. Randy and friends still have some of the cars and when he was looking for more power he fitted a RMW stroker motor and after a period of unsatisfaction with another supercharger he switched to a Harrop TVS. He told us, “Makes better boost... especially at hi RPMs. +/- 265 WHP. I think the quality of the cooling pump is much better too compared to the opposition. Money well spent for sure!”

So what’s next? Cooper RSR is going in for a baseline dyno session soon and then we will be fitting the TVS. Looking forward to ‘Less Whine’

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Motorsport News from MotorWerks Magazine

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Motorsport Spotlight!

e m Ti

K C A T AT

T

he history of Time Attack has its roots in Japanese motorsport back in the 1980s as a place for the many tuning companies in the country to display their talents in tuning modified street driven cars on the track. Sometimes called 32

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Superlap, groups of cars run together and their resultant lap times qualify them for the shoot-out if they are quick enough. During the Shoot-out cars are released with adequate gaps between them ensuring they do not catch the racer ahead. Racers

begin with a warm-up lap, run the timed laps and finish off with a cool-down lap. The quickest racer is the winner.

The Time Attack craze would eventually would spread world-wide and there are now national championships running in the USA, Canada, UK, Germany, New Zealand and Australia. Often run alongside another imported Japanese motorsport,

drifting, the two disciplines are perfectly designed to capture the attention of spectators. Unlike road racing where even the shortest events can be twenty minutes long, Time Attack in the elimination phase is completed quickly with as little as four laps completed by the racers. The wham, bam aspect of both disciplines is perfect for keeping the spectators interested and entertained.

The Big Daddy event, the World Time Attack Challenge is held annually at Sydney Motorsport Motorsport News from MotorWerks Magazine

33

Park. After running successful National events in 2008/9 Superlap Australia’s CEO, Ian Baker came up with the idea of the WTAC, he foresaw a single event marketed toward national pride where racers would travel from all over the World to not only showcase the companies behind the cars but represent their home country as well. 2010 saw the inaugural Yokohama World Time Attack Challenge at the Eastern Creek Raceway (now Sydney Motorsport Park) It proved to be a huge success especially as it was the first-time teams like PanSpeed, CyberEvo, R-Magic, Cusco, Hi Octane Racing and Sierra Sierra had competed against each other at one event.

An evolution of Time Attack is the Touge Battle where racers are pitted one against one. The racers start one in front of the other with the second car choosing the gap to the lead car. The winner is determined by the quickest time but it is the visual aspect of seeing the gap between the cars extend or contract than makes for the excitement. If a racer spins or crashes the other racer wins. Positions are then reversed and the battle continues. If the racers win one battle each, they return for a third with the winner being decided in the same way as the two previous runs.

While the many sanctioning bodies have named their classes differently they tend to have similar specifications. All cars must be production based, no full tube frame chassis are allowed. Our local series, the Canadian Sport Compact Series has Production, Street, Super Street and Unlimited. Like hill climbing and sprinting in the UK, Time Attack is the perfect place for those wanting to get into racing with their road car. The classes are designed so both the car and driver can progress as both get faster. We will use the CSCS rule set as an example here but please check with your local sanctioning body and read their rulebook making sure your car meets ALL the applicable rules.

All the classes have sub-classes of Front Wheel Drive, Rear Wheel Drive and All Wheel Drive.

Production Class was designed to be an entry 34

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As Used By Gridlife Unlimited Champion CSCS UF Champion Super Lap Battle UFWD Champion - - - James Houghton - - CSCS SSF Champion Super Lap Battle Limited FWD Champion - - - Chris Boersma - - Ultimate Track Challenge Production AWD Winner - - - John Freund - - Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge ST Winners, Daytona & Watkins Glen - - - LAP Motorsport - - Global Time Attack Street FWD Winner - - - Chris Hofmann - - -

Motorsport News from MotorWerks Magazine

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Motorsport News from MotorWerks Magazine

37

level class with limited modifications permitted.

Tires are restricted to a choice of three but with the Pirelli Trofeo R being eligible for Racer pricing and contingency payouts is makes sense for a racer to seriously consider that tire. Street class is designed to allow the competitor to make limited modifications and swaps beyond what Production class allowed. Certain Super Cars and factory racecars like Porsche Cup, Ferrari Challenge and the Lamborghini Super Trofeo are not eligible for the Street Class. The Pirelli Trofeo R is the only tire eligible in the Street Class. It also qualifies for the Racer Pricing and Contingency program through Steelcase Mags and Tires.

Next up is the Super Street class which allows for extreme modifications and swaps within a limited framework. Extensively modified road cars, exotics, and “underpowered” race cars are all eligible for the Super Street class. Flat bottoms are outlawed but OEM glass other than the windshield can be replaced with polycarbonate versions. The only interior component you are required to keep is the factory dashboard. 295 section Pirelli Trofeo tires are the maximum allowed in the class.

The Unlimited Class is designed for full blown race cars, Time Attack cars, super/hyper cars, and factory production built race cars. Modifications are virtually limitless. Top of the line competitors

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© MotorWerks Magazine - The Ultimate Reading Experience!

tend to be producing 600-1000 whp and run totally wild aerodynamic aids. Sequential gearboxes are legal in the class as are full flat bottoms. One thing I must say about Time Attack racing is that the environment is very friendly, making it the perfect arena for somebody to start competitive driving.

Whenever a driver has a problem you will see myriads of fellow racers descend on the offending racecar. They gladly provide their time and if needed spare parts to get that racer back on track. This happens even in the Unlimited class where every racer is ultra competitive and wants to win; this was seen at Buttonwillow during the Global Time Attack Super Lap Battle where the Professional Awesome team had a motor failure and everyone dug in to help them out.

The other thing I noticed about Time Attack racing is the number of younger participants, this may be because the cars are not your typical American iron and series like Gridlife promote the event as a party and normally include music as part of the show. We were talking the other day about how many of the drivers at a typical road race event tend to be 40 or older. This is not the case in Time Attack, and I think the sport will be healthy for many, many years because of this younger demographic. Part of our discussion was that Motorsport is expensive and Time Attack even though the enforce safety roles for the cars and drivers you tend not to have to buy I race license or have a medical. Even a small saving like this helps to make it more affordable for the entry level driver. Once competing the razor gets the bug and then they are smitten, they feel the need for speed and the answer for that is to step it up and go faster. So, get on the Internet Google, Time Attack racing in your neighborhood and see what series are out there.

Find out what their schedule is

Motorsport News from MotorWerks Magazine

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and go along to one of their events. Talk to anybody running a car similar to yours and find out what class they run and what they have done to the car.

You will be amazed at how helpful these people will be, they don’t see you as the opposition just another guy to have fun with.

Editor’s Note: I first came across Time Attack once I was in Canada for many years. Expecting Time Attack to be like sprinting in the UK, I was surprised to see the cars were running together during practice, qualifying and competition runs. The huge attraction to me was there was no wheel to wheel racing or crazy dive bombing into corners. I had been there done that and have no love for bringing home a damaged car and working on it like crazy just to get ready for the next event. Why am I so enamored with Time Attack? Probably because of the minimal rules in most series and the KISS principle.

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Motorsport News from MotorWerks Magazine

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n o i t a v o n n I s d e e r Racing B Case!

NOT in This

O

ne of the things car manufacturers have preached over the years was the fact that they used racing to develop parts and systems for their road cars. The title of this article, ‘Racing Breeds Innovation is true in most cases just NOT this one.

The OEM car manufacturers have been using a high strength steel called Docol R8 for X years and it has only lately that its advantages have become apparent to the motorsport industry and builders have started to use it in chassis and rollcage building.

For many years building roll cages or tube chassis race cars you had the choice of two materials, mild steel or 4130 Chrome Moly. In the last six years or so Indianapolis based A.E.D. Motorsport Products have been showcasing a new option, Docol R8.

Produced in Scandinavia, Docol is not really a new material in the auto industry. It is an advanced high strength steel (AHSS) that has been used in road cars for almost thirty years. It is used in things like door crash bars, roof bows, A&B pillars, bumpers, foot boxes and seats. In motorsport fabrication, it is not restricted to use in chassis and roll cages, but can be used for suspension parts, wheelie bars, driveshafts and bumpers; there is even an aero tube option where streamlined tube is required.

The main reason I saw for it not being used in motorsports previously was the cost; traditionally it was more expensive than the similar 4130 products. That all changed at this year’s PRI show in Indianapolis. During a Docol R8 seminar put on by 42

© MotorWerks Magazine - The Ultimate Reading Experience!

A.E.D. Motorsports and the manufacturer SSAB, Al Lowe of A.E.D. announced the lowering of prices by 10 to 12%. This brings Docol R8 pricing right into the ballpark especially with its many benefits!

So, what other reasons are there for the Docol R8 not being used in mainstream motorsports? Part of it is sanctioning bodies, NASCAR has never favored Chrome Moly whereas SCCA and NASA always had that 4130 option. Why you may ask; well, you really need a skilled welder for 4130. A 4130-weld junction tends to leave the heat affected zone with a crystalline structure and in an accident that is

Docol R8 on left, 4130 CrMo on right; it is the 4130 that cracks and deforms even with the Docol weld seam rotated to align with the crush zone.

where the problem lies. The welds may pull apart with little or no bending or stretching. With R8 that does not happen. Another bonus of the Docol R8 is fatigue life, it responds better to the abuse that a high-powered race car gives the tubing. While that is good for the owner it may not be what the chassis builder is looking for. A longer life chassis that can give you the same performance from start to finish to you during its life span is not good for the chassis building industry. While there are chassis builders who have embraced the product, and explained the benefits to their customers, there are still some who will not change from 4130. Now if you are in the need for a new chassis, I believe you as the customer can insist on Docol R8 as the material you want to be used. As well as being a safer build I believe Docol R8 cars will retain their value better as Docol becomes more accepted.

If we look at the pros and cons of Docol, what makes it better? The Pros!

• Docol R8 is not made using any scrap material.

• It has passed all metallurgical tests and has surpassed 4130 in all areas.

• The heat affected zone after welding is much smaller in area, making it less bristle and able to retain better elongation than 4130.

• Docol is much cleaner and does not have a scale like 4130, making preparation time much quicker.

This also leads to a reduction in costs.

• Docol can be welded using both MIG and TIG processes.

• Yield strengths are 25,000 psi better than 4130 • Wall thickness tolerances are +/- .005” rather than +/- 10% of the wall.

• Docol sheet materials show similar performance improvements over 4130 and tend to be less expensive as well.

• It has greater resistance to fatigue.

• Docol absorbs energy which has a more controlled failure mode. In other words, it is much SAFER!

The Cons?

• It is a welded tube which may scare off some people, but tests have shown that the weld seam is actually stronger than the parent material.

• Because of the seam weld, it is recommended that for best bending results you locate the seam in the neutral position, but again this has been proven not to be a big issue.

• As the Docol does not have any scale it is very important that the tube is properly secured in the bender and cannot slide through the clamp as bending is processing. This is probably the most important difference between Docol and 4130 when you are using it in a build.

As I mentioned earlier, sanctioning bodies have a big say in what material can be used in their series. Docol R8 is currently accepted by NHRA in all classes, IHRA, SFI, BMW CCA Racing, Pike’s Peak Hillclimb, USAC, World Figure 8, POWRi, World of Outlaws (both late-model and sprints), the Lucas Oil late-model series, SCCA, NASA, Can-Am Midget series and many more. Now both the Global Time Attack and Canadian Sport Compact Series have amended their rules to include Docol R8 by name as an acceptable alternative material.

Do you want to find out more about how Docol performs in an actual application? We are going to give you the chance to find out as in the next few weeks our project MINI CooperRSR is going to receive a full roll cage built with the Docol R8 product. Our local Time attack sanctioning body, the Motorsport News from MotorWerks Magazine

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Canadian Sport Compact Series accepts any cages that meets the specifications of SCCA, NASA or the Canadian CASC regulations. Both SCCA and NASA have Docol included in their rulebooks. The cage will be built using 1.5” x .095” wall tubing. Floor plates will be fabricated from 3mm Domex 700 flat plate.

Our good friend Randy Jewell of RJ ProFab in Greece, NY will be building the cage. Randy and I have lots of experience working together on my two previous Top Sportsman S 10 Pickup drag trucks.

He is an exceptional craftsman and I’m excited to be able to be part of his first full-road race fabrication.

The cage will future some styling cues from the WRC MINI that Prodrive in the UK built for MINI. These will entail braces that do not feature the standard X brace that is seen on most roll cages. The design is all about moving and dissipating stresses through the cage in a manner when it is distributed all over,

not just in one point. The door bars are going to allow for easier in ingress and egress as well as making the door bars stronger and therefore safer.

To make our life easier we will be removing the roof for two reasons, one to remove all that up high weight and replace it with a carbon roof skin and the other is to allow ease of welding the new cage. It is going to be a bunch of work but it is what is needed to take the chassis to the next level both in safety and performance.

We will be keeping you up to date with posts on our CooperRSR Facebook page and in an article in MotorWerks Magazine. For more info on Docol R8 tube and plate contact AED Motorsport Products at Phone: (317) 334-0569 U.S. & Canada Toll Free: (888) 413-0233 on the Internet at www.aedmotorsport.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AEDMotorsport/

Motorsport News from MotorWerks Magazine

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Ben Marouski - MIN Gridlife Time Attack Series

B

eing someone who has always been super competitive with myself (whether it be sports, hobbies, career etc), Time Attack felt like the perfect fit for me. Coming from running HPDE’s/Track days for just four years prior, I was always pushing myself and my lap times from session to session, month to month. That chase to find a faster lap time became an addictive goal throughout the years. That’s why the moment I found out about Time Attack and how approachable it was, I became all about it.

Something about the big aero, over the top builds, and seeing cars pushed to their absolute limit in the 46

© MotorWerks Magazine - The Ultimate Reading Experience!

attempt to find that one perfect lap to take home the win, had me from the get go.

There is something so motivating about not only racing your fellow competitors for the best possible time on the weekend, but instead more so racing yourself and pushing you and your car to the absolute limit in an attempt to find tenths of seconds anywhere on the track you can. With such attention being put on the lap time, it truly makes you try to perfect every adjustment on your car possible, nothing overlooked. Whether it’s an aero change, suspension adjustment, tweak of your tune, tire

NI Cooper S pressure drop, everything adds up when it comes to finding the perfect balance when “Attacking Time” out there. It’s then up to you, the driver to utilize every ounce of time, money, and mechanical perfection to its fullest potential to put down the most lethal lap possible. One of the most effective ways to find extra time out on track is to invest heavily in yourself as a driver, and finding ways you can improve out there to set you and your car up for success. It’s one of the reason’s I absolutely love running my MINI out there, I feel like a bit of an underdog in what is often times the lowest HP car in

my class, I love making up for that lack of power, by making the most time up in the corners and by trying to be the best driver possible. You begin to feel as one with your car when you’re constantly trying to find the limit, where the most minute changes are felt in the steering wheel or gas pedal, where every sound the car makes is that of an orchestra you are conducting from the driver’s seat.

As a whole I also think in this format of racing allows you to step back a bit and appreciate fellow competitors builds. There is such a variance in car type, and what people have done with them that you learn to not feel threatened necessarily but instead really appreciate why or how they are able to squeeze out more or less time out there than you. From my experience it’s also a very friendly race type atmosphere, without the aspect of someone trading paint or blocking you in the corners it allows for a sense of community with everyone having the same exact goal out there of achieving that perfectly fast lap at the limit.

Any way people can lend a hand or some advice, it is almost always offered with the genuine goal to help out a fellow competitor better themselves, and make things even more competitive. The back and forth battle throughout a weekend of competitors dropping tenths to swap position’s within their classes is addicting when in the thick of it. The feeling you get in your stomach between heats running up to the lap time boards to see if things shuffled, in the hope that the perfect lap you think you just ran holds up is a feeling I can’t get enough of. Yes it’s a different type of racing, but it’s one that I have learned to love.

Ben has been competing with the Gridlife series as it is the closest to his Royal Oak, Michigan home.

This will continue in 2018, and he plans to travel further afield and take in some Canadian Sport Compact Series events at Toronto Motorsport Park.

Motorsport News from MotorWerks Magazine

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Chris Boersm

Multiple Time Atta O ne the main reasons why I love Time Attack is that it is one of the purest forms of Motorsports. It’s just you and the car and you get the chance to go as fast as you possibly can, without having to conserve the car or worry about traffic. It puts the pressure on you as a driver to perform in a very short amount of time and requires a car that can do the same. It’s also one of the only forms of Motorsports left that has a very simple rule book

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ma - Honda Civic

ack Series

that allows people to explore the limits of what’s possible. To me it’s like can-am cars were back in the day, lots of power, aero and grip and the freedom to do whatever you want. There just isn’t anything that is as pure as Time Attack is right now.

Chris started his motorsport career in drag racing but once he found out about Time Attack there was no holding him back. He is a multi-time Champion with the Canadian Sport Compact Series as well as multi-class champion and class record holder with the Global Time Attack series at Buttonwillow and Atlanta. His 2018 plans include a full season of CSCS, GTA Road Atlanta, GTA New Jersey, GridLife Mid-Ohio, GridLife MidWest and SpeedRing.

Motorsport News from MotorWerks Magazine

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Matteo Gualandi - MINI

Italian Time Attack Series M y involvement started in 2013 with the first Time Attack event in Italy, our MINI Cooper GP was a road car prepared for the track but from year to year it has continued to evolve until 2017 where we hit the track with 500hp, a sequential gearbox and carbon fiber body panels. Time Attack is a good advertisement for my company GP garage as it brings us work from customers who race in the series and also allows us to experiment with new solutions to bring to the market for that clientele.

This kind of competition allows us to show what we do as tuners as there are no constraints to create new evolutions on the cars. Quite often they ask 50

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me why we do not run in the Mini Challenge series, I reply by saying that we could not showcase our products by running in a one-make series; therefore we limit ourselves to being only their suppliers.

My history in the world of motorsport began in 1989 with the first races in the Italian minicross championship which I ran until 2006 with the European supermotard championship. From 2007 I moved over to cars and ran in rallies and hillclimbs.

Since 2009, however, with the opening of GP Garage I started to go to tracks for track days with my MINI. But it was 2013 before I started to compete properly with the MINI.

2018 sees us begin a new adventure in the Italian Time Attack series, competing with a entirely new MINI and a new platform to us, the R56 Turbo car.

After many years our development of the R53 Rotrex platform had come to an end and we wanted to experiment with new things on this turbo-charged platform and develop new parts for the many R56 owners over the World.

Matteo Gualandi is the owner of GPgarage in Verona, Italy. He will continue to compete in the 2018 Italian Time Attack series. His sponsors for 2018 will be Competition clutch, ecumaster, FRW, ACME, NTP Bilstein, Team Dynamics.

He can be reached at info@gpgarage.it

www.timeattackitalia.com Motorsport News from MotorWerks Magazine

51

Sally McNult

Multiple Time Atta I am Sally McNulty and a Time Attack driver for Team Snail Performance. I compete in the Street AWD class in Global Time Attack and Gridlife series.

I started racing competitively back in 2013. Thanks to Snail Performance and Bobby Lane Racing teams, they have fine tuned my skills as the driver of my 2007 Subaru WRX to victory at several races across the country! This year we will be competing at several events across the US. All of the Global Time Attack events and two Gridlife festivals, Midwest and South. We have a huge year ahead of us and I can’t wait to use the new skill set I have been working on in the off season. This off season I have been

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ty - Subaru WRX

ack Series

focusing on smooth foot work, braking zones, and carrying more speed into corners. I have been using my Subaru STi, daily driver, with coilovers, upgraded rotors and pads, and pretty much stock power to get lots of seat time. Thanks to my sponsors for the parts for my daily driver allowing me to get this most essential seat time. If you are wondering about the progression of my skills you can check out my YouTube channel for more details!

The Time Attack sport to me is not only competing against a competitors best time but also bettering your own. Yes, we all want to be faster than our

competitors but own own personal best gives us the ability to work on yourself and see improvement.

And see if the parts or skills you may have changed helped to you to be that much faster.

What I particularly enjoy about Time Attack is the environment and the people who attend these events. No one is rude and standoffish, everyone helps everyone and cheering each other on. 99 percent of us are privateers and fund our own programs and everyone understands the struggles and are always there to lend a helping hand. Roll on the 2018 race season!

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M

y name is Chris Kennealy, I’m the owner of Burning Rubber Tire and Speed in Oakville ON and I participate in the Canadian Sport Compact Series.

In 2016 I placed 2nd overall in the SuperStreet FWD class in a 2013 Mazdaspeed3. 2017 brought a new car, and a brand new class to CSCS. We purchased a 2014 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution and competed in the inaugural year of Production Class with the car placing 1st overall in Production AWD in the Series Championship. 2018 brings new challenges again as we further modify the car and jump to Street Class.

Time Attack has become the reason our business exists. Everyone in our shop, either races Time Attack, or participates in the building and maintenance of racecars. I think it comes down to passion and what you want to do with your time. I’ve had a love of everything with an engine for as long as I can remember. Growing up in Northern Ontario I remember starting riding on lawn tractors and imagining I was racing. Snowmachines, motorcycles, tractors, boats, and cars would all follow suit in their own time. But my imagination always had me racing whatever it was I was driving. Fast forward 20 years and I found myself in my thirties and not loving my life.

It was missing something, so I purchased a 2005 Mazdaspeed Miata and started lapping/competing.

The rest is as they say history. Once the bug bit it only got worse. Mild modification gave way to major modification, gave way to full on builds. I left my job, my wife and I sold our house, and we opened Burning Rubber Tire and Speed. It turns out to be the best decision I’ve ever made. Now

Chris Kennealy - Lan

Canadian Sport Compact Ser

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days are spent surrounded by cars, car people, and the amazing scene here in Toronto. Passion leads everything we do, from racing, to building, to day to day operations. Someone once said “Do what you love and youll never work a day in your life”. Well I guess thats where we find ourselves now, loving life, playing for a living.

Why do we race? We race because its freedom.

When I’m on track, or at an event, nothing else matters. Theres no mortgage, or bills, no deadlines or clients. All thats there, is me, my car, and the next corner. And what could be better than that?

I’d like to take a second to shout out to all the

LE

DU E H C S

, DDT t r o p s @ Mo P, Cayuga yuga d r 3 a June 4th @ TM MP, C le T @ 2 June st & 22nd annonvil 1 h July 2 @ SMP, S yuga 19 Ca Aug. 6 @ TMP, 1 Sept.

2018

RIFT OW D TACK AG - SH T A DR TIME

ncer EVO X

ries

people that made chasing this dream possible.

My wife, who has watched me spend our retirement on racecars, and supported me the whole time. I’m the luckiest boy in the world.

Dave from Dave’s Garage. Business partner, fellow time attacker and great friend.

All of my Staff, Alex Belardo, Joe Kucey, and James Brown for working their butts off and being the best team a guy could ask for. Also: Neetronics - Millers Oils - RaceLab and Crazy Leo - NeonNine Design - JRP Johnston Research and Performance - Corbix - Driven Automotive Group GT Customs Pickering - Signature Wheels.

ST GGE I B ’S ACT ADA CAN T COMP S E R SPO G SERI N I RAC

.CA

S .CSC W W

W

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Colin Dorward - Lan Super Lap Scotland

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ncer EVO I

first started in motorsport at a young age of 10, my father was a vehicle mechanic and we supported a stock car driver so the environment was full on from the get go. Passed my driving test at 17 and from then on started doing various track days on tracks in the uk and Europe with a passion for the Nurburgring Nordschleife which I attend every year for track days and holidays of which I have completed over 250 laps of the famous circuit

some of them on two wheels also. Due to having a dedicated track car friends of mine in the track scene and motorsport industry recommended that I would enjoy the time trial event Super Lap Scotland ( as I keep saying it’s all about the perfect lap!!) I got hooked on the series when I started putting in reasonable lap times compared to other experienced drivers and capable vehicles in the same class and above which has led to me coming back in different classes over the last 3 years.

I like the power to weight class structure at it definitely levels the playing field across many different types of car. I also like the current format as the “Super Lap Final” where you get just one lap to set a time really puts you under immense pressure. It takes a lot to build enough tyre temp on the warm up lap and ideally an extra lap would be a nice buffer, but that’s what makes the series such a challenge!!

There are great friendships and scandal within the paddock (not involving me of course!!). Everyone is there to compete and help each other whilst still being in the competitive environment. I have made new friends over the last few years.

I’m very competitive and I always go out there to win and want to keep winning. If I could afford it I would have a car for every class lol.

I won the 2017 Super Lap Scotland Pro Class title Motorsport News from MotorWerks Magazine

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and looking into 2018 I still have plans to keep moving forward. My ultimate goal this year is to create a fast and reliable car so I can compete in more than one series and we have been working tirelessly over the winter on the car – it will look very different in 2018. I’ll also invest driver tuition and more seat time too. Overall I want to generate more good competition in the series and more business for my current sponsors: Clark Motorsport, RA Motorsport Developments, AT Power Throttles, Track Formula, Samsonas Transmissions & Rock Oil. Together along with Knockhill Racing Circuit I’m out to win SLS 2018!

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The SuperLap Scotland 2018 Schedule April 22nd, June 16th/17th, July 21st/22nd September 9th at Knockhill Circuit

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Ian Rae (905) 467-5148 or ianrae@motorwerksmag.com l check out the latest Issue www.motorwerksmag.com

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T

here’s something beautiful and simple about the essence of Time Attack: you versus the track. No one else to bother you, no excuses, just a dance between your car and yourself. That is what appealed heavily to me as I joined the Ontario Time Attack (OTA – www.time-attack.ca) series for the 2017 season. As someone who has been dabbling in other forms of motorsports such as autoslalom and karting, Time Attack appealed heavily to me as it was as close as I could get to an open track for myself. With OTA’s scheduling, you always get warm up sessions in the morning, followed by hot sessions in the afternoon where everyone gets the same number of hot laps.

As an instructor at Pinnacle Advanced Driving Academy (PADA - www.pinnacledriving.com), I was given a lot of coaching from all of our instructors throughout the year and in keeping with my personal mantra of driver mod above all else, my S2000 remained unmolested (short of the series mandatory roll-over bar for safety). With this in mind, I approached my first year with Ontario Time Attack as opportunity to see where I would stack up against fellow Ontario Time Attack drivers.

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Kevin Wo

Ontario Time The S2000 for most part is my fun car and doesn’t see any daily driving bump-n-grind, so it is as close to a dedicated track car minus the trailer (since I live in a condominium and trailers would not fit). The best part about this car is how reliable it is and its relatively low consumables cost. Running Hankook RS4s gave me the best balance between longevity

ong - Honda S2000

e Attack

and sheer grip. After a full season, I still had about 30% tread depth left!

All in all, I enjoyed my first Time Attack season with OTA so much that I’ve decided to volunteer with them and stepped in to take over duties as Chief Timer for the 2018 season. Everyone is extremely helpful, understanding and welcoming to me

and I am really looking forward to this upcoming season where I finally allow myself a little bit of modifications: going to a non-staggered wheel setup. Can’t wait to see if I can improve on my third place class finish from last year!

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Words by Ian Rae photos by author and Sam Moore

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SpringFling!

A month ahead of the Spring Equinox we tested a BMW M2 in Canada

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I

t may not have been Spring but it sure did feel like it! Normally average temperatures around Toronto

are just above the freezing mark but this year they jumped into the low double digits Celsius, for me t-shirt or sweatshirt weather. It also turned out to be an opportunity to test a 2017 BMW M2.

Our Project 3ThirtyFive threw a wobbly as I was heading to Pfaff BMW in Mississauga when I was heading to go for lunch with an old friend, Matthew Kilkenny who is now the General Manager there. Matt was good enough to get the 335i into the shop to see if the technicians could find the problem as we went for our lunch meeting.

On our return they had some ideas but would need more time to properly diagnose the problem. Matt again stepped up to the plate and arranged a loaner to allow me to go to another meeting I had scheduled for the Friday afternoon. On my return to Pfaff in Mississauga the news I was expecting was confirmed, a new water pump and thermostat was needed. The problem was it was 4:00pm Friday and it was a holiday weekend, so Pfaff would not be able to get the parts until Tuesday.

Oh well, it was time for a taxi home and my trusty F350 Dually would be at hand.

Not so! Matt said keep the X3 I had for my meeting and then he looked out to the fore court and said, “Unless you want to take the M2? The weather is going to be great, perfect to try out an M2” I confirmed he was not pulling my leg and tried not to shout “Sure, where do I sign up?” When you consider this was in a dealership where I had never been before I was impressed, even though Matthew is a friend I did not expect or ask for this great support. When I then said, “In fact it gives me the opportunity to write an article about a BMW I have never driven before”, he made a point that an article was not necessary. But I will say at this point “Yes it is!” You could not get the smile off my face all weekend when I was in the car and that is something I wanted to pass on to other lovers of the brand.

Helping me out on the Saturday shoot was my twelve year-old nephew Sam Moore who is turning into a bit of a car freak and like me he gave the M2 two big thumbs up after our trip to Glen Eden to shoot the car.

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Above: Nobody could not notice the car was a BMW M car with the trademark M stripes. It turned heads all weekend.

The stripes did tend to mask the aggressive front of the M2 I thought.

Left/Right: The M2 comes with a staggered wheel setup with 19� M Double spoke forged alloy wheels Style 437M 9J wheels front and 10J on the rear. The wheels weigh 22.9 lb. front and 23.4 lb. rear. Tires are Pirelli 245/35 ZR19 93 Y and 265/35 ZR19 98 Y Motorsport News from MotorWerks Magazine

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Interior The M steering wheel is branded with the M stripes but who knows the origin of those three iconic BMW M colors? It all started when BMW partnered with Texaco Oil in the early days of M cars being raced. The Red stripe was for them. Blue came from not only from BMW but Bavaria where the company is based. The Purple represented the partnership between the two and made for the perfect transition between the Red and Blue.

Interestingly enough when the BMW and Texaco partnership ended, BMW was forced to buyout the rights to the Red portion from Texaco to allow them to continue used what now was a symbol of speed, performance and BMW. The sport seats are easily set to the optimum position for the perfect driving experience. They are trimmed in blue only. Dry carbon lines the center console, door pulls and parts of the dash.

Tucked away in the right hand drink tray is the activator for the BMW M Performance exhaust this car was equipped with. Two pushes of the button and all hell breaks loose. Only for off-road use of course!

An alcantra panel with blue stitching sets off the door card and takes away from a total plastic look, as does the carbon fiber door pull. The 3.5 section storage at the bottom of the door has to be one on the most useful I have come across even though it intrudes into the cabin space.

Located above the door card near the outside mirror is two of the Harmon KardonÂŽ twelve speakers that come as part of the surround sound system.

The electronically adjustable driver’s seat enables to different drivers to save their individual settings for the position of the seat, backrest, steering column and exterior mirrors. Pressing your assigned button returns all the setting to your personal positions. The adjustable bolsters really worked well with the health issues I am having and the original setting was putting strain on my ribs. I found the buttons, figured out which was which and immediately got comfortable.

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On the Road!

The M2 is the replacement for the much-lamented limited edition 1 Series M Coupe that BMW produced back in 2011/12, producing only 2,700 units globally and 983 produced 03/2011 through 12/2011 for North America with the first production delivery going into the hands of Mississauga based Derek Johnston, the owner of JRP Performance.

Designed to be more of a track toy than the 1 Series M Coupe or its slightly larger brothers the M3/M4, the M2 is a fine blend of gentile, civilized transportation that when required grows horns and puts a smile on the face of any driver lucky enough to sit behind the wheel. Even rough bumpy country roads were no challenge to the M2 even with all that rubber on the road. It is perfectly at home going to the supermarket as it is pounding out laps around a

Pfaff and Fellows get together The names Pfaff and Fellows are synonomous with Canadian racing, only in this case it is not former Le Mans winner Ron but his son Sam who in recent years has used a ChumpCar program to advance his driving career. Sam stepped into one of the Pfaff M235iRs and won on his debut in the Canadian Touring Car Championship. He then went on to run

challenging racetrack like Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

I feel the M2 is more of a true M car than the other overweight offerings BMW’s M division has released lately. It truly defines BMW’s ‘Ultimate Driving Machine’ moniker that for some reason no longer seems to be true. That is not to say there is not a place for those cars but I believe the M2 extends the racing heritage that BMW has been so proud off in the past. For those in the market for the hot hatch type of car this is a perfect choice but without the hatch. It is small and nimble which makes it enjoyable in the city but becomes a perfect toy to carve the cones at the local autocross. If you’re not into parking lots and short and twisties, the M2 has the grunt to excel on the big tracks during HPDE events our track days. It really works well in all situations. the CSCS and finished second in Unlimited RWD on his debut in the series. Watch for an article in the next issue of the magazine.

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W t l i u B e g a r a G

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I

! r e Wond

Words and Photos by Jyrki J. Repo

’ve been working on Audi cars for all of my adult life. In 2015 I had an opportunity to be a part of a dream project involving an Audi; of building a perfect track tool that would deliver in the region of 1000hp per ton and make a statement world-wide.

Sami Sivonen has been a competitor Time Attack racing since 2011. He has won the Finnish Championship in the Clubman class twice with an Audi TTRS (2011-2012) Won the European Time Attack Masters FWD class at Zandvoort with a Seat Leon, and once again a Finnish title running in the Time Attack Unlimited class in 2014.

After three seasons with the Leon, it was apparent to the team that a FWD car is not competitive enough against AWD and RWD cars on twisty tracks of the Scandanavian North. Hence Sami decided to build a car that would give no excuses and losing to anyone on the planet would not be the cars fault. An Audi TTRS was considered, so was an S5 and an RS4, but when he found an unregistered R8 from Germany, the plans changed very quickly.

The R8 powerplant is a 4.2 liter V8, with a dry sump lubrication system and typical for Audi, an over engineered driveline would give a good chance for 4-digit horsepower figures, which was Sami’s plan from day one. Even though nobody mentions it a lot, the fastest TA cars in Finland, Sweden, the UK not to mention WTAC are already closing to 1000hp mark. So to be competitive down the road the magical 1000 hp had to be our goal.

Taking it from a track toy to track weapon As we noted the car was unregistered, as it has been built as a track toy from new. This not only meant it had very low mileage, and it already had a rollcage installed, it was also affordable, being more than a third cheaper than second cheapest on the market. So after a bit if negotiating Sami became the proud owner of Scandanavia’s only Time Attack Unlimited class Audi R8.

In an effort to see what we had bought we Motorsport News from MotorWerks Magazine

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took the car to the track as it was. We tested at Alastaro in September 2015. Immediately after that shakedown run Sami started to strip it down, and the proper build itself started in January 2016.

After long nights in Sami’s Garage, we rolled the car out, to dyno on 20th of July, and straight from rollers the team haeded to the Motopark Festival, in Pieksämäki.

Keeping in mind that this A8 build is not a professional project, but a project built and maintained by Yours Truly, a part time journalist and part time race engineer, Sami, a sausage salesman, Mervi, a barber, Kalle, a Harvester pilot, and Mikko, a measurement device specialist. We built it in Sami’s garage. Just the five of us. I took what Sami had bought and modified the overall design, and we built it together. Obviously some parts were outsourced and numerous experts were consulted, but it still was built in Sami’s shed.

Due to that, as one can imagine, the maiden voyage was not completely problem free, but the day was a raving success, when Sami cruised to the win and the chequered flag in 5 lap sprint race. Not bad considering he started from the back of the grid, and had only completed nine laps prior to the race.

Two original parts The build was rather comprehensive. Only two 72

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components stayed intact, those being the steering column and steering rack. Neither of those are still located in original location, but they have not been modified either.

Engine was swapped from 4.2 V8 to Lamborghini 5.0 V10 after a lucky coincidence with purchasing a second hand Holinger gearbox from Australia.

Turned out the price included an engine from Reiter – built Gallardo GT3 and it had already been rebuilt with forged internals by Developro in Australia. The 5.0 turned out to be very powerful engine, and it even allowed Sami to pull a wheelie in 3rd gear at 100mph, and accelerating from 124 to 154mph in 1.8 seconds. Formula 1 turbo era acceleration levels come to Time Attack!

In scheduled maintenance after the season’s end in 2016 we unfortunately found a crack in the block and some damage in the crankshaft, hence we had to decide whether to repair it or replace it with another type of engine. The 5.2 liter Huracan/ R8 engine is a lot beefier as a base, so we chose to purchase one of those, and rebuild it to spec required for our required power levels. As expected, the new engine turned out more reliable, and ran without a hiccup all of the 2017 season, including the extremes of testing in the chilly north, and a pre-race test day in 37 celsius in Sydney prior to the

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World Time Attack Challenge.

On to 1.5 Khp The old engine produced 1220whp, and bit over 1000lbft of torque on 20psi boost. We tried higher boost, but the car wouldn’t stay on the dyno rollers.

Looking at fuel consumption and acceleration rate, 1500 crank hp was a safe assumption. The new engine made the same on 1.2bar, and we ran on 1.45 on track. Many said it is pointless to have this much power. However, Sami says the car puts the power to the ground perfectly. It doesn’t wiggle or wobble, just slingshots itself to speeds unimaginable for a tin top car. For example from 120 to 150mph in less than 5 seconds.

In Sydney, we clocked 6.1 seconds from 124 to 188mph, from which first two seconds it is still held back by traction control, and at 170mph I dial 5psi boost off, to prevent it from going too fast on Brabham straight. However, Sami joined the exclusive +300kph club, shooting over the magical 74

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number on every single session he was out with the car. Not bad for a garage built racecar!

Testing with The Pros In 2017 we had to reshape the suspension geometry to match the small spec tyres we had to use in WTAC. Car is originally been designed to run GT3 size slicks, which are significantly bigger. It was a bigger task than I had expected, so I hired a colleague of mine from BTCC times, Toby Phillips to help me out on that one. We also drafted Phil Keen as a coach and a test driver. After a brief run, Phil managed to break the Botniaring tin top track record on 2 years old endurance Avons, by almost 3.5 seconds, in his jeans and a T-shirt! After four days of testing and prepping Sami managed to break tin top track record at the Alastaro track as well, on Yokohama 050 semi slicks. Not a bad achievement either, when e.g. Carrera cup full pro racers are roughly half a second slower in qualifying, and nice 13.5 seconds faster than on full supersoft slicks in the condition it came from Germany two years earlier.

The Journey to Sydney So, after we had it all sorted, we shipped the car with by air freight to Sydney. As we live here in the far North, the season only really starts in mid-May. If shipped by container and sea, we would have been required to pack the car and send it in late June, which would have not allowed us, a bunch of five amateurs, to test and develop the car properly before the WTAC. Hence the decision to use DHL and fly the R8 to Oz. Luckily they sponsored us, so some members of the team still have both kidneys. The car arrived in Sydney in a crazy 9 days after shipping! After going through the Australian customs procedure and a 72 hour bio quarantine, we were ready to go testing.

Sami’s first full laps were around 1:36, which is 10 seconds off the pace. But no worries, John “Boz” Boston came to help, and with his expertise and coaching, they massaged almost 5 seconds off Sami’s lap times, and things started to look a lot

better.

Most importantly the car ran perfect and we had no issues with it what so ever. Some of our competition were a bit more unfortunate with six out of the eleven cars in Pro-Am having technical failures of a level of not being able to clock a full lap. A pity. But WTAC week is cruel. To finish first, first you have to finish.

WTAC WTAC is the most esteemed and fastest time attack event in the world. By a gap of unimaginable distance. Hence Sami’s laptimes – although running track records in Finland, were five seconds off Rob Nguyen’s and Mighty Mouse’s times. With help of Boz, we managed to encourage Sami to push it below 1:30, clocking a very low 1:29 in the second session of Saturday. It had been a breathtaking game between Will Au-Yeung and Sami, where Sami took the lead on Friday morning, Will and Rob taking on the afternoon sessions of Friday, Sami taking the second place back on Saturday morning, and Will then reclaiming silver on last session before shootout.

Rob and his tiny CRX weigh a stunning 560kg less than our R8 which is indeed a huge difference. Not to mention Sami, being sausage salesman, and Rob being an ex F3 and F3000 pilot, there is a difference in experience behind the wheel as well. And from the blind spot, Canadian Will Au-Yeung drove by with his stunning Civic.

Steering a 1430kg (3150lb) R8 through turn one at well over 180mph is a big thing to ask a shopkeeper.

Also the Yokohama tyres we had to use did not like us. The last three corners of the lap, the tread temperature is above 125C, and the rubber turns to mush.

Aftermath For us, this was a perfect campaign. We not only finished every single session with a timed lap, we had zero technical issues. This is a good place to start working on V2. Very little needs to be done for the car, except some weight loss. More work is on Motorsport News from MotorWerks Magazine

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Sami, and his driving. The future will tell how we manage to challenge the lap record in WTAC, but Sami has already announced, he will be full on it, in 2019!

PS: Remember to check out our extremely awesome mini video series “R8 1:1 Journey to Sydney” from Youtube Driver/owner: Sami Sivonen Race Engineer: Jyrki Repo 1st Tech: Kalle Tyrkkö Tech: Mervi Pirkkala CAD –designs and tech: Mikko Ahola Crew: Jesse Repo Antti “El Puerco” Lankinen Audi R8 1:1

Audi R8 Coupe 2007 5.2l V10 turbo Holinger LG6 – paddleshift gearbox 2 x Garrett GTX 3576 turbo Motec M1 engine/power management and datalogging less than 1kg / hp 100-200kph 3,0 sec 200-250kph 1,8 sec

The 2018 season opened in Botniaring, 9th of June. Botnia is the fastest track in the country, and the time attack drivers in general like the track a lot.

So does Sami, and as a result of the first warm up, he was 2.5 seconds faster than than the tin top track record, and over 1.5 seconds fastest overall, including the open wheelers. In the qualifying he made it official, and broke the overall track record by 1.2 seconds.

Off season upgrades cooled the engine intake down enough for the car to pack a bit more punch than last year, resulting numbers of e.g. 2.8 seconds 100-200km/h and 4.8 seconds from 120 to 250.

In the superlap, Sami was going for an easy win, but in the 220km/h chicane the car’s rear end got 76

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loose and he ended up airborne, traveling backwards well over 200km/h.

A potentially dangerous situation took Sami and the car 148 meters off the track into a ditch. While

Sponsors: S&S Sivonen Oy Racingline DHL VeraVia Specma Flying Brewery Finjector.com Buffalo foods RWD-Toys.fi

FIN-turbo Poppamies Lihatukku Tamminen TT-Speed Navetta Racing K-Market Hermanni Turbosmart Harding Performance More info: https://www.facebook.com/R8Sivonen/ Questions, comments: Jyrki.Peter.Repo (ät) gmail.com a few hundred pics of the build in my album: https://ylipaine.kuvat.fi/kuvat/R8/

looking very serious, Sami had no injuries whatsoever, and the hardest impact didn’t result more than 10G forces in to his body. In

the video, one can see the final crash against gravel bank, the speed was 30 km/h.

Car looked really sad, but in the initial inspection looks like suffered surprisingly minor damage.

While writing this, the engine and gearbox are still to be removed from the vehicle to be examined, but if they suffered no damage, the car will be back on track in Radalle.com Motopark Festival, 20-22 July, 2018

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Mike Bennett - Scion FR-S Ontario Time Attack, CSCS

S

o, what do you do when you decide to retire from seventeen years of organizing one of the longest running drag race series in Canadian history? You go road racing naturally! I’ve spent the last twenty years dedicated to the drag racing scene in Southern Ontario co-founding the Ontario Street Car Association (OSCA) with my good friend Mike Czyzewski in 2001. Organising events with a real focus on pro active safety was challenging and rewarding to say the least but I’ve always had a passion for road racing. A good friend (and my new driving coach) loaned me a VHS tape (yes I’m that old) with a full season of mid 90’s BTCC coverage from the BBC. Those stock bodied cars with bad ass powerplants and sequential gearboxes lit something inside me that never went away!

Over the years I’ve done some open lapping days with no instruction which was fun, but something

that I wanted to try my hand at some form of road racing. After exploring my options, I decided Time Attack racing was going to be my gateway. With a budget of virtually nothing I decided the best route for me was a daily driver that I could race on weekends. Having briefly owned a Scion FR-S back in 2014 I always thought I’d love to have another but again…no money. A thought occurred…maybe I could get a rebuildable accident car and piece it together myself! I reached out to a friend in the business and he helped my find a good cheap project and after six months of scouring forums for used parts and working evenings I present to you… #projectgingersnap. Look for us this year at all OTA (Ontario Time Attack www.time-attack.ca) events and a select few CSCS (www.cscs.ca) and select other events.

was missing…competition! When I retired from the OSCA at the end of 2017 I knew right away Motorsport News from MotorWerks Magazine

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Rockstar Energy Chase Series announced for 2018

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uper Lap Scotland powered by Rockstar Energy Drink are delighted to announce a brand new racing format for SLS competitors for 2018. As well as competing in regular SLS time-trial competition, competitors can also take their first steps into the world of motor racing on the same day, with the allnew Rockstar Energy Chase Series competition.

SLS series co-ordinator Rory Butcher commented: “We are really excited to be introducing an all-new race series in conjunction with Super Lap Scotland.

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The new Rockstar Energy Chase Series allows drivers to compete against SLS rivals they know and trust, all within their existing class structures. For many, the Rockstar Energy Chase Series will be their first foray into full-on motor racing and it is hoped that the series will become an ideal environment to gather experience and race-craft in familiar surroundings, before venturing onto the wider world of competitive motorsports.�

As well as racing head-to-head to the finish line for a traditional 1-2-3 podium, the Rockstar Energy Chase Series will use a unique aggregate race time for

Wild Cars, Wild Action!

paddock continues to grow year-on-year and the introduction of this exciting new format will continue to draw newcomers into the world of competitive motorsport. We have had a long-standing affinity with the fast moving world of motorsport and this latest announcement further enhances that relationship.�

The four event series kickd off the weekend of Sunday 22nd April. For further information on Super Lap Scotland and the Rockstar Energy Chase Series please contact Rory Butcher (series co-ordinator) on 01383 723337 or email roryb@knockhill.co.uk.

each class (Pro to F), with the overall winner being the driver who is closest to or furthest ahead of their pre-calculated class aggregate race time.

The race time aggregate format levels the playing field allowing each and every driver, regardless of class, the chance to win the Rockstar Energy Chase Series Trophy.

Gordon Donald, Senior Sponsorship and Promotions Manager (EU) for Rockstar Energy Drink added: “Rockstar Energy Drink are delighted to further extend our association with Super Lap Scotland by supporting this new race series. The SLS Motorsport News from MotorWerks Magazine

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o l C e h t t s n Agai R d e e p S e at th

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ock Ring

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Richard Boake, Hometown: Toronto Car: Subaru WRX Team: Can-Jam Motorsports Sponsors: Versace Parfum, Steelcase Tires & Mags

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n 2016 Motovicity Distribution came up with the idea of creating a one of a kind Time Attack event that would bring racers from all over to the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA. The event put on by Motovicity and HKS USA was a huge success and it was especially fitting when LYFE Motorsport’s Cole Powelson and their Nissan GT-R took the win for the USA over Japanese Super GT and D1 Grand Prix

driver Nobuteru Taniguchi in the HKS GT-R. For 2017 the event moved East closer 84

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to Motovicity’s Madison Heights, MI home base.

The venue this year was the almost brand new M1 Concourse facility located nearby in Pontiac, MI. This year Vibrant Performance and ARP (Automotive

Racing Products) stepped up to the plate as presenting sponsors to help put on a Time Attack show as never seen before in the Mid-West.

Part of the draw was the massive $20,000 payout for the racer that would set the quickest lap time. The Speed Ring would feature traditional Time Attack on Saturday with a Touge Battle on Sunday. The 20K could be won by setting the time on either day.

And the guy who took it all home was Toronto’s Richard Boake and his Subaru WRX. Motorsport News from MotorWerks Magazine

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Set in suburban Detroit on the grounds of the former Pontiac West Assembly plant, the M1 Concourse track would prove to be tricky with it’s limited runoff and a combination of fast and slow corners within its 1.5 mile length.

Brian Patrias, Motovicity’s Special Projects Coordinator told us, “Motovicity’s Speed Ring is quickly becoming a benchmark event in the Time Attack world and it has a lot more to offer than just large cash prizes. Motovicity’s partnerships allow us to bring together some of the best race teams, drivers, shops, and the most relevant aftermarket brands and media outlets in a setting where networking and content generation thrives. We had a great turnout in 2017 and will continue to grow the event for 2018. Above all, Motovicity makes sure everyone has a good time at Speed Ring.”

Vibrant Performance’s Albert Reda said, “The 2017 edition of the Speed Ring offered attendees an amazing weekend of motorsport entertainment.

The on track competitions were wonderfully

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produced, and during pauses in the action, visitors had unlimited access to pit lanes where they could see their favourite teams prep their cars. If you had any interest in the latest performance products for your car, the vendor midway featured today’s hottest brands showcasing the latest in “go fast” parts.

The Speed Ring is “The can’t miss” race event in the Motor City. Vibrant Performance is looking forward to the 2018 edition of The Speed Ring. We can’t wait to connect with racers and enthusiasts alike. Getting an opportunity to test product during race conditions is an important step in our product development process. The Speed Ring offers us the opportunity to pick the brains of our Industry’s top teams for new product ideas and concepts.”

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James Houghton had an interesting time at the Speed Ring. He laid down a lap that would give him the Unlimited FWD win on Saturday before sliding into the tires at turn one. “I normally don’t go off track but that tricky turn one with its limited runoff caught me out” he said, “We put the car away Saturday night expecting to be done for the weekend but discussions at dinner and great weather Sunday morning had us pushing and pulling the car to get it straight. Thanks to everyone who helped out.” Houghton would meet his arch nemesis Will Au-Yeung in the first round before meeting Cole Powelson in the Lyfe GTR in the next. Whereas Houghton had been bit by bad luck on Saturday it was Powelson’s turn as shown on the big TV in the pits. A sensor in the brake line sprung a leak and Cole went on a wild ride before ending up in the wall. “I felt sorry for Cole,” Houghton said, “But we were in a similar boat yesterday, we took it and moved on to the final. Meeting up with the guys from Professional Awesome was quite something. We are such good friends and help each other out so much, if there was a team I would not mind being beaten by, it would be them.”

And it was indeed the Pro Awesome team that took the win, but it was a great effort by Houghton and his team for getting this far.

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MOTORSPORT ENGINE OILS, In the UK Hillside Oil Works Brighouse England HD6 3DP

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Left: William Au-Yeung was running his Acura RSX at the Speed Ring as his Vibrant supported Civic was on a boat heading for Australia and the World Time Attack Challenge.

Far left: Will faced off against fellow Kitchener, ON resident James Houghton in the K-Tuned Acura Type R in the early rounds of the Touge Battle. The Battle of the Canucks went to Houghton who terrorized the Unlimited FWD class in 2017.

Lower far left: One half of the BMW Bruisers, Bradley Yonkers ran well at the Speed Ring in his E46 M3

GEARBOX OILS, FUEL TREATMENTS

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Touge Battle Swords at Dawn (Actually Afternoon!)

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Never having seen a Touge Battle I was particularly interested when I found out that the Sunday at The Speed Ring would be dedicated to this form of racing. Similar to the Time Attack format where you against the clock, Touge is you against the clock AND another racer. Using a single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death format the winner advances to the next round utlimately to go headto-head with the other finalist. The bracket looks similar to a drag race with the quickest racer meeting the slowest. Each driver gets a turn to lead the other and the winner of each run is determined by how the time gap has varied from lap one. If it is greater then the leader has won, if it is less than the initial gap the leader is the winner. If you win the two runs, you advance to the next round. If it is one win apiece a third run determines the winner. Daniel O’Donnell who drove Professional Awesome Evo had never driven in a Touge Battle before, he made his way to the final besting Andy Smedegard in the semi-final and Kendall Samuel in the quarters. To get the win O’Donnell had to beat his friend, Canadian James Houghton. Not many expected to see Houghton’s K-Tuned Type R out on Sunday as he had an uncharacteristic off in turn 1 on Saturday. Althought it looked a gentle nudge of the tires a bent frame was the result and the Unlimited FWD class winning car was relegated to the trailer Saturday evening.

However a bright day dawned and the Canadian team set to using all sorts of Heath Robinson ingenuity to get the car straight enough for the splitter to re-attach. A surprised Houghton made his way past fellow Canadian William Au-Yeung and Cole Powelson to get to the final.

The winner O’Donnell noted, “Touge Battle fits perfectly into my wheelhouse. Sometimes I’m not the fastest driver, but I’m consistent and rarely make mistakes. Touge seems to work perfectly with my skill set.”

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Above: Kendall Samuel - Unlimited AWD

Below: Tony Fuentes - Runner-Up TrackMod Touge

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Richard Grossi Track Mod Winner

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StreetMod winner, Shawn Krebsbach only had to go four rounds to take the title. “It was my first time racing Touge” he said, “and I had a blast! It’s a fun event that I think fits great right in between Time Attack and Wheel to Wheel racing.”

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Shawn Krebsbach Street Mod Winner Motorsport News from MotorWerks Magazine

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From the Big Mouth up Front!

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Now Available in Eastern Canada from

o to summarize the Speed Ring from the Editors point of view and I mean that most sincerely, these views are mine and mine alone; I loved the event. It had a party atmosphere without having a concert. Motovicity did a great job by having the Gridlife guys run the motorsport part of the event.

The Manufacturers Midway was a great place to check out all sorts of racing products and get technical assistance if required.

The suburban Detroit location reminds me of the Isle Notre Dame circuit in Montreal with its setting so close to many amenities. It is disappointing that the circuit does not allow overnight camping with so many of us racers are set up with RVs and the like.

I don’t know what the reason is, it may be a city bylaw but it would be sure nice to get a waiver for the next Speed Ring event.

The track and its limited runoff in places was the subject of many discussions in the months follwing the event. I don’t know how easy it would be for M1 Concourse to rectify some of these issues but I would think that any changes made would benefit their own members, many who do not quite have the talent of the Time Attack racers who raced at the Speed Ring.

That being said, I got into trouble on the Internet when I posted a banner for the 2018 version of the event. I was told the M1 Concourse is too mickey mouse for serious racers and the event should be moved to a better track. I disagreed with that statement as it makes sense for Motovicity to have the event so close to their Troy, MI headquarters.

After all they are the guys footing the bills!

And when it comes down to it, the circuit is the same for everyone, attacking it too hard will bring the chance of going off in a limited run-off area and that is the same for everyone. Time Attack is you against the clock which means you against the circuit. My advice is don’t miss the 2018 Speed Ring, come see some wild Time Attack cars!

Championship winning brake pads as used by James Houghton and Chris Boersma in the Canadian Sport Comptact Series

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Race Parts Galore in Pontiac There was entertainment for the fans and racers even when there was no on-track action. Taking a walk up the well put together Manufacturer’s Midway showcased all sort of go-faster goodies that speed shops and race shops alike could source from Motovicity.

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Words by Ian Rae, photos by author and TCR-Series.com Motorsport News from MotorWerks Magazine

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A

sk any motorsport fan what their favorite type of motorsport is and you will be bombarded with sorts of answers.

It is such a diverse sport there really is something for everyone.

Whether you are active and letting your competitive juices flow behind the wheel or are happy to just sit and take in all that horsepower on track, there really is something for everyone.

While I have been lucky enough to have been involved in many facets of the sport, my first love is Touring Cars. I grew up watching the British Touring Car Championship and it was a no holds barred, flat out experience that had you on the edge of your seat whether it was at home in front of the google box or at Silverstone in the Woodcote grandstands (when there was a chicane there). It goes way back to watching black and white TV and Matt Neal’s father Steve and numerous other FIA Group 2 Minis dueling it out around the Crystal Palace circuit bellowing tire smoke that would make a dragster proud. Touring Cars turned my crank and they still do to this day.

That is where evolution started, those cars are a long way different to the touring cars of today. Every year the cars evolved, in some cases the rules evolved and touring car racing went a different route. Group A was a case in point where the

Some things don't change! Bjork, Tarquini and Huff, all former WTCC Champions on the podium in Marrakech at the 2018 season opener. cars had the ‘off the forecourt’ look of those Minis and Escorts from the early sixties. Super Touring was my favorite, where the slammed to the ground look with huge tire/wheel packages were the norm and the racing was just over the top crazy!

The likes of John Cleland, Matt Neal, Rob Gravett, Steve Soper etc. were joined by more than a few Europeans, many of whom considered the British series as the most competitive on the planet. Super 2000 and Next Generation Touring Car were just another couple of evolutions along the way. I was glad I got to see the World Touring Car Championship when they came to Sonoma and was a bit disappointed to me when BMW pulled out the following year.

All those WTCC cars came with a factory prepared chassis with

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even the privateers having to run the same. The top of the line Touring Car series were really manufacturer driven and if the manufacturer lost interest the teams could only go so far with the equipment they had. That word evolution would come into play again.

So here we are in 2018 and the WTCC is no more; replaced by the FIA World Touring Car Cup, running cars of the TCR specification. The Touring Car Racing specification was first introduced in 2015. Cars are based on 4/5 door production FWD vehicles and must be powered by 2.0 liter turbocharged engines (either gasoline or diesel). Rules dictate the bodyshell and suspension layout of the production vehicle must be retained but modifications including upgraded brakes and

Tarquini is as committed as ever to Touring car racing as ever even at age 56. The former BTCC, ETCC and WTCC Champion developed the Hyundai i30 N TCR during 2017 and is pleased with the results. aerodynamics are allowed. Unlike the Group A cars of years past, the TCR cars have a more aggressive look with the flared arches and aero.

Like many other series, the cars are subject to a Balance of Performance (or BoP) where adjustments can be made by the sanctioning body to ensure close racing between the different makes and models competing in the various series that are being run Worldwide.

What does make the TCR series a bit different is that the new cars must be sole sourced from a company approved by the manufacturer to build the cars. That could mean if you want to run the new Honda Civic Type R and want a new car you contact JAS Motorsport in Italy. With the cars being homologated unlike previous cars

The most recent WTCC Champion Thed Bjork drives for Touring Car legend Yvan Muller with the pair also running the Hyundai i30 N TCR

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from the ST class it means they have a very defined rule set that teams cannot deviate from. TCR worldwide is controlled by former World Touring Car Championship manager Marciello Lotti and his World Sporting Consulting LTD company out of London, England.

The first time I saw a TCR car was when the Kwok Brothers showed up at the Canadian Touring Car Championship finale at Calabogie Motorsports Park in 2016. It was love at first sight. The aggressive look of the JAS Motorsport built Honda Civic Type R was the total embodiment of what a Touring Car should look like. The Hondas were then positioned in the 2017 CTCC GT Sport class where Gary Kwok finished third.

My good friend Alain Lauzière who is a three-time CTCC Champion had an outing in a SEAT Leon

TCR car at the Pan Delta Super Racing Festival in China in 2017. He told us, “I like the TCR cars, they are an evolution of the cars we are oh so familiar with but there is more of everything: more wings, more brakes, more grip. The level of performance is increased but not to a level that can’t be easily managed with a bit of practice. Once you get used to the new platform, the way it accelerates, brakes and turns, the cars are really fun to drive.”

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The first TCR cars in North America belong to Toron experience is Compass Racing’s team principal Karl Thompson.

Thompson’s Toronto based team is a multi-time championship winning team that has brought championships in the past to Honda. Thompson agrees in principle that the class is a huge step forward. “Building a race car out of a late model car is extremely hard these days”, he said before going on, “With all of the electronics and nanny aids the manufacturers put in the cars it can be a huge expense for an independent team to sort out work arounds to negate them. When you look at the whole package as presented by the manufacturer or their representative it is a cheaper proposition than building a car yourself and developing it. I think it is a concept that could be refined especially in the wheel area, having to buy wheels from one source is not the most cost effective way of doing things. Many of us have relationships with

manufacturers going back years and now we are restricted to one wheel from one source. It would be nice to have to meet a size and weight criteria and that is it.” Compass Racing are running Audi RS 3 LMS cars in both the Pirelli World Challenge and the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge. Thompson went on, “With three cars in Conti and one in PWC we have a lot of information to share between the teams. nto’s Kwok Brothers.

This is more advantageous now with all the cars being built to the same specification.”

The word on the street is that another Canadian raceteam will be seen wheeling an Audi RS 3 LMS DSG car at various events during 2018 with a view to running a pair of the cars in the Pirelli World Challenge in 2019. One car is already in the team’s hands, it is the first to be sourced through Audi Canada branch of the company.

Alphasonic Motorsports will be running the cars with technical assistance from Team Octane who have a stellar motorsports history.

It is nice to see Audi Canada step up for Canadian racers and have them source cars and components in country, we look forward to seeing more.

From The Editors’s Desk So what are my thoughts on TCR? Well, I love the look of the cars! Wide arches and aero is what touring cars are all about as far as I am concerned. FWD only? Well the jury is out as far as I am concerned on that one. We have no FWD BMWs here in North America and will be behind Europe getting them no doubt. What’s wrong with the BMW 235iR being slightly modified to fit into the general equation? It has the looks to match the TCR cars and it surely cannot be hard to match the power outputs.

From what I have heard the prices on new cars are all over the map. The Hyundai i30 N TCR is at the high end of the price range and getting close to the price of a BMW M4 GT4. I really hope the class does not go the way of the WTCC and get so expensive it prices teams out of the market.

Like Karl I agree on the wheel issue but on two fronts. One is that many ST teams ran the superior Forged wheel whereas now they are forced to run a cast wheel. What about cost you may say? Well a little birdie told me that some homologated cast wheels are available from manufacturers at a price higher than the forged option from the forged wheel manufacturer.

Secondly, from the list of approved car builders I see no TCR car builders from North America.

That means wheels specified by companies who tend not to choose North American wheel manufacturers. A NA TCR series should be supporting North American companies whether it is a chassis builder or a component manufacturer.

One thing is for sure this attitude does not fit in with Mr Trump’s America First program. Maybe that is something that needs be looked at.

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After the first bit of painting and how well it turned out, it was time to focus my attention on the interior of my 2014 MINI Cooper Countryman. The piano black pieces were nice, but I wanted to stand out a little more. So, once again I reached out to my friends at AutomotiveTouchup to help me out with some color matching and supplies. This article is going to hit on a lot of the same points as the first one, so there may not be too much new information.

However, there will be enough to make this a whole different article.

We decided on a color that matched the white of my 2014 MINI Cooper Countryman All4 S. I also picked out the primer and clearcoat to get the best application and match possible.

It was still winter-ish this spring so I fired up the heater in the garage and hopped right into working this out. Shouldn’t be too hard, right? Read on and see if you can catch my mistake.

PREP The first step involved some sanding to remove the surface coating and prepare the area for the primer on the next steps. I started with some 180 grit sandpaper to provide some area for the primer to attach itself to. This would be important since the plastic pieces are “slick” enough to cause a future problem.

PRIMER Shaking up the can and getting ready to paint I started masking off the area. Trust me when I say use MORE film and tape than you think you need.

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get overspray… I used some pretaped film around all the areas that I didn’t want to get paint on.

Fitting the spray handle over the can of AutomotiveTouchup primer I proceeded to shake the heck out of it. If a lot is good, more must be better.

Using a delicate touch I gave the dash several light coats. I let all the primer sit for about 30 minutes or so. Then I grabbed some water and some 600 grit Wet and Dry sandpaper and sanded it smooth. I did this a few times until I was satisfied, but I am kind of a perfectionist when it comes to the paint on my car.

PAINTING I switched my pistol grip from the primer over to the can of spray paint and again prepared myself physically and mentally. But, I remembered how easy the other painting went so I knew this wasn’t going to be that bad.

CLEARCOAT Finally, I finished it up with a few coats of clearcoat.

I wanted to make sure the shine matched that of my car so I put on a few coats of clear to make sure it looked great. It didn’t take that long to do, and it would make sure the paint was protected underneath it.

CONCLUSION This was another easy process. In the future, I would mask off the area much better. If you catch it quickly though, you can generally clean it up well.

I’m going to have to go back and clean up a bit more before I’m satisfied that my mistake was taken care of, my bad though.

Another change coming for Cooper RSR is the move to KW suspensions. When I originally started talking to KW about a solution we agreed the original shock package they built for the MINI Challenge would be perfect. Then they came back and offered it with an inverted monotube solution and I just could not say no! Look at the size of that outer shaft in the photo above, it is humoungous! I love how the external canister hose comes out through the top of the strut and I don’t have to remove the gas pressure to install it.

Sixteen position bump settings are selected by the dial on the remote gas reservoir.

The MINI Challenge struts come complete with camber plates with adjustment markings on the top plate so the strut can be acurately placed if moved. The strut tower required clearancing to see all the adjustments available, but I have done that already.

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Keep up with all sorts of motorsport by joining one of our Fan Groups. Both Fans and Racers alike frequent these groups and they are rapidly becoming a great resource if you are building a car

or needing some advice. Tell your friends about it and invite them to join us.

Time Attack Fans www.facebook.com/groups/TimeAttackFans/

Competition MINI Fans www.facebook.com/groups/CompMINIFans/

Competition BMW Fans www.facebook.com/groups/CompBMWFans/

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Canadian Touring Car Fans www.facebook.com/groups/CTCC.Fans/

Continental Tire Sportscar Challenge Fans www.facebook.com/groups/CTSCFans/

TVS 900 MINI Owners www.facebook.com/groups/TVS900.MINI. Owners/

Autocross Fans www.facebook.com/groups/AutocrossFans/

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Featured Photographer

asadena, Ca’s Kevin Ehrlich is passionate about motorsports. He often finds himself trackside armed with camera (or cameras), particularly for endurance sportscar racing. Over the years, regular treks to the Nürburgring 24 hours have been augmented with visits to venues like Road Atlanta, Watkins Glen, Bathurst, Le Mans, and Daytona among others.

This photo pictorial features shots from Kevin’s recent trip to the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, NSW for the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour race in February. Featuring GT3 and GT4 cars the 16th running of the Bathurst 12 Hour was the first round of the 2018 Intercontinental GT Challenge Series. It featured teams from all around the globe and it was the German Audi Sport Team WRT who cam away the winners when the race was stopped ten minutes early after an accident between the #95 Eastgate Engineering MARC Focus, the #69 Supabarn Audi R8 LMS and the #19 Daimler Trucks Brisbane Mercedes AMG GT3.

Mount Panorama is a great track for photography with a multitude of unique sight lines. The race starts before dawn which provides a brief glimpse of night racing and the magic that dawn brings.

This shot features the Esses – a steep downhill run through tight and twisty curves looking towards the east.

The race starts in the darkness at 5:45am, so an early alarm clock is a must. Once in place, there is low spectator fencing which doesn’t block the view and has plenty of spots. Position for just the right angle to line up the cars, tree, track and expansive background landscape.

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Shoot in the darkness and adjust as the sun welcomes the day. Shooting towards the sun requires using the camera settings to manage the light and get the desired effect. The trees on the right partially block the sun and provide a silhouette to balance the shot. This shot was taken about an hour into the race.

Once the sun rises, move down to the area shown in the photo with the spectators lining the fence.

The early morning glow bathes the cars plunging downhill before slicing around the tree and further down the hill. The track is very narrow here so passing always provides additional drama.

Of course, if it has wheels, an engine and there is competition involved, he’s probably interested and paying attention.

Kevin’s articles and photography can be found in various online and print publications. Follow and contact him via Twitter and Instagram at @ rennphoto.

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Photo EXIF Pages 112/113: Canon EOS 5D Mark III with EF24105mm f/4L IS USM, F7.1, 1/1250th sec Pages 114/115: Canon EOS 5D Mark III with EF70200mm f/2.8L IS II USM +1.4x III, F9.0, 1/100th sec.

Top Left: Canon EOS 5D Mark III with EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM, F13.0, 5.0 secs Bottom Left: Canon EOS 5D Mark III with EF24105mm f/4L IS USM, F7.1, 1/160th sec Top Right: Canon EOS 70D with EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM, F5.0, 1/250th sec Middle Right: Canon EOS 5D Mark III with EF70200mm f/2.8L IS II USM +1.4x III, F7.1, 1/1000th sec Bottom Right: Canon EOS 70D with EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM +1.4x III, F8.0, 1/250th sec

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COMING NEXT ISSUE in our next Issue More Time Attack Action from Gridlife and CSCS Docol R8 Cage in Cooper RSR Weird Fuel Pump?

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