Once the car was loaded up on the rig and on its way out to Atlanta, we could finally relax for a day or so. It was a hard transition getting the car ready after Long Beach. We found things we wanted to change and improve, as well as fixing what we tore up. Our flight landed, we picked up the rental car, which was the worst smelling piece of junk I’ve ever gotten, and headed out to our hotel. We had some dinner and went to sleep. The next day was practice and we had a whole bunch of stuff to unload and set up.

During practice, the crew and I like to do a few runs so I can get used to the car before we start making changes. However, this time we knew right off the bat that the gearing needed to be changed. It is tough going into these rounds because any data that we had in previous years basically goes out the window. With our quick-change and doubled horsepower, the car reacts and drives totally different. A gear change and a small adjustment then we we’re back out. The car was feeling good; like really good. I followed JTP for a run and was surprised that I was able to reel him in going up the hill. Hmm, maybe my car really is fast. Usually, we cut practice early and after we dial, I feel good, the crew feels good, and we park it and watch. This time though, we needed and used every second of practice we could get. I literally practiced for all 4 hours. At the end of it all, I was exhausted but the car felt great, the crew was happy, and we were all starving. It was time for some disgustingly delicious Chick-Fil-A.

The new qualifying system seems to have every driver on his toes. It’s a make or break kind of knockout system. I really like it, but I know some really hate it. Rules are rules but we are definitely trying to use the system to our advantage. We went out for practice the next day. The car was feeling good and our spirits were high. We were laying down solid runs all afternoon. Then we decided to follow Dmac. We left the line and I even let him put a small gap on us before I took off. I initiated and I started to get closer to him, just trying to keep up right with him. I’m all pumped and then, he spins right in front of me. Bam, we hit our front wheel to his rear wheel/quarter panel. Damn, something is bent. I drove the car back up pit lane to my guys, where we found the shank for the LCA bent, but luckily nothing else. I hit him pretty hard. Wheel to wheel contact is never a good thing because something is always going to get bent. We only had enough time to fix it and check the toe. Practice was over. It always seems this way; something happens, we make a change, and have no time to get back out in practice.

So we went straight into qualifying. I drove the car through the back of the hot pits. The car seemed fine. I was confident. So screw it, lets go. I took off for my first run and I was confident the crew put the car back together 100%. I initiated and began to slow down to make the first corner. We blasted up the hill and ran nice and wide on the outer zone. As I was finishing off the run strong, I knew we had a decent run. I called on my spotter through the radio and he confirmed that this qualifying run was the worst run we laid down all day. We could do better. After it was all said and done, we ended up 8^th. Not a bad day.

We were to be battling Chris Ward in Top 32. Chris is a good driver; he stepped it up with his new car and was driving great. But I knew we could beat him. Since we were the higher qualified driver, we were to lead first. I had a few problems blowing off the track in practice before Top 32. The track was super hot, I could feel the lack of grip, and I just could not slow down enough going into the first corner. This time however, with Ward, we knew we had a faster entry speed than he did. So we slowed it down just enough to not blow off track. It worked! We pulled through the first corner and laid on the power. A gap was established going up the hill. I ran wide and filled the outer zone and he began to close up on me. I was able to make a gap again leaving the horseshoe. With a small mistake and a tire drop on exit, the run wasn’t a guarantee win for us. It was our turn to follow and I knew we could stick with him wherever we wanted to. The problem was where. We took off and right away I could see the speed difference just on the entry. We entered together and flicked the cars up the hill. I rolled on the gas and was able to gain on him. Staying tight with him in the horseshoe and on the exit really showed off our speed. The judges gave us the win and we were moving on to the Top 16.

We were to face Vaughn Gittin Jr. in the next round. We always seem to get paired up with a top driver like that. But then again, the field is so stacked now that everyone is kind of a badass. I figured it would be a good battle… then rain rolled in. Perfect. I love driving in the rain and I do it a lot back at home. But, I have never driven my FD car with its current setup in the rain. All that power and grip could make the car hard to drive, but no worries, I knew I could handle it. I was to lead on the first run. I was glad that I was leading because I knew I wasn’t going to fly off the track. I could set the pace however fast or slow I wanted to go. We took off and initiated into the first corner. Staying off the rumble strips is key here in the rain. We had a solid run up the hill and through the course. I talked to my spotter on the radio and he said we had a slight advantage going into the second run. Jr. made some small mistakes and corrections, but we still had to run a smooth and consistent run for the win. He left the line and I placed my car right behind him. On initiation I noticed we were going a lot slower than when I lead. It was tough for me to clear the first inner clip, but we made it and began our charge up the hill. He got a little bit better of a drive off the first corner and put a small gap between us. But we were able to close that gap in the horseshoe as we finished off the run strong. I waited at the line for the decision… and waited… and waited some more. Finally, the judges decided they wanted to see it one more time!

I flipped the car around and lined right back up. Did a huge burnout and I was ready to go. Lets do this. The lights went out and I left the line hard. We entered with a bit more speed this time and still almost came up short. The track had dried out a ton from the first run. The grip levels were changing and there were dry and wet spots on the track. This made for a really tricky run. My lead run went well, but Jr. also followed really well. We didn’t make any major mistakes or any huge corrections. Then it was time to follow. I took off, and again, noticed the change in the level of grip. I misjudged the grip levels just a bit on initiation and almost came up short. I had to extend my drift a little bit and this slowed me down. He put a gap on me going up the hill that I could only close it so much. We ran well and we chased him down. But the slight mistake was just too much to overlook. I thought we had him after the first run. I was so disappointed.

All in all, I think we did well in Atlanta. Obviously, Top 16 does not make me very happy but it is JR. I told him after our run that I would get him one day. That is a promise.

 Thank you to Daniel Tredway, Daniel Chow, Ty Milner, Bruce Field, Susan Field, and Diane Firmalino.

 A big thank you too all my sponsors. You all have contributed to making this car faster and better every year.  CX Racing, Maxxis Tire, Rotiform Wheels, Blacktrax Performance, Vortech Superchargers, Lucas Oil, Parts Shop Max, Alpinestars, Sokodu Designs, Daft Innovations, ACT, AEM Filters, Aeromotive, Tuner Playground, Fatlace, AEM Electronics, VIS Racing, Improved Racing, Carbon Studios, Vex Motorsports, Protex Sports, Elite Auto Films, and OMGDrift.

I want to put this out there from the beginning: I have never seen the 1990 Tom Selleck western, Quigley Down Under, which features the aforementioned actor portraying an American cowboy and sharpshooter hired by an Australian to kill off the Aborigines people from long distances. Yet, when people learn of my last name, the inquisition into whether I have viewed said film is something that usually transpires. But for this particular article about my trip to Texas to see the inaugural race of the V8 Supercars on American soil, I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to place such a terrible pun in the title. More after the jump!

The only thing I share with the Matthew Quigley in that movie are our last names and our tendency to shoot things; he with a 1874 Sharps Buffalo Rifle, and me with a couple Canons. Not wanting to miss this historic race, I packed my bags (after barely having them unpacked from Formula Drift Atlanta) and drove 14 hours to the Lone Star State to witness the Austin 400.

FRIDAY

Friday morning I got to the track around 8 a.m. And headed to the media center to secure my vest and work station, as the first round of practice didn’t start until 10:10. In the mean time, the Pirelli GT3 Cup Trophy USA West practice was taking place, and the roars of flat-six boxer engines filled the air, including the Kelly Moss ’10 997 GT3 Cup driven by William Peluchiwski with its WWII-era fighter plane graphics.

After the GT3s were off the track, the sound of flat sixes had been replaced by the sounds of a millions swarming hornets, courtesy of the Pirelli Touring Car B-Class cars that had taken to the track for their practice session.

The class consists of small cars like the Mazda2, Mini Cooper and this Honda Fit. I kept hearing people talk about a Fiat 500 flipping over first thing during one of the sessions.

But none of those were the real reason I was here. As the media shuttle (a series of golf carts taking us to and from wherever we needed to go on track…an absolute Godsend and whose drivers I cannot possibly thank enough) dropped myself and a couple other photographers off at our first battle station, the anticipation of finally getting to see the Australian monsters I’ve only ever watched on TV in real life was rapidly growing. Then I heard the engines fire up as the safety cars (also Australian-model Chrysler 300Cs shipped over) made a quick pass, and the roar of nearly 18,000 collective horsepower grew ever closer.

And then I saw the first Holden Commodore VF go by, driven by series points leader Jamie Whincup. It was one of fifteen Commodores competing, far more than all other makes combined. The Commodores make use of a U.S.-sourced 5-litre small block (no LS engines here!) Chevrolet V8 producing around 650 horsepower. In addition, all cars are required to have double-wishbone suspensions up front with independent rears, with adjustable dampers and cockpit-controlled anti-roll bars.

Not far behind was the Ford Falcon FG of Mark “Frosty” Winterbottom; there are but six Blue Ovals competing in the championship. The Ford stable also makes used of the regulation 5.0-litre naturally aspirated V8 pushing out about 650 horsepower, mated to an Albins ST6 six-speed sequential transaxle with integrated spool differential.

Then there were two of the biggest changes to the series’ lineups, the addition of two new manufacturers; the first besides Holden and Ford to compete since the series came to be officially called V8 Supercars in 1997.  One of those was Nissan and its Altima, using a modified VK56DE as its source of motivation. Technically it’s a VK50DE, as the engine’s displacement had to be brought down .6 liters to match that of it’s native rivals. Prior to the Altima, Nissan used the R32 Skyline GT-R in the early ’90s before rule changes outlawed its participation (the Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth was finished competing as well with the rule changes). Like its competitors, the engine cranks out around 650 horsepower.

It should be noted that the three cars shaking up the usual mix and wearing the Tri-Star badges up front aren’t factory-backed by Mercedes-Benz, but rather, Erebus Motorsport entries competing as part of the AMG Customer Sports Program based in Deutschland. This isn’t Germany’s first entry into V8 Supercars and its preceding bodies, as BMW ran M5s in the series around the same time as Nissan’s R32 I mentioned earlier. The V8 living in the Benz creates around 650 horsepower as well. So with the cars all introduced, I’ll get to how things evolved over the weekend (and I’ll try to keep it chronological).

Friday’s practice format ran as four 30-minute sessions, with an  hour between sessions one and two, and about three more before the third and fourth sessions. Fabian Coulthard finished the first session with setting the new lap record for the series at COTA with a 1:34.3942, a time which would definitely see reduction with each time out.

By the second practice session, 19-year-old Scott McLaughlin had slightly lowered the lap record down to 1:34.2269. McLaughlin has been driving V8 Supercars since he was just 16, and is last year’s Dunlop Series champion, the second-tier racing series in Australia leading up to the big leagues.

For the third stint of practice, I rode the elevator to the top of the observation tower, which gave me a fantastic view of the action…230 feet above it. The 500-foot long building in this photo houses the pits and garages on the lower level, with seating, suites and lofts on the upper levels.

Taken slightly to the left of the previous photo, the track’s signature turn one, a 133′ climb into a sharp hairpin, can be seen in the top left.

From the opposite side of the tower, most of the rest of the track can be seen. The Supercars utilized a 2.4 mile portion of the 3.4 mile Grand Prix configuration, turning left just beyond the red and blue painted surfaces in the top right center of this photo.

Because I got to the top early, I got a bird’s eye view of some more GT3 Cup Trophy action, such as this ’10 997 GT3 Cup of the Global Motorsports Group being driven by Brent Holden.

As the Cup Trophy action was ending, the Pirelli World Challenge GT cars were hitting the track. This particular Cadillac CTS-V Coupe of Cadillac Racing is being driven by Johnny O’Connell.

It’s not every day you’d see a Volvo S60 blowing by a Mercedes-Benz SLS GT3, but that’s what’s happening here with K-Pax Racing’s entry, driven by Randy Probst. But I digress…

While Shane Van Gisbergen didn’t set a new lap record during the third practice session, he did set the fastest lap time in the 30 minutes it ran with a 1:34.5358.

While Commodores had so far dominated the field, their Blue Oval arch rivals, the Falcons, scored the third, fourth and fifth fastest laps, with Will Davison being the fastest, turning a 1:35.1143 time.

The fastest Nissan was the appropriately numbered 360 of James Moffat, coming in just behind the Falcon of Winterbottom to secure the sixth fastest lap time of 1:35.3753.

Tim Slade’s E63 AMG was the fastest vehicle from the German camp, coming in 11th with a 1:35.7100.

Tim Blanchard’s departure from the grey asphalt and into the blue made his car look like a slot car racer from above.

For the final practice session, I descended the tower and set up camp over by turn 11 (note: not actually turn 11 for this course, but that’s how it was referred to all weekend) where I could catch some of the two wheeling action these racers are so famous for, and I wasn’t disappointed. Craig Lowndes, the driver with more wins than anyone else in the history of the series, set the new lap record by quite a margin, clocking in at 1:32.904.

Will Davison and his Falcon were close behind with a 0.3361 second gap, the fastest an FG would perform in all of the practice sessions.

For the first time all weekend, an AMG ran the course faster than an Altima, courtesy of Tim Slade who had the ninth fastest lap of 1:33.9287, just a tick over a second slower than Lowndes.

In fact, the Altimas were WAY down in the bunch, with the fastest being Rick Kelly in the 23rd spot, over 2 seconds back from the 888 Red Bull Commodore.

At the conclusion of Friday’s practice, the pit lane was opened to the public as some teams performed pit stop challenges, prizes were given away, and fans could get autographs of their favorite drivers.

Some things to note about the pit stops in V8 Supercar racing: when a car pulls in to pit, a “spike man” inserts an air hose into a nozzle to activate the cars’ on-board jack system, bumping the car up in the air so the tire changers can perform their job. Unlike NASCAR which has two people attending to each wheel, V8 Supercars have one each; the record for a four-tire change is 3.7 seconds!

Of course their “rattle guns” are quite different from those found in NASCAR pits, as there is but a single wheel nut to remove, as opposed to the five individual ones.

Each of the rattle guns is attached to its own air tank as well.

Even though it’s highly likely most Americans in attendance hadn’t yet learned the names of the Australian drivers yet, it didn’t stop them from lining up for autographs. I can’t help but think Winterbottom looks a bit like Richard Hammond.

To make things faster, many teams had all their drivers sitting together so fans didn’t have to stand in multiple lines, as evidenced here by the three AMG drivers, Maro Engel, Tim Slade and Lee Holdsworth (L-R).

But the man of the hour (and weekend for that matter) was Jamie Whincup. For the Sunday autograph session, his line snaked around itself several times.

Of course, he shared that table with Lowndes, so fans got a two-for-one of arguably the series’ most popular drivers.

And with the sun setting on the first day of action, it was back to my hotel to dump memory cards, charge batteries, and order some pizza before knocking out a quick post about that day’s action.

SATURDAY

When qualifying began on Saturday at 9:30 a.m., people had barely started trickling into the stands. I had kept hearing people say the track expected to draw 60,000 people to the event, so they had plenty of time to get there before the actual racing began.

The first two qualifying sessions ran 15 minutes each, back to back, and each set the grid for its respective race, 13 and 14.

Crew members check track surface temperatures in an effort to fit the appropriate tires. Teams have the option of running hard, soft, rain or “pre-marked” varieties, the latter means the tires have been previously allocated.

You can run any tire as long as it’s Dunlop! The series switched from Bridgestone in 2002 as the sole provider of rubber for the series.

Fabian Coulthard came out swinging hard again, securing the pole for race 13 during the initial qualifying session.

Sitting across from Coulthard on the starting grid was Whincup, who was only .14 seconds slower. And as evidenced by the heatwaves, temperatures were climbing already, hovering in the mid-90s with very high humidity. Thankfully, near constant 10-15 mph winds helped keep things a tad cooler for those of us out there shooting.

Lowndes followed Whincup, then it was David Wall, who had his best lap time of the track so far, just a little under half a second slower than Coulthard.

Will Davison’s Falcon rounded out the top five. In fact, Ford’s two factory-backed drivers (the other being Winterbottom) would spend the weekend as the fastest Blue Ovals.

The highest non-factory Ford driver on the grid was Alex Davidson back in 17th.

Rick Kelly’s Jack Daniel’s Altima was the highest starting Nissan in eighth.

And the Germans (both car and driver) would have their highest starting position back in 20th with Maro Engel.

At the conclusion of the first session, drivers made their way back to the pits before heading out for round two.

Ten minutes after the conclusion of qualifying for race 13 came the qualifying session for race 14, where Jamie Whincup would find himself on the pole.

Following him was Lowndes. Starting to notice a trend here?

Coulthard and team mates Van Gisbergen and Jonathan Webb would round out the top five, respectively, with the latter seeing his best performance of the weekend yet.

Rick Kelly would drive his Jack Daniel’s Altima to a sixth place starting position, and James Moffat would improve his times and move his Norton 360 Altima in to the tenth position from fifteenth in the previous session.

By the start of race thirteen, the stands had become more populated, but many fans opted to sit in the many “cheap seats” in the grass at various locations around the track’s perimeter.

With Lowndes close behind, Whincup would power through the 27-lap race to make history as the first V8 Supercar driver to win a series race on American soil.

Fabian Coulthard’s third place finish would mean an all-Holden podium for race 13.

Close behind in fourth was the Falcon FG of Will Davison.

Garth Tander’s performance meant Holden had secured four out of the top five positions, with himself being the fastest he’d been all weekend.

The Erebus Motorsport cars trailed their competition, with Tim Slade’s 22nd-place finish the highest of an AMG in the first race.

Race 14 kicked off an hour later, and once again saw Holden dominate, with Whincup extending his points lead with another win.

Once again, Lowndes was close behind in second.

Coulthard took third, and Jonathan Webb led Van Gisbergen to round out positions four and five.

“Frosty” led the Blue Ovals in the sixth position.

While Rick Kelly led brother Todd Kelly, who finished 8th and 16th respectively, Todd seemed to be attacking the first cornet more aggressively.

The E63s didn’t fare too well this time either, with Lee Holdsworth’s performance the best of the three, but only good enough for 20th.

After the conclusion of the race, teams began work on the cars to prep them for the next two qualifying sessions the next day.

The Cooling of the Beasts.

Data analyzation, from lap times to the car’s parameters, was also taking place in the garages.

This year, rules changes that bumped wheel sizes up to 18 inches allowed for larger brakes to be fitted to the cars.

Racing suits were hung from the ceiling with care, in hopes that their sweatiness would be removed by the air.

SUNDAY

The next day held two more qualifying stints and the final two races of the Austin 400. I was wondering if the weekend would be a clean sweep for Whincup at this point, what with his dominance in nearly every other session so far.

After another 30 minute autograph session, drivers suited up for race 15′s qualifying. Above is Jonathan Webb.

Garth Tander checks his helmet before putting it on. I must admit, I really like the Holden Racing Team logo.

And speaking of Holden, it was Whincup on top of the qualifying session once again, scoring yet another pole position.

Lowndes was once again right behind in second, with Coulthard taking third.

Winterbottom lead the Ford camp with a fourth-place qualifying position.

And Rick Kelly found himself once again the fastest Altima, securing fifth on the grid. The Tri-Stars were once again far back in the pack, with Tim Slade hanging on to the 19th starting position.

For the final qualifying session for race 16, lo and behold, Whincup was on top again to have made a clean sweep of pole positions for the weekend.

But this time , Lowndes wasn’t right behind his teammate. Instead, Coulthard found himself just .18 seconds behind the #1 Red Bull Commodore.

And scoring his highest starting position all weekend was Tander in third.

Jason Bright had risen through the ranks during each qualifying event, moving up from 20th, 18th, 8th and finally 4th in the final race.

At the conclusion of the final qualifying session, the track held a “pit walk” for thirty minutes. Anyone with a ticket was welcomed to come down and tour pit lane, and there were no shortage of takers.

Teams had to maneuver their race machines around the crowd and into their garages.

This logo of the Ford Performance Vehicles logo on a tire cart was a nice custom touch.

And I’d say this guy has been to his fair share of motorsports events before.

After pit lane was cleared, fans took to their seats and after the singing of both the United States and Australian national anthems, race 15 got underway.

Whincup led the bottle-necked pack into turn one.

To say these guys run close off the line would be an understatement.

Garth Tander was getting some big air, and ended up finishing sixth.

Towards the end of the race, the field had separated itself out a bit.

Through it all, Fabian Coulthard was able to produce a win, followed in second by Lowndes and Whincup in third – a complete reverse of the qualifying order.

An hour after the conclusion of race 15, the last race of the weekend, 16, was underway with Whincup leading the field once more.

While I wasn’t able to confirm it, I overheard several times the reason the Altimas were getting so much air over the rumble strips was because the teams opted to leave the particular section of track pictured above out of the overall’s car setup equation, and the cars were set super stiff to cope with the rest of the course.

I was surprised there weren’t more crashes than there were (at least from whatever I could see where I was standing), but someone appeared to have gotten into the driver’s (er, passenger’s) side read door of McLaughlin’s car and put him into the rocks.

The young driver definitely wasn’t happy about it, as at one point early on, you’ll recall he held the lap record.

Even though I personally hadn’t seen much contact, the damage to some of the cars, like Michael Caruso’s Altima, showed the beating the vehicles had taken over the course of the weekend.

Whincup once again took a win (I mean, it’s technically in his name), just ahead of Coulthard this time with Van Gisbergen bringing home third.

Garth Tander lead the rest of the pack, with fourth going to Lowndes and fifth to Winterbottom.

Needless to say, Whincup’s table was littered with trophies. He retains his series points lead 142 ahead of Lowndes, and 218 ahead of Will Davison, the highest ranked Ford.

When the last race was over, I packed my stuff up from the media room, and made one last sweep down the garage area to snag Whincup’s autograph in the fan guide I bought (hey, I had signatures from everyone else and I wasn’t leaving until I had his). Along the way, I passed this individual, who represented exactly what I felt like at this point.

I left the track hot, sore and tired, but it was worth every second. Circuit of the Americas is a phenomenal facility, and the V8 Supercars put on a fantastic show. Support for another race next year is building, and I hope to be back again soon.

]]> http://omgdrift.com/v8-supercar-dopeness-2013-austin-400/feed/ 0 http://omgdrift.com/dopeness-redline360-garage-interviews-drew-and-ross/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=dopeness-redline360-garage-interviews-drew-and-ross http://omgdrift.com/dopeness-redline360-garage-interviews-drew-and-ross/#comments Wed, 22 May 2013 21:32:31 +0000 Drew Fishbein http://omgdrift.com/?p=18406
The guys over at Redline360 Garage reached out to Ross and myself to find out a little bit about OMGDrift, who we are, and what makes us awesome.

Click here to jump over there!

The first two races of the inaugural Austin 400 at Circuit of the Americas is in the books, and Jamie Whincup has taken victory in both. We’ll get to his victories momentarily, but first, we’ll take a look back at the buildup to them. More after the jump!

RACE 13 – QUALIFYING

When qualifying began, crowds still hadn’t really begun to fill the stands.

Pit road, however, was a bit more populated.

The first qualifying session saw Fabian Coulthard, who yesterday set the initial lap record, get the pole for race 13.

Holden was the dominant manufacturer with seven of the top ten positions coming from its stable. The highest qualifying Ford was Will Davison in fifth, just a hair over a half second slower than Coulthard.

Only one Nissan qualified in the top ten, and it was the #15 Altima piloted by Rick Kelly.

RACE 14 – QUALIFYING

Points leader Jamie Whincup scored the pole for race 14, merely .25 seconds faster than his Red Bull Racing Australia teammate, Craig Lowndes.

And once again, Holden drivers dominated the top ten, with Coulthard, Van Gisbergen and Webb rounding out the top five.

Those driving a Erebus Motorsport cars found themselves pretty far down on the list in both qualifying rounds; 21st was the highest position in race three, courtesy of Maro Engel, and Lee Holdsworth qualified 24th for race four.

RACE 13

By the time the actual races were starting, crown turnout has somewhat improved. With Sunday being the traditional “race day,” tomorrow should hopefully have a larger turnout.

The green flag of the first ever race of the V8 Supercars on U.S. soil fell at exactly 3:16, beginning 44 minutes and 20 seconds worth of close action and, especially, two-wheeling, as demonstrated here by Rick Kelley

Watching the race from this vantage point, I noticed the Altimas were catching the most air off the rumble strips. While I can’t confirm it, I heard people say that while other teams factored in these chicanes into their overall suspension setup, the Nissan teams basically said “screw it” and tuned their suspensions much stiffer, ignoring the punishment this set of turns brought. Kelly would finish the race (and the next one) in sixth, gaining three position from where he started. His was the highest a Nissan would place on Saturday.

The Ford camp would fair a little better, with Will Davison bringing home fourth during this race, the highest a Ford would finish Saturday.

The same couldn’t be say for those in an E63; Tim Slade had the highest finish of a Tri-Star on Saturday with a 22nd place finish in each race.

RACE 14

Holdens dominated this race as well, with four of the top five positions being Commodores, including third place Fabian Coulthard…

…and fifth for Garth Tander.

 Mark “Frosty” Winterbottom was the highest placing Ford in race 14, coming in one position shy of teammate Will Davison from the race before in fifth.

Races 15 and 16 will begin Sunday at 3:13 CDT, with qualifying rounds beginning at 11:05. Will Whincup make it a three (or four)-peat? We’ll find out soon enough, and bring you the results of tomorrow’s races. Stay tuned for more!

]]> http://omgdrift.com/v8-supercars-dopeness-whincup-wins-inagural-u-s-v8-supercar-race/feed/ 0 http://omgdrift.com/v8-supercar-dopeness-friday-practice/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=v8-supercar-dopeness-friday-practice http://omgdrift.com/v8-supercar-dopeness-friday-practice/#comments Sat, 18 May 2013 05:20:21 +0000 Nick Quigley http://omgdrift.com/?p=18238  

Australia’s most acclaimed motorsports organization, the V8 Supercars, made its first appearance on U.S. soil today at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. With two new makes entering the fray this year (Nissan with its Altima and Mercedes-Benz with its E63 AMG) to shake up the traditional Holden and Ford mix, the series promises to be more exciting than ever before. More after the jump!

Friday consisted only of four thirty minute practice sessions, stuffed between Porsche GT3 Cup practice and Pirelli TC/TCB qualifying.

The first of those practice sessions saw Fabian Coulthard and his Holden Commodore VF as the fastest around the track, setting the inaugural record at 1:34.3942.

The second fastest time, with a 0.4741 second gap, was James Moffat in his Nissan Altima.

Shane van Gisbergen, also driving a VF, secured the third fastest time, 0.6300 back from Coulthard, with a 1:35.0242

By the second session, Scott McLaughlin would have bumped Coulthard off his number-one spot, bettering his lap time by just .1673 seconds. However, most of this session was spent moving about the facility, so I wasn’t able to really grab that many shots of the action. I’ll therefore use this opportunity to show how hot it was, as the cars (Lee Holdsworth and Maro Engel, respectively) reflect themselves in the asphalt.

I spent the third practice session standing 230 feet above ground in the observation tower. While the option to climb all 419 stairs, gear and all, to reach that vantage point sounded appealing, I opted to take the much faster elevator instead. The view was beyond spectacular.

From here, I saw van Gisbergen set the fastest lap of the third session with a 1:34.5358 in his VF.

Coulthard was a bit slower this time out but still pulled off the second fastest lap of the session, finishing .2414 seconds back.

Will Davison had the fastest Ford of the day, navigating the track in 1:35.1143, a little over half a second from van Gisbergen’s lab.

After I’d had my fill of the tower, I rode the elevator back down and headed for some S-curves to witness the two-wheeled action these guys so often experience. I was not let down in the slightest.

Craig Lowndes would use his Commodore to better McLaughlin’s lap, dropping below the 1:33 range to 1:32.9042.

Will Davison would retain his position of fastest Ford, with just 0.3361 seconds separating him from Lowndes, and shaving nearly two seconds off his previous lap time in the process.

And finally, Garth Tander rounded the course 0.5803 slower than Lowndes to be the third fastest of the fourth session.

Qualifying starts tomorrow at 11:05 a.m. central, and now that the drivers are becoming more familiar with the track, it’s a safe bet the action will be much louder and faster. Stay tuned for continuing coverage!

After reporting on drift events from across the country for now three years, it feels odd to step back from the camera and instead become the car designer, builder, and driver. Outside of shooting for OMGDrift, I am actually a mechanical engineering student at Florida Tech in my fourth year of studies. As a final test of our ability to design and build a project, myself and a team of engineers spent two semesters designing, building, testing, and finally competing with a vehicle built almost entirely by our own hands.

Formula SAE is a competition organized by the Society of Automotive Engineers to test students on multiple engineering concepts before sending them into the real world. We are handed a large set of rules and guidelines before delving into the construction of an open wheel, formula race car. Months were spent in Solid Works designing and placing all components needed to complete our vehicle before construction and competing at our May competition in Michigan.

I played the role of Chassis Lead on the Florida Tech Motorsport team, taking lead over the design and execution of all frame, aerodynamic, and driver control components located on the vehicle. The frame is the glue that holds all components together, so this had to be completed early and correctly with attachment points for all powertrain and suspension components. Aerodynamics, seats, and other miscellaneous components were constructed with carbon fiber weave by myself and my team.

After months of development, we finally managed to get the car completed and on all four wheels with only a few nights to spare. But just because the vehicle could finally stand on its own four legs didn’t mean we had finished the vehicle. Bugs constantly plagued our powertrain as they attempted to understand the CAN AM engine we were working with.

Once our issues were repaired, we were able to bring our vehicle to Trick Pro Motorsports for some much needed Dyno time. After adjusting a few maps, we were able to even out our power input and have a final reading of 37.9 horsepower. This number might seem low, but with a vehicle weight of sub 4oo lb., it doesn’t take a lot of power to get these vehicles up to speed.

With the vehicle tuned and the remaining pieces added and packed into the trailer, we headed off on our two day trip from Florida to Michigan. Despite the number of trips I have made from Florida to the northeast, it still puts a smile on my face each time I spot my first set of mountains cresting around the bend. With a van packed full of snoring teammates, the mountains definitely kept me awake after hours of driving.

As a halfway point on the way to and from Michigan, our Faculty Advisor Ronnal Reichard opened his cabin to us high up in the mountains of North Carolina. With a change in temperature from the 90s in Florida to 40s of the north, everyone was thankful for the heat trapped in his cabin.

Once we arrived in Michigan, there was no time to sit and relax. With tech inspection occurring the day following our arrival, we had a handful of last minute items to complete before we knew we could pass. With our pit area set, we delved right into working out a few of the issues that arrived during our trip to Michigan, rushing to prepare the car in time for our appointment.

In order to compete in the dynamic events of Formula SAE, our vehicle needed to complete four areas of testing: A full check over of all systems for compliance to the rulebook, tilt test to ensure all fluid containers have are leak free, noise compliance under 110 decibels, and brake check to visually confirm that all four tires will lock during braking. We were able to finally apply our fourth sticker the morning of events, showing both officials and competitors that we were ready to compete.

Running straight from our final inspection, we pushed the car into queue for the skid pad event with an hour left of competition. With an unsuccessful first run, we sent our driver out for a second pass, hoping for a clean final run. Instead we faced a few more mechanical bugs that took us out of acceleration and the final minutes of skid pad competition.

Once again the bugs were sorted out and we lead our car out to compete in Autocross, an event testing the driver’s skills and cars ability on a quick minute long course with a bounty of points to be collected from a clean run.

Our first driver out was Jainero Watts, setting a best of three laps at 60 seconds. With top teams reaching below 50 second laps, we were unhappy with our result and I was put into the car to try out my luck. Unfortunately I only ran two laps before the course was closed for the day with a best of 62.8 with a few seconds added for penalties. At this point, I began wondering if I should just stay behind the lens instead of attempting to drive at events.

The next morning would mark the last day of competition, with us competing in the first group of the day for Endurance, a 24 lap race with two drivers taking on 12 laps each, a challenge that less than half of the field would be able to complete before the end of the day. We woke up confident, hoping to become the first team from our school to complete Endurance.

Our drivers for the day were selected to be Cooper Olson and Kennon Matthews, Cooper with blue accents and Kennon in red. While we were excited for the day, other teams didn’t seem too impressed with our efforts. Soon we were to find out if our hard work would pay off.

The race started off great, with the car running fairly well with no issues seen in the first few laps. Cooper seemed to gain confidence with each lap, until halfway through his stint, when his laps seemed to drop quickly in pace. After 12 grueling laps, he pulled into the paddock, with our next driver ready to hop in. We noticed an issue immediately with the differential, but kept moving, hoping for the best once our driver was strapped in.

With two minutes left for our driver to restart the car and head back to course, the starter was pressed but the engine was unable to turnover. Jainero and I attempted to help and diagnose our starter issues, but officials kept us back, explaining that he needed to start under his own power. Before we knew it, the two minutes were up and we were pushing the car back to the pits with no celebrations heard from our solemn group. Once we returned to the pits, we realized that our driver had not put the car in neutral, a necessity in order for us to start the vehicle. Once out of gear, the car immediately came to life, leaving us shocked at how close we were to being able to finish Endurance.

With a final position of 76th out of 126 teams, we certainly could have done better, but we had come to compete, a feat our school was unable to complete since 2009. Celebrations were had by a few of us in the small town of Jackson, Michigan, happy that the competition was finished and excited over all we had experienced over the past 2 semesters. With the vans packed again, we headed home, providing the 2014 Formula team with a new test mule as they ready themselves to compete next May.

Thank you to all who were involved and helped make this car a reality.

Photography by Brice Burkhardt and Micheal Suen

Written by Brice Burkhardt

Congratulations to Daigo Saito on his first place win in the Achilles Radial / Bridges Racing SC430. That’s a wrap for Formula Drift Round 2 at Road Atlanta! Stay tuned for more coverage from this weekend, you won’t want to miss it.

#1 Daigo Saito Achilles Radial / Bridges Racing Lexus Sc430
#2 Darren McNamara Falken Tire 1995 Nissan 240SX S14
#3 Vaughn Gittin JR 2014 Monster Energy Nitto Tire Ford Mustang RTR

]]> http://omgdrift.com/formula-dopeness-atlanta-results/feed/ 0 http://omgdrift.com/driver-blog-dopeness-mike-fitz-at-idc-round-1/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=driver-blog-dopeness-mike-fitz-at-idc-round-1 http://omgdrift.com/driver-blog-dopeness-mike-fitz-at-idc-round-1/#comments Mon, 13 May 2013 16:00:56 +0000 Martin Cunningham http://omgdrift.com/?p=17696

Hello fellow OMGDrift fans! I hope you’re well and rested from the off season, it’s great to be back in a competition car and great to be back here on OMGDrift!

This year in Ireland we have an all new championship. The Irish Drift Championship (or IDC) replaces the iconic Prodrift series, although it’s basically the same great staff that are behind both series and all the drivers and teams remain, so thankfully we’re continuing with the high standards of organisation and most importantly drifting which we’re become accustomed to on this little island.

During the off season at MCNSport we made some subtle improvements to the Hankook Tyre MCNSport RX-7 in a number of areas. I was also trying to build up a good working budget for the season ahead, because even though I believe our cars and driving level are considered to be of a high international standard over here, the vast majority of drivers and teams are still totally independently funded, so it’s important to go into a season ready for whatever it might throw at you. Jimmy Up also ran a really cool T-Shirt with the RX-7 on it during the off season, thanks guys!

Having D-Mac and MCNSport behind my car is the greatest. I mean Darren is driving some of the fastest drift cars in the world with years now, and the wealth of knowledge he possesses about setting up a car properly is nuts. I just wish that I could pump more budget and testing time into turning this knowledge into reality for the Rex, but the car is getting better all the time, and I still thing that we’re only about 60% of the way through its development.

For the five-round 2013 season I would be continuing with the same core team which we finished last year with, the legendard ‘Hardcore Holly’ as our main mechanic and ‘Cousin’ Tom as our spotter and secondary mechanic. Holly had managed to break a vertebra while wrestling a leprechaun over the last pint of Guinness in the barrel a few weeks earlier, so he moved into the role of supervisor while I donned the spanners with the MCNSport crew for pre season preparations.

Now I know that you know all about my fellow OMGDrift driver James Deane. He and I got out together for some pre season testing two weeks prior to Round 1, and after the minor tweaks off season, the FC felt great. I was able to push much harder than before, the nervous feeling was just gone out of the car. The chassis and great Hankook V12 Evo tyres were working perfectly together and the whole package had a sweet balance. I also learned that it’s not a car that can be driven at anything less than 100%. It just doesn’t work! If you’re ‘on it’, then it’s on it with you, anything half hearted just doesn’t work.

So we headed to the first ever round of the IDC hopeful of a result, and the minute we rolled in to the Mondello Park paddock I was greeted by my new Hankook Tyre team mates Adrian Walsh, Brian Egan and rookie Stephen Waugh, as well as Hankook tyre technician Cormac Brady who keeps us supplied with the best rubber during an event. Adrian and Brian’s 86’s and Stephen’s Sileighty all looked the business in their respective new liveries, and the Hankook area in general was just really cool and a great place to be based.

Shortly after all the meeting and greeting was done, it was time to forget all that stuff and get down to business.

Saturday practice was going great. The tyres were great, the chassis was great, the engine was great. Super responsive! It felt stronger at the top of the rev range than the 450bhp power figure would suggest.

The 265/35/18 Hankook V12 Evo tyres were laying down the power really well too with great feedback. I gotta say following Adrian in practice rocked, shadowing his SR86 closely in the FC, both reppin the black, orange and white livery! I haven’t had as much fun in a competition car in a while. The FC was drinking so much race fuel/petrol/two stroke oil mix that I had to pit in to Holly for fuel every six laps to fill the 20 litre MCNSport aluminium tank as I could hear the pump starting to look for the good stuff!

Have you ever been really looking forward to something? Or doing really well and felt like you could go all the way? Well I was having a blast and getting my lines and entry speed locked down towards the end of the session, but just at the end of the very last pass I noticed the engine idling a bit unevenly. Upon further investigation in the pits we discovered a lack of compression in the first rotor housing. The engine had blown.

Gutted. I guess that’s the only word to describe how I felt, after all the hard work and preparation. For the first time in the RX-7 I was out for blood in pro competition. I guess I can’t complain much though, as all I could afford to give D-Mac to rebuild the engine last year was second hand stuff from a spare engine I had, using the bare minimum of new parts.

Our weekend wasn’t over yet though, as my buddies Ian and Paul Stryker came to my aid with their newly acquired 277bhp SR20 AE86 (thanks so much lads!) to try and get us a Top 16 place in the main event.

Due to a time attack event being held on the same track, the pro grid only got 10 minutes practice on Sunday morning, which meant three wet laps for me. Still, I got used to the new chassis and by the time qualifying came around the track had just dried up. This was going to be tough, new car, zero practice in the dry and a field full of Europe’s best drivers and cars!

I gave it my all on the 2nd lap after a mistake on the first, but it wasn’t enough for a place in the Top 16.

Our weekend was over, all that was left to do was to help out and cheer on my team mates and start planning the engine rebuild. As it happens Adrian had a great Super lap and finished in the Top 16 and Brian battled hard to the Great 8.

The final battle of the day was a crazy affair between James and Ireland’s own kamikaze Japanese-style drifter Gavin Lenihan. Gavin laid down a sick chase run and it was up to James to come back, but in between the two runs the skies opened, the track was drenched and Gavin spun on the entry on his lead run. Congrats to both drivers though on great entertainment!

As it stands right now the rotary is out of the FC, awaiting rebuilding, while we await parts from Mazdatrix and Hayward Rotary to get started. We’re just looking for the reliability now as the other pieces of the puzzle that make a great package seem to be in place.

I’d like to give a huge thanks to Niall, Cormac and all at Hankook Ireland, Darren and the crew at MCNSport, and Holly and Tom for the great support and expertise, as well as all my other sponsors, all of whom makes this cool car and campaign possible.
Now it’s time for work, we’ve got an engine to build!
Feel free to like my Facebook page Mike Fitz Drifting and to follow me on Instagram @mikeyfitzdrift, thanks!

Thanks to:
Hankook Ireland
MCNSport
West Coast Performance
Hayward Rotary
Guerin Auto Body Repair
Mr Sodablast
OMGDrift.com
Chambers Performance
Japspeed
Drive-N-Style
Mazdatrix
Moose Design
Japanese Performance

Sunday may have been the last day of the OTR, but it certainly wasn’t the least. The stages, set around Dufur, are some of the fastest and most unforgiving in the entire weekend. Cautions around every bend test the determination and courage of every white-knuckled driver and co-driver seeking victory. The carnage was some of the highest in the history of the OTR with 31 cars retiring, but thanks to modern safety everyone is alright. Read on!

The stage I photographed on was called Clausen. It’s a nearly 13-mile long course through the eternal countryside in Dufur. To put that into perspective, that’s like driving the Nürburgring Norschleife but instead of having the blessing of driving on grippy tarmac, you have rough, not-so-grippy dirt and gravel.

There were some waterworks though, which was a blast to photograph the cars running through it like a slip & slide.

I love the Tag Rally Sport Yaris of Tracey Gardiner and Portland native Krista Skucas!

A BMW E30 on a rally stage? No it isn’t Bill Caswell, but it is Elijah Fillman-Sullivan and Cory Grunwald.

Rallying, like all forms of racing is a dangerous sport. Any chance of winning could vanish in a blink of an eye. This, unfortunately, was the case for Nick Roberts and Nick Judkins in the–appropriately named-NickSquared Global Rally Team’s Super Production class Subaru. They were 4^th in class and 10^th overall when they struck a 6”x6” fence post on the outside of a left 4 minus over crest.

Most importantly, they got out okay and took the whole thing in stride. Even after rolling the car they were able to drive it further down the road, but had to retire from the event. Having talked to them for a brief moment on what happened, these two are super cool people and I hope they come back in full force like they plan to for the New England Forest Rally in late July.

Back to the action, I posted up at a breathtaking location on the Clausen. Mountains in view at all four corners, rolling hills, the works. It was the perfect opportunity for me to whip out the wide-angle lens.

Kenny B and his trusty assistant Alex blowing past at warp speed, or even ludicrous speed.

The gusts of wind were incredibly strong, and incredibly in my favor–not a single spec of dust fell on me!

The carnage didn’t end with NickSquared. The Honda Racing HPD Fit of James Robinson and Jordan Guitar gave out after a brutally awesome jump not far from where I was standing.  Apparently, a broken engine mount knocked out the right half shaft. The result was an undriveable car, but at least the jump was spectacular.

Then came the award ceremony in the Hood River fairgrounds, where once again spectators got to get up close and personal with car and driver. It wouldn’t be a victory celebration without the champagne.

In 1^st place in Open class was David Higgins and Craig Drew with a gap of under two minutes…

The Hoonigans Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino in 2^nd…

And Rally America newcomer Rifat Sungkar with Marshall Clarke in 3^rd.

In the 2WD class, Brendan Reeves and Rhianon Smyth claimed victory, with Dillon Van Way and Andrew Edwards in 2^nd. Andrew Comrie-Picard and Jeremy Wimpey rounded out the podium in 3^rd.

The Super Production class saw David Sterckx and Karen Jankowski on the top step of the podium, followed by Henderson/McDowell and Goodwin/Milos.

It has been a whirlwind of a weekend, and I’m glad I got to capture it to share with you all. And when the wagons come ‘round next year, I’ll be there!

Hello, and welcome to my first blog for 2013, with thanks to media partner OMGDRIFT.COM. It is great to be back on board with TeamOMG again this season Firstly it was time to get some new team OMGDRIFT stickers fitted up on the car, by Martin and Aideen, from Martin Cunningham Photography, when we landed for Saturday evenings pro practice session, at Round 1 of the all new IDC, Irish Drift Chmpionships, which was held at Mondello Park, Co. Kildare.

It was great to be back, and meet so many people over the weekend that I had not met for a long while now on the drifting scene, including some past drivers, who were competing for the weekend also.

I have made some changes to the car from last season. One of the biggest being, the edition of a Nissan 350Z G9 gearbox, which I must say, I am extremely happy with it. I had done some off season winter practice day events to try it out, and the difference from the RB25 skyline box is unreal. Well happy!

Another change has been the addition of some exterior bits, these being the red front bumper canards, and red wing mirriors, all just to change up the overall appearance a small bit, and which were professionally painted by Shanahan Car Sales Bodyshop.

I was also anxious over the winter months to change the wheels as well, as I wanted a different luck to the car in this line of things. I decided on some 18×9.5 spoke dark grey gtrs for the rear and 17×9.5 gtrs for the front. My 2 fronts were previously white, so with thanks to new sponsor Mr Soda Blast I got these guys to sodablast the two fronts, and paint them the same as the rear. Top job he made of these as well. Thanks lads

Another change was the addition of new sponsor Fuchs oil. I am now running their products in my engine, gearbox and differentials. Great products, and great lads to be dealing with for 2013.

Another sponsor I have on board with me this season, are UK based car care cleaning specialists, Kleers. These guys do a fantastic range of car care products, and their range and stock is second to none. Check them out at www.kleers.com to view their products.

Thanks to Step-by-Step childcare for kitting me out with my new racing suit for 2013 also

Thank you to Shanahan Car Sales for supplying his sweet recovery truck for transporting our car to the event for the weekend and to my pit crew, Bob, Hallie and Foley

So with a small run down on the winter modifications done, its now time to fill you in on how my weekend went.

It started out pretty good for me on Saturday evening, when I was ready, and the car was setup and ready for some track time. I put in a few steady laps at first and gradually fed my way in to getting that bit quicker as the session went on.

I was happy with my line and I felt I was doing what would be required on Sunday for to qualify for the top 16. So with over an hours practice complete and car setup and ready, I was happy finishing up, knowing that I was comfortable with everything.

I got tidied up, and headed for the hotel and took an early night for myself. to be good and fresh as they say for Sunday!!! J

SUNDAY MORNING:

Suited and Booted, Check! Full Irish Breakfast, Check! Mind, Body, Spirit, Check! So we were good to go…

We arrived at the track, both my brother and I, who also was competing, at roughly 8.15am

We headed to the drivers briefing to get our brief from the judges on what the criteria was going to be for the qualifying.

Practice next, for 20mins which was semi wet and dry due to over night rain which had let the track very damp and slippy due to the amount of rubber laid down in the dry the day before.

I managed to get a nice line which I knew was going to be required for to qualify for top 16.

I gave the car a general check over and got it sorted after practice, ready for qualifying. I watched from turn 1 some few drivers qualifying, as I awaited my turn. Entry speeds were down and was clear people were finding it tricky to find the fine line between a wet and dry track but, it was drying really quick at the same time.

My turn came, I took off the line and headed towards turn 1, a right hander with first a rear left clip on entry, with a front right clip for clip 2, I initiated ok, for clip one as I taught, and as I pointed the car for clip 2, disaster!!! Something I wished would never happen me, and something you would not expect to happen, the fact I have been at it so long, but I choked!!! I just froze inside the car and didn’t know which way to turn. I managed to get drifting again, but knew it was too late at this stage to recover. Maximum points were on entry and first half of the course, and I had just made a disaster of this.

I queued up for my second run, determined to put in solid lap. I managed to complete a good lap with no hick ups, but did not quite cut it, to qualify for the top sixteen this time.

The standard of driving was really impressive over the weekend, and it was great to see so many talented drivers do so well.

Just to mention a few Jack Shannahan, 13years of age, finishing 3rd in semi pro :-O I mean WOW!!! Talented like, keep an eye on this guy Diarmuid O Connell in his all new fresh AE86 twin cam winning semi pro and qualifying for a top 16 position on the pro grid on Sunday. James Deane on winning the first IDC Championship event, and producing an awesome looking 2013 car. My brother Gavin for driving really well, and having people on the edge of their grandstand seats, as he came out over the hill on the top of the limiter, launching it into turn one every time J well done on finishing second!!!

My weekend did not turn out as well as I hoped it would have, but that is how it goes I guess. Some days you will have great results, more days you will not, but at least I had fun for what part of the weekend I did drive for regardless

I would like to mention also to you guys, keep an eye out for a new video coming soon, from a close friend of ours, who tagged along with us for the weekend and captured all our adventures preparing and during IDC round 1!!!

Thank you to everyone again as always for helping me out for 2013, your help, support, and advice is greatly appreciated.

Thank you also to my fan base at events and online

C.M.D Ltd, www.mrsodablast.ie Step by Step Childcare, Kleers, www.martincphoto.com OMGDDRIFT, Fuchs Oils, Shannahan Car Sales, DeaneMSport, Green Cotton Air Filers, Racing Logic, NewHorizonStyling, Superdift, Lenihans,

While I have this opportunity to mention, I would like to let you guys know in the coming weeks, I will be announcing another new sponsor coming on board with me for 2013, so make sure and keep an eye out for this announcement. I am really looking forward and excited about working with these lads!!!
So until then, I hope you have enjoyed reading my first blog for this season with thanks to www.omgdrift.com

Alan Lenihan