When I headed up the San Francsico Bay Area last month to meet with Sunny Liang and his Reader Car of the Year-winning 240Z, we decided to meet up at Performance Options. This is Sunny’s neighborhood shop, and a place he can be found at regularly having work done on his Z or just hanging out and talking cars.

It looked like the shop had some very interesting projects going on, so I decided to share my findings with you guys.

This is not one of those huge, state of the art spotless workshops you sometimes see. No, Performance Options is more of a grassroots kind of place – tucked away on 7th Street in West Oakland.

At a glance it looks like your typical neighborhood repair shop – a place that specializes in oil changes and timing belt replacements. Joey Gauthier and the Performance Options crew also that kind of work, but what they are really known for is modifying and tuning vintage Japanese cars.

Whether it’s race cars or street cars, Performance Options’ impressive work was made clear by the cars that happened to be in the shop on the day I visited. In one corner of the garage was this AE86 that had undergone an S2000 F20C swap.

Now the F20C into 86 swap is fairly common these days, but this particular car is being built for street use and in the state of California that means complying with the our strict smog laws. Joey and the crew are transferring everything over from the S2000 in order to make this a legit, smog legal street machine.

Fortunately older cars like this 240Z are exempt from smog checks meaning there is less worry when doing an engine swap.

This particular Z is a low-cost street build undergoing a mild RB swap. Joey finds it important to work with his customers’ budgets whether they are a working on a low cost daily driver, a high dollar race build or something in between.

Another customer project in the shop was this KP61 Starlet that looked pretty stock on the outside…

…but under the hood is housing supercharged 4AGZE power.

Much of the chassis and suspension has been swapped out for AE86 parts, including the complete rear end assembly which gives the Starlet a wide stance. In this shot you can also see all the T3 suspension parts the car is equipped with.

Check the original brown interior complete with the factory steering wheel. Doesn’t do much to hint at the engine swap and upgraded chassis does it?

Sitting in another corner of the shop was this camouflage-painted Miata drift car.

Hmm, I don’t think that giant air filter is for the factory Miata four cylinder.

The little Roadster has been swapped with an LS1, creating a modern take on the classic Shelby Cobra formula.

Joey also showed me one of his personal projects that he tinkers on whenever he has time. A Hot Rod…

…with Toyota 3TC power.

Should be very cool to see once it’s done!

Next up Joey showed me the engine room, which was packed full of complete motors and other high performance parts.

I saw motors from all of the big Japanese makers crammed into this room. Here’s a a built SR20 for example.

Also a couple Honda B-series motors waiting for a home. Although there no Hondas at the shop the day I was there, Joey says they work on them quite often.

From there we headed outside to the storage lot behind the shop, which revealed even more interesting project cars.

This engine-less 86 coupe is awaiting an SR20 swap if I recall correctly. Just another one of the countless transplant patients that have come through Performance Options.

This flared TE27 Corolla is Joey’s personal race car and sees action regularly both at local autocross events and on the open track.

It’s powered by a fully built 3TC motor on sidedrafts. Yum.

This S13 (with an R32 front end conversion) is another customer project.

It actually has a half-completed VH45DE swap which the guys are planning to straighten out. As you can see, Joey and his crew work on quite a variety of engines.

Naturally, my eye was caught by yet another 240Z that was parked beside the shop.

Looking inside at the original appearing interior, you wouldn’t have a clue…

…that it’s sporting a very clean looking RB25DET swap.

Before wrapping up, I should mention the amazing mural that covers the side of the shop.

The painting was done by a friend of Joey’s and it makes the building quite an attraction among the locals. Apparently people stop by all the time just to check it out.

Yes, that’s a Datsun 510 Transformer. We approve.

Thanks to Joey for showing me around, and if you ever find yourself in the city of Oakland be sure to stop by.

Who knows what sort of crazy projects they might be working on?

-Mike Garrett

More Car Builder Stories on Speedhunters

More Stories by Mike Garrett on Speedhunters

Performance Options

After wandering for hours through the main paddock at Hellaflush Kansai, I headed across to the other secondary display area that was set up. With so many cars participating…

…space at Central Circuit was definitely at a premium and if you consider that most spectators showed up with awesome cars too…the parking lots were also a must-see. But more on that a little further down.

First up there is still plenty of nice stuff to see in the show itself…starting off with this satin gray Soarer sporting a bit of a military theme. I quite liked the camo on the rim part of the old school BBS wheels.

Osaka-based Nagano Koubou has, over the last few years, really made a name for itself in drift and custom car circles. The drift cars that roll out of their body shop exhibit fresh new touches and ideas…

…but at the same time maintain that functional feel about them. Their green S13 we first saw at last year’s Nagoya Exciting Car Showdown is probably their best-known creation.

It’s hard not to like a well restored and maintained B110 Sunny like this sedan from Kaminari Brothers, again throwing an unexpected twist to the line up of cars on show.

From vintage rides to more Hondas, like this Civic Coupe on chrome Diamond Racing Wheels.

I’ve really gotten rather bored of how my Legacy Wagon looks these days. After just over five years of ownership it is craving for a little attention in the wheel and stance department and when I saw this BL5 sedan I started getting all sorts of ideas! I wonder what wheels would look best for a silver wagon?

It seemed a lot of drift cars were hanging around on this side of the show, like this Garage 8 S13 Silvia. Loving the overfenders!

But what is better? Riveted on or flared arches? Either way you can’t go wrong right?

This particular S14 had a lot of custom metal art work riveted on to the bodywork. I guess that’s one way to mask body damage from the last outing on track!

I was literally drooling over this maroon Mark II wagon at the Nagoya Exciting Car Showdown last month, so you can imagine what a surprise it was to see it parked up amount all the cars at Hellaflush. Still looking hot slammed on those BBS rims, however the rear fenders aren’t finished yet.

You see a lot of this at Hellaflush. I find myself in similar compromising stances when trying to see just what size wheels and tire width a car may be running.

Simple and sweet. Is there anything a set of TE37SL don’t look good on??

And talking of simple but effective, check out this Nissan van on Fairlady Z wheels!

This particular set of BMW 19-inch wheels seem to be quite popular in Japan, I’ve seen them fitted to a variety of cars and they looked especially good tucked in under the rear fenders of this JZX100.

It’s at shows like this that you realize just how many awesome cars Japanese manufacturers used to make in the early to late nineties. The C33 Laurel was definitely one of them and it’s a pity Nissan has dropped the historical name from its current line up. It seems that back in the golden years everyone wanted sedans!  This particular car….

…which you may remember seeing in the Nagoya Exciting Car Showdown coverage (how can you forget that hood!)…

…runs an SR20 swap that provides a good amount of power for its drift duties.

Great to see that Golf Diesels are also getting some attention. This was one of two oil-burning MKIs at the show.

This E46 on Equips E05s was actually one of the winning cars at the 2011 Hellaflush Japan show in Fuji Speedway. Since then it’s had a color chance, from black to this metallic red, and the Equips given a little 24-karat look.

This is a bit of a rare sight, a B12 Sunny Estate. It kind of reminds me of the red Carina Wagon we saw last year at the first Hellaflush Japan meet.

A Subaru Sambar mini-truck from the sixties was probably the last vehicle I would have imagined seeing at Hellaflush! But there it was lowered and riding on tiny little aftermarket wheels!

You wanted to see more Kei-cars? Well then here are a few I spotted once I headed down to the parking lots. These cars weren’t part of the show but rather what spectators used to come to Central Circuit in. This Suzuki Wangon R looked so hot on those bronze BBS. It was also packing a serious brake package up front.

Yes, only in Japan! I should trademark this comment!

Check out this little Daihatsu Mira Gino, going for a full on bosozoku side exit exhaust!

I continued my walk through the parking lot and ran across a constant stream of awesome cars like this old Civic…

….and Hakosuka, both on Watanabe wheels.

I think someone somewhere has announced that the AE86 has well and truly become a classic car because the hachirokus I’ve been seeing lately seem to get better and better. This notchback was spotless in every way and looked especially hot fitted with a set of Equip o1s.

With about thirty minutes to go before the show ended at 4pm there were still people rolling in and lining up waiting to park.

While some cars from the show were taking off…

…I headed back up to the main paddock and awaited for Mark to begin giving out the wards. I bet it wasn’t easy to choose the best cars in each of the predefined categories, that’s for sure.

A crowd of owners quickly formed around the Fatlace booth as Mark announced the winners.

I just had to take a quick snap of this little 4-month old puppy taking a nap on the shoulders of its owner.

The best of show was snapped up by the Looking FD3S which we saw back in the preview post. Here is Hitomi-san from Looking with the award. Congratulations!

Slowly the cars began to drive out of the circuit and in most cases begin their long drive home. I decided to hang around a little as I heard that there might be a little bit of drifting going on when everyone had left.

Good thing I stuck around! Check back for the final part from Hellaflush Kansai to see some tire-smoking antics…the perfect end to any day!

Hellaflush

Fatlace

Hellaflush Kansai coverage on Speedhunters

-Dino Dalle Carbonare

While Jonathan Moore is still recovering and bringing you guys the action from an exhausting weekend at the Nurburgring, I will be once again handling the Week in Pictures.

There’s lots of cool stuff to see, so let’s jump right into to our look at some of the past week’s happenings in the automotive world.

Let’s begin in the world of NASCAR, where yesterday Toyota introduced their 2013 Camry stock car complete with signature TRD coloring.

Like the 2013 race cars already introduced by Dodge and Ford, the new Camry is a big departure from the current vehicles and bares a much stronger resemblance to its road-going counterpart. Now if only you could go to your local Toyota dealer and pick up a rear-drive Camry with a screaming V8 under the hood.

We also got our first look at Ford’s 2013 Fusion NASCAR with a real race colors, and what better place to start than the classic Wood Brothers #21 Motorcraft livery as driven by Trevor Bayne in the Sprint Cup series.

The only one of NASCAR’s four manufacturers who hasn’t shown their 2013 car yet is Chevy. They did, however, release this image of their 2013 model in prototype form.

What’s interesting is not just the new race car, but the fact that it’s based on an upcoming Chevrolet production model simply called the “SS”. The 2014 SS will be an Australian-built V8-powered sedan that is scheduled to go on sale in the US late next year.

From NASCAR to fancy Fiats. The Abarth 695 Maserati edition made its debut over the weekend at the Mille Miglia. With just 499 being produced, the idea is to add some Maserati class to the compact Fiat 500 platform.

It won’t come cheap though, with pricing set to start at 32,000 pounds. Aston Martin Cygnet owners, beware.

Oh yeah, there were a few old cars at the Mille Miglia as well. Here Sir Stirling Moss and Norman Dewis are seen behind the wheel of a historic Jaguar C-Type which brought the 2012 rally to a start.

Porsche participated as well with a few cars from its museum collection. Among the group was the classic 356 Coupe, seen here in a great vintage scene from the Porsche archive.

A cool shot from Audi Motorsport showing Mike Rockenfeller’s A5 DTM after setting the fastest time in qualifying at Brands Hatch. He later would  go on to finish third in the race itself.

Over in Shanghai, China Ferrari opened up its “Ferrari Myth Exhibition” – a three year-long exhibition designed to spread awareness about Ferrari and its history to the booming Chinese market.

In Tokyo Mitsubishi showed its i-MiEV Evolution all-electric race car which will be competing in this year’s Pikes Peak Hill Climb. The purpose-built race car will also be joined by a standard i-MiEV  on the mountain as part of a two-car EV effort.

At the massive VW gathering in Worthersee, Volkswagen showed the Polo WRC Street Concept. Imagined as a street version of VW’s new WRC Polo, the concept is said to hint at a new sporty line for small VWs coming next year.

With 220ps coming out of  its 2.0TSI engine, the car should have the performance to back up its aggressive looks.

Sticking with the rally theme for a moment, here we see NASCAR driver Greg Biffle having a go behind the wheel of Brian Deegan’s Ford Fiesta in the lead up  to Charlotte’s All Star Race.

Another image from Ford showing the 662 horsepower ’13 Shelby GT500 at Atlanta Dragway doing something it does exceptionally well – destroying its rear tires.

In the department of auction madness, we have a 1927 Bentley 3liter Speed Model Tourer that will go up for sale in H&H’s event at the Rockingham Castle on June 16. It has an estimated value between 150,000 and 200,000 pounds.

But that’s nothing compared to the price that this 1926 Bentley 6.5liter Le Mans Style Tourer is expected to bring. This one is valued between 350,000 and 450,000 pounds and would make for a FANTASTIC daily driver – assuming your name is Jay Leno of course.

Ready for Le Mans. With less than a month to go before the event, Audi released this image of its all wheel drive R18 e-tron quattro.

The R18 with another one of Audi’s historic AWD race machines, the Sport Quattro rally car.

The WTCC series meanwhile saw action at the Salzburgring in Austria over the weekend.

Cool shot showing the Chevy Cruze trio rounding a corner in synchronized form. The lead car is driven by Robert Huff, who took the victory in Race 1.

Finally, we have a few images that BMW just released of its far out E25 Turbo Concept from 1972.

The futuristic looking concept is based on a 2002 chassis with a mid-mounted four cylinder turbo engine. You can see how the M1 would draw from this design later on in the 1970s.

The interior is equally wild, particularly the instruments.

Now that’s what I call a querbeschleunigung!

-Mike Garrett

Past Week in Pictures Stories

More Stories by Mike Garrett

There is no doubting the popularity of the sport of drifting today. It took just one live action feature film staring Jay Chou for drifting to spread through all of China. Imagine having government-backed drift events with packed attendance and in venues that are Olympic worthy.

Well, that is exactly what you have in the port city of Tianjin. Just two and a half hours east of Beijing is a place where car culture is king.

The people of Tianjin love racing. It shows just walking through the streets. Even though the cars are poorly modified, they are going toward the right direction.

We start off with a lazy Thursday afternoon in downtown Tianjin. The air is so thick with dust and pollution that it gives the illusion of the sun setting two or three hours ahead of schedule.

Just like every other city in China, one has to be careful when crossing the streets. Cars do not stop for pedestrians. It’s like playing a game of frogger, except you don’t want to loose.

We were all hungry from a long flight and Matt Powers was hungry for some Mexican food in China. I will never understand vegetarians.

Somehow they knew how to cater to us.

After a quick lunch we headed to the massive Tianjin Olymic Center Stadium, also know as the Water Drop because that’s what it looks like from space. In the 2008 Beijing summer Olympics the stadium was used for the Football(Soccer) preliminaries.

It is always a pilgrimage with tools and other miscellaneous items that the American teams bring to China.

On the way to the stadium our luggage situation took a turn for the worst. Luckily we had Chinese made tools to fix our Chinese made luggage.

The paddock is just massive. More than 50 teams have pit areas that stretch through these massive halls.

We are not in Kansas anymore….

Stephan Papadakis was dumbfounded. He has never seen anything like this. This was his first trip to China.

This was the same asphalt that was laid down for last year’s events. They don’t hold any track and field events here anymore, it has become a permanent drift stadium.

Lining the outside k-rails was a thick layer of jumbo sized foam padding. It seemed the Americans had a ‘what the heck’ moment.

These were the drivers I followed throughout the event. The one and only Matt Powers has been drifting in China since 2009, but last year he stepped up his game and built his own demo car with an LS1 motor specifically for China duty.

Matt took 2nd place last year at the same event and he is always a crowd favorite.

Here is Kyle “The Menace” Mohan and his entire team. That’s right, he was the lone ranger over in the land of communism.

It also seemed like he was the only one in all of China to run a rotary car. As soon as he popped the hood there were hordes of people coming by to catch a peek at this mysterious engine that spits fire.

Our third driver was a Formula Drift Champion. Chris Forsberg had been to China once before back in 2006 for a drift demonstration, but this was his return and he’s out for blood.

He brought the big guns this time. A Nissan 370z with a VK56DE should do the trick. This was also his 2010 Formula Drift competition car.

Our last American driver is none other than 2010 Formula Drift Champion, Vaughn Gittin Jr.

I swear he is one of the hardest working drivers in the drifting world, and as always he brought the REALLY big guns. The Autosport Dynamics (ASD) crew came along to take him to the top of the podium once again.

On the left was last year’s car which was originally Ken Gushi’s Mustang from back in 2005. On the right is an all new purpose-built car for competition in China. This is not a little kid’s game anymore.

Our very own Fredric Aasbo rounds out the Formula Drift driver field. This was also his very first trip to China.

His weapon of choice was Chucky the big red Toyota Supra.

With all the drivers in town and qualifying the following day, Stephan decided to clean up the paddock a bit, while Matt worked on toning his arms.

Afterwards Matt showed his Need for Speed teammate around the track…

…while Vaughn rode around on his awesome new bicycle.

Kyle was the first one to test out the track and was the first one to find out why no one has ever used foam padding on k-rails.

If you tap a bare concrete k-rail you can just slide off it without really interrupting your drift. However, with the foam padding in place it grabs your car and brings your front end right into it.

Kyle spent the rest of the night putting it all back together for qualifying tomorrow.

Both of Vaughn’s cars arrived that night, so he did not have time to get in any practice.

The boys hit the ground running, but it was time to retire for the night.

For dinner we just went outside of our hotel for some street food under a freeway overpass. Yum.

I headed to the stadium in the morning to find the ASD guys flagging me down to check out their new mobile workstation.

They built this garage at ASD headquarters in Charlotte with the intention of taking it all over the world.

It was basically a home away from home, and it had almost everything they needed to run a proper race program. There’s even a built in engine hoist just in case.

Everything is labeled properly so you can find what you need in a jiffy.

Spares of everything you can imagine are packed away neatly in the cabinets. There was also a work bench in case you need to tackle some intense projects.

Leave it to ASD to build something this awesome.

Now I’d like to see them build an airplane.

It even had enough room to store spare bumpers and body panels…

…as well as spare wheels and tires.

After drooling for a bit I headed into the depths of the Water Drop to find myself in the middle of a drivers meeting.

Two of the judges this year were former Formula Drift driver Hiro Sumida, and D1GP judge Tarzan Yamada.

Once again John “Afro” Coetzee is the third judge who is from originally from South Africa. He was the comic relief of the group.

Tarzan’s drawing skills are always put to the test during these drivers meetings.

Chris looked pretty relaxed, but I knew he was worried because his car has not shown up yet. In fact it was 10 days late. At this point all he can do is hope the ship that is carrying his car makes it in time for the main event.

It’s always interesting to sit in on one of these meetings because it’s done in three languages, Mandarin, Japanese and English.

I figured it would be two or three more hours until they were done once Vaughn got up to draw on the white board, so I decided to do some exploring.

Last year I climbed the scaffolding at Yellow Dragon Stadium in the city of Hang Zhou so I figured I might as well make it a tradition.  I took the elevator to the top floor and headed for the stairs.

Coming with me was American videographer and editor of Keep Drifting Fun, Skylar Smith.

The stadium is so large that you can see the thick layer of smog from one side to the other. I noticed a little red dot waving at me and decided to investigate.

It turns out it was Stephan Papadakis and he was in the middle of his spotter duties watching the Chinese drivers practice. He was looking for an adventure so I told him to come with us.

We quickly found the entrance which was quite inviting.

This was definitely a lot safer than the bamboo ladder we had at Yellow Dragon Stadium.

I made Papadakis go first in case there was a loose step. Bringing you this coverage was very important to me.

Inch by inch he worked his way up the 58 meter high scaffolding.

I think a bit of vertigo kicked in because he slowed down significantly. That is where I passed him.

As we went up more I came across these controls for the stadium lights. This was not really the time or the place to play with knobs and switches, so I decided to move on.

It was amazing how dusty it was at the top. It was thick and it covered every surface and smelled like rotten beef.

However, the view was worth the climb. It was evident this track is not a perfect oval. As Matt Powers would say, it’s super bumpy and it has boobs all over the place (boobs = parts of the k-rail that stick out).

This structure is amazing to say the least. To think this cost 230 million US dollars to construct just blows my mind. It also seats up to 60,000 people.

Bellow is a 50 plus meter drop to the bottom. You can bet I kept a tight grip on my camera gear.

Down below was Ian Stewart, who is the crew chief for Vaughn Gittin Jr.. He was also doing his spotter duties.

Vaughn was getting his first practice laps of the event and they looked great. The entire stadium filled with the sound of American Muscle. It was so incredibly loud that it vibrated the scaffolding.

I then spotted Fredric doing some hot laps as he was getting his tune in line with the Chinese fuel. Behind him looked like a Matt Powers livery copy.

My nose could not handle much more of the dust, so we decided to head down.

While walking around the pits I came across another dusty scene. This kind of reminds me of the Chinese Terracotta Warriors, expect these were fire extinguishers.

Vaughn’s car tuner, Adam Browne, decided to tidy up the Chinese fire-station a bit.

Near by was a Chinese fire engine. It even has a high powered water hose. Amazing.

Eventually I made it back to the team USA paddock where I found the boys from ASD mixing up a cocktail of fuels to make their Mustang run better.

The best kind of fuel you can find at the pumps of a Chinese gas station is 98 octane, but it is more equivalent to the 85 octane we get here in North America. In all of China, team USA could only find two barrels of 101 octane race fuel, so they needed to use it sparingly by mixing it with other fuels and octane booster. When in China….

Everyone was helping out as there was not much more practice time before qualifying.

Matt has driven this track many times before so he went out guns blazing.

This car is down around 200 horsepower from his Formula Drift competition car, but it was more than enough for this tiny course.

Next up was Fredric’s turn to take a shot at the oval drift course. Matt gave him some quick pointers and he let Fredric know which parts of the track has boobs.

As always Fredric went HOLD STUMT right out of the gate. He was hitting 3rd and 4th gear due to his high gearing.

I don’t know what exactly goes on in this guy’s mind, but he made a new set of tracks around the entire course. He pretty much rode the foam all the way around.

He may have gone a bit too far after a few more laps, because he gave the wall a slight love tap.

Chucky survived just fine but he was missing a critical part.

The gas tank had come loose spilling fuel all over the course. Nothing a metal plate and some quick dry epoxy and Gorilla tape can’t fix.

And for the body damage?

It was nothing a metal pole can’t fix.

This is why he is called the Norwegian hammer right?

Just a few more bangs with the hammer…

…and fixed. Just in time for qualifying.

Some of the other drivers were not so lucky. I think this guy is going to need a bit more than Gorilla tape.

Before qualifying there was the matter of the hundreds of fans waiting for autographs.

The boys signed shirts and magazines till their hands ached.

This was a pretty common sight from then on.

A few mustang owners showed up just to meet Vaughn. These cars are three times the price in China due to import taxes.

The lone Japanese driver to make the short trip over was none other than Goodyear Racing driver Kuniaki Takahashi. He actually did pretty well and got into the top 8 with a borrowed SR20DET-powered S14.

With qualifying coming up the drivers finished up and said their goodbyes.

The Chinese guys went first which gave the international drivers a chance to get ready.

It was up to Vaughn to set the bar as he was up first.

I think these guys made a great cheer squad.

I am sure a lot goes through the mind of these drivers, especially considering they traveled halfway across the world to compete against a bunch of drivers they have never met before.

At World Drift Series China you may take your two qualifying runs consecutively if you want, but if your car breaks down after the first run you can also go to the back of the line to take your second run.

Vaughn took both of his runs back to back and qualified in a safe 8th position.

It was then Matt Powers’ turn to put down his runs.

He lost his bumper, but he qualified in 3rd position.

New Zealand driver Carl Ruiterman had the quietest car there, but that did not stop him from making a ridiculous amount of smoke and qualifying in 2nd position.

The Menace proudly displayed his flag on the roof and went out for his first qualifying run.

He qualified in 6th position after having a rough start to the weekend.

Cole Armstrong, another Kiwi driver no doubt made the most smoke of all the drivers at the event. He qualified in 11th position with his RB30det-powered ER34 Skyline.

Chris Forsberg’s 370z still has not shown up, but WDS China rules do not state you have to qualify and compete in the same car. Matt Powers stepped up to the plate and let Chris qualify in his LS1-powered S14. He ended up in 9th position.

Fredric also got a rough start to the weekend. But again, he went HOLD STUMT right out of the gate and scored a 96.67 out of 100 which gave him 1st place.

This also meant that he will be meeting Vaughn in the top 8 bracket if everything goes well.

For now it was time to relax for the drivers, as tomorrow would be an action packed day – especially for Chris Forsberg and his crew as his car finally showed up to the stadium at 2am on competition day.

Stay tuned for part 2 of WDS Tianjin through my lens.

Larry Chen

More stories from World Drift Series on Speedhunters

More stories from Larry Chen on Speedhunters

There was a whole lot more going on at the Nürburgring than the fastest 30-odd GT3-spec cars battling at the front for 24 hours. In the build-up to the race there was a whole slew of events to keep the fans entertained – and that’s just as well, as at the Nürburgring 24 Hours there are over 200,000 hardcore fans who start turning up a week before the event to stake out their pitches on the campsite, get the beers chilling and the barbecues burning. The focal point is the paddock and Ring Boulevard; the latter was the host for Saturday’s Audi autograph session.

This was an opportunity for the seven Audi crews to be introduced to the fans, sign cards, give out stickers and general enjoy a last bit of relative calm before the concentrating on the afternoon’s race start.

Sometimes you need to look up to get the best views. There is a company selling wooden laminate outlines of tracks that you can fix to your wall at home, but this is a whole different level of awesome.

The four Speedhunters WRT drivers – from left, Oliver Jarvis, Allan Simonsen, Andrea Piccini and Edward Sandström – lined up for a photo-call with Camille and Julie, which didn’t prove to be much of a chore…

The two girls coped admirably with their first visit to the Nürburgring…

…being especially adept at pulling their special modelling faces. Beautiful!

Whilst the mechanics and engineers laboured away on the car, WRT’s crack video team were also hard at work putting together coverage of the event: we’ve already seen the first couple of releases from them, and they’ll be a race review on stream soon.

All too soon it was time to get the cars onto the grid and to unleash the hordes of fans. The teams are forced into all-round defence at their cars in the face of the sea of people – there’s barely any room to do all the usual pre-race temperature and systems checks. I lasted about 10 minutes before being overwhelmed by the crush and the heat of the sun.

Off the front of the grid, deep into the braking zone to the first turn, the crowd thinned out to just officials and photographers making their way to the photo holes, and the noise of the grid gave way to the excited hum coming from the packed grandstands.

The girls carried on squeezing round the crowd giving out autograph cards and stickers, braving it out until the last moment.

On the way back to the garages at least there was a way to navigate: this awning was optimistically put up for the P4/5 E1-XP Hybrid. Perhaps it provided a bit more delineation for the crew to work on the car, but did seem a bit excessive.

Falken’s Wolf Henzler would be driving the #44 Porsche at the start – most cars had their driver’s helmets on the roof, giving the start even more of a sense of imminent combat.

Looking back, the chaos of the grid was surely an impossibility to clear as the three minute board was shown. It looked like they’d need a snowplough to get the job done, but luckily the ‘Ring officials are well used to this and with whistles and gentle pushes somehow got the crowd off the grid, leaving just the isolated three groups of starters with their key engineers kneeling by the cars.

Back in the garages, the mechanics could only stand and wait as the seconds ticked down to the start. Tyre trolleys were stacked. Guns checked. Fire gear primed. The result of their week of hard work and preparation was now in the hands of the driver behind the wheel. It was now all about counting down time.

Inside the garage that WRT shared with fellow Audi R8 LMS team Mamerow was the drivers’ equipment station: drinks bottles, seat inserts and the buttons that turned the drivers on and off during the race. Edward to On position! Or they might be helmet dryers…

Tyres were stacked up everywhere in the paddock: the initial choice of tyres for a number of the teams proved to be a problem, perhaps in combination with too aggressive camber settings, as the first hour of the race saw a riot of punctures and flailing rubber.

Whereas at Le Mans drivers will frequently stay at the wheel for a triple stint, at the Nürburgring it’s more usual for drivers to take a single hour at the wheel with just the odd double-stint; it’s just too much of a drain on the driver otherwise. Fuel is topped up and tyres will be changed at every stop for the faster cars.

Rather than dump-tanks or fuel rigs, regular pumps are used for petrol: this means having to carefully time stops with the other dozen or so cars who you’re sharing a pump with.

The Porsche’s bonnet-mounted refuelling point always meant a bit of fumbling around the front and stretching of the hoses.

The pit-lane is potentially ten times busier than a Formula 1 race and yet somehow cars manage not to run into each other, despite the crush and disparity in driving experience… But the teams are well used to the quantity of cars in the pit-lane, with most also regularly competing in VLN endurance events at the track.

There’s always the strange moment when a car is released: the team barely see it leave the box before they turn their attention back to the garage and telemetry. The physical car is almost an abstract object for the them during the race, seen as a dot on a GPS tracker and as a set of data traces for an hour before it comes in for a service.

It’s the guts of the cars that become the focal point: the assemblies and consumables that need constant replacing or fixing during the 24 hours.

As with any endurance race, it’s about minimising the time spent in the pits. Even a slower, steady run can be the way to take victory, as we saw. Whatever you do, just keep the car out of the pits…

The cross-section of cars at the Nürburgring makes this race the epic spectacle it is. Part clubbie, part determined factory onslaught, looking back it was funny how the runners in the 24 Hours Classic and main 24 Hours merged together to give a historical cross-section of cars that have competed at the Ring over the last 43 years.

Now the race is over and it’s rather too late, I think I’ve finally just about understood the structure of the classes. To be actually be eligible you must have driven in the 24 Hours within the last five years, have raced in three events over over 300km on the Nordschleife in the last two years, or two races plus the N24 training course. You must also have lapped at night if you want to drive a stint in the dark, and you must hold an International C licence. Finally, after qualifying your car must have set a time time within 120% of fastest class time.

The class structure is incredibly specific in parts (for instance, the V2 class covers cars with an engine capacity between 1.75-1.8-litres!), but overall is actually reasonably straightforward. A V prefix is for petrol-engined, production-based cars of increasing capacity (V2-V6, with the upper limit of 3.5-litre engines); a D prefix for diesels; a T suffix for turbos; SP for more heavily modified, dedicated racing cars (again, normally the bigger the number the bigger the engine). SP9 is reserved for GT3-spec cars and SP10 or GT4s. AT is an invitational class for cars powered by LPG or alternative fuels: they had their own dedicated refuelling station at the pit-lane entrance.

Looking further down the grid behind the GT3s showed up some great and unexpected cars – in the expected way. This Mercedes-Benz C230 won its V4 class against a horde of M3s.

Its predecessors compete in the German Youngtimer Trophy, whose entrants made up the majority of the 24 Hours Classic grid. 190s were still appearing in the main 24 Hours up until quite recently…

…whereas this Opel Manta somehow still is! The #155 car has been competing at the 24 Hours for years, complete with its fox-tail mascot blowing in the wind. Kissling Motorsport are more used to running modern Opel machinery in the VLN series, but seem to delight in bringing out the ’70s Manta to embarrass its more contemporary opposition – they led the SP3 class at times during the race, but was eventually to lose out to the Gazoo GT86 and a Renault Clio by a lap at the end. Still, third in class for a car which is surely more appropriate for the Classic race is impressive, and another perfect example of the spirit of the race.

In general the lower class cars seemed to suffer a lot more compared to GT3s, often surprised by being dive-bombed by a faster car and frightened off the road… The AT #192 Ford Fiesta had obviously taken a slide down the armco at some stage, and by Sunday mid-morning its right-side was held together by tank-tape and optimism.

Leon Supercopas remain popular options for this style of racing, and seven examples started the 24 Hours – six in the SP3T class and one diesel example, finishing third, fourth and sixth in the former category.

A quartet of VW Sciroccos were in the same SP3T class, plus a single diesel-engined car in the AT class.

Peugeot entered a pair of works RCZs in SP2T: the sister car to this won the class.

The biggest entrant was BMW, with a veritable museum’s worth of 3-series out on track.

The oldest examples were E36 M3s running in V5.

This SP6 M3 CSL carried a livery reminiscent of the old ALMS PTG cars.

Black Falcon had entered two M3s in V6 plus an E92 and a Z4.

A large number of cars were entered as pure privateer entries with no official team name, such as this V4-class E90 325i.

Finally there were the latest M3 GT4 models running in SP10. #79 was run by Dörr Motorsport and fared better than their pair of ill-fated McLaren MP4-12Cs. They were also running an SP7 Porsche 911 Cup and Seat Leon Supercopa in SP3T, which wasn’t an unusual occurrence; for instance Heico were running an LPG-fuelled Volvo C30 in AT as well as their pair of SLS.

This wide-bodied 1 Coupé was looking pretty racy – it was competing the SP5 class, where it triumphed over a half-dozen other BMW 3-series and 1s, reaching 39th overall at the flag.

This D3T 135 D GTR was sporting what appeared to be the most popular body modification: many cars were missing rear bodywork, after accidents meant it was often quicker and easier to rip the whole panel off.

Driving back to Frankfurt airport on Monday morning, Paddy and I passed this 325i E92 Coupé on the back on a simple trailer hooked up to a BMW saloon: totally indicative of the way the grassroots side of the race is maintained.

Various iterations of Z4s were also out: alongside the five Z4 GT3s were eight older models running across both the production V and racing SP classes.

Eight Audi TTs were entered across the SP4T and SP3T classes, with the SP4T TT RS models looking surprisingly fast out on track.

Next to the Manta, this is another car that you just wouldn’t expect to be in the race by any stretch of the imagination – and for that reason was another cheered on by the fans. This Audi A8 was a regular exec saloon before the Derichs Rennwagen team got hold of it and decided to turn it into a racer. The rear seats were stripped out, saving 150kg, and another 350kg was chopped out.

The brakes from a 911 were added to help slow down the big V12-powered car – but the Audi Stability and full Quattro system were left in place, as was the automatic gearbox and full power steering. It’s probably still got cup holders! Its engine size meant it’s in a class where it couldn’t really compete, but fun and finishing was the goal – both of which were achieved. 90th position at the chequer for the big A8.

For the Schubert team it had been a sad end for the challenge of their two GT3 BMW Z4 Coupés, but they paid tribute to the thousands of spectators. On the back of the #20 they also added ‘Win 2013′…

So, like the wind they’ll be back, as will Speedhunters. We’ll have some final behind-the-scenes stories to wrap things up from Germany, with tales from the forests and also the spanners of WRT, but this is just the start of the major endurance race season. Next month is the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours, and then in July we’ll be out again with the WRT Audi R8 LMS at the Spa 24 Hours. No sleep till La Sarthe!

Jonathan Moore

Speedhunters at the 2012 Nürburgring 24 Hours

… you’re in for a big surprise. No, you really are in for a big surprise. The official figures from last weekend’s Nürburgring 24HR indicated that somewhere around 235,000 people attended the event. Regardless of how you look at it, that’s quite a lot of people converging on the same place for the same purpose. Well, almost the same purpose. I think the term ‘festival’ probably best describes the atmosphere at the N24, a week long party and celebration of a magnificent event.

These very kind gentleman had travelled from the Netherlands to watch this year’s event. Asides from building their own bar and VIP area at the side of the track, they also came well prepared.

Their articulated lorry trailer comfortably slept all of them (the term comfort is relative at the N24) along with 1200 litres of fresh water to shower and bathe themselves. They also had a complete kitchen and bathroom area. At. the. side. of. a. race. track.

They also seem to have acquired a memento or two on their travels …

Spectators begin arriving at the circuit long in advance of the first on-track session Thursday morning. A simple recipe of relax, enjoy a beer or several and watch the action from the comfort of their ‘homes’.

From a media perspective, making your way around the circuit can be a complete nightmare at times. I think it’s the only circuit where a machete to cut through the undergrowth would be welcomed.

Generally speaking, shards of fiberglass and carbon fibre mean that this is probably not a safe spot to stand. Best to keep moving so.

With a circuit that’s nearly 16 miles long, sometimes it can take a while for the action to kick off. If there’s a delay, there is usually no way of knowing what’s causing it or when you can expect things to kick off again.

It’s a shame our light capturing devices can’t catch sounds or smells as well. If you want to experience the N24 but can’t make it – try listening to some German folk / techno hybrid music whilst setting things in your living room on fire for the rest of this story. It should give you a pretty accurate idea …

I don’t know about you guys, but the first thing I want to do when arriving on the side of a mountain is to build my own pirate ship complete with cannons and its own PA system.

Maybe if you have the time, you might prefer to carry out some landscaping? Perhaps with a nice water feature?

Camping doesn’t have to mean you can’t bring the modern world with you.

I have to admit that I was a little jealous of those who had the pleasure of just sitting back and soaking everything in. In saying that, I know I’d probably get bored after five minutes and want to go back shooting.

I don’t know who Jenny B is, but she sure is loved – I lost count of the amount of romantic messages written on the barriers / track.

This security guard was congratulating Sean on his wood. We were all proud of Sean getting his wood.

This is the reality of shooting the Nordschleife – long narrow paths which you’re never really certain what way they will lead you.

You’re often reminded of just how far from civilization you are. That’s the Mercedes stand of the GP circuit on the horizon taken from a location which is pretty much at the start of the Nordschleife. This place isn’t small.

Some parts of the track are remarkably easy to get to. The Pflanzgarten area in particular is located immediately beside a main road.

It’s also a particularly dangerous area to shoot from. Last year, a car ended up between the armco and catch fence and this year another car attempted to move the armco back a couple of feet. When the organizers say an area is a ‘red zone’ for media, they aren’t kidding or doing it for the sake of it.

Something Sean and I spoke about quite a lot over the weekend is how you can literally move five or ten feet and get a whole new look on the place. You never want to stop shooting here.

This shot is taken maybe twenty feet away from the shot above (at a difference time of the day too). You couldn’t ask for more variety from the one circuit. It’s just incredible.

When night falls, everything changes again. It’s as much a test of endurance for the media as it is for the drivers.

Since we’re talking about shooting, I don’t think we can get away without mentioning one of the most famous corners in motor racing – the Caracciola Karussell.

I’m working on a Temple of Speed story on the Nordschleife at the moment so I’ll go into a little bit more detail in that.

Photographing the Karussell is actually a lot tougher than you would think. Getting the typical Karussell shot is easy enough, but coming up with a unique and fresh perspective proves a lot more difficult. Slow panning shots are difficult with the cars bumping up and down over the slabs of concrete on the berm.

Watching the cars exit the Karussell is highly entertaining – some are graceful with their exit whilst others just explode out of the corner.

I think I’d go as far as saying that there isn’t one single corner on the Nordschleife that isn’t interesting to shoot.

Especially when the light is good, the place is just magical. It’s for this reason that if I could only shoot one event per year, it would be the N24.

Even the spectator areas can be just as good if not better than the photographer only areas. They’re certainly a lot safer too. Well, except for the snakes. I hate snakes.

Getting a shot which relates to an important incident during the race is nothing short of pot luck. The chances of it happening near you are pretty much a thousand to one.

With the race finally ending after what feels like a fast eternity, you always feel that you could have done more (even if you physically could not have). It’s an event that you never really feel you can beat, but that doesn’t stop you wanting to go back again and again each year.

Until next year my old foe, we shall dance again.

-

Paddy McGrath
e: paddy@speedhunters.com

The 2012 ADAC Zurich Nürburgring 24 Hour on Speedhunters

Time to head back to Central Circuit now and continue on with the coverage of Hellaflush Kansai. I’ll start off with two of the most talked about cars of this year, first up the Super Made Aristo which we have already featured, and the street-spec BenSopra demo car. Ueda-san, the man behind the all-new tuning company, has just fitted the bronze R35 with side exit exhausts which I’m told constantly spew fire out! You can expect a full feature on this car pretty soon…with a few driving impressions thrown in for good measure!

Mark from Fatlace is really on to something with these shows as they combine such a variety of cars that you would just never see at the usual style-specific same meets. It’s great as it keeps interest flowing for those that drop by to check what is on show. On one far corner of the paddock I came across this little varied line up, which on top of this nice Aristo and the bronze M3 from the previous post…

…included this bagged A4 Avant on 15-inch Meisters. Who said bigger was better??

I thought this GS was pretty cool, kind of incorporating the feel of the new Spindle Grille (that will soon be incorporated into the whole Lexus line up) into the older GS. I thought it kind of had a Five Axis feel to it too, in a more angular Japanese way.

Rays had a cool couple of cars on display at their booth like this Weber Sports 350Z…

…along with MadMike’s Japbull. The 4-rotor FD was running the new powder coated Gram Lights 57Xtreme.

Car Craft Boon, the fathers of Osaka JDM, are nothing short of trend setters in the Japanese Honda scene coming up with crazy new ideas that can turn even the most mundane of Honda vehicles into something very special. This Civic Shuttle riding on their special Loop 5 version of the Meister CR01 is the perfect example.

Check out this lime green Scirocco on the new 19-inch version of the Work Meister M1Rs. The car rides on AirRex air suspension…kind of representing the other school of thought when it comes to fitment.

The ex-Blitz RWD R35 GT-R that is now the BenSopra demo car has recently received new graphics as well as a few engine alterations. The big Garrett turbos it was fitted with were binned in favor of stock IHI units while the team figures out what to run on it next. The bad thing is it no longer has the 1000 HP the big (and leaking) older turbos provided…however it is now driveable and Ueda-san was showing off just how much so later on in the day as the paddock emptied out from all the show cars. Do you guys want to see this beast shred through those pricey Yokohama 20-inch slicks?

Fifeteen52 wheels has made it to Japan recently and Hellaflush Japan was the first time I’ve had a chance to see these rims up close, as fitted to their Bora.

The K20A powered Rhythm Motors EF we saw yesterday was a more traditional aspirated interpretation of how a fast Honda should look and sound like…

…while this Osaka JDM built EK took a more boost-filled approach. As Furukawa-san, the man behind Car Craft Boon, told us…”this thing is crazy fast!”

No doubts there that’s for sure. The owner of the car was practicing drag launches later on in the day as the paddock emptied out!

Beatles are always a popular choice in the dress up and custom scenes in Japan and I have to say I quite liked this particular turbocharged version. Looks and increased performance are definitely the way to go.

There was also one new-Gen Beatle on show to feast one’s eyes on. The cute round lines have definitely given way to a more angular and dare I say Porsche-esque shape.

The owner of this bronze 350Z Roadster was showing everyone the real reason he went for the biggest possible lip on his Work Gnosis wheels.

Now, if only they refrigerated the cans!

Sales of the little Toyota Aqua have been booming in Japan so it’s not surprising to see some more fashion conscious owners spending a little bit of money on them to give a custom look. It certainly fit in among the Civics it was parked next to.

You will probably remember this RX-8 drift car from the Nagoya Exciting Car Showdown. It’s now sporting a brushed blue wrap and a very artistically decorated front bumper.

Boso-style for the win!

The access to the paddock looked like this for the most part of the morning as many of the 370 car that signed up to display were slowly accommodated into the rather cramped show space. It made for some cool pictures seeing a continuously varying display of rides crawling up the road!

Just a bit of onikyan never hurt anyone, right?

Before the paddock opened up its doors to the public I grabbed this shot of the Fatlace Japan S13 drift car that was on display at the Tokyo Auto Salon earlier in the year. Check out those two wide asses in the background there!

It’s really amazing what you come across at these gatherings, people attempting some pretty wild ideas to make their cars stand out from the crowd. The bunch of friends that rolled in with their 326 Power kitted S-chassis really got themselves noticed, especially this 180SX…

…which a marble effect bronze custom color. Wouldn’t want to take this out drifting just in case you would even scratch it a little!

Form over function? I think not. Despite my comment above, all these guys drift their cars, including the owner of this S15 on Meister M1Rs.

And one more 326 Power S-chassis for good measure!

S & Company, who specialize in anything from custom restorations to vinyl wraps, are located in Kobe so it was a quick blast on the highway to get to the show. They showed up in this very shiny and reflective A5. My favorite part of the car has to be the titanium effect on the RS5 grille.

Low is really a way of life as this Cima shows us.

Why is it that big sedans like this Aristo looks soooo right with pumped fenders! I’m really liking how this particular branch of VIP style is going!

Next up is a short walk over to the other smaller paddock where the rest of the show was taking place. There we will find cool cars like this matte pink creation from Nagano Koubou. Back soon…

Hellaflush

Fatlace

Hellaflush Kansai coverage on Speedhunters

-Dino Dalle Carbonare

What we are about to announce has been a work in progress over the last two and a half years, yet it hasn’t technically even started. I’ll explain:

Just as the first Toyota FT 86 renders started popping up, I immediately thought to myself that this is the drift car of the new generation. Built as a light and affordable, medium powered 2+2 seater, it had all the specifics of a true Drivers Car. As further concept cars were released and a final production version came on the horizon, I set my aim on getting our team one of these cars and prepare it for drifting.

Toyota Norway had kindly come on board our rookie Formula Drift “program” with some parts sponsorship in 2010, and without their support I don’t know what would have happened – we might not have been able to pull through. At that time, I carefully proposed an official, European Toyota GT 86 drift program, but there was a lot of uncertainty revolving around the model as no one really knew when, how and even if the car would become a reality. Plus, I know if I was a car importer, the thought of handing over the keys to a kid who aches to go through as many tires as possible and skim every concrete wall he sees would take a little bit of getting used to.

The breakthrough came last November, when I did a Toyota World Convention drift demo in Las Vegas. Lars-Erik Årøy, CEO of Toyota Norway, asked me how a smalltown kid from Ski, Norway, ended up sliding cars around in front of the 800 top executives from one of the worlds largest car manufacturers, accompanied by fighter jets, NASCARs and Kenny Loggins’ “Danger Zone”.

I told him my story, and made sure to also tell him how I thought our future goals could align. Since then on, we have been working hard to make today’s announcement become a reality.

Please say hello to the Speedhunters Toyota 86-X drift car.

We receive the base car on June 5th, and its first drift car incarnation is scheduled to be ready for Gatebil in Norway on the weekend of July 13th-15th. We will adapt most of the running gear out of the Team Need for Speed Japan Auto Supra, including our 700hp 2JZ-GTE, before we drop in a Brian Crower 3.4 stroker later in the year. It will all be packaged in a TRA Kyoto Rocket Bunny widebody kit, along with several major and minor modifications.

I would like to use the opportunity to thank every single one of you who has been, currently is and will remain a part of this journey, for all of your efforts. As we move forward, I want everyone involved to remember what this project really is all about: Fun. As Toyota is bringing joy back into their cars, I am extremely excited to take on this project with all of you.

And yes, there will be Hold Stumt stickers on this one. Plenty!!

Fredric Aasbø

Follow the Speedhunters Toyota 86-X build across all Speedhunters outlets, as well as on the following social media channels:

Facebook.com/OfficialFredricAasbo

Twitter.com/FredricAasbo
Instagram: FredricAasbo
Hashtag: #86-X

86-X rendering by Michael Creighton.

This year’s 40th edition of the Nürburgring 24 Hours served up all the usual things: the expected unexpected. To start off with there was the entry list: more compact than normal, but with an insane spread of cars and classes who would be fighting for the same piece of narrow tarmac. There was 24 hours of tooth-and-nail racing around the Nordschleife. There was that finish. And of course there was the hugely changeable weather, with skies altering by the minute in the run-up to the race as the racing gods decided whether to throw down thunder and lightning (cue Speedhunters waterproofs), burning sunshine (cue Speedhunters mankinis.You know you want them) or anything in between.

The track itself is as phenomenal as everyone says. Breath-taking even as a concept, in real life the living, breathing entity that is the Nordschleife leaves you with a feeling you’re never forget. It makes no sense at all to race here, but thank god they do. The covering of graffiti which is freshly applied before each race surely can’t do anything for grip…

Racing cars usually have a track map stuck to the inside, either on the door or the hub of the steering wheel. Normally I’m surprised they bother – how could you not know where you are on a regular track with a dozen corners? At the Nürburgring it’s absolutely essential. Drivers say that they quickly learn the Nordschleife despite its complexity, but still in the heat of battle it’s easy to lose track of exactly where you are.

The other thing about the Nordschleife that’s easy to forget is that it’s actually a public toll road. The Touristenfahrten route has an exit along the track at Adenau that you could take during non-racing weekends if, for instance, you wanted a pint of milk really, really quickly. This is the Breidscheid exit, closed during the 24 Hours perhaps to prevent any cheeky short-cuts.

But the best thing about this race is the spirit of the event. It’s all about racing. It’s not how fast your car is, or the size of your hospitality, but the taking part. Whatever you’ve got and whoever you are, there’s a real possibility that you too could place a 24 Hour Norschleife sticker on your own racing car and take part if you really wanted to, which isn’t something you could possible say about other major races.

Everyone praises what Nürburgring established… This place is the proving ground for many things. So, with a day of rest after our weekend’s travails, we’ve had a bit of time to reflect on the events of the last week.

For Speedhunters part, we were lucky enough to be paired up with the Belgian WRT team, running an Audi R8 LMS with an incredibly strong quartet of drivers. This gave us some great access over the weekend to really get under the skin of what makes a race team tick (and what keeps them going) during a 24-hour race – they’ll be more coming up on that soon.

To complement the car, we also had Camille Sebaoui and Julie Dovetta showing off a beta range of new Speedhunters apparel that the male contingent wouldn’t look half so good modelling.

It’ll be interesting to see what makes it into production. Let us know your favourites!

For the photographers, the lines of desks in the F1 media centre awaited us. This is the pristine condition on Wednesday afternoon, before everyone started arriving. How it looked at 6am on Sunday morning can be imagined…

Needless to say, a lot of this was necessary.

With well over 400 cars taking part in the 24 Hours, 24 Hours Classic, British GT and supporting Cup events, every inch of the in-field paddock of the track was taken up. Teams took many different approaches to setting up their working spaces for the weekend, mostly based on budget. The Vita4One BMW team went for the inflatable geodesic igloo approach, unique in the paddock.

The team were able to work on their two GT3 BMW Z4 Coupés in air-conditioned comfort whilst giving the paddock visitors good visibility of the goings-on inside: no opaque curtains here.

With the number of cars taking part, the tyre manufacturers had sprawling compounds for supplying the teams with constant stream of rubber that would be required during the week. Dunlop’s was a veritable rubberised Disney Land of machinery, trucks and tents.

The road-car equivalents of many of the racers competing in the 24 Hours were scattered around the paddock, including this trio of McLaren MP4-12Cs which had been driven over from the UK. Haribo had a number of Panameras liveried as per their Porsche race-car plus a golden Corvette to go with their C6R.

Skate-Aid had this Caddy on show opposite their stand: the skateboarders were involved with a charity supporting a Dodge Viper racing in the AT class – one of many cars that I only saw once and hadn’t even realised was racing. I caught the Viper right at the end of the race when it crossed the finish line… 24 hours late?

Time to turn into… Truckhunters! But this old Mercedes truck, being used by a German team running an Aston Martin Vantage GT4 in the SP10 class, was absolutely beautiful. A classy way to transport a racing car.

The paddock itself was buzzing all weekend, as teams hurried between the three long rows of make-shift garages, guests wandered between barbecues and spectators soaked up the excitement.

Camille and Julie were doing a fine job of dishing out handfuls of WRT Speedhunters stickers to the passing crowds – Speedhunters readers got the special extra of our new phone-sized line of stickers.

Anything and anyone was fair game for stickering…

Levels of cuteness varied – but everyone was friendly!

Our friends at Schubert Motorsport were running a pair of BMW Z4 Coupés as the official factory representatives of BMW, hence having a hatful of works drivers in their driver-line-ups. Veteran ‘Ring ringer Uwe Alzen was part of the crew for the lead #19 car; he’d go on to set a blistering lap in the Top 40 Qualifying to take the pole time.

Schubert team director Stefan Wendl was happily examining the new light clusters that would be fitted to the Z4s for this event; Like Audi, BMW also had a big presence at the track – they had a huge marquee erected on the outside of final corner of the GP track, where it peeled off onto the Nordschleife.

Of the seven works-supported Audi R8 LMS, these two had interesting line-ups: each car had a pair of pro drivers lined up with two amateurs. The gentleman drivers had been part of a training programme sold by Audi; the best four drivers were selected at the final event of the training and then added to the roster for the 24 Hours. The #25 car ended up a creditable 17th at the finish; the #24 suffered problems and finished well down the order.

The Gemballa McLaren entered the race in a flurry of publicity, as ex-Formula 1 driver Nick Heidfeld and DTM legend Klaus Ludwig were late additions to the driver strength. Ludwig had retired from racing but was tempted back for one more go, as so often happens with old racers; his son Luca was actually also in the race, driving the #9 Raeder Audi R8 LMS Ultra. Ludwig Senior would have an abrupt and dramatic end to his 24 Hours after he came together with a Seat Leon – thankfully both drivers emerged from the wreck unharmed.

Two more McLaren entries had slipped in under the radar, courtesy of Dörr Motorsport: both unfortunately suffered from poor reliability and accidents in the race and were out early.

The pair of low-slung Imprezas running in the SP3T class had some major support behind them: this is the Australian-crewed #117.

But the main focus was on the factory-supported Impreza GVB, #133.

A big huddle of Japanese media and Subaru PRs followed the mechanics and crew’s every move over the 24 hours – video cameras, SLRS and phones were constantly being pointed at the popular team.

As with Le Mans, some of the the Japanese manufactures take this race very seriously, stopping just short of full works-branded efforts.

The emphasis is as much on learning about the cars as it is victory in the race itself: there’s justified belief in the fact that you can learn more from a single race here than a year of testing. The results are then passed on to the road-car engineering team to be integrated into development programmes.

The Lexus LFA is a firm fan favourite and has now raced in various iterations at the Nürburgring 24 Hours since 2008. On the grid the drivers were swamped, and the car would go on to record an impressive 15th place finish overall – winning its class and beating its nearest challenger, the Aston Martin Zagato, by over 10 laps.

This year Gazoo Racing also introduced a pair of new Toyota GT86s to the ‘Ring: the cars ran well in the SP3 class against a mixed bag of Clios, Hondas and BMWs, winning the class by less than a lap but finishing 46th overall.

To complete the Toyota grand-slam success, a pair of production-spec GT86s in the V3 class entered by a Swiss team also won, against a pair of Opel Astra OPCs. The #200 car finished in 78th overall.

SP3 was hard-fought – it was one of the larger sub-classes, with 16 competitors. There were a pair of S2000s entered, but both had tough races and finished well down.

The two Nissan GT-Rs at the 24 Hours were of very different specs, but frustratingly lumped into the their own two-car class for the race. This meant it was more an internecine battle to see who could finish higher overall. The #123 GT-R finished in an excellent 30th position come 4pm on Sunday – this was the car crewed by the winners of the Playstation competition to turn gamers into drivers. Lucas Ordonez in particular has flourished, even coming second in the LMP2 class at the Le Mans 24 Hours last year.

The second GT-R was helmed by current World GT1 Champion and factory Nissan driver Michael Krumm alongside long-time Le Mans entrant Toshio Suzuki and Japanese Super GT drivers Tetsuya Tanaka and Kazuki Hoshino. This Track Pack version of the GT-R was deliberately entered as a test mule to see how the road-car would perform under extreme conditions.

And if you want extreme conditions… drive your Impreza into something solid and see what happens afterwards. #117 still finished, and in 73rd overall. I’ll take a look at some of the other class entries next up.

Jonathan Moore

Speedhunters at the 2012 Nürburgring 24 Hours

People that know me well say that I can be pretty soft. If Vaughn Gittin Jr. is Captain America and my team mate Matt Powers is an animal, I am definitely mild in manners and pretty bland in comparison.

But although I believe strongly in being a humble competitor and a good sport, people that know me TRULY well know that sometimes there is a colder, more calculated Fredric lurking in the background.

When Formula Drift Round 2 at Road Atlanta came around, we knew that it was time to bring out that darker Fredric.

It was a community effort really. These two gentlemen, Shawn and Aldo, are my right and left wingmen on the track. They have been working hard with my crew chief Stephan Papadakis to prepare the Need for Speed Scion tC for its second year in competition, and after what we felt was a good performance in Long Beach – everything taken into account – we really wanted to drop the hammer this time.

Right from the start, somewhere deep inside me, I had a feeling we could do just that.

First of all, the tC is a whole different animal now. At last year’s Irwindale finals where I “gently” parked the car in the wall, we had a full on heat of the moment, super constructive discussion on what we all want the car to do and what I want to learn as a driver.

We came up with a long list of small and big changes to the car. It’s an involving process, as we have taken on a car and an engine program that a lot of people say can’t work since it starts out so far from the ideal drift car. I mean, it’s a front wheel drive car with a minivan motor!

But seeing as we are having drifting royalty like Rhys Millen come over and check it out, there must be something about it.

I look at it this way: I give a lot of credit to Scion for bringing so much diversity to the sport – both car and driver wise. Just look at their drivers, we have a true japanese cartoon character (Ken Gushi), a Norwegian teddy bear, and a guy that goes by either The Hurricane or The Bulldozer (Tony Angelo)!

Also, the day you make something completely different to the norm actually work well, I think it feels even more rewarding. But there is obviously a risk that you’ll never accomplish that, but no one ever started racing because it’s easy.

The Toyota 2AR motor had zero race development when we took on it last year. No one had ever pushed these motors into bigger power before Papadakis Racing (and my NFS team mate Chris Rado and his program) started putting them to test last year.

To make the engines work as well as they do right now is quite an achievement. I had a lot of respect for Stephan P and his guys before, but as I’ve gotten to know their focus and their work I have even more respect.

One thing is dedication, and a lot of guys have that. But I think Stephan’s meticulous focus and ability to think outside the box is what really brought him and the team to their accomplishments over the years. I feel very grateful to now be a part of it.

On my end, I spent a few months back in Norway after last year’s season, and was lucky enough to get some practice on the frozen lakes back home. For tires, we run WRC rally ice take offs. They have strange grip as they are loose around the middle, but grip up like crazy the more angle and speed you throw at them.

Needless to say, this was so much fun!

In February, I flew into Panama with my good friend and FD spotter from last year, Steffen, along with a handful other drivers and crew from the FD circus. It ended up as four crazy days of reggaeton and good tandem practice.

Steffen is now back in Norway finally getting his own drifting going in our friend Joachim’s Skyline R32. So this year, Chris Licup, one of my best SoCal friends is helping Papadakis Racing and me with the FD spotter duties. Chris also spotted for me in Long Beach 2010, when we had one of our absolutely best outings in the red Supra.

We were all really excited to get cracking on round 2 and the new course!

This year, the track layout was back to how it was originally designed for the inaugural Formula Drift round almost 10 years ago.

Instead of turning into the horseshoe right after turn two, we would continue up the hill and turn in at the top instead.

As soon as I heard about the course change before the event, I had a feeling I was going to dig it.

To me, this new Road Atlanta course layout was “Gatebil style”: A fast, reducing radius type road course layout, all set in a green and lush environment with a slight hillbilly vibe. I love it!

The judges told us they were looking for exactly what I was hoping for: good angle in the horseshoe, and throttle commitment coming up the hill. We had some good practice sessions trying out some different lines.

During the autograph session, I couldn’t wait to go back out! And as you can see, Bil Baldwin, the Long Beach Santa Claus corner worker was brought out courtesy of crab broker and V8 Miata driver Danny George!

Sometimes I think of all the characters at FD as what you would find in a fusion of wrestling and Mario Kart – we really have all the stereotypes here and getting to know all of these guys is so much fun!

But at some point, you just have to let that all go.

Remember, we are trying to bring out the darker Fredric here!

In qualifying, I was able to put down pretty much exactly the runs we had decided on up front, which I am very happy about.

And after some controversy with the speed gun, where it was moved to a place where it didn’t go off on half of the field (and on cars that had been among the fastest in practice), it was decided that everyone would receive the speed points. The speed points make up ten points of the maximum hundred points, which really is a big deal.

We qualified third with two almost identical scores! That’s the best we have ever qualified in FD, and I started feeling that we had something cooking. Just look at that smug face, haha!

Back in the pits, Tupac was rapping out while the guys where checking over the car.

I love hanging out and helping out where they allow me to. That’s when you get to hear all those old street racer stories.

Saturday came around, and I did my best to bring my game face! Which I guess isn’t very intimidating.

My opponent in Top 32 was Robbie Nishida in his new 3.4 stroker Soarer (SC 300). I knew that this was going to be our make it or break it of the day.

Top 32 is by far the most tense moment for me over the course of a race weekend. This is the first battle that matters, and I usually don’t have a good feeling because I’ve been trying to battle every other car in practice and it’s all so different. I end up usually not finding a “rhythm”, which makes it even more tense heading into the Top 32 battles.

There is no warm up, and no second chance (like in qualifying). It’s just a long two hour break from driving, and then…

BAM! You just have to be ON for those two 20 seconds runs.

Those are the moments I live for and nothing compares to it. Especially when we end up battling like this…

Robbie and the Bridges Racing team had had some issues with the car in practice, but we knew they had sorted it out and that Robbie was in good form. He is an amazing driver and quite accomplished both in FD and D1. I know quite a bit about the SC/Soarers as they are very similar to Supras, and I knew Robbie ran about the same line as I did, which is good.

It was a very fierce and even battle. We both took on the fight guns a blazing.

But we were able to hold it together, get the advantage and move on. Phew! But congratulations on a strong first showing, Robbie!!

We were in for the main show! I took Megan from Hankook for a ride and we rolled down for the driver introductions.

A couple of Norwegian buddies had flown over to support and they gave me one of their Norwegian flag t-shirts, which they had spray painted in the hotel parking lot the night before. Thanks Daniel and Chris, that’s what I’m talking about!

Then, Matt and I did our tandem donuts and scooted back up the hill for the sweet sixteen.

I faced Kyle Mohan, and as you can see, he was on me.

However, I was able to chase him slightly closer and we moved on to the top 8! It’s always a pleasure seeing Kyle and his dad Joe at the track. They are always smiling and high-fiving. Thanks for a good battle!

Next up was a certain Rhys Millen.

When we were up at the grid getting ready, I called him the Godfather of drifting. I think he took it as I said he was old, which wasn’t the intention at all! It is more an observation of a truly accomplished gentleman race car driver. I think he’s a very interesting character.

“Rhys might not always drift, but when he does, he does it with style.”

This is my favorite photo in this post, and it shows by far the most hairy portion of the track. Entry speeds are up in the 100s (mph) which isn’t really that fast, but at the same time it is, because you are going as fast as you possibly can. Coming down the hill after launching you are essentially trying to keep up with a drag car before you rip the brakes and slow down as much as you can. One thing is to drift close in a high speed turn, something totally different is drifting close in a big braking zone where your exit speed is key.

This entry really sets the tone for the entire run, maybe even more so than on other tracks, and if you’re off here it messes up your whole run. This exact photo is THE money shot, because it shows the moment you realize whether it’s going to be a good run, or a catastrophe…

But we were able to edge out Rhys after some clean, fast battles. We were in the top four. I couldn’t believe it!!

And then came Godzilla…

…Daigo Saito.

He was glued to my back, and I could hear that baby-eating turbo monster chase me down like a blood hound all the way through the course.

And when my turn came around, I was really, really hoping he would hear a certain minivan motor just as well.

Last time I battled Daigo was in fact back in Norway at Gatebil Vålerbanen in 2009. It ended up with him rolling his car and me destroying all fiberglass present on my car, and we weren’t far off a repeat this time.

At least I know I wasn’t!

And although I simply couldn’t see at times due to all the smoke coming off Daigo’s long gears, the judges saw us through.

That’s right, we won! HELL YEAH!!!! The fact that I stuck on the outer line, completely blindfolded when he cut slightly shallow into the horseshoe ended up being the dealbreaker.

Thanks for two amazing battles, Daigo! I think you are the most diverse drift driver in the world, and the style you bring to FD is such an inspiration to everyone in the sport. I really hope we can battle again soon!

And then it was time for the Sledgehammer. Jay Tee Pee! Justin has been on a roll for his second season now and I’m truly impressed by his consistency.

But I’m not so impressed with my own consistency for this one. Contrary to what some might believe, I didn’t try to do any super flick here, but rather just go for my normal entry that had been working well up to this point.

It just felt a lot more slippery for these runs and the car just snapped out to full lock. We had the oil dipstick crack and spray oil out in the engine bay during the finals so it was either oil residue on the rear wheels, fluids from someone else, increasingly damp conditions or just a glitch in my matrix. Up to this day I still can’t explain what happened here.

Either way, I got to save it somewhat…

… and finish the run well enough, but I knew I was at a major disadvantage following that entry.

I knew I had to be ON for the chase run.

I initiated just behind him, and chased Justin up the hill…

… into the horseshoe, …

… but then, coming out of turn 5 I washed out again and dropped a wheel.

It would have been so amazing with a win, but Justin definitely deserved this one. Congratulations!

We have never been so close to a Formula Drift win, and on behalf of everyone aboard, thanks so much for making this happen. A podium in FD hangs very high, and this is our best FD Championship series event finish ever. It’s a testament to an amazing team of partners that really put it together for this one.

There you go, Justin!

Chris was happy too! That morning, he told me I could win this. I guess we got pretty close!

In the coming time, we will have some quite exciting news that I have been working on for multiple years now. To give you guys a hint, our new project will include this gentleman on the left, among others. Do you recognize him?

As we move forward with our new projects and continue our FD season, I will be mixing up my Speedhunters blogs with some shorter photo posts, and I am very interested in seeing what input you might have.

We now sit third in the Formula Drift Championship, just a couple points behind Daigo Saito in second. Five years ago, my biggest dream was to be able to mix it up with the best in Formula Drift and it feels crazy to say that we were able to do just that this past event.

Next up is Round 3 in Palm Beach, and I’m actually already in Florida working on a couple of things for the time to come. I can’t wait for the next events now!!

Thanks for your time,
Fredric

http://www.facebook.com/OfficialFredricAasbo

I’ve been trying to pinpoint what exactly it is that makes the Eagle Field Drags so great, and I think I may have figured it out.

Whether you are talking about a street legal car or a Top Fueler at the NHRA Winternationals, drag racing is a numbers game. It’s about reaction times, 60 foot times, trap speeds, and of course the all-important ET.

At Eagle Field it’s different.

The numbers are completely stripped away while the spirit and fun of vintage drag racing takes center stage. The biggest competition you’ll find is the one to get the crowd excited.

Even with no prize money or sponsorship at stake, racers bring their cars from great distances to have fun alongside like-minded purveyors of vintage drag racing style.

As I’ve mentioned before, Eagle Field is to drag racing what All Star Bash is to drifting.  There’s a reason so many people show up a hot, dusty airfield in the middle of nowhere.

Robbie Davis’ Willys Gasser is another one of the cars that made the trip down from the Pacific Northwest.

Apparently the last time this car saw a drag strip was back in 1967, and it very much looks the part.

Hand lettering > vinyl graphics.

The flathead-powered Cotton Chopper represents the early style homebuilt dragster in its purest form.

It has all the creature comforts you could possibly ask for, and how about that steering wheel position?

The Cotton Chopper was representing the Valve Burners out of the nearby city of Merced.

A fat-tired Road Runner squares off against a second generation Camaro in a Mopar vs. Chevy battle down the strip.

’64 Fairlane with the nose about as high as it will go. Red-tinted windows are a cool touch as well.

The wicked pair of drag roadsters from UFO Racing ready for action.

Bob Riedel’s Hemi-powered Plymouth out of Reno, Nevada is another one of the Eagle Field regulars.

You will find the strangest things while wandering the pits at an event like the Eagle Field Drags. I’m not quite sure what this thing is…

…but it did have flathead power.

Is it a dragster, an off-road vehicle, or maybe just the world’s coolest golf cart?

AMC Gremlin. The chances of seeing one of these on the street are extremely low, but they do pop up at the drags more often. The same goes for other American compacts from the ’70s like the Chevy Vega and the Ford Pinto.

This airbagged Caddy didn’t look like it was suited for the drags, but that didn’t stop it from laying down some serious rubber.

Henry J vs. Willys. Two bitchin’ Gassers from long defunct nameplates going heads up. This is why Eagle Field is awesome.

I was surprised to see this little Volkswagen out there mixing it up with the V8s.

It got down the track pretty well thanks to its turbo power, despite some nasty looking wheel hop.

The ’64 Fairlane comes off the line hard. On a normal dragstrip a car like this might lift the front wheels at launch, but it’s not likely at Eagle Field with its lack of traction.

The Morris Minor is another one of those lightweight import cars that became prime drag car material beginning in the ’60s. It may as well be a scaled down Willys.

A real Willys for comparison’s sake. This one was engaged in a grudge match with Riedel’s Plymouth.

Event organizer Rocky Phillips was out with his twin-engined dragster, but an unfortunate transmission issue would keep the car sidelined.

The Leggin’ It Barracuda ready to pounce at the start line.

It’s strange that two Plymouths built about 30 years apart could both look so natural together in this drag strip habitat.

Steve McCann’s blown ’49 Anglia delivery van.  It’s scary in a good way.

With that I’ll wrap up my look at Saturday’s Eagle Field drag meet.

I’ll also be releasing some desktops of course, so if you have any requests leave a comment below.

-Mike Garrett

2012 Eagle Field Drags Pt.1

More Stories by Mike Garrett

The Nürburgring Norschleife is a challenge for one lap, let alone 24 hours, but it’s made even tougher when the pressure is on for qualifying. WRT have released this video of on-board footage from Edward Sandström’s Top 40 qualifying lap in the WRT Audi R8 LMS Ultra on Friday, where he put the car 11th on the grid, just four seconds off pole. That’s four seconds over a 25km lap, after eight and half minutes of the most difficult track on the planet. In some shots the car looks like it’s running at double-speed: the tunnel-like, narrow, sinuous track demands a no-compromise, all-out approach – and luckily that’s how Edward drives, as you can see here. The Audi looks obscenely quick at times, despite the bumps, jumps and turns that constantly try to throw the car off line.

One of the highlights is when Edward drops into the Karussell at 5:45s – the banked mid-section is rough concrete, and the car looks like it’s driving over cobbles as it thumps down into the entrance, crabs round the banking and then flies out of the exit. Is the yellow marker tape on the steering wheel ever in the vertical, going-straight position for more than a fraction of a second round the track? Even on the ‘straight’ Döttinger Höhe Edward is having to make constant small corrections. All 170-plus driver crews deserve the highest respect for their incredible efforts over the weekend.

The WRT crew have also put together a second video to complement the on-board, showing more of the behind the scenes activity during qualifying, plus our lovely Speedhunters spokesmodels, Camille and Julie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILiGCS68zmQ

Jonathan Moore

Speedhunters at the 2012 Nürburgring 24 Hours

Those of you that have followed our annual Nürburgring 24 Hours coverage will know that it’s not just about the 24Hr Rennen itself. In fact, there are several other classes that share event time with the toughest endurance race on earth. For most, the classic race is the pick of the bunch.

The paddock alone is something else, more akin to that of a classic motorsport show than a live pit area.

Here you can get up close and personal with such a wide variety of machines that it boggles the mind. Camille was particularly interested in the triple carb set up on this BMW …

… whilst Rod & Jonathan admired this Porsche 935 K1.

This 356 GT really did it for me, such a sublime design and looks even better at speed.

Throughout Wednesday morning, the paddock was a hive of activity as the cars went through scrutiny.

Not one or two but three Jaguar E Types prepare for an assault on the Nordschleife.

This MKI RS2000 would finish the three hour endurance race at an average speed of over 80MPH. Old does not equal slow …

The race itself took place on the exact same layout as the 24HR race (the British GTs used just the GP circuit).

One lap here is exactly 25,378 meters or close enough to 16 miles with the top three cars completing 18 laps over the course of three hours.

That’s 288 miles at full pelt on the toughest race circuit on earth. I think I’d struggle to cover that distance in three hours on a motorway …

By the time the race has rolled into the second hour, the field of cars (some 200 started the race) is well spread around the northern loop.

Just like the 24HR, it’s around this time that things become interesting for the drivers and spectators alike as the faster cars make their way through the back markers in the slower classes.

I can’t imagine the sight of a BMW M1 coming up behind you at pace is a pleasant one.

Not alone do you have to worry about cars both in front and behind you, you also have to deal with the course itself and changing weather conditions. It might be sunny on the start / finish line but bucketing it down in Adenau.

Check out the elevation change here – the cars in the foreground are about to descend into Adenau (the lowest point of the track if memory serves me correct) …

… whilst this pack is climbing and heading out towards Bergwerk.

There’s truly not a bad view in the house.

For obvious reasons, European cars are the most popular for taking part – a plethora of Porsches, BMWs, Fords and Volkswagens amongst the most common.

The 24HR race is no doubt special, but I think the classic just pips it in the aural stakes – every car present just sounds so good.

Even as a spectator, you can get a lot closer to the action than you may be comfortable with.

As media, it’s often downright terrifying.

The sound of a proper high revving four cylinder echoing through the valley. It still sends shivers down my spine.

As the last cars vanished from view, a strange silence fell on the entire course. They were gone, their duties for the weekend completed but yet the sound of flat fours and straight sixes still reverberated through the trees…

-

Paddy McGrath
e: paddy@speedhunters.com

The 2012 ADAC Zurich Nürburgring 24 Hour on Speedhunters

I’m right in the middle of my coverage from the Eagle Field Drags at the moment, but I want to take a break to do a quick spotlight on one of the day’s stand-out cars.

Based on the classic Ford five-window Coupe, to me this is the perfect Hot Rod.

It’s no Rat Rod, but the body has just the right amount of patina to ensure you that this is no trailer queen or show car.

Then you have the engine bay, which houses a small block Chevy topped with a supercharger and a dual quad carb setup. Based on watching this car get down the Eagle Field track, the blown Chevy is putting down some healthy numbers.

The wheel and tire setup is damn near perfect, with wide mags on whitewall slicks in the rear and these race skinnies up front. Note the lack of front brakes as well.

There’s just something about perfect about that rear view with the narrowed body and tall rubber. This is why I love Hot Rods.

More on the way from Eagle Field!

-Mike Garrett

More Hot Rod Stories

More Stories by Mike Garrett

There is no other way to put it, but the Japanese are simply the masters of fitment. Since the beginning of their aftermarket-tuning scene in the seventies they have established, experimented and evolved the whole relationship between cars and the wheels they are fitted with, in the process creating specific trends and a variation in styles. Give them any car, from any manufacturer and they will make it sit perfectly on a set of nice rims. This was precisely my sentiment when walking through the 370 cars that where exhibited at Hellaflush Kansai this past weekend.

It seems the Japanese can do no wrong!

So no matter if you prefer a more functional kind of stance for your car…

…or something a little more extreme, it was hard not to appreciate the dedication that has gone into every single car that was displayed at the show.

So let’s begin to take a closer look at some of the cars that stood out the most.

I am quite a fan of the new Enkei 92 wheel and was quite happy to see a couple of cars, like this EG Civic, running a set. It’s great to see wheel manufacturers looking back in history and bringing back classic designs and with Enkei now making these in anything from Kei car sizes all the way to big 20-inch versions I am sure we will see some curious fitments in the future.

BBS of every vintage are always a very popular choice as is shown by this E36.

I’ve been spotting pictures of this Subaru Legacy all over the internet for months so it was quite nice to finally be able to see it up close. The flush fitted and aggressively cambered TE37SLs are definitely a unique choice for Japan’s favorite all-wheel drive sedan!

You can never go wrong with a bit of vintage goodness! The Japanese flags on this Crown where a nice touch, something borrowed from the typically nationalistic bosozoku culture.

This Z4 on Meisters had some interesting touches like quick release clips on the front bumper. I wonder if the owner drifts it!

Next to it was this Scirocco slammed on bags. No stuffed mascot was safe!

Most surprising car of the show for me was without any doubt this Thesis. The big Lancia sedan was only sold in Italy, bit it’s quite a regular sight on Japanese roads where people import them due to their curious and original styling and of course the rarity appeal.

I have never seen one lowered so aggressively that’s for sure! The Rotifom Forged Mono wheels seemed to fit it rather well. While I was grabbing these shots I overheard a couple of Japanese guys discussing the looks, and comparing the “either you love it or hate it” styling, with the Toyota Verossa. I couldn’t help but chuckle.

Is there any car the Work Meister CR01 doesn’t look good on!? This bronze Golf MK2 was the first European car I have seen them fitted to.

And on the subject of Golfs, check this camo MK2 out.

Honda tuner Rhythm Motors showed up with a nice selection of slammed and highly tuned Civics…

…like this particular EF Civic running a K20A swap! Like all the other cars in their crew they were running on Barramundi wheels…

…which are an original design of Common Snapper, a well known vintage car shop from Nagoya. You may remember their Datsun 510 Coupe from the Nostalgic 2 Days in Yokohama earlier this year. This time however they showed up with their crazy S30 Fairlady-Z project which they have built to break the classic car lap time record at Suzuka Circuit.

The car runs a 20B swap, a triple rotor beast capable of delivering over 600 HP!

Pretty wild right?

Let me introduce you to Mr. Rocket and Miss. Bunny! Miura-san from TRA Kyoto is one of the most talented aero designers and manufacturers in Japan and he dropped by Hellaflush with a couple of cars, one being his S13 drift and street car. He was joined by “Bunny” the new Rocket Bunny image girl.

This is the second BNR32 I’ve seen fitted with R35 wheels. These big 20-inch rims are beginning to pop up on a lot of cars now that they are becoming affordable on the second hand market.

Bosozoku EG Civic?

If you are going to go wild at least go all the way right? This slammed HR32 Skyline was riding on a set of tucked Meister M1Rs and attracting quite a lot of attention.

This F31 Nissan Leopard on Longchamps was a perfect example of how a few well-chosen simple details can make for a very nice looking car.

And this R30 Skyline was following a very similar recipe!

You can always expect to see some cool station wagons at Hellaflush; this Accord Wagon, rebadged as an Acura TSX, had been fitted with some big 19-inch Porsche rims!

The military themed S14 Silvia we first saw the other month at the Nagoya Exciting Car Showdown was also present, now sporting a front fender covered in welded-on US license plates. It was definitely getting its fair share of attention.

The exotic side of things were well represented with two of the biggest names in Japan, Rauh Welt with Toshi’s green Rough Rhythm 993 and Liberty Walk with the matt-military green Murcielago.

I’ll be back with a lot more from Hellaflush very soon!

Hellaflush

Fatlace

Hellaflush Kansai coverage on Speedhunters

-Dino Dalle Carbonare

For a few years now, a dedicated group of gearheads have been bringing drag racing to its roots at a dusty WW2-era airfield in Central California.  After my first visit to the Eagle Field Drags back in 2010, I was hooked and the events became a favorite on my yearly schedule.

It may not be as glamorous as the Nurburgring 24 where most of the Speedhunters team spent the weekend, but if you dig no-frills vintage drag racing – this is heaven.

In case you missed my coverage of these events from past years, let me quickly go over what the Eagle Field drags are all about. Just like the drag racing’s earliest days, the drag strip is nothing but an airfield runway. Although some of the Eagle Field events now feature a Christmas Tree and timing lights, Saturday’s racing was strictly old school format.

The cars roll up to the line, and wait for the flagman to give the go signal…

…and then it’s off down the dusty strip on a run to glory. Traction is poor, but the fun factor is through the roof.

With no timeslips, bragging rights are the only thing at stake for the grudge matches carried out on the old runway.

There’s also the quest to entertain the crowd – something that’s just as important as 60 foot times and trap speeds in my book.

With the coming each event, it seems more and more impressive machinery is hauled out to Eagle Field to get in on the fun. The ridiculous blown Coupe from Famoso Speed Shop was one the featured vehicles running in the spring event.

There were also plenty of street cars that made their way out. Some were local, while others came from quite far to experience this unique form of drag racing.

Among the participants was a group of Gassers that came down from the Pacific Northwest and really stole the show.

The group included this ragged looking Ford Coupe riding high on skinnies and slicks.

If you like your race cars with grit and character, this is the place to be.

The Gasser gang also included this early model Plymouth Barracuda with a tilt front end and that perfect nose-high stance.

The door says it all.

That homebuilt, “run what you brung” spirit thrives at Eagle Field. Whether it’s one of the always entertaining HAMB Dragsters…

…or this wild looking dually pick up truck known as “Freak Show”.

Even with four tires digging in, the truck still struggled for traction on the dusty runway surface.

Another drag special that looks like it was built in a backyard rather than spotless workshop. Cool.

Besides the retro machines, there’s also a good number of more contemporary Muscle Cars and door slammers at Eagle Field. Here a ’69 Camaro preps the tires for a trip down the runway.

The front-engine rail dragsters are always a crowd favorite at these events. With the lack of traction, the faster cars will simply roast their tires the entire way down the track.

Taking a break from the racing, I made my way around the pit area where I found this rough but cool Chevy wagon support vehicle.

I also took a look at the car show area, which included a small, but diverse mix of cars.

Lowdown trio.

A classy Galaxie, showing that Fords can do the lowrider/custom thing just as well as any General Motors product.

Here’s another Chevy Wagon, this one a ’63 that’s been given the lowrider treatment.

The Trailer Trash Willys Gasser is an Eagle Field regular. All it takes is one look at a car like this and you’ll know why Gassers are loved so much. The sound, the look, the speed, the history – it’s everything that makes an automobile cool.

I fall for those angled velocity stacks every time.

Kaiser-Frazer’s odd-looking Henry J didn’t catch on among car buyers in the early ’50s, but it lives on here in the form of the UFO Gasser.

A lightweight, short wheelbase car and a slippery race surface is the perfect recipe for thrills.

One of my favorite cars of the day, and a one I’ve seen at the track a few times before is this raked and blown Coupe. More on this beast in the future.

That will do it for part one.

Back tomorrow with more retro drag action from Eagle Field.

-Mike Garrett

More Drag Racing Stories on Speedhunters

More Stories by Mike Garrett

The latest release from Josh Clason’s Depth of Speed series features a man and his love for all things Datsun.

As with the previous films from this series, it’s well worth the watch.

Click play and enjoy.

-Mike Garrett

Vaughn Gittin Jr, Chris Forsberg, Matt Powers, Fredric Aasbo and Kyle Mohan are all Formula Drift competitors, but this weekend they combined forces in Tianjin for Round 1 of the World Drift Series China.

Along with an individual points championship there is a team drift competition before the start of the event. Three of the five Formula D drivers entered, Representing team USA.

Matt, Chris and Vaughn came out on top with New Zealand in second and the Chinese drivers in third.

The main event took three hours to run its course and was filled to the brim with action. One of the highlights was when Fredric Aasbo met Vaughn Gittin Jr in the top 8 bracket. It was such a great fight that I was reminded of when Fredric went up against Vaughn back in 2010 at FD Seattle.

Fredric qualified in 1st place so he lead the battle. It was too close to call, so the judges called for a one more time. As Vaughn led the OMT battle, Fredric went in a bit too hot and ended up riding the wall. Fredric and Chucky were relatively unscathed, but Vaughn moved on.

All this crazy action was happening under the watchful eye of a new fan of drifting, former president of Mexico, Vicente Fox and his wife Martha Fox.

In the finals, Vaughn met Taiwanese driver and D1 Grand Prix veteran, Feng Ren Zhi. After a one more time battle, Feng’s throttle cable broke on his follow run which gave the win to Vaughn…

…second went to Feng, and third went to Chinese driver, Wang Qi.

The Chinese, Hong Kong and International media swarmed Vaughn and the rest of the podium finishers as soon as they stepped down.

I’m looking forward to some much needed rest after having a 20 hour day following the fab five of drifting around mainland China. I’ll be back soon with more event coverage from WDS Round 1 Tianjin.

Larry Chen

More stories from WDS China on Speedhunters

More drift stories on Speedhunters

I am already dreaming of little puffy clouds of tire smoke and now there is less than two short weeks to go until the start of round 3 of the Formula Drift Pro Championship Series in Palm Beach Florida.

Click on the thumbnails below so you too can dream of marshmallows too.

Larry

More stories from Formula Drift on Speedhunters

More desktops on Speedhunters

While some of our team are busy bringing you live updates from the world’s most grueling endurance race, the Nurbugring 24 hours, I couldn’t possibly have a more different kind of coverage lined up for you from Japan. You won’t find any purposely built race cars here, this is where coolness rides supreme, where a variety of styles meet for a day of appreciation – welcome to Hellaflush Kansai.

After the great success of last year’s Hellaflush Japan gathering in Fuji Speedway, Mark Arcenal and the Fatlace crew knew that there was far more to explore in the ever expanding world of Japanese car culture. So by organizing the event at Central Circuit, located just south of Kobe in Hyogo Prefecture, they were able to attract a great deal of cars that due to distance were unable to attend last year’s meeting. The turnout, as you will see, was quite impressive.

It was a long eight-hour drive from Tokyo, but when I pulled into the paddock at Central I knew it had been worth it. I’ll give you a quick taste of what is to come, fresh rides like this 326 Power S14 Silvia…

…and this stunning 610 Bluebird-U…

…not to mention impossibly Japanese rides like this Toyota bB on Equips and sporting a bosozoku side exit exhaust.

Much like in fashion, there is a continuous evolution of cultures in the Japanese car scene, an ongoing experimentation, mix and amalgamation of what years ago may have been very defined styles.

The Bee Dragon Cima is the perfect example, a side of VIP tuning that has branded off on its own tangent. You can expect to see this car in a lot more detail in an upcoming feature…but more on that soon.

There is no doubt that enthusiasts like to do things a little more exuberantly down south. Kansai is indeed a great place to soak in some of the best and most unique car culture that Japan has to offer.

How can we forget the famous Osaka Kanjo racers, it may have all but died down these days, but it has left behind its own much respected way of doing things for Honda enthusiasts.

VIP has some curious interpretations and it was cool to see a few cars sporting the “you either love it or hate it” onikyan….or devil camber.

Kei-cars weren’t forgotten of course.

I even ran across a couple of bosozoku cars that were participating in a drag event on the main circuit.

Mark and his crew were busy all day trying to keep things running smoothly but were faced with an unexpected number of spectators that, due to lack of parking space, had to line up for hours outside the circuit. At one point I headed outside on the street to check how the situation was going…

…and was confronted even more great cars of every type. Like most events in Japan…

…the parking lots are nothing short of mind-blowing…

…so of course I stayed out there and walked around for a bit. That’s where I came across this Daihatsu Mira Cocoa slammed onto some green steel wheels.

It was cool seeing the Looking FD3S at the event too, its painstakingly applied coat of candy red shining away under the sun.

So no matter if you are into vintage cars, drift cars, exotics, imports, USDM, vans, wagons, or angular rides like this eighties Toyota Mark II…

…there will be plenty for all to see. I’ll leave you with this image of the Rocket Bunny 6666 Customs 180SX and Ben Sopra GT-R. Stay tuned for a lot more from Hellaflush Kansai!

Hellaflush

Fatlace

-Dino Dalle Carbonare

Could this have been the craziest finish ever to a Nürburgring 24 Hours? Within a lap of the end, third to fifth places all changed and even as the chequered flag was being readied for the winner two cars were smashed to pieces right on the finish line. This is what a Porsche looks like when crossed with a Renault Clio.

The #11 Manthey Porsche (which had been holding the final podium place) slowed to a halt just after the line despite the leader not yet having taken the flag. As he sat there the #169 Renault Clio flashed down the open straight – and instead of avoiding the static car ploughed straight into the back of the Porsche, critically damaging both cars and spraying debris over the line!

Behind all this chaos, the actual winner was the #3 Audi Sport Team Phoenix R8 LMS Ultra, crewed by Marc Basseng, Christopher Haase, Frank Stippler and Markus Winkelhock. They took the win after another Nürburgring 24 Hours that no one was able to truly dominate, crossing the line about a minute after the madness had unfolded in front of them and probably feeling very confused passing the stricken cars.

In a clear second was the #26 Mamerow Racing Audi R8 LMS Ultra driven by Christian Mamerow, Christian Abt, Michael Ammermüller and Armin Hahne – they had been fending off the #65 Hankook Team Heico Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG when the Mercedes suffered from an overheating engine. The Merc’s engine let go after he’d barely entered the full Norschleife with just 15 minutes left. The driver carried on for as long as he could with smoke pouring from the engine bay, but was forced to stop out on track with half a lap still to go – a heart-breaking end for the crew.

This turned what had been a tough battle for fourth into a fight for the final podium place: the #11 Wochenspiegel Team Manthey Porsche 911 GT3R had bounced back from minor problems during the early morning to steal fourth position from the #66 Hankook SLS with less than an hour on the clock – which became third on the demise of #65. But with two laps left #66 had closed right back up to the tail of the Porsche.

These two went at it hammer and tongs over the final laps of the race, with the Manthey car under intense pressure, diving past traffic, attacking every rise, jump and kerb and stretching out a small margin on the Grand Prix track that he managed to maintain all the way until Döttinger Höhe. Here Mercedes grunt towed it up to the tail of the 911 and the Porsche weaved to try and break the tow. There were still over 20 seconds to the official end of the 24 Hours, so another lap would have been necessary. Which is when the Porsche slowed just after the line… Were yet to find out the full story of why he did that – and the Clio driver’s story!

The Speedhunters WRT team suffered an overly eventful race, with the contact damage halfway through the race crippling the car and meaning the drivers were always on the back foot from then on. Finally the rear hub bearing broke on the #4 R8, putting it back in the garage with over half an hour to go: the Speedhunters WRT team rolled the car back out for a final slow lap to take the official finish.

2012 Nürbrugring 24 Hours Result
1: #3 Phoenix Audi R8 LMS Ultra 155 laps
2: #26 Mamerow Racing Audi R8 LMS Ultra +3:35s
3: #66 Hankook Team Heico Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG +11:35s
4: #29 Marc VDS BMW Z4 +1 lap
5: #65 Hankook Team Heico Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG +3 laps
6: #2 Phoenix Audi R8 LMS Ultra +4 laps
7: #28 Porsche 911 GT3R +4 laps
8: #19 BMW Team Schubert Z4 +5 laps
9: #20 BMW Team Schubert Z4 +5 laps
10: #21 Rowe Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG +5 laps

TOP CLASS POSITIONS
AT #190 Audi A4

SP2T #100 Peugeot RCZ

SP3 #166 Gazoo

SP3T #133 Subaru Impreze

SP4T #112 Audi TT S

SP5 #106 BMW 1

SP6 #98 BMW Z4

SP7 #150 Kremer Porsche (in the top 20 overall)

SP8 #83 LFA (also in the top 20 overall)

SP8T #123 Nissan GT-R

SP10 #70 BMW M3

V3 #200 GT86

V4 #208 Mercedes-Benz C230

V5 #221 BMW E92

V6 #233 Black Falcon BMW M3

Jonathan Moore

Speedhunters at the 2012 Nürburgring 24 Hours

Leading never seems to be a good idea at the Nürburgring 24 Hours: it’s almost a dead-cert for fate to deal you a bum card. Of the leaders from early on in the race, only the two Heico Hankook Mercedes SLS, the #3 Phoenix and  #26 Mamerow Audi R8 LMS Ultras haven’t suffered any major problems, and it’s this quartet who are still in contention in the late stages of the race..

We’d left off last time at just over halfway through the 24 hours, with the #2 Phoenix Audi leading after problems for the #19 Schubert BMW Z4 that had been at the sharp end through all of the first phase of the race. A driveshaft failure took the Z4 out of contention, though the BMW was eventually repaired and sent back out.

Phoenix’s second R8, #3, had moved up to the tail of its sister car, and took the lead around dawn as the #2 car pitted after running round for a short period in first and second positions. The #22 Rowe SLS completed the top three – but heavy rain was predicted for around 7am.

6.30am: the #2 Audi appears in the pits minus most of its front end. It looks like the rain has come earlier than expected.

Scratch another car from the lead battle; #2 would be another car to rejoin covered in tank tape and well down the order. Schubert’s second Z4, #20, assumed the lead. Into the 14th hour the #22 SLS moved into first place after making some great tactical calls in the changeable conditions: they would pull out an almost four minute gap over the next couple of laps.

But soon after there were more accidents due to the slippery conditions: the #10 Manthey Porsche hit the barriers of the Grand Prix track and sustains heavy front-end damage and a rear-left puncture – it struggled round the track minus all of its front-mounted radiators and dangling various important parts. Many cars could now be seen either limping around or sporting major bodywork damage.

Even cars now in one piece following early trouble were still putting the hammer down, like the pair of growling Aston Martin Vantages.

Finishing would become the target for many teams.

Passing into the 16th hour cars had been swapping to cut slicks as a drying line appeared: lap times were still 30 seconds off the dry pace. All four marques were still represented up front though, with the #22 SLS, #3 Audi, #20 BMW and #11 Porsche running first to fourth. The Speedhunters WRT Audi was back in 41st, but making up places through the slower class cars on a mission to get back onto the tail of the remaining GT3 cars.

The #9 Audi R8 LMS was the next victim of the Nordschleife’s unforgiving barriers around 9am: Thomas Mutsch ends up facing the wrong way on a downhill section minus a lot of the right of the car and is towed off the track. The Phoenix Audi was pushing hard and had caught up to the tail of the #22 SLS – which then peeled off into the pits trailing smoke. Another car fell: it was pushed into the Rowe Racing garage to have suspension damage repaired.

At midday, with four hours to go, the order was the #3 Phoenix Audi, #20 Schubert Z4, #65 Heico SLS, #26 Mamerow Audi, #66 Heico SLS, #11 Manthey Porsche.

But there were concerns for several teams as the temperatures rose and the track dried completely.

The leading two cars pitted together; the #3 Audi rolled out without problems, but the #20 was receiving closer attention – and was then pushed back into its garage, the bonnet and wheels come off and it’s jacked up. The mechanics went to work on the rear underside of the Z4. It begins its slide down the leaderboard. Game over for #20, and it would rejoin in traffic outside the top 10.

In general the pits were beginning to calm down, certainly compared to the frenzy of the previous day.

Slower cars were making it as clear as possible when they were peeling off into the pit-lane, as the entrance was just over a blind crest.

Stops were still carried out at a frantic pace when cars arrived…

…mechanics lined up behind stopped cars to help push them back into life.

But in between, the waiting game was taking its toll.

Behind the leading GT3 cars, the P4/5 was still going strongly in 14th place.

The #150 Kremer Porsche Cup car was running like a train as the highest SP7 car, in 15th overall.

The #83 Lexus LF-A was just behind in 18th, leading its class.

The Aston Martin Zagato has been chasing down the Lexus, but early problems haven’t allowed it to get into a proper race with the LF-A.

Speedhunters’ Audi R8 was recovering slowly up the order and looking like it could make it back into the top 20 by the end of the race. Smooth stops and quick laps were helping that objective.

For the drivers there would likely be just one more until the end of the race.

There was also a constant stream of cars coming in for stop-go penalties due to either exceeding track limits or pit-lane infringements: the pit officials were kept busy shuttling cars in and out of the penalty box.

Now out of stickers, Camille and Julie walked the paddock soaking up the hot sun. The weather has in general been incredibly good this weekend relative to how it normally is during the 24 Hours.

The smallest mistake or accident could still change the result of this race: the two Heico Hankook Mercedes SLS and the #26 Mamerow Audi R8 are still in striking distance of the #3 Phoenix car with less than two hours to go.

2012 Nürbrugring 24 Hours – positions after 22 hours

1: #3 Phoenix Audi R8 LMS Ultra 141 laps
2: #26 Mamerow Racing Audi R8 LMS Ultra +1 lap
3: #65 Hankook Team Heico Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG +1 lap
4: #66 Hankook Team Heico Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG +1 lap
5: #11 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3R +1 lap
6: #29 Marc VDS BMW Z4 +1 lap
8: #18 Vita4One BMW Z4 +1 lap
9: #28 Porsche 911 GT3R +1 lap
10: #20 BMW Team Schubert Z4 +1 lap

TOP CLASS POSITIONS

AT #190 Audi A4
SP2T #143 Mini
SP3 #166 Gazoo
SP3T #133 Subaru
SP4T #111 Raeder Audi TT RS
SP5 #106 BMW 1
SP6 #98 BMW Z4
SP7 #150 Kremer Porsche (in the top 20 overall)
SP8 #83 LFA (also in the top 20 overall)
SP10 #70 BMW M3
V3 #200 GT86
V4 #208 Mercedes-Benz C230
V5 #222 Z4
V6 #233 Black Falcon BMW M3

Jonathan Moore

Speedhunters at the 2012 Nürburgring 24 Hours

Radio Le Mans live race commentary

GPS car-tracker

Live timing of all sessions

Alternate live timing

Latest entry list

Audi video stream

Subaru video stream

George A. Romero references aside, the earth has finally turned just enough on its axis to allow the sun to shine on the Eifel region once more. For the sleep deprived, the darkness seemed to last an eternity. At 05:38AM the ball of fire poked its head about the horizon but with it came another twist in the story – heavy rain. Varied conditions have provided some drama to an event that certainly wasn’t lacking in it in the first place. I’ll let Jonathan fill you in on the details shortly …

-

Paddy McGrath

Time slows to a crawl at night during endurance races. For a period that takes up well over a third of the race, the darkness does more than make it extra difficult for drivers to pick their way round the pitch-black track – it also shrouds the race itself.

With the race’s TV coverage put into standby (blinding headlights in pitch black hardly makes for ideal pictures) the teams have to revert back to pure telemetry reports and timing screens, having to fly their cars blind and almost in isolation of what’s happening around them.

The glare of the pits casts an eery glow over the main straight.

Out round the track, GT3 cars passed by as flashes of white, red and blue. On the Grand Prix track, where there is at least some ambient light, you could make out models and reflective number panels gave you some chance of identifying individual cars. Out on the Nordschleife was another matter.

For an hour or so mid-evening, some fans at the track had other forms of entertainment on their mind: with a big football game showing that evening, people crowded around any place with a TV screen showing the game, from the big flat screens in the Audi hospitality to small portables in track officials’ offices.

There was no chance of diverting the teams. The #4 Speedhunters WRT Audi had struggled during its fourth stint in the hands of Allan Simonsen: time had been lost because of all the neutralised zones around the track, so Edward Sandström had been thrown at the Nordschleife for a double-stint.

After nearly three hours in the car Edward pitted for the second time just before midnight, but this time jumped out and handed over to Andrea Piccini, clutching his new seat insert.

The team went to work as Edward helped strap Andrea into the car – he was soon ready and the R8 LMS was sent back out to continue its battle.

Three hours of total concentration and extreme effort takes a massive amount out of drivers. It’s like looking at a different person when the helmet comes off after a long stint.

The whiteboard for the driver roster in the shared pits showed how the team had run the race so far and just how much of the responsibility Edward has shouldered. Time for a deserved break and some rest.

There was no break for the team… And the race was just a third done.

After being in contention right at the front during the early evening, the #29 Marc VDS car had slipped out of the top 10, but had been gradually clawing its way back.

Past midnight, the chase of the leading #19 Schubert BMW Z4 had been handed over to the #2 Audi, which would take the lead as #19 cycled through its earlier pit strategy – though #19 was still often the fastest car on the track and had led the most laps overall. In all there had been 19 lead changes between four cars: #19, #65, #11 and #2.

A lot of bonnets were coming off BMW Z4s in the pits around 1am – looking like part of a regular fluid change programme.

The first reports of rain around the track came in at 2.30am – or, as my literal web translation from the German says: ‘The weather frogs have boom; rain using now is announced in parts’.

Gradually the #19 BMW’s strategy was pulling it away from everyone except the #2 Phoenix Audi. Each time it emerged from the pits after a stop it was higher up than the last time – after its ninth stop it came out in second rather than third to the yet-to-pit #2. With almost nine hours down it looked being a straight fight between these two cars. But 24-hour races are fickle things, as we’d find out.

The WRT crew had just sent out the Speedhunters WRT Audi R8…

…but were soon back out in the pit-lane to receive the car again.

The car was examined, and then dragged back into the garage.

It seems that Andrea was lapping a car entering the Nordschleife and collided with it, cutting a tyre and damaging the car. With the tyre replaced, Oliver Jarvis took over the car and went back out but reported something majorly wrong so brought the car straight back in. The steering column and right-front suspension components would need replacing, losing the car over an age and tumbling #4 down the order and out of any contention for a good result.

The #11 Manthey Porsche appeared to be the dark horse of the race, also on an off-kilter strategy, but was forced to pit with front-left bodywork damage on lap 68, dropping it out of the top 10.

To keep some cars going there was some paddock cannibalisation going on, as we’ve seen previously in the Dubai 24 Hours. This Focus was donating parts to its racing brother.

The lack of sleep was beginning to affect everyone – though some more than others… More rain was falling around the track and reports of crashes were filtering back, including the #44 Falken Porsche and a Vita4One BMW Z4.

Then came the shock news that the #19 Z4 had pitted just five laps into a stint and was being pushed back into the garage. The bonnet came off and the mechanics went to work at the rear of the car, seemingly investigating wheel alignment and brake problems. Could this be the point where the race passed into Audi’s hands?

2012 Nürbrugring 24 Hours – positions after 12 hours

1: #2 Phoenix Audi R8 LMS Ultra 78 laps
2: #22 Rowe Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG +1:28s
3: #65 Hankook Team Heico Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG +2:02s
4: #20 BMW Team Schubert Z4 +2:27s
5: #3 Phoenix Audi R8 LMS Ultra +2:58s
6: #26 Mamerow Racing Audi R8 LMS Ultra +3:43s
7: #66 Hankook Team Heico Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG +4:25s
8: #9 Raeder Audi R8 LMS Ultra +4:43s
9: #18 Vita4One BMW Z4 +4:54s
10: #10 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3R +5:55s

TOP CLASS POSITIONS
AT #190 Audi A4
SP2T #100 Peugeot RCZ
SP3 #155 Opel Manta
SP3T #133 Subaru
SP4T #111 Raeder Audi TT RS

SP5 #106 BMW 1
SP6 #98 BMW Z4
SP7 #150 Kremer Porsche (in the top 20 overall)
SP8 #83 LFA

SP10 #61 Aston Martin Vantage
V6 #233 Black Falcon BMW M3
V5 #222 Z4
V4 #208 Mercedes-Benz C230
V3 #200 GT86

Jonathan Moore

We live in a time when all you Speedhunters out there can check out Formula Drift events via live streaming from anywhere in the world, but only a lucky few of you might actually have the time and means to attend one of these events. When you’re not here in person you can miss the little tidbits that make this kind of event just so amazing and unique from any other type of motorsport, so for this story I’ll focus on what went on in the paddock before the main event. I had started my journey on the Tuesday before the event and I followed ASD from their shop in Charlotte, North Carolina, to the track in Braselton, Georgia.

As soon as I got to the track I met up with Formula Drift director of operations, Andy Luk. He showed me the new course layout, so I could adjust my shooting locations based on the new configuration.

Riding along with us was Jhonnattan Castro from the Dominican Rebublic. He is an FD rookie and this will be his first time driving this course. As Andy drove the course Jhonnattan pretended to drift it.

We stopped in the middle of the track and I found FD technical manager Kevin Wells playing in the Road Atlanta Sand box.

He was actually digging holes for the proximity sensors that he’s developed for the clipping points.

It had been raining so there was quite a bit of moisture in the ground, meaning he had to cover this hole and find another more suitable location.

I wandered off a bit and noticed some carbon-fiber shrapnel. I can only imagine what spectacular incident caused this piece to come apart from its host car.

The gravel traps help slow the cars down significantly if they spin out, but does also mean that they can’t drive out.

Although the gravel is not everywhere, if you go off there is a good chance your car will be blanketed by a layer of red dirt.

It was time for me to head out to the paddock, so I looked around and found Jhonnattan imagining himself driving the course in his 350z.

I left as Andy helping Kevin dig those endless holes.

This is also a good time for judges to start setting up the course. They change it over the weekend as they watch the drivers practice.

I decided to go check out the happenings in the paddock. There I found the ASD crew unloading the cars.

I did my best to spot for Dean as he backed up JTP’s car, and shot some pictures while I was at it. Needless to say, it was a tight fit to get out of the rig.

Atlanta is perfect for those teams who missed Long Beach, but still need to get their car inspected for safety. This was Tony Brakohiapa’s team getting their eBay-sponsored Mustang weighed on the scales.

Jeff Jones loves being early to events. In fact, he arrived the Monday before the event and he had been enjoying the city of Atlanta while he waited for everyone else to load in.

He has an all-new car for this round and it looked great. This was built from the ground up by him and his buddies.

He was just putting on the finishing touches as I rolled up.

The interior is clean and simple. It’s all function in this LS-powered S14.

He decided to go with a rear radiator setup. It looks like Jeff made a few trips to the local home improvement warehouse.

This was an interesting design cut into this rollcage plate.

Henry Schelley used to drive in Formula Drift back in 2007, so it brought back quite a lot of memories when he stepped foot on this historic track. He currently works for AEM and he will be supporting anyone running their engine management system for the whole season.

He was helping out the Bridges Racing team with Robbie Nishida’s SC300 because he has not run it in competition yet, and there were still many odds and ends that needed to be taken care of before starting practice.

One by one the teams crossed of things that needed to be addressed.

I love these decals that Achilles Radial made for their team. I think every Formula Drift driver should have a caricature.

Toshiki Yoshioka is one of the few drivers that left the V8 bandwagon last year. He is running a VQ38DETT in his RS*R S15.

This is where Dai’s troubles started. Apparently the wheels that the team used were bent, so when they aligned the car it threw everything out of whack.

The team struggled all event to get things right, but they never recovered as Ryan Tuerck knocked Dai out of the Top 32 bracket.

I thought this was interesting. Every Yokohama tire in Formula Drift has decals on the sidewalls, which are meticulously applied one by one.

The Wednesday before the event is the perfect time to set-up photo shoots as there is not much traffic in and around the paddock.

That is certainly one way to work on a Chevy Camaro.

Before the event the drivers are much more relaxed and they can catch up with their friends in a non-hostile enviorment. Everyone is fair game once the event starts though.

Global Time Attack also held its second event of the year on the same weekend at the same track. John Nadiri was stressed out as usual, which is understandable as he is in charge of so much of the operation as well as having to be a personality on camera for the live stream.

When I rolled up they were still making number decals for late entries.

Nearby was Chris Rado and his crew. They were prepping his car, as Chris was trying to hit 200mph on the straightaway at Road Atlanta. Keep in mind some of the drifters are entering at over 100mph, but they don’t have much of a running start.

I went by the Falken pits to find Ian Stewart chatting with his drivers and having a private meeting. I wonder if he gave any tips to Dmac since this was his first time driving the 350z.

As night fell it got more and more quiet, because there are strict noise regulations at night. No more engines revving.

That night it seems like most of the paddock went to downtown Atlanta for a screening of the Keep Drifting Fun movie. You can check it out here.

This was the most drivers I have ever seen at an event at Road Atlanta. There were over 50 drivers, so it took quite a while to get everyone through qualifying. Many of the drivers only got a few runs of practice before it was time to qualify.

Veteran judge Ryan Lanteigne is a drifter at heart, so he can relate to each and every one of the drivers.

Lead judge Andy Yen used to be a Formula Drift driver himself, so he is in the same boat.

I asked rookie judge Brian Eggert if he had been nervous at Round 1 in Long Beach, because his hands were incredibly steady as he pointed things out on the course here. He told me he was very nervous in Long Beach, but he quickly felt at home so he was doing just fine in Atlanta.

The driver meetings are pretty chaotic. I’ve noticed most other racing series don’t allow media in the drivers meetings. It is a time for them to bond and relax a bit.

I’m sure it can be nerve-wracking, as spotters and crew chiefs crowd the area as well as media like me with my big lenses in their face.

In this meeting we had the pleasure of having Bil Baldwin, the SCCA flagger from Southern California.

He has become a bit of a celebrity in the drifting world. He even has his own decal now.

He actually tagged along with Formula Drift rookie, Danny George, all the way from the west coast in their truck and trailer.

Danny seems to be getting the hang of driving at professional events. This time was his first time making Top 32.

Unfortunately, he never made it to the line because he broke his oil pan during practice after running over the rumble strips.

I am sure Danny and the crew had fun as always. Bil even signed a one dollar bill for a fan.

Caption contest anyone? It’s a bird, it’s a plane… it’s Daigo Saito in his huge winged SC430.

It seems like every time I am in line at the autograph session the drivers try to sign my camera.

I swear this has got to be the most friendly rivalry on the FD grid. Just look at the way JTP cleans Matt’s mouth after eating a Clif Bar.

Drifting would just not be the same without the ‘race queens’ – or as we call them, the umbrella girls.

With someone with as much surface area as Fredric he needs four umbrella girls to keep the sun off.

Spotters like Tommy Roberts don’t get umbrella girls so they have to make sure to protect themselves from the sun.

I spent quite a bit of my time on the grid writing my article about everyones ‘weekend office’.

I may have also annoyed a few people shoving a big fat camera in front of their faces.

It is one of the few times during an event where you get to photograph the drivers while wearing their helmets.

This event had its fair share of upsets. Chris Forsberg broke his lower control arm as he initiated going against Yoshiyoka. They broke their main one on Friday and then they bent their spare one during Saturday morning practice.

So the reason why it snapped in Top 32 was because they were running the spare one that was already bent from the morning practice and they didn’t have any more spares.

I am guessing it is from all the dirt drops that wore down the dirt on the outside of the curbs. Without a doubt Chris will be bringing the force in Palm Beach.

One of the highlights of the event was Mike Essa with his crazy backward entries. The judges specifically asked the drivers not to do backward entries, because most drivers end up slowing down to a crawl. However, they said if you can do it right you are more than welcome to.

Well not only did Mike do it right, I would go as far as to say he nearly perfected it. Unfortunately, he got knocked out by JTP in the Top 8.

It was good to see Vaughn Gittin Jr back in the groove. It seems all too long since I last saw him do his ready-to-rock Top 16 ritual.

I did not expect to see Daigo Saito and Vaughn battle so early in the season. It was a treat for sure, but I think Daigo was just getting Vaughn back for what happened in China last year.

I know Jim Liaw, president and co-founder of Formula Drift, was happy. The place was absolutely packed. This was defnitly the largest attendance I’ve ever seen at this venue.

The staff had their work cut out for them. Although, I am sure it helped that everything on the schedule was very spaced out.

The trackside staff were also busy as there were quite a few incidents during the entire weekend, but there is always time for a cigar break.

You can always tell if an event was really good by how coarse Jarod Deanda’s voice is during the trophy ceremony. Even though he has been doing this since the beginning, nine years ago to this day, he still gets super excited and just can’t help but yell at the top of his lungs during the event.

This event was no exception. I remember he once mentioned to me that he paces himself over the weekend to save his voice for the end. It does not help that Atlanta has the most rowdy crowd out of all of the stops.

Well, that is if for my behind the scenes look at Formula drift round 2 in Atlanta. Stay tuned for an event recap from Matt Powers and a driver blog from Fredric Aasbo.

Larry Chen

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At the end of lap four the #19 and #29 Marc VDS BMWs both pitted early: this would put them out of sequence from then on, but with fuel pumps in the garages shared between perhaps a dozen cars it made sense to reduce the chance of being caught up in a fight to get gas.

By the fifth lap Edward was right on the boot lid of the #2 Phoenix Audi and #15 Black Falcon SLS: they were screaming round the Nordschleife as a trio – until they reached the long straight at Döttinger Höhe. #2 slipstreamed up behind the SLS, but as they reached v-max just inches apart the rear-right tyre on the SLS exploded and the car turned hard right into the barrier. Edward and #2 just avoid the accident, but double-yellows fly.

Worse was to come, as the straight became a magnet for accidents: a Porsche Cayman came steaming up Döttinger Höhe seemingly oblivious to the slowing traffic, crested the rise, braked, locked up and also speared off into the barrier, wiping out the front end and spewing radiator fluid onto the track, adding to the remains of the SLS. The #90 Corvette also then stopped in the same area with damage, after a flailing punctured tyre took out the C6′s battery. It then became the World Of Punctures: more and more cars had to struggle back to the pits with destroyed rubber trailing behind.

Aston Martin had a horrific opening hour: both the #006 and #007 Vantages were in trouble, with the former stuck in the pits with suspected gearbox problems and the latter stranded at Adenau with a cut tyre. At least the Zagato was running without issue, giving Aston some cheer.

Up front, of the 31 GT3 cars that had started together just 17 remained in the same group due to the accidents and punctures. Kremer’s SP7-class Porsche Cup car was running well though, into the to p20, with the P4/5 close behind.

On the sixth lap, an hour in, most of the leading GT3 cars began to pit – the #11 Manthey Porsche, run by the multiple 24-hour winning team, ominously decided to stay out and assumed the lead the next time round.

The crowd favourites seemed pretty clear: the packed grandstands at the first turn would cheer the BMWs, Sciroccos and the every-popular Opel Manta. At the end of the second hour #19 still led from #29, now with the pair of Heico Hankook SLS behind them.

The next excitement was in the pit-lane, after it seems the fire suppression system on the P4/5 was set off during refuelling. Come lap 17, the #11 Manthey Porsche again cycled round to lead; the #006 Aston also struggled back onto the track, almost two hours down. The #22 Rowe Racing SLS moved into third at the top of the third hour, ahead of the #65 SLS.

Just as it seemed to be clear, the Döttinger Höhe again witnessed a big crash: a Porsche Cup car went in hard, also on the crest, and the whole track came to a virtual standstill at this point as track workers tried to clear yet another incident.

Then came an even bigger accident: the Gemballa McLaren, with racing legend Klaus Ludwig at the wheel, collided with a Seat Leon Supercopa: they impacted the barriers and self-destructed as they spun down a hundred yards or more of track. A meteor field of debris was left strewn across the track and this became another neutralised area. Next: at the first turn the #24 Audi R8 ran wide – coming back onto the track he was hit by a Renault Clio that had also gone wide. The Clio stopped immediately and was loaded onto a flatbed; the Audi slowly made its way back to the pits.

By the fourth hour there was only one BMW in the top five; behind the leading #19 car were the Rowe and Hankook SLS. The Opel Manta was merrily leading its SP3 class, and the LF-A in SP8.

The fifth hour wore on the and the skies began to darken. The armco was finally repaired on the Döttinger Höhe the McLaren crash site, and the lap-times began to fall again: Andrea Piccini in the #4 Speedhunters Audi set the fastest lap since the pre-crashfest period, though still not as fast as the blitzing, clear of traffic opening stint.

As the sixth hour ticked over, the pace was still hot and on target for the distance record: they must complete at least 13 laps every two hours: the #19 BMW continued to lead, having completed 39 laps. 18 hours to go, and it’s now pitch black in Germany. Time for Sean and Paddy to venture Out There. Into the forest…

2012 Nürbrugring 24 Hours – positions after six hours
1: #19 BMW Team Schubert Z4 39 Laps
2: #2 Phoenix Audi R8 LMS Ultra +24.3s
3: #22 Rowe Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG +58.6s
4: #20 BMW Team Schubert Z4 +1:22s
5: #65 Hankook Team Heico Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG +1:29s
6: #3 Phoenix Audi R8 LMS Ultra +2:19s
7: #26 #26 Mamerow Racing Audi R8 LMS Ultra +1 lap
8: #11 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3R +1 lap
9: #66 Hankook Team Heico Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG +1 lap
10: 4 WRT Speedhunters Audi R8 LMS Ultra +1 lap


TOP CLASS POSITIONS
AT #189 Scirocco
SP2T #148 Mini
SP3 #155 Opel Manta

SP3T #133 Subaru
SP4T #110 Raeder Audi TT RS
SP5 #105 BMW M3

SP6 #99 BMW M3
SP7 #150 Kremer Porsche (in the top 20 overall)
SP8 #83 LFA (also in the top 20 overall)
V3 #200 GT86

SP10 #102 BMW M3
V6 #234 Black Falcon BMW M3
V5 #222 Z4
V4 #213 BMW 325 E92

Jonathan Moore

Speedhunters at the 2012 Nürburgring 24 Hours

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The Nürburgring 24 Hours is well under way, and we’ve seen a chaotic opening couple of hours. The grid was as insanely busy as ever, and the thousands of people in the throng around the cars were roasted by a burningly hot sun – though fog and rain is predicted for later… The #19 Schubert BMW Z4 has been leading from pole, pit-stops aside, but with cars on various strategies there’s a long way to go before a clear leader will emerge.

During the first hour cars seemed to be suffering punctures on a lap by lap basis, and we’ve already seen some enormous crashes which have knocked out a number of front-running cars. All through the field there are some great battles: Subaru are one of the companies who put in a big effort to compete in the more production-based categories and are currently leading their class.

We’re seeing some big variations in pits strategy as well, which has shaken up the order and means that every hour there’s a shuffle as the different approaches play out, but it’s still a fight between BMW, Audi, Mercedes and Porsche up front. Only Aston Martin are out of the fight at this stage.

We’ll have a full resumé of the action coming at the six hour mark, but in the meantime here are some desktop images from the opening phase of the race, and you can follow our live updates from the race on Twitter (@Speedhunters).

Jonathan Moore

Speedhunters at the 2012 Nürburgring 24 Hours

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I cannot recall ever attending a race that had a public grid walk that wasn’t total mayhem, but the grid walk at the Nürburgring 24 Hours is a different beast entirely.

Thousands of people turn up to see their favorite cars, take a few photographs and, of course, gather as much free swag as they can. Camille and Julie have been quite busy handing out Speedhunters stickers and Audi flags, so if you’re at the ‘Ring this weekend be sure to say hello to these ladies!

They estimate that over 5,000 fans packed the front straight, fighting tooth and nail to get up close to the cars, and the teams are swamped. When you have a grid with over 170 participants, finding the car you’re looking for in an endless sea of people can be a rather difficult task.

But surely not nearly as tough as it is to get the car out onto the grid through the crowd. Some of the slower cars in the field opt to take a slow lap of the GP circuit to get their cars into place. This luxury simply isn’t possible for vehicles like the Speedhunters WRT Audi R8 LMS Ultra at the sharper end of the field.

As chaotic as it can be to get the car into place for the fans, it’s nothing compared to the torture test still ahead of the team. Experts say that one mile on the Nürburgring puts the same stresses on a car as 10 miles on an average road, and that figure jumps up by a factor of 16-18 at race pace.

To ensure a good result here you have to focus on the long run and leave nothing to chance. The famous saying is ‘to finish first, first you must finish’ and the WRT team have been busy examining ever last bolt, quite literally, in preparation for the Green Hell.

So far the event has been fairly kind to the team – at least as fair as this place can ever be. The pace of the car right from the onset means it should be on course for an excellent result this weekend.

Car set-up has been good and the only issue has been determining fuel management for the race strategy. But when the numbers were crunched it appeared everything was working properly and the team should be able to manage nine laps per fuel load.

The next issue was testing different tire compounds to see how they changed over the course of a stint around the Grüne Hölle. Although it looks great to have an incredible flying lap, consistency is what wins races and therefore the tire that is the most neutral will often be favored over that which can provide the fastest single lap.

Since the car set-up was so good early on, the team opted to skip out on yesterday morning’s additional qualifying session to tear down the car and give it a good once-over for the Top 40 Qualifying session on Friday evening.

With Edward Sandström at the helm, the Speedhunters WRT Audi R8 LMS Ultra was qualified 11th on the grid – a very good place to be and just four seconds off the pace of the pole-sitting Schubert Motorsport BMW z4. On a track where a fast lap is still over eight minutes, that gap is borderline irrelevant. As he qualified the car, Edward will also be driving the first stint and taking the mass start at 4pm CET.

While our position is certainly at the pointier end of things, there are a lot of things that can happen in a race twice round the clock, and a little bit of luck will go a long way.

With everything double- and triple-checked the team can only cross their fingers that the traffic, the Nordschleife and most of all mother nature are kind to them. Keeping the car in one piece so that it sees the finish line will be the primary goal.

Watching the car making its way towards the grid position the team, including us Speedhunters, were in high spirits. It’s much to early to think about finishing results, and with a field so heavily packed with strong line ups it’s really anyone’s race to lose.

With the start of the race less 15 minutes away the drivers and teams are making last calculations and trying to calm their nerves as much as possible. Keeping calm simply isn’t an option for me as I’ve already consumed two espressos, one latte and an energy drink – the diet of a Speedhunter.

I wish all the teams a great amount of luck and hope all of you Speedhunters out there reading this will follow along! I’m off to the forest…

Sean

Speedhunters at the 2012 Nürburgring 24 Hours

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We’ve got a great selection of desktops from this week’s car features to share with you guys.  Here they are.

First off we have a selection of images from Bryn’s VW Vento shoot.

Dino has some shots from the time he spent with the Toyota 86 on the beautiful roads of Japan.

He’s also included an a shot of the super sexy FT86 II concept.

I’ve added a few images from my shoot with Sunny’s 240Z.

Including this view with the Bay Bridge and the San Francisco skyline in the background.

Last but not least, Brad has some images of the insane Mazda RX-2 out of New Zealand.

As usual, the high res dekstops can be downloaded from the gallery below.

Have a great weekend everyone!

-Mike Garrett

If a trip to the Nurburgring is not on your lifetime to-do list, you may have to question your credentials as a car enthusiast. It’s safe to say that we’d all fancy a trip around the ‘Ring in a high performance machine and with our focus on the N24 this weekend, we thought we’d add a Nurburgring-themed poll to the mix.

While lapping the ‘Ring can be a joy even in an econobox rental car, there are certain production cars which are literally built for this track. We thought it would be fun to ask you guys which of the following three high performance cars you’d select for a long date around the ‘Ring. Each car represents a different part of the world, and a different take on the monster machine.

First up representing the German way of doing things we have the Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0. – offering a raw and connected experience in the way only Porsche can.

Representing the US of A is the Corvette ZR1, with its supercharged V8 muscle and tail-out attitude.

Finally, hailing from Japan we have the Nissan GT-R with its incredible technology and endless amounts of grip.

There’s really no wrong answer to this question, and I don’t think any sensible person would turn down any one of these cars.

Nonetheless, we are curious to hear your thoughts on the matter.

-Mike Garrett

Six hours of track time were dedicated on Thursday and Friday to setting the majority of positions for the 2012 edition of the 2012 Nürburgring 24 Hours, the 40th anniversary of the race. Thursday had seen a long, four-hour session starting at 7.30pm and running into the dark. This was seen as being the main focus for the teams not only for setting meaningful times but also trying out set-ups and getting drivers used to busy night-time traffic. These sessions would be followed by a final run-off to set the first 40 starting positions, which were to be run in a time trial format on Friday evening.

Local specialists Manthey headed the time-sheets as the chequer fell at 11.30pm – their #11 Porsche 911-GT3 set a lap-time of 8:27.671s, several seconds ahead of the second-placed car, the #26 Mamerow Audi R8 LMS Ultra. The Audi was the only other car to dip below 8:30s. Behind those two cars was a good mix: the #3 Phoenix Audi was followed by a Vita4One BMW Z4, the #6 Aston Martin Vantage and the #4 Speedhunters WRT Audi. McLaren, Mercedes and Corvette were also represented in the top 12. 

There was a second two-hour session early on Friday morning. The track was quite wet from overnight rain at the start, and teams didn’t seem to be in any rush to send their cars out early. Wets were necessary to start, as the #44 Falken Porsche found out to its cost. Out on slicks, Wolf Henzler drifted off the track on the approach to Adenau and grazed the barriers, requiring light repairs. 

The pair of Heico Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG were running in tandem around the GP loop for a couple of laps – likely testing fuel efficiency – before finally peeling off taking their individual turns around the full Nordschleife.

Manthey Porsche settled into the comfy armchair that it had pre-warmed the night before at the top of the timesheets, with no real desire to put more laps on the #11 car.

Halfway in, BMW were pushing on with a vengeance: four Z4s populated the top seven at this stage.

Aston were also doing well with their new Vantage, running consistently around the top 10.

With 40 minutes to go the #15 Black Falcon SLS jumped to the top of the time sheets with a single-lap run 3/10ths quicker than the time the #11 Porsche had set the night before.

20 minutes to go, and the on-board videos showed that this was the time for teams to tell their drivers to push. The SP9-class GT3s were all safely inside the cut-off: the real fight was going to be for the lower positions in the top 40, which would be fought out mainly by SP7 class cars: predominantly Porsche Cup cars.

In fact, it would be the 39 fastest, as the SP4T-class #111 Audi TT RS got a free pass into the top 40 from its previous VLN results.

At the death, the top 30 cars were all within 10 seconds of the fastest time, with 47 cars in total posting laps under the nine minute mark. The German quartet of Mercedes, Porsche, BMW, Audi were all represented in the top four, and three of the four Manthey Porsches made it through: both SP9 GT3s and one of its pair of SP7s.

WRT had used used the session time to continue work on Audi R8 LMS Ultra and didn’t go out during the two hours – neither did the Haribo Corvette, Gemballa McLaren and the pair of Manthey SP9s among a number of others who decided to concentrate on car set-up, confident that they were secure in the top 40.

The order for the Top 40 Qualifying in the early evening was drawn by a raffle in the early afternoon: cars formed up line-astern on the grid and were let off at around 10-second intervals. First to be flagged off was the #25 Audi Race Experience R8 LMS Ultra; two of the Manthey Porsches had been drawn together back in 31st and 32nd, which meant some shuffling was expected on the warm-up lap. 

An engine and gearbox change for the Gemballa McLaren MP4-12C meant they would be one of just two cars that wouldn’t make it out in the final session. 

Tommy Milner took the wheel of the Haribo Corvette: he hugely improved the C6′s lap-time to an 8:24s.

The WRT Speedhunters Audi R8 LMS was driven by Edward Sandström, whose first flying lap put the team into sixth – temporarily at least. 

Lap times tumbled as the timing screens ran round like a fruit machine – 40 cars hammering over the line in quick succession. The first overtly quick time was by the #65 Merc, setting a lap in the mid-8:22s, only to be overtaken almost immediately as five cars, six cars, then seven cars crossed the timing beam and went faster. 

Next up the #26 Mamerow Audi claimed pole with an 8:19.701s lap, raising the bar even higher with a lap over two seconds faster than the previous target. Around the circuit there were clumps of traffic and drivers pushing hard – to the edge of the track and beyond. The Marc VDS BMW Z4 went out onto the run-off of the GP track, and the #3 Audi also found itself stuck behind slower cars, ruining its laps.

The #27 Porsche crewed by ‘Ring specialist and Top Gear star Sabine Schmitz put in the 22nd fastest time.

Having started third in line, Uwe Alzen in the #19 Schubert BMW Z4 put in a huge time – an 8:18.3s, pushing the BMW another 1.3 seconds ahead. It was a time that no one would be able to beat, and five seconds faster than the 2011 pole time. 

The #65 Heico SLS pulled itself back up to third on its second lamp only to immediately fall back to fourth when the similar #15 Black Falcon Merc set a 8:20 flat. 

That was pretty much the end of challenges for pole: second laps seemed slower in general, and we saw no other improvements, although the #12 Manthey Porsche put in a time that was good enough for an impressive 19th position overall and the pole in the SP7 class.

Tomorrow at 4pm CET the huge grid will be unleashed in three packs: 66 cars followed by 51 and then the final 54. ‘Weather’ is predicted: anything could happen on that front. And the race? They’ll definitely be a race, and it’s going to rage on for a day. Join us tomorrow when we’ll be bringing you full coverage from here in the Eifel mountains.

Qualifying for the 2012 Nürbrugring 24 Hours

1: #19 BMW Team Schubert Z4 8:18.382s

2: #26 Mamerow Racing Audi R8 LMS Ultra +1.319s

3: #15 Black Falcon Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG +1.668s

4: #65 Hankook Team Heico Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG +2.349s

5: #20 BMW Team Schubert Z4 +2.542s

11: #4 Speedhunters Team WRT Audi R8 LMS Ultra +4.022s

 TOP CLASS POLES

19: SP7 #12 Wochenspiegel Team Manthey 8:26.908s

30: E1-XP #1 Global Partnership 8:32.585s

32: SP8 #83 Gazoo Racing Lexus LF-A 8:36.187s

38: SP4T #111 Raeder Audi TT RS 8:46.886s

48: SP3T #127 LMS Engineering VW Scirocco 9:00.774s

50: SP8T #23 Nissan GT-R 9:02.315s

Jonathan Moore

Speedhunters at the 2012 Nürburgring 24 Hours

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Team Need For Speed drivers Matt Powers and Fredric Aasbo will be competing in the first round of World Drift Series China in the city of Tianjin this weekend.

They line up  alongside fellow Formula Drift drivers Vaughn Gittin Jr, Chris Forsberg and Kyle Mohan at the event, which is  held inside the Olympic stadium.

Matt has been competing in China since 2009, but this was Fredric’s very first trip to the Communist country. I think they blended in quite well.

Fredric will be driving Chucky, the friendly right-hand drive Supra.

He looked great during practice and gave the walls a few love taps throughout the day.

It proved to be one too many taps, as his gas tank came loose during a demo tandem battle with Vaughn.

But it was fixed quicky and efficiently, and will be ready for competition.

Matt will be driving his LS1-powered S14. He got second place last year at the same event after losing to Vaughn in the finals.

This year he is back and with a few more upgrades. Who knows – maybe he will meet his team-mate in competition.

Stay tuned for updates as well as more in-depth coverage as the boys take on the rest of the field this weekend.

Larry

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The Nürburgring is an amazing circuit that surely needs no introduction, and it’s as difficult as it is rewarding not only for drivers but also photographers. Trudging through the mud, slipping and sliding and hiking through the woods and going up and down extreme grades can be tiring, but the pay-off is always undoubtedly worth it. The Nordschleife rewards the brave and virtually all of its hundreds of corners are picture perfect. Regardless of lens or camera it’s nearly impossible to take a bad shot here. Here are some of our favorites thus far.

Speedhunters at the 2012 Nürburgring 24 Hours

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-Sean

It’s around midday here at the Nürburgring and the sun is shining once again. The 24HR cars are just completing their second qualifying sessions but I’m inside preparing for the ADAC Nürburgring Classic race which takes place in about 90 minutes times. Whilst I’m waiting for some batteries to charge, I thought I’d upload a couple of desktops from yesterday’s session of the WRT Speedhunters Audi R8. If you want to keep up with the race, I’ve  included the links from Jonathan’s story including live timing, GPS tracking and live streams (which may be region specific).

Back soon with more …

-

Paddy McGrath

Speedhunters at the 2012 Nürburgring 24 Hours

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Paddy McGrath has already talked about the irresistible pull of the Nürburgring 24 Hours and how drivers, teams and fans come back to it year after year. But what’s it like for the first timer? The Nürburgring newbie? The 24-Hour ‘Ring rookie? Well, I’ll try and give you a sense of being introduced to it, this being – shockingly – my first experience of this awesome event. Yes, I hold my hand up: I am green when it comes to the Green Hell. I’ve been to Le Mans regularly since my first visit in 1999, but few things prepared me for the sensory overload that the Nürburgring 24 Hours hits you with. I’ve been to the track before and seen races on the Grand Prix layout, but not during the round-the-clock enduro itself. The 24 Hours transforms this corner of Germany into a different beast entirely.

It’s the well-mannered rowdiness of the sprawling Le Mans campsites, but combined and condensed into the forest that surrounds the entire length of the track and with tanker loads of beer, techno and burning meat thrown in.

It’s the impromptu home-built, multi-level seating of Petit Le Mans, but escalated to unfeasibly efficient architectural levels. It’s the hectic Blancpain Endurance Series Monza pit-lane, but with cars stacked even deeper and the chaos extending through the pit-lane garages and out across the whole of the paddock beyond.

There’s an overwhelming sense of scale to the Nürgburging 24 Hours. This is not a track contained within a nice, safe perimeter and with nice, safe parameters. It’s a seemingly never-ending snake of tarmac winding its way through the forest. The Nordschleife battles nature – and wins. It then leaves nature to get its own back by picking on the drivers who dare to run it.

This year it was time to storm the castle and tackle the 24 Hours head on. With plenty of back-up from Speedhunting veterans…

The Grand Prix track sits on a plateau to the south-west of the Nordschleife, which itself winds its way through the trees just the other side. This gives two very different characteristics to the track: driving the GP track must seem like a stroll in a very big park compared to the claustrophobic confines of the Nordschleife.

This section is a useful adjunct to the Nordschleife, providing the modern pit-lane facility, some very relative R&R for the drivers and a useful escape route if they suffer a problem on the opening five kilometres. A line of cones on the exit of the final chicane allow cars to split right away from the Nordschleife entrance and head back into the pits – it’s a cut-through that’s also heavily used during practice and qualifying as teams bed in parts or test set-ups.

Otherwise, you’re out in the boonies for the next 20 kilometres. The margin for error around the track is nil: at best there’s one car-width of slippery grass before the three-strand armco swallows you up and spits you out in a considerably poorer state than you arrived in. The local roads are wider than the racing track they shadow.

Watching the on-boards from today’s sessions, driving the track looks like a combination of the Star Wars speeder-bike chase and a roller-coaster. During an earthquake. Cars look on the edge at every corner.

There are no safety cars – they just wouldn’t work! The track is too long, so wreckers are placed strategically around the track. That means that they have to make their way round to incidents on the track itself, providing the incongruous sight of trucks and GT cars frequently fighting over the same bit of tarmac.

Earlier in the day, most of the assembled throng in the media room had been pressed up against the glass as the seemingly hundreds of competitors in the 24 Hours Classic event lined up in the pit-lane. Their sprawling paddock had given a false sense of the actually vast number of cars taking part – rather like the main event itself.

The Classic paddock spread out across the newer Arena section of the GP track, meaning the old Porsches, BMWs, Fords, Alfas and more were camped out over kerbs, grasscrete and run-off.

The Classic grid alone would be worth a weekend to themselves, with a list of cars that deserves plenty of attention; the good news is that Paddy will be taking a close look at all these beauties tomorrow.

Any complaints about the reduction in the number of cars in the 24 Hours itself (which should be batted aside – over 170 cars is enough for anyone) were made utterly inconsequential by the fact that there are over 200 in the 24 Hours Classic race. That’s the best part of 400 cars in just two races. It’s difficult to process mathematically, let alone when you see that number of cars filling a pit-lane three-deep along its length.

The pit-lane is defined by bodies rather than lines painted on the floor. Prior to going out, cars housed in the paddock are driven round to find a spot in front of their allocated garage; inside another four, five or six cars are crammed in waiting for the space to exit.

There are over 50 BMWs. 17 Audis. Eight Astons. Countless Porsches. 25 marques in all, with 27 different nationalities of driver taking part. But as Sean Klingelhoefer has just said: think of a car… it’s in this race. Both Sean and Paddy have been out shooting track action today, and too many times I’ve leant across to see yet another car I didn’t even know was in the race. Though to be honest, no one can really claim to know who was in the race up until this afternoon. The starting list was really only finalised today, and up till then the entry list was full of that most popular of racing drivers: the mysterious Tobe Confirmed.

Jaguar have turned up with a hot-looking XF-S (running in the diesel class, but still); there are also Volvos, VWs, a Hyundai…

…a pair of Subarus, an S2000, an Astra, a Focus… The list goes on.

Here’s a typical thing that could only happen here, at the most challenging, most difficult track in the world. The #46 Nissan 370Z has on its crew two circuit commentators from the track. And commentating live, as they drive. Wolfgang Drabiniok and Frank Hufstadt are great examples of the enormous quantity of local drivers who take part; drivers who know the ‘Ring like the back of their hands – and have enough confidence to talk about it as they do it. And probably do crosswords and stuff at the same time.

There’s also an old Opel Manta running round, which I’m sure must have just stayed hidden out in the woods from the Classic race, and then rejoined when the ‘new’ cars came out. Hence the fox’s tail waving around on the aerial.

At the WRT pit the final set-up under the awnings by the team trucks was going on right up to the eve of the track sessions. There’s always another decal to cut or box to open.

Attention was then focussed on the set-up of the car itself. WRT’s eye for detail shows through even on their jack-stands.

There’s some beautiful detailing under the body of the R8 LMS Ultra: even the hubs and brake disks are works of art.

Technical scrutineering passed without a hitch, with the only issue being yesterday’s insane weather.

The drivers had plenty of new things to deal with as well. Edward his Stormtrooper-esque helmet…

…and breaking in his new race suit.

The most important thing for any driver is comfort. That might be a relatively thing in a racecar with rock-solid suspension and a hard carbon seat, but the custom-moulded inserts allow each driver to reach their optimum position in the car – and therefore focus one hundred percent on driving. Edward was getting his new insert formed on the Thursday evening…

…which meant donning a fetching synthetic suit and trying to sit still whilst the foam solidified. Luckily Edward is always happy in a racing car, no matter what the situation.

Final stickers applied, the WRT Speedhunters Audi R8 LMS Ultra was ready for battle. Edward Sandstöm, Oliver Jarvis, Andrea Piccini and Allan Simonsen would now just had to pedal it flat out around the Green Hell as fast as possible.

The new WRT Speedhunters stickers have been going down well: Camille and Julie have been dishing out handfuls at the track and they’re already turning up around the place…

Camille’s petrolhead credentials are impeccable: she looked very much at home in Fangio’s Mercedes.

Not only does the race attract drivers from across the globe (there are a couple of Australian teams, for instance), but also fans: Igor drove all the way from Russia to be here this weekend. Some Speedhunters stickers is small reward for his dedication!

Previous visits by the Speedhunters crew can be spotted around the place… And are apparently impossible to remove.

The #48 Porsche had the honour of being the first car to take to the track at 2.45pm, in the opening Free Practice session for the 24 Hours. Manthey (Porsche 997), Schubert (BMW Z4) and Phoenix (Audi R8 LMS) quickly established themselves at the top of the field, with laps around the mid eight minute mark.

Laps over 25km track would be over 10 minute laps for the smaller-capacity cars – ie, the other 100 cars. Within 30 minutes 140 cars had already set lap times, which gives you some idea of how busy the track was.

The SP9 GT3s dominated as expected, filling 28 of the first 29 positions during the session.

The GT cars passed the slower cars like they were standing still – but that’s not to say that they looked entirely in control. This is no reflection on the drivers or cars, but on the track.

That said, the McLarens looking hugely unstable: the #59 car was battling with the two Phoenix Audis toward the end of the session, bouncing all over the road as it struggled to keep the R8s behind. The MP4-12C held its own in a drag race down Döttinge Höhe before the Audi finally just managed to outbrake it into Tiergarten. And this is before the race even started.

The Speedhunters WRT Audi R8 LMS stuck to its programme, which was to get its new drivers up to speed in the car. Edward didn’t drive – he was saving himself for the evening qualifying session. The team posted the 15th fastest time, well in the mix, and seemed more than happy with the car’s performance.

Leaving everyone behind was the #27 Timbull Porsche 997, which snuck in a lap four seconds faster than anyone else in the dying minutes of the session.

So. Visigoths in the woods, cars on the track, engine noise in my ears. Green Hell? Green paradise, surely.

-
Jonathan Moore

Speedhunters at the 2012 Nürburgring 24 Hours

GPS car-tracker
Live timing of all sessions
Alternate live timing

Latest entry list
Radio Le Mans audio commentary of all sessions
Audi video stream
Subaru video stream

Democracy is a powerful thing, and it’s because of you guys that I present the following car feature.

Late last year when we did our Speedhunters Awards, we included a category for Reader Cars of the Year – a group that included a huge selection vehicles from across the world. We asked our loyal readers to select their favorite, and when the voting finished a 1973 Datsun 240Z out of Northern California had emerged as the winner.

We figured you guys would want to see more on this old Datsun that you had chosen, so I made plans to meet up with its owner Sunny Liang to shoot a full feature.

So that’s how I found myself in Sunny’s hometown of Oakland, California a few weeks ago. We met up near downtown Oakland at a shop called Performance Options. It’s a very cool little garage, and I’ll be sharing more from my visit next week.

For now though, let’s focus on Sunny’s Z.  At first glance it’s obvious that this S30 is by no means a show car – and that’s not a bad thing.

Sunny drives the Z nearly every day – and the car shows all the signs of being a real daily driver – from the scrapes and dings to the multiple shades of silver on the body. Sunny actually owns a newer Honda Civic in addition to the Z, but it’s the Z that gets used for the bulk of his driving duties.

After meeting up with Sunny at the shop, I hopped in the shotgun seat and we set out to the shoot location. Even though the Z sits mere inches off the ground, I was very surprised at how civilized the ride was.

It’s not Cadillac smooth of course, and Sunny has to constantly keep his eye out for speed bumps and other obstructions that would hit the frame – but overall the car seemed very adept at cruising the streets of Oakland.

From there it was through the underwater tunnel and on to the island of Alameda. Ah yes, there’s nothing quite like the sound of a floored L-series motor in a long tunnel…

Our destination was the old Alameda Naval Base, which provides some amazing views of the San Francisco Bay and a perfect location to photograph cars.

When I asked Sunny how he acquired the 240Z, he told me that his uncle actually gave him the car around the time he graduated high school. It’s hard to think of a cooler graduation gift than a vintage Datsun. I personally can’t even remember what I got when I graduated high school, probably money that I blew on video games.

Over the past few years since acquiring the car, Sunny has been working hard to transform the Z into his ideal street machine.

The first thing you notice about Sunny’s car is likely the slammed ride height. It’s got a stance makes my own stock 240Z look like Grave Digger or Big Foot. Unlike modern cars, getting proper suspension for a 240Z is a bit more involved than jumping on Ebay, waiting for postman to show up and bolting on some badass coilovers.

To outfit a Z like Sunny’s, you have to piece together a suspension kit which requires both welding and shortening the factory struts. In this case Sunny went with AE86 Tokico HTS short stroke shots along with weld-on Ground Control coilovers from T3. He has also equipped the car with T3 weld-in camber plates.

Sunny rounded out his suspension setup with lower control arms, roll center adjusters, and tension control rods from T3, plus a set of sway bars from Suspension Techniques.

Under the hood of a Sunny’s Z is an original L24 inline six. The motor itself is largely stock with the exception of  a ported and polished head.

On the induction side, the stock SU carbs have been replaced with a long cannon intake manifold and a set of triple Weber 45 DCOE side draft carburetors. While the naturally aspirated setup with the screaming Webers makes the Z plenty of fun to drive, Sunny is actually in the process of a building a new motor for the car – a turbocharged L28.

The difficulty of picking the right set of wheels is something every car enthusiast can relate to, and Sunny spent a lot of time trying to figure out what sort of wheels he wanted for his Z. When he saw the special Star Road edition Work Equip 03s in Tokyo Auto Salon coverage online, he knew he had to have them.

Sunny placed an order through Work Wheels, and a couple months later he had his custom-finished set of Equip 03s, 15x9J -16 for the front and 15x10J -28 for the rear.

The custom-ordered black barrels and the aggressive sizes ensure they nobody will mistake his legit Equips for the numerous cheap knockoffs that have flooded the market over the last few years. The wheels didn’t come cheap, and the wait was long, but Sunny can rest assured he did things right the first time.

The interior of the Z is full of functional upgrades for both hard driving and urban cruising.

I’d never seen a set of “Renoma” seatsbefore, but it turns out they are actually a specially branded piece that Recaro made back in the ’80s. Matched with purple Crow Enterprizes four-point harnesses, the retro seats add a very cool look to the Z’s cockpit.

Sunny also added an Autopower roll bar custom painted in candy purple. This is something that comes in handy when Sunny takes the car to Buttonwillow Raceway with his friends.

Sunny also outfitted the car with a fully upgraded audio system with speakers, subs, amps, and a Clarion double DIN head unit.

I’m sure the improved sounds from the stereo are a necessity for Sunny when drives the Z all over the Bay Area.

Going down the road, the slammed Z looks absolutely bitchin’. Just don’t mind the occasional scrape as the frame makes contact with the ground. I’m sure there’s been some serious weight savings with all the metal chips this car has left on the streets of Oakland.

Sunny also likes to take the Z on long road trips, whether it’s to the aforementioned track days at Buttonwillow, or a journey down to Long Beach for the Japanese Classic Car Show.

Is Sunny’s S30 the most immaculate Z around? No. Is it the fastest? No. Regardless of that, Sunny loves his car and and uses it regularly. That’s the important thing.

So, was Sunny’s Z a worthy choice for 2011 Speedhunters Reader Car of the Year?

After spending an afternoon with him and his car I’m, gonna have to go ahead and say yes.

-Mike Garrett

Specs -

1973 Datsun 240z

Engine/Drivetrain:
Stock L24 + Port/Polish Head
3x Weber Carburetors 45 DCOE
“Long” Cannon Manifold
MSA aluminum radiator + Dual electric fans
MSD Ignition box + coil + wires
Pertronix Electronic Igniton
5 speed transmission
R200 welded differential

Suspension:
T3 front + rear weld in camber plates
T3 front + rear LCA
T3 roll center adjusters
T3/ Ground Control full weld on coilovers
Eibach Springs: F – 350lbs / R – 300lbs
T3 tension control rods
Tokico HTS AE86 (HTS112F) cartridge short stroke shocks
Energy Suspension Polyurethane bushings
Suspension Techniques front + rear sway bar

Wheels and Tires:
“StarRoad Replica” Work Equip 03
Front – 15×9 -16 Yokohama S-Drive 195/55R15  -5 Camber
Rear – 15×10 -28 Falken Ziex 912 205/55R15  -6 Camber

Exterior:
Rolled + Pulled fenders
Dapper Lighting Classic Style HID projectors
Front air dam
Rear spoiler

Interior & Audio:
Recaro “Renoma” seats
Crow Enterprizes 4-point harness
Autopower rollbar (custom powdercoated candy purple)
Momo Hub
Works Bell quick release + flipper
Nardi Deepcorn 350mm leather steering wheel

Boston Acoustics SC55 5 1/4″ Speakers
Boston Acoustics SC95 6×9 Speakers
Alpine SWR-1043D 10″Subwoofer
Alpine MRX-M100 Amplifier
Alpine MRX-F30 Amplifier
Clarion VX401 Double-Din Headunit
Monster Cable RCA/Speaker Wires

More Datsun Stories on Speedhunters

More Stories by Mike Garrett

How do you choose a project? Some might argue that they choose you, I know it’s true of mine. They’ve all been bought when I wasn’t looking, right time, right place kind of thing. The ones that have stayed in the garage longest are also the ones you wouldn’t have expected to have staying power. For example I started a Volvo 245 build over ten years ago, since then I’ve been through amongst many others BMW M-Power, a ’67 Mustang and a ’47 Ford Tudor hot rod. All aspirational vehicles for me before I had them, yet the Volvo is still here and they’ve been sold on.

Which means I understand why we’re looking at Gareth Spiller’s Vento. By the end of this read, I think you will too.

When I first saw Gareth’s Vento at the Early Edition show a few weeks back, I knew this was not only a big project, but a long term one too.  Huge amounts of commitment can be seen in every aspect, detail that has been learnt and honed, not observed elsewhere. Plus there’s the fact it’s a Vento, there’s got to be a story there right?

Because I’m sure there’s a lot of you reading this thinking, why go for a saloon, a four door? Why go for the cage and a 300bhp motor in a family car? Of course there’s the old saying that ‘no man with a good car needs to justify himself’. It doesn’t stop us asking though, Gareth? “I had a bad experience with a Renault Clio 16V that I had for about six months, it cost me roughly 2K in that time and I said I’d never buy French again.”

Spotting this Vento for sale meant the swap to VW was an easy choice, as it came nice and low on some Koni suspension with a set of 15s fitted, a brake upgrade and a little tuning work done by AmD on the original 8V lump you can understand the temptation. The first owner was an enthusiast in his 50s, so the four-door was immaculate. That and it was only three years old at the time.

That’s right, Gareth has owned the 1994 MY Vento since 1997. The reasons for staying with it are two fold, as he explains, “I drove it and loved it and thought it would stay as it was but then I met a friend who was in to Mk2 Golf tuning and we went to GTi International.”

He got bitten hard by the tuning bug, quickly changing the wheels to 17s and as he says in an almost apologetic way, “Going down the dark path of fitting body kits, it was the Max Power and Fast and Furious age.”

That’s the thing to remember here is that Gareth has had the Vento so long, where so many would have moved on or followed the herd in another direction. He’s persevered, after all how many people truly finish a project? Unrealistic time scales and budgetary planning can often lead to an ‘unfinished project’ advert.

There are still clues as to the many guises Gareth has worked his way through, such as the Isotta steering wheel that he says will be changed at some stage, although is it really that bad?

The upshot of having spent so long with one project and one scene means Gareth really knows his stuff, the Vento being the rolling demonstration of this knowledge. Combining elements of different treatments, it’s show car, race car mash up works so well for us.

The BBS LMs it wears now are 8×18 at the front and 9.5x18in at the back, coming to him in rough but straight condition, in Porsche 5×130 fitment, Gareth detailed them the only way he knows how. Perfectly.

Maybe, just maybe you can get away with grey centres, but really is there any other colour than Gold that an LM should wear? Linking them are those ultra rare and almost OE looking Lester side skirts, cunningly left black… It just adds to the factory feel.

Although there is stretch on the rear 225x35x18 tyres, as a contact patch goes… It’s still pretty impressive huh? With that much weight removed, you really need to pay attention to rear end grip.

As well as getting the tuning bug, Gareth also fell in love with the Vento shape. Why go for a front end conversion when you can have the whole car huh? As he says, “Not many people tune them, so it’s easy to stand out at car shows. Plus since going for throttle bodies I never get bored of driving the car, I just love the noise and the way it responds to some right foot abuse.”

So right, you’re probably wondering by now what all the fuss is about, stories of long term ownership and different mods throughout the years have led us to here. So let’s have it huh? Those staggered throttle body trumpets usually wear filters, but today they’re on show for us.

Then when the bonnet is raised the game is up.The staggered trumpets are attached to Jenvey 45-42mm individual throttle bodies, which in turn feed a 3.2ltr 24Vsix cylinder motor from a donor 2003 Audi TT. Which is why they’re staggered, when you take in to consideration the rear bank of three cylinders on the engine, it makes sense that the intakes are in fact equal length.

We love the carbon too, “The original front panel was removed and replaced by a new fabrication which kept a similar profile on either side by the centre drops away to form a heat shield made from carbon fibre, this stops hot air getting new the velocity stacks.”

Serving up cool, fresh air for those bodies to suck on. Little items such as gas lifters have been added to make sure there’s no ugly, awkward bonnet prop in the way too… But then it will take you a good few minutes just to take the basics in once you get this far.

One of the first things I noticed at Early Edition are the MSD Ignition 8224 coil packs, which made me step back and take in again that the whole car has a US feel to the build, good reason too, “Most of the engine parts have come from the USA back when the exchange rate was nearly $2/£. I am lucky that my brother Gee lives in NY as many US shops wouldn’t sell to anybody outside the country without a US registered back account or address.”

Note how the wiring has been tucked  as well, “As I was not going to run the VVT control or the cam sensor, just the crank sensor, it allowed the head end plate to be welded up to do away with the outlet wiring and let me fabricate a smooth blanking plate to be fitted for the coil packs to be mounted on.”

So you can imagine over the years there has been some random hand baggage going back and forth. Now with just north of 300bhp at the crank (a dyno proven 301bhp and 262WHP), Gareth has the power he needs, this latest stage in the build having taken three years to create.

In no small part because although the days of body kits and big stereo installs were gone, Gareth still knows how to work that show car magic, so take a look to the metalwork surrounding the engine and you notice it is devoid of clutter, but more so it’s smooth, really smooth.

Gareth saying, “I entrusted the engine and bay work to my friend Andy at ACR in Stockton On Tees as I am very cautious of who I trust with it, having been burnt before.”

So not only is Andy good at engine conversions, but metal work too. The inner wings, chassis legs and bulkhead all having been smoothed. Gareth has then fabricated some lovely touches, like the custom made washer bottle that’s been relocated to the scuttle area but left with the original blue plastic VW top.

Then there is the overall detailing, the Aeroquip hose fittings, the polishing, the general cleanliness of it all.  The oil breather tank has been made to look like the Billet Specialities power steering reservoir. The hidden wiring theme of the Ignition being continued everywhere you look, yet under it all is power. No wonder Gareth has won trophies pretty much everywhere he goes with the Vento.

Looking up from underneath the bonnet and you’ll see other tell, tell clues as to the projects interesting history and USA inspired touches…

Like the Auto Meter Sport Comp tach, I don’t care how cool you think you are if you think the dash mounted tach is overkill. If you were lucky enough to see this thing bouncing off the top end just to one side of your line of vision, you’d want one. You know it.

A trio of aux gauges taking care of oil and water duties in the top of the dash.

Like we say the stereo days are long gone for Gareth, but his detail nerve got twitchy so look at the shine on the inside of that stripped door panel. The more you look, the more you realise just how hard it must have been to achieve this given the amount of sound deadening and other unwanted items he must have had to deal with. Did you notice the manual window winder conversion?

As he remembers, “I stripped it and prepared it for the body shop…”

“… I cut out the metal shelf and rear seat base then ground off all the metal trim clips.”

Now take a look in your own car under the carpet and try to comprehend just how many man hours are in this build, Gareth has had to have owned the Vento for all these years just to be able to get to this stage.

As with the engine, the best components Gareth could afford have been used, Recaro Proracer SPG drivers seat and Pole position passenger seat for example.

Gareth made the seat mounts himself and when you put the Recaros together with high end harnesses like the Willans four point items he went for, the look is spot on without being over the top.

Again the show nature of Gareth coming through with the Wiechers 6-point polished bolt in cage, it compliments the Tornado red paint perfectly whilst being effective in stiffening the shell. Incredibly, there are six months worth of work in the prep of that interior alone…

Tucked in behind the passenger seat you’ll find a lightweight battery tucked away, and once again the details are here, note the exposed handbrake cable runners but in perfect OE spec.

Sat just in front of the handbrake is the VW Motorsport shifter assembly, Gareth also using an AP lever type brake bias valve.

Maybe like us you’ll have been surprised to see the Vento still wearing the original shade of VW Tornado Red, usually when you get the chance to respray a project a change is on the cards, but not for Gareth, “I spent countless hours searching for new colour options but I couldn’t decide on anything that I preferred. Red is still a strong colour for me, plus I don’t think it’s looked dated in all the time I’ve had the car, and I’ve not grown tired of it either.”

So instead of going for something that would have been bang on trend and dated in six months, Gareth has stuck with what he likes. Which works for us. The bodywork features subtle modifications such as the modified FK de-badged grille, although this will soon be swapped out for a smoothed early style four bar grille.

The washer jets have been smoothed and relocated, this is England after all… But the older single wiper conversion remains.

And some VW Motorsport bonnet pins added. The bodywork itself was taken care of by Ian Ellis at Motor Body Cosmetics in York, Gareth saying, “His shop is a three hour drive from my house, but I chose Ian because he had painted a few cars I know and also has experience of painting British Touring Cars, so I knew he could do the stripped interior work to a great standard.”

So whichever way you look at it, this Vento is a stunningly detailed, brilliantly executed and powerful… Err.

Road racer?

Scene build?

No, Gareth’s Vento transcends labels. This is the result of one man, a whole heap of dedication and the power of staying with a project to see it through to completion.

Gareth puts it perfectly for us, “It gives me so much pleasure driving the Vento, it puts a smile on my face every time I go out in it. It might not have huge power but it makes up for it with instant throttle response and short gearing. The induction noise under full load still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.”

We salute that…

-

Bryn Musselwhite

Tech Spec

Engine

BHE 3.2 24V V6, gas flowed and ported head, Schrick 264/268 cams, DTA P8 Pro engine management system and extended loom, Jenvey 45-42mm throttle bodies, six-branch exhaust manifold and fabricated inlet manifold, Mocal 13 row front mounted oil cooler, VW Motorsport front engine mount, relocated radiator, twin slim line fans, MSD coil packs, black and red anodised aero style fittings throughout

Transmission

02A 5-speed 4.24:1 ring and pinion with 0.76 5th, Quaife ATB diff, ClutchNet stage 3, six paddle clutch, 10lb lightened flywheel

Suspension

Koni Coilovers, Bonrath top mounts, Eibach anti-roll bars, Powerflex bushes

Brakes

325mm AP Racing two piece discs with bells and four pot callipers, stock rear, in-car AP lever type adjustment

Wheels and tyres

Genuine BBS LM 8x18in ET55 5x130PCD, BBS LM 9.5x18in ET55 5x130PCD, 215/35 and 225/35 Toyo T1R tyres

Interior

Recaro Proracer SPG and Pole Position seats, Willans 3in FIA 4-point harnesses, Wiechers six point polished cage with H bar and fabricated rear strut bar, Autometer 5in rev counter, oil pressure/temp gauge, Isotta Vigarano steering wheel with snap-off boss

Exterior

VW Tornado Red, Lester side skirts, smoked FK rear lights, smoked OE front lights, de-badged boot lid, washer jets removed and relocated, front and rear arches flared, single wiper conversion, front brow, plastic welded bumpers to remove swage lines and number plate recess, plus rear tow eye.

Thanks

Paul Horrocks for his assistance with the strip down and rebuild, constant monitoring of the bodywork modifcations and painting, Andy Outhwaite at Andy Leigh @ ACR in Darlington for all the engine bay work – +44 (0) 7976 281 354, my wife Lisa and kids Jack and Evan and not forgetting my brother Gee for his help…

I don’t think I’ve ever driven so many pre-production versions of a car like I have the Toyota 86. Ever since that first short test around the Fuji Speedway short course back in November, and the glorious day thrashing the 86 and FRS around Sodegaura Forest Speedway in December, I’ve always wondered how the affordable entry-level sports car that everyone has been waiting for would feel like out on the street. Track driving is tons of fun yes, and it’s a great way to get to know a car very quickly by pushing it to its limits and beyond, but from an owner’s perspective a daily driven sports car like the 86 and FRS needs to tick a lot of other boxes to really be great all round car.

So when Toyota invited me to the first 86 on-road drive event of the car I jumped at the opportunity. With the scenic roads around the Hakone Turnpike (now called Toyo Tires Turnpike due to a curious tire sponsoring deal) there would be ample scope to put the 86 through its paces and drive it as an owner would.

From the Prince Hotel in Ooiso where Toyota had set up camp for the day we would be able take various versions of the 86 out for a short highway commute and then a mixture of normal roads before ending up at the entrance to the Turnpike, which is a privately owned toll road. With no time to waste I was in a brand spanking new manual “GT” version literally minutes after I had arrived and made my way up towards the mountain roads.

With so many Japanese and international publications participating in the drive event, the Turnpike was alive with the scream of naturally aspirated flat-four engines. As ever, when making my way up what has to be one of Japan’s best driver’s roads…

…I stopped at the little scenic view point about a third up the long climb to the top. Here I spotted a Subaru BRZ and the limited edition, and final version of the RX-8, the Spirit R. One Japanese magazine had brought these two cars along to the event to do a group drive feature along with the 86. This was actually the first time I had seen the BRZ out on the road!

With the clock ticking I got in the car again and climbed up a little bit more, before stopping again to grab some shots of the GT version I was driving, and of course the stunning view of the Odawara coastline.

The GT is the mid-spec version of the 86, sitting in-between the entry level “G” and fully loaded “GT Limited” trim levels. It comes with a few more trim upgrades over the base model G…

…things like silver inserts around the center console and steering wheel, as well as red stitching all over the cabin. There is a slightly higher level of equipment too like dual zone automatic air conditioning, keyless entry and those nice drilled aluminum pedals. On top of these three grades a fourth model is also available, the “RC” a stripped out “ready-to-tune” or ready-to-race” version which comes with 16-inch steel wheels, unpainted front and rear bumpers and no audio or dash trim panels.

The engine however is the same for all, the brilliantly zingy Subaru-derived FA20 2-liter flat-4…

…which of course features Toyota’s D-4S direct injection system to give optimal mid-range and high-rpm performance.

The GT I was driving had been fitted with the optional 17-inch by 7J wheels, which replace the multi-spoke stock 16-inch by 6.5J wheels the car is offered with in Japan. The adequately grippy 215/45R17 Michelin tires are used at each corner.

It was then on to a quick drive up to the top of the Turnpike where I came to a very surprising realization. I must have driven close to 100 cars on this stretch of road over the last decade, and I can positively say I have never enjoyed myself as much in a production car as I did in the 86. It might not be as fast or as accelerative as some rides I have taken out here, but when it comes to driver’s satisfaction and putting a rather big grin on your face, nothing comes quite so close to the 86. But no time to ponder over these initial thoughts…it was straight back down towards…

…the Prince Hotel to drop off the car. There, more excitement followed as I had a chance to put the manual, as well as the automatic version of the car, through the fun little slalom course that Toyota had laid out for us all to enjoy.

Just like back at those initial drives on track it was once again great to feel the superb chassis come alive in your hands, as I pushed over the rear -end grip of the car and steered it on the throttle. It’s a simple and very rewarding exercise that once again proves the outright agility and directness of the 86′s package.

The TRD tuned version was next, which if you recall we have already looked at in one of my car features last month. This was a big eye opener as it perfectly demonstrated how a few simple, yet well thought of modifications, can tap into the 86′s vast potential.

After taking a white manual GT Limited on the Turnpike for a non-stop fast paced drive, I returned back and picked up an automatic, the final car I would sample on the day. You may remember me raving about the auto when I first had the chance to drive it around Sodegaura, the Lexus IS-F derived fast-shifting torque converter was surprisingly well suited to a bit of action out on track. It felt very good on on the road too…

…giving the 86 a calmer and more relaxing character but really coming alive when put into sports mode and asked to machine-gun through the gears via those steering wheel mounted paddles.

There is no doubt the manual will be the most popular with those people lucky enough to be ordering an 86/FRZ/BRZ around the world but it’s great to see that Toyota have put just as much effort in guaranteeing a great driving package for the self-shifting version.

The top of the line GT-Limited comes with alcantara trimmed seat centers…

…which do a better job of holding you in place through the corners than the regular fabric versions.

All test cars were also fitted with a touch-screen navigation system, a must have in Japan! On this particular view you can see all the wiggly lines of other nice roads that snake up to the top of the Hakone mountain range.

Not something you see every day! As I was shooting this picture the red BRZ zoomed by with a couple of other 86s in the background!

The BRZ is a car we will be looking at next in more detail, the last of the 86/FRS/BRZ trio that remains to be driven. After spending as much time as I possibly could driving the 86s…

…it was time to call it a day and return back to the Prince Hotel and grab a drink to relax a little after the fast-paced event. Toyota set up a cool little display area with a ton of 86 merchandise. They are obviously trying very hard to engage the potential customer in a variety of ways and why not, the car itself stands for so much, who wouldn’t want to be seen wearing cool…

…86-branded driving shoes like these!

There is a variety of colors, so you can select one that best matches the body color or interior of your 86!

We will be seeing a lot of that flat-4 logo from now on!

Check out this line up of bags…

…and a limited edition tool set!

This is another model of driving shoe made in collaboration with Asics.

The display included a cross-sectioned FA20 engine where you can see how the direct injection and regular injection systems are laid out on each cylinder. The direct injection actuates in the mid-range through to the 7,000 rpm redline, helping give a smooth and linear power and torque delivery and optimal throttle response.

If you opt for a 6-speed manual this is the gearbox your car will be running…

…but if you prefer the auto, this complex looking unit is what you will get. There is a lot of technology packed into all those complex gears, clutch packs and solenoids!

The seat on the left is what the “G” version of the 86 comes with while the other two are Gazoo Racing versions, the one on the right a full-on race bucket seat. We might be seeing that seat in the 86s that are participating in the Nurbugring 24h race this weekend.

And to finish up it was great to see the progression of the various concept cars that Toyota worked through over the years before settling on the final design. This red version is the car we saw back in 2009 at the Tokyo Motor Show and the one that sparked off the pretty much relentless interest the project has been enjoying for the last 2 and a half years.

The more aggressive and tuned up G’s interpretation…

…sporting lots of carbon fiber, big wheels and brakes, hinting that Toyota was always been interested in appealing to the aftermarket tuning scene.

The third and final concept, and by far the best looking one, was this closer to production styling exercise that gave us all a pretty good idea of what the final car was going to look like.

In little over a month the 86 seems to be doing rather well in Japan, selling just over 3,200 examples since its launch back on April 6th. These initial orders, not counting the Japan-spec BRZ, plus the ramping up of production for the launches in the US (FRS & BRZ), Europe (GT86 & BRZ) as well as Australia (86 & BRZ) has put Subaru’s factory at full production. If you were to order an 86 in Japan right now, in the more popular GT and GT Limited spec, you wouldn’t be able to receive a car until October or later. We just hope Subaru is up to the job of keeping up with production of this sensational little car!

Toyota Japan

Scion

-Dino Dalle Carbonare

New Zealand might be a little country at the bottom of the world, but when it comes to import drag racing Kiwis have had their fair share of big results. Reece McGregor’s Heat Treatments Racing Nissan Skyline GT-R still holds the coveted title of the ‘world’s quickest 4WD’ with a 7.57 ET set back in 2006. Rod Harvey’s Rayglass Boats 2JZ-powered RWD Toyota Celica is still right up there in the hunt for the outright quickest sport compact title (6.38) having run a best ET to date of 6.40. Then there’s Robbie Ward’s RIPS Racing Nissan RB30-powered front-engine-dragster, which recently joined the sub-seven-second ET ranks running a 6.99. But today I’m here to talk about an old school Mazda and its meteoric rise to the top of the Kiwi rotary drag racing ranks.

Although New Zealand has always enjoyed a large and enthusiastic rotary community, when it comes to drag racing, only in recent times have the country’s more serious rotary-powered racers begun catching up with the rest of the world. Today, out of New Zealand’s five top-ranked import drag machines, three are Mazda rotary-powered. Of those, the quickest two bear something in common…

… the Curran Brothers Racing mark.

Thanks to the engine building exploits of its owner and sole full-time employee, Brent Curran, within the space of a few short years CBR went from virtual anonymity to one of New Zealand’s most respected performance rotary workshops.

Although still young, Brent’s craft has been quickly honed by an unrelenting quest to build wilder and more powerful rotary engines for street and competition applications.

There’s nothing more testament to Brent’s talents than CBR’s rolling business card – a ’71 Mazda RX-2. Funnily enough, the Castrol EDGE-sponsored machine wasn’t originally built to fulfill any desire to cut quick ETs on the strip, but rather to serve as an R&D tool. Brent explains: “While I enjoy racing, my real passion is engine building – especially if I’m given the opportunity to push myself and do something really cool. Unlike a lot of other motorsports, drag racing allows a lot of freedoms when it comes to engines, and because so many of the world’s top rotary [engine] builders are involved in the sport, I’m able to draw comparisons with what they’re achieving on the same playing field.”

Even so, consistent performance on the strip has had its rewards, including a national drag racing title…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJz_S7LKg0s

When the RX-2 was first built it was powered by a 13B twin turbo engine that propelled the Mazda to mid seven-second passes, but from the get-go the plan was always to use a three-rotor 20B engine base. “When I was young I dreamed about building a peripheral ported, triple rotor, triple turbo, motor,” says Brent.  “The RX-2 gave me the opportunity to see that dream through to reality, and running 6.99 proved to myself that I could make it work.”

Although Brent believes there was another tenth to be had from its final triple turbo set up, chasing a 6.89 was of little interest. In an effort to go even quicker, focus was shifted to an entirely new set-up…

… that after testing three different twin turbo combinations, currently looks like this!

It’s hard to see – even in the flesh – but there’s a CBR-built peripheral-ported Mazda 20B three-rotor block hiding under all that plumbing. Most hardcore rotary turbo drag engines rely on conventional side porting, or semi peripheral porting, over going to the extreme and drilling out the rotor housings with large intake ports above the factory exhaust ports. “I think peripheral porting is more in keeping with the old school style of the car,” said Brent when I questioned him on his thinking behind the porting spec. “But more so, it’s something else working against me, so that makes it a challenge.” The other unusual aspect of the engine is the twin turbo arrangement. Two turbochargers on a 20B aren’t special, but running them in a configuration like this (as opposed to both being positioned on the exhaust port side of the block), absolutely is.

The easy way out would have been to feed one turbo with the exhaust gases from two rotors, and the other turbo with the exhaust gas from the third rotor, with a balance pipe in between to even out the pressure. In Brent’s eyes that sort of design is flawed, so a slightly more technical approach was taken. In this unique exhaust manifold set up, each of the three exhaust ports feeds two pipes. One of those pipe flows into a three-pipe collector that supplies the puff for one turbo, and the other pipe flows into another three-pipe collector that supplies the puff for the other turbo. In other words, each exhaust port feeds both turbochargers.

As you’d expect there’s a fuel system of sizable proportions. Cool-burning Methanol is pumped from a four-gallon (15-liter) tank…

… up to the top of the engine where three fuel rails supplying nine 1650cc injectors and six 2000cc injectors. Three additional 1650cc units are fitted, but are not currently employed. During one full-power pass down the quarter the engine consumes around 2.5 gallons (nine liters) of the alcohol-based fuel.

Spark come courtesy of a MicroTech X6 ignition module and high-power coils…

… with firing orders and fuel delivery overseen by a MicroTech LT-16 engine management system. I was interested to learn that Brent does all his tuning on the fly, at the strip. “If there’s a problem with the tune, I simply note down the RPM, and make the necessary changes afterwards,” he says. “We pull out the [spark] plugs after each run as they’re a good indicator to how the engine’s running, but that’s really about it.”

From every angle the 20B twin turbo package is an impressive looking piece of kit, but because the engine – or the car for that matter – has never been on a dyno, its exact power output is unknown. Given the car’s weight – 2250lb (1020kg) with driver – and its ability to run seven seconds flat at close to 200mph, 1300hp+ is estimated. Ponder that power-to-weight ratio for a moment and then ask yourself: Would you be game enough to get behind the wheel of this thing and point it down the quarter mile?

Of course, having all the power in the world is one thing, but getting it to the ground reliably is something else. During the RX-2′s first couple of seasons Brent had a lot of trouble with the driveline, suffering a multitude of transmission, differential and axle failures in his quest for quicker ETs and higher trap speeds. The gearbox proved to be the real limiting factor, prompting him to put a little cash aside every week until he had enough saved for hardware that was up to task. Two years later a bulletproof Lenco CS3 air-shifted five-speed found its way into the car. Operation is pretty simple: The black lever selects between first gear (forward), neutral (center) and reverse (backwards). A regular McLeod twin-plate clutch is used to get the Mazda off the start line, but from there on out pulling back each lever in succession shifts the ‘box through its four remaining gears.

Out the back 32.0/14.0-15 Mickey Thompson ET Drag slicks running on 14″ wide Max wheels (with bead-lock rings to stop the M/Ts spinning on the rims) feature. What you can’t see behind the wheels are Wilwood disc brakes, Strange Engineering gun-drilled axles and a Mark Williams 40-spline diff head inside a custom Robert Tynan sheet-metal diff housing.

It’s a classic drag combo at the pointy end: 15×4″ Weld Magnum Drag 2.0 wheels with 22.5/4.0-15 Mickey Thompson ET Front radials. The lightweight, motorcycle style, front disc brakes are by Strange.

While the front and rear discs offer a little assistance in hauling the Mazda up, the real stopping power comes via twin Simpson parachutes. The run-off at Brent’s local strip, Fram Autolite Dragway, isn’t any longer than the quarter mile itself, so ‘chutes are mandatory on a missile pushing close 200mph, like this one.

When Brent first picked up the rolling body the idea was to ‘tub’ the rear end to allow it to accommodate large slicks. “It was the chassis builder [Robert Tynan] that talked me into going to a full chassis,” says Brent. “Looking back, I’m pleased we went down that road, even if it meant cutting up what was a mint RX-2.” The Mazda retains a lot of its original metal panels, with only a single-piece fiberglass front clip (complete with printed lights and grille), and a fiberglass trunk lid added. Lexan windows replace the OEM glass.

It’s all business inside Brent’s office. For piece of mind the chromoly tube work was designed and constructed to appropriate SFI safety specifications.

The cockpit is a place where form definitely follows function. It’s also the place where Brent gets to enjoy the fruits of his labor – albeit at just seven seconds a time.

Things get real serious (and really noisy!) when these overhead switches are flipped and the start button is engaged. Auto Meter Pro-Comp gauges keep an eye on the engine’s water and oil temps.

For what has essentially been a budget build, the CBR RX-2 punches well above its weight. “After we ran the six-second pass I received a lot of congratulations from international rotary builders who I had respected and looked up to for a long time, and that really blew me away!” says Brent. “With the current set up in the car I know we can go quicker and faster. We literally run the car on a shoestring budget and I need to buy a data logger [a borrowed unit was only recently fitted], along with a new clutch and a pair of new rear tires. I really like trying out new things, but we have to take small steps because I can’t financially afford to hurt the thing.”

Having a crack at the world rotary drag title in a car built for the task is something Brent would one day like to have a go at. “If we get there, we get there,” he says. “But if we don’t get the opportunity, I’ll be happy with what we’ve already achieved.” In the meantime there’s a workshop full of cars to deal with, including a very serious build that revolves around a CBR-built four-rotor engine and a huge turbo. But we’ll save that story for another day…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJJp1mvzkMw

I’ll wrap up this feature with an in-car clip from a recent run down the strip that ended with the parachutes failing to deploy. “Thankfully it happened on a 180mph test pass,” says Brent. “I don’t think it would have ended up so well if we had been back up to 195mph as we are now – but man it was a wild ride!”

CURRAN BROTHERS RACING 1971 MAZDA RX-2

Chassis/Body: Robert Tynan SFI-spec chromoly tube-frame chassis; fiberglass one-piece front clip; fiberglass trunk lid; Lexan windows, custom drag wing

Engine: CBR Mazda 20B three-rotor block; dowelled; three-piece eccentric shaft; lightened 20B rotors; 3mm apex seals; 7.1:1 compression; peripheral intake porting; CBR custom intake; 2x custom turbochargers; 2x TiAL 60mm wastegates; TiAL blow-off valve; CBR custom tubular exhaust manifold; twin 4″ exhausts; 4-gallon fuel cell; Aeromotive belt-driven fuel pump; Aeromotive adjustable fuel pressure regulator; 3x fuel rails; 9x 1650cc injectors; 6x 2000cc injectors, high-power Bosch coils; MicroTech X6; MicroTech LT-16 engine management system

Driveline: Lenco CS3 five-speed air-shifted gearbox; McLeod twin-plate clutch; Driveshaft Specialists steel driveshaft; Robert Tynan sheet-metal diff housing; Mark Williams 40-spline diff head; Strange Engineering gun-drilled axles

Suspension/Brakes: Front – Strange Engineering adjustable coil-overs dampers; Strange Engineering callipers & slotted steel discs; Rear – Koni adjustable coil-over dampers; Wilwood callipers & discs; 2x Simpson parachutes

Wheels/Tires: Front – Weld Magnum Drag 2.0 15×4″ forged wheels, Mickey Thompson ET Front 22.5/4.0-15 radial tires; Rear – Max 15×14″ bead-lock wheels, Mickey Thompson ET Drag 32.0/14.0-15 slicks

Performance: Power Output – 1300hp+ (estimated); Best ET –  6.995 @ 196mph (triple turbo set up)

Curran Brothers Racing 

– Brad Lord

In the lead up to the N24, Toyota’s own Gazoo Racing/GRMN has just unveiled the “GRMN Sports FR Concept”. While the typically Japanese sounding name doesn’t explain much, this factory-tuned GT86 is sure to get the enthusiast community buzzing.

For starters the GRMN project 86 is equipped with some very aggressive body work. There are new front and rear bumpers, side skirts – and most dramatically, widened front and rear fenders.

The real story though is under the hood, where the 86′s flat four has been equipped with both a supercharger and a turbocharger. There’s been a lot of debate on whether or not a factory force induction 86 is coming down the line, but this concept definitely hints at that possibility.

With the supercharger and the turbocharger the GRMN 86 makes 320hp, a solid 120hp jump over the stock naturally aspirated version.

The interior features bucket seats, a full roll cage, and a very tiny looking steering wheel among other things.

To help balance out the extra power, the 86 has also been equipped with staggered 18″ wheels and tires with enlarged brakes and a GRMN-tuned suspension.

There’s no word on how much of this stuff will make it to production, but hopefully we’ll be hearing more soon.

-Mike Garrett

Source: FT86Club