5 | Attack the Track

With temperatures soaring over 100 degrees throughout the day the competitors would have their work cut out for them to figure out the right combination to be able to keep themselves cool, their cars running optimally, and lay down a great lap on demand. Redline helped out competitors listening and understanding their concerns via their Facebook group and changed the Time Attack time to earlier in the day to help try and get everyone on track in somewhat cooler temperatures.

A new record was set in AWD Enthusiast Class as well as an Overall Enthusiast Class Record thanks to Craig Peyron and his Robispec 2006 Subaru STI, he was able to get his car around the track in 1:58.332 with a fresh set of Hankook RS-3’s, the time Craig was able to put down was even more impressive considering he was able to accomplish it during the afternoon time attack session where the temperatures were at their highest! This then makes you wonder what Craig will have in store for us later this year. This also marks Craig’s 5th straight Redline Time Attack victory this year as well as his 4th straight Enthusiast class overall win. You can check out all the Time Attack records on www.timeattackforums.com.

Another record that was in jeopardy was the Enthusiast RWD from Amir Bentatou, in the morning practice session he was on pace to break the record but with the addition of the extra heat he fell just off pace but still was able to take 1st place in class with a 2:01.024 in his 4 door M3.

Jason Lee came out in his 2007 Honda Civic SI poised to take a 1st place finish in Enthusiast FWD and he was able to push his Godspeed car on Hankook RS-3’s to their extreme and take home the victory. Although his tires had some excessive heat cycling and the overall heat we expect Jason to see about cracking into an Enthusiast Class record in the near future so make sure to keep an eye on his progress via his Facebook racing page.

Here are some laps from Jason and make sure to follow him on YouTube:

Will Wattanawakiri started out the time attack exactly where you never want to, with an injured car! In the last practice session on Saturday he started feeling the car down on power and noticed he was getting some light indicators on his dash. So Will went to work during the night to see if he could breathe fire back into his 240 beast. Will the help of other teams and a few handy zip ties he was able to get the car running enough to go out on Sunday and put in 1 hot lap! Just how time attack is supposed to be ran, so with his single lap he was able to get a 2:00.725 which was good enough for the win in Street RWD, although he expected for far better times Will was content to outcome.

Street Class AWD was once again dominated by Mark Jager and his Yimi Sport tuned 2006 STI, he was able to put a 1:55.210 lap time in the morning TA session on his Hankook RS-3’s. Which was good enough for the AWD Street class crown as well as the Street class overall victory. This makes it 5 out of 5 events for the Jager Racing Team in AWD Street Class and the Street Class Overall.
Here is a video of Mark’s winning lap:

photo courtesy of Byron Yoshida Photography
Another 240 had a great showing with Adam Knapik behind the wheel from FRSport, putting down the fastest time of the day from the entire field with a 1:54.762 which earned him the Modified RWD Class Champ as well as Overall Event Champion utilizing the Hankook TD’s as his tire of choice. This car is even more impressive as it changes from grip to drift on a regular basis competing in the Top Drift Series.

Right on Adam’s bumper was Zhong Cheung in his FFTec 2006 Evo which he daily drives! Zhong was able to put in a 1:54 in his morning practice session on his new Hankook TD’s but struggled in the TA session to get a good lap in leaving him with a 1:56.361. Although he was able to come back in the afternoon session and put in a 1:55.167 with all the heat he was only able to complete one lap before he had to shut it down leaving him just out of reach of Knapik and the Overall Mod Class victory, but Zhong did take 1st Place in AWD Modified Class. Making this his 3rd AWD Modified class win of the season.

Clint Boisdeau had a good showing in Frank Chen’s BM Autosports EK Civic hatchback with a 2:00.770, this car tends to get an abundant amount of attention based on it being a type R and right hand drive. Clint is a long time TA driver who has piloted many AWD and FWD cars over his career and always is an intense competitor as well as a great sportsman.

photo courtesy of Byron Yoshida Photography www.byronyoshidaphotography.com

Don Pastor is a fan favorite with his Valencia European E36 BMW, letting his driving do all his talking and his driving did quite a bit of it! He was able to walk away with a RWD Unlimited Class and Overall Unlimited Class Victory with a 1:56.907. Although his car is still is a very developmental stage he continues to impress along the way with great times as well as putting together Super Session victories and maybe a few doughnuts along the way.

Overall it was a Hot event in more ways than one, with 36 competitors many looking to break records despite the devastating effects of the heat which Buttonwillow continually pushed onto competitors each did what they could but only one was able to accomplish. Congratulations to Craig Peyron for his astonishing performance and congratulations to all those who competed.

The Extreme Speed AWD competition has been going strong this year thanks to all the great competitors that continually come out and support the series. Each time you come out to these events you get reminded of the friendships that can be made and the help that each they can provide to one another.

One guy might go down but another will do whatever they can to help them get back up and running, even if it means letting them use their car to go to the autoparts store to get parts. The competition that we see in the Awd comp is some of the best by far with separation coming down to the tenth and even the hundredth as well as close points races in all categories.

This event was special being that it was held at night at Streets of Willow under the lights provided by Extreme Speed Track Events. This makes this event even more challenging to get your fastest time being as the dark has the ability to hide some of the tracks features. Although the most important session of the night came during the Extreme Time Attack session allowing everyone to be gridded by time giving the best opportunity to run your fastest lap.

Here is an example from Craig Peyron laying down an amazingly fast lap in Enthusiast class with a 1:23.411.

One thing to remember is we are in the middle of July so temperatures are reaching over 100 degrees during the day which is why the nights event is so popular. But even at night the temperatures are still quite warm, but the competitors brave the heat and come on out to claim their trophies and prizes provided by the series sponsors such as Nitto Tire, Infamous Performance, Eibach Springs, and Road Race Engineering.
Here are the winners in each class:

Zhong Cheung 1st place Mod 1:22.72

John Carson 1st place Street 1:23.83

Craig Peyron 1st Enthusiast 1:23.411
Overall the Awd comp had 20 competitor competing so no one was granted a participation trophy and that’s how we like it, everyone had to earn their spot and it shows when mod class times between Zhong Cheung and Ramon Ornelas were separated by hundredth, in street class John Carson and Mark Jager were separated by 4 tenths and Mark Jager and Ken Kasitz by 6 tenths, and lastly in enthusiast class Brandin Bethel and Surge Dee were separated by only 4 tenths for 2nd place.
Here are the full results:

This type of competition is what keeps this series so exciting, it’s a constant battle to see who will take home the prize. Extreme Speed has worked hard to provide rules and prizes that makes for a fair and rewarding series in which the drivers can grow. If you have an Awd car come on out and give it a try!