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ButtonWillow Recap - Sporcar Motion Wins!

By redlinetimeattack.com 14-April-2010

As the sun rose over the winding pavement of Buttonwillow Raceway this past Sunday March, 28th the sound of the nation’s fastest time attack cars rumbling to life in the pits signified the official start of the 2010 Redline Time Attack season! Like the Daytona 500 is to NASCAR, the Redline Time Attack Buttonwillow event is the one event that everyone wants to win. Buttonwillow Raceway is widely recognized as the birthplace of US time attack competition and holding a lap record here has become almost as revered as winning the championship.
 
Time Attack racing got its start in Japan years before it made its way over to US soil and in 2007 the Japanese based HKS time attack team brought their prized CT230R Mitsubishi Evo time attack car all the way out to Buttonwillow Raceway where it set a track record that has been standing ever since. Over the past few years, our nation’s top time attack teams have been inching closer and closer to that 1:43.523 lap time set by the HKS CT230R Evo years ago, and the time attack community was buzzing with rumors of a car that could bring that record back to the states this season. The buzz was all about David Empringham and the Sierra Sierra Enterprises Mitsubishi Evo. With only one full season under its belt, the Sierra Sierra Evo is quickly promising to become one of the fastest production based cars in the world. The crowd was on the edge of their seats every time the Sierra Sierra Evo took to the track waiting to see if there would be a new record and as the car came across the checkered stripe in qualifying at a 1:43.436 the crowd went wild! Sierra Sierra had beaten the HKS CT230R Evo’s lap record by a mere nine hundredths of a second! Although they already officially had the record, Sierra Sierra set out to back it up in competition but the rapidly rising temperature and decreasing track conditions were raising concern. Unfortunately the changing weather conditions would not cooperate and Sierra Sierra mustered up a blazing fast lap time of 1:44.344 which was still fast enough for a new Redline Time Attack overall track record, overall all-wheel drive record, the overall event win, and the Super Modified AWD class victory!
 
 
An equally impressive display of pure speed came from the reigning Super Modified FWD champion Chris Rado in his World Racing Scion tC. Rado shattered his own personal record and once again re-defined what everyone thought would be possible with a front wheel drive car coming in at a 1:46.736 which was fast enough for a new Redline Time Attack front wheel drive record, Super Modified FWD class victory, and second fastest overall time behind David Empringham in the Sierra Sierra Evo. Finishing third overall and second in the Super Modified AWD class was Tim Kuo piloting the Evasive Motorsports Mitsubishi Evo with a 1:47.987. Andrie Hartanto piloted the N1 Concepts Honda S2000 to victory in the Super Modified RWD class with a 1:54.832 while Jason Saini and the Tri-Point Engineering Mazdaspeed3 rounds out the top five Super Modified cars with a 1:55.315 finishing 2nd in Super Modified FWD.
 
 
 
The Modified class ranks were shaken up a bit as the rivalry between JC Meynet and the AQ Motorsports Subaru STI and defending champion Ryan Gates and his Mitsubishi Evo X ended in mechanical failure for both cars during practice. Left to fight were a bunch of familiar drivers in new cars! Brian Lock and the COBB Tuning Nissan GTR would come out on top with a new Modified Class and Modified AWD track record at a 1:48.897 landing him the overall Modified class and Modified AWD class victories. James Elterman and Takata Time Attack have joined forces with LIC Motorsports to produce a new west coast based team effort and they made quite the impression out of the gates finishing 2nd in Modified AWD with a 1:53.850 in their Subaru STI followed closely by Nils Leufvens in a Robispec prepped Mitsubishi Evo for 3rd with a 1:54.048.
 
 
Modified RWD was dominated by Jeremy Renshaw and the AFI Turbo Honda S2000 clocking in a time of 1:54.851 for 1st place. In a gross display of sheer talent, Carl Rydquist piloted his nearly Street Tire Class legal AE Performance/City Tire/Hankook Porsche 996 to a 2nd place finish in Modified RWD with a 1:56.738, on Street Tire Class legal tires! Rounding out the Modified RWD podium was AJ Latteri in his Lotus Exige with a 1:57.053
 
Renzo Marsano in the Sportcar Motion Integra cleaned house in the Mofidied FWD class running a 2:01.xxx for the top step on the podium while Tom Liang claimed 2nd place in his JHP USA Honda Civic clocking in at 2:04.429. Rounding out the podium was Jeremy Hugee in the GXS Racing Volkswagen Jetta with a 2:24.072.
 
 
The Street Tire class has always been the largest class providing some of the closest competition in time attack and this season opener showed us that nothing has changed in that regard. Steven Ruiz and the StopTech Mitsubishi Evo X looked great in practice, but had a mechanical issue in the first round of time attack on the warm up lap leaving them with one shot to get a time on the board. In the second round of time attack they had another mechanical issue forcing them off the track, but luckily they had turned one timed lap. That timed lap was a 1:57.591 which would be good enough for the overall Street Tire Class and Street Tire AWD victories! Nipping at his heels though was another Mitsubishi Evo X from HB Speed, this one piloted by Jon Drenas who also had mechanical issues in the first session, but was able to pull out a 1:58.132 landing him 2nd in Overall Street Tire and Street Tire AWD. Just eight tenths of a second behind Drenas was the COBB Tuning Subaru STI driven by Cameron Benner to a 3rd place finish in Street Tire AWD with a 1:58.996.
 
Street Tire RWD saw one of the most competitive battles we have seen to date with 2nd through 10th place all within two and a half seconds of each other. It was Mike Bonanni and the Berk Technology BMW 135i who would come out on top though with a 1:58.839 setting a new Redline Time Attack Street Tire RWD lap record and taking 3rd place overall in the Street Tire Class. The only other BMW 135i in competition came through with a 2nd place finish by way of VJ Mirzayan driving the Evolution Racewerks BMW 135i to a 2:00.520 lap time. Eddie Hsu and his Honda S2000 would round out the Street Tire RWD podium with a 2:01.130 for 3rd place.
 
 
As large as the other two Street Tire classes were, surprisingly only two cars made it through practice and into the time attack competition for Street Tire FWD. Defending champion Clint Boisdeau is behind the wheel of a new car this season driving one of two MINI Cooper S time attack under the ABF Motoring flag. Clint scooted the little MINI to a 2:03.591 taking 1st place in class. Runner up went to Jason Nathan in his Dodge Neon SRT-4 with a 2:07.291 lap time.
 
The 2010 Redline Time Attack Season marks the first full championship for the new Enthusiast Class and competitors came out in droves to try and stake their claim in this entry level class. Shannon Lew would prove to be top dog in his Mitsubishi Evo X claiming the Overall Enthusiast Class and Enthusiast AWD victory with a 2:00.936 followed by Yang “The Animal” Tang with a 2:03.000 in his Mitsubishi Evo VIII for 2nd place. Rounding out the Enthusiast AWD podium was the Mitsubishi Evo IX of Roger Hocking with a lap time of 2:06.157 for third.
 
The Enthusiast RWD class saw the return of Paul Dentice and the AE Performance Nissan 370Z who took the top step on the podium with a 2:02.338 just half of a second ahead of the Berk Technology Honda S2000 driven by Ed Lee to a 2:02.845. Third Place would go to Chris Willard in the Willard Racing Nissan 350Z with a 2:06.513 lap time.
 
Michael Chang showed everyone whose boss in the Enthusiast FWD category turning in a lap time of 2:04.085 landing he and the Evasive Motorsports Honda Civic in 1st place. Dustin Brumfield and Christopher Billedo would battle it out for 2nd & 3rd with Brumfield coming out on top with a 2:12.293 in his Dodge Neon SRT-4. Billedo would settle for third in his Speed Zone Motorsports Honda Civic with a 2:14.156 lap time.
 
 
The Drift Class saw some familiar faces and even a new car from the 2010 Formula D drifting series. Conrad Gruenwald in his brand new Hankook Tire Chevrolet Camaro was dominant on the challenging road course winning the Drift Class with a 1:57.896. Ken Xu in his Godspeed Nissan 240SX would slide into second spot with a 2:00.828 lap time. Adam Knapik, also in a Nissan 240SX, would edge out the Mazdatrix RX7 of Kyle Mohan for third running a 2:03.536.
 
 
In the midst of all of the high energy action on track, the beer garden, modeling contests, Battle of the Bands performances and everything else, Redline Time Attack sent everyone’s adrenaline through the roof with what is known as the Super Session. The Super Session flips things around a bit as this five lap sprint race is decided by who crosses the finish line first, not by lap time. The top finishing teams who qualify from the Super Modified, Modified, and Street Tire classes are sent from a green flag rolling start into turn one door to door. Watching the fastest time attack cars in the nation duke it out for position surely got everyone’s blood pumping. The battle between Brian Lock in the COBB Tuning GTR and James Elterman in the Takata Time Attack/LIC Motorsports Subaru STI was intense as the two cars swapped positions numerous times before a mechanical failure took the COBB Tuning GTR out of the competition on lap 3 leaving the door open for James Elterman to take the checkered flag. Coming in second was JC Meynet in the AQ Motorsports S2000 followed by Jeremy Renshaw with 3rd in the AFI Turbo Honda S2000 and Gary Long in 4th.  Cameron Benner came across the line in 1st place in the Buddy Club Street Tire Class Super Session driving his COBB Tuning Subaru STI, with Dave Lemon in the Mazdatrix Mazda RX8 rounding out the field in 2nd place for the Street Tire Super Session.
 
 
The new 2010 Redline Time Attack series promises to be more spectacular than ever as old rivalries flare up and new ones take shape. Records will continue to be broken at nine more events throughout 2010. Be sure to mark your calendars for Round #2 of the 2010 Redline Time Attack Series and East Coast season opener held at New Jersey Motorsports Park on April 10th & 11th!