As the 2009 Redline Time Attack season marches on, records continue to fall. This past weekend at Willow Springs International Raceway, numerous records were broken, beaten and shattered! In what could be one of the most impressive performances for a production-based vehicle, Billy Johnson, piloting the FX Motorsports Development Acura NSX, posted a mind numbing lap time of 1:18.555, around the 2.5 mile "Fastest Road in the West", shattering the previous time attack Unlimited Class lap record of mid 1:22's. Four other vehicles also either broke the existing record or came very close to doing so.
Taking 2nd overall at the event was Jonathan Bomarito piloting the Sierra Sierra Enterprises Mitsubishi EVO 8 with a time of 1:20.454, which locked up fastest overall in the Unlimited AWD Division. This was Jonathan's first victory of the season and the team looks strong heading into Round 3 at Chicago's AutoBahn Country Club. Finishing in 3rd overall was Tyler McQuarrie in the CWest/BC Honda S2000 with a time of 1:20.838, which is nearly 1.5 seconds faster than the lap record he just set a week prior.
Tarzan Yamada, driving the Crawford Performance Subaru STI landed in 4th position overall with a time of 1:22.097, knocking a couple seconds off the teams previous best lap time, securing 2nd place in Unlimited AWD. In what is quite possibly one of the most significant accomplishments in motorsports history, let alone time attack history, Chris Rado, driver of the World Racing Scion tC ran a blazing lap time of 1:22.623 in his FRONT WHEEL DRIVE vehicle. As of the writing of this press release, RTA officials have been unable to find a faster lap time recorded by a FWD vehicle in the history of Willow Springs Raceway. No doubt, the substantial re-work of the World Racing Scion tC during the offseason, including the massive front wing, put Chris Rado in a position to utilize is skill, piloting the car to a lap time that NOBODY that was physically possible.
In the Modified Class, AWD Division, JC Meynet ran a Class best time of 1:26.417, in the Harman Motive Subaru STI, setting a new record for the Class and Division. JC is the reigning AWD Street Class Champion, who has moved up a Division to Modified Class. After a rocky start to the season, the car appears to be running in top form. The team at SportCar Motion were repeat winners in the Modified FWD Division with Tim Kuo behind the wheel, posting a time of 1:29.693. In the Modified RWD Division, Brian Lock, in the GoTo Racing Mazda RX-7 secured the top position with a time of 1:29.824.
Round 2 also saw a repeat winner in the Street Class, with Jeremy Toye securing the Overall Class victory, and All Wheel Drive Division honors, with a time of 1:28.817, shattering the previous record posted on this track by a Street Class vehicle last year. Jeremy Croiset, in the MCS Motorsports/Berk Technology/KW sponsored Toyota MR2 bested Round 1 winner Robert Walker by .05 seconds to lock in 1st overall in Street RWD, with a time of 1:32.399. Driving two cars at this event (one in Street and one in Modified), Matt Andrews hustled his Nitto Tire/KBRPerformance Mitsubishi Eclipse to the Street FWD Division victory, posting a time of 1:31.267.
The Redline Time Attack Series now moves on to Chicago's AutoBahn Country Club for Round 3. We'll see the debut of the AMS Performance Mitsubishi EVO X in Chicago. Will they be able to knock FX Motorsports off the top spot of the podium? We'll also see James Elterman in his Takata Racing Subaru STI and Sharif Abdelbaset in the Forged Performance Nissan R-35 Skyline.
For full results and more information, visit
www.RedlineTimeAttack.com