From Brimtek Motorsports

WDCR member Tristan Herbert of Brimtek Motorsports continued to be a force to be reckoned with this season as evidenced by recent races in California. The Pirelli World Challenge rookie placed second in Round 9 and third in Round 10 at Infineon Raceway, Calif.  Herbert followed that double race weekend with an impressive second place showing during Round 11 at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca track.  In addition to leading the race at Laguna Seca for 13 total laps, Herbert earned the Invisible Glass “Clean Pass of the Race” award for his stellar pass on the No 66 K-Pax racing Volvo C30 of Robb Holland after the restart on Lap 7.

“It was tough losing the leading position at Laguna Seca, especially with only a few laps left in the race”, comments Herbert.  “But my team and I are still pleased with our second place finish and feel confident that we have what it takes to be a top competitor in the Touring Car series”.

Tristan was looking for a solid finish during the final Round 12 of the Pirelli World Challenge series at Road Atlanta this past weekend, but a fuel pump failure would move him back early in the race to finish eighth place. An impressive fourth place overall in the championship with one win, two seconds, two thirds and a fourth place, earned him the 2011 Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car Rookie of the Year award.

Tristan credits his grass-roots SCCA club racing background with the D.C. Region for his success as a rookie driver in the Pirelli World Challenge series.

“This year has been an incredible experience for me as a grassroots club racer,” he said. “I am living my ultimate dream every time I get that Number 33 Volkswagen GTI out on the track against so many world renowned racers. I also feel very fortunate that I have so many people, especially our team principal, Dave Tilton from Brimtek, that believe in my driving ability and my crew from RennGruppe Motorsports. My crew chief, Cameron Conover along with the rest of the team continues to demonstrate outstanding work ethic and unparalleled knowledge of Volkswagens.”

Cameron and Brimtek were also chosen as the 2011 Pirelli World Challenge Crew of the Year for Touring Car. 

The support of fellow club racers is something that Tristan values greatly. With the invaluable support of another touring car team, Gila Monster, who helped transport the car out to California from Virginia and the support of countless other club racers who helped facilitate the transport of the car back to RennGruppe Motorsports in North Carolina for final Road Atlanta preparations, Tristan’s season has shown the value of a grass-roots racing foundation.

Excitement continues to brew amongst the team as they are already in the process of developing their program for the 2012 season.

The 2011 MARRS Labor Day Double Race presented by Sheetz

Sheetz will sponsor the MARRS Labor Day Double race weekend Sept. 3 to 5 at Summit Point Raceway.

 “The MARRS series and specifically Summit Point draws racers and volunteers from all across the Sheetz footprint,” said Fred McConnell, Sheetz director of brand development. “Those customers are buying fuel, food and beverage, so we wanted to support something that they are passionate about in hopes of continuing to make a connection between them and the Sheetz brand.”

The convenience store chain has several locations throughout the mid-Atlantic area, including the popular Charles Town, W.V., location for racers, workers and spectators travel to and from Summit Point.  Sheetz also has a long-standing sponsorship with Meathead Racing.

“The D.C. Region is recognized across the country as the premiere region in the SCCA, so we are pleased to have the opportunity to partner with the Region in a way that allows us the chance to reach a core group of our customers,” McConnell, who is also a racer who will take to the track in an F-Production Mazda Miata during the weekend.

Sheetz will offer free food and coffee coupons to drivers and volunteers at registration during the weekend.  Also, through the long standing relationship with MEATHEAD Racing, if a competitor places a Sheetz sticker on their car, or a volunteer displays the Sheetz Racing Patch they are entered for a chance to win Sheetz Z cards.

In addition, Sheetz team members will be available to provide information and prizes regarding the MySheetz loyalty card that has been recently introduced.

Sheetz, Inc. is one of America’s fastest growing family-owned and operated convenience store chains, with $5 billion in revenue for 2011 and more than 14,000 employees. The company operates 400 locations throughout Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio and North Carolina. Sheetz provides an award-winning menu of MTO® subs, sandwiches and salads, ordered through unique touch-screen order point terminals. All Sheetz stores are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. For more information, visit www.sheetz.com.

When you’re in an SCCA World Challenge Touring Car and sharing the track with higher horsepower GT and GTS cars at Mosport, it’s always important to keep an eye on your mirrors. WDCR member Tristan Herbert, driving a Brimtek-sponsored Volkswagen GTI, found he didn’t like the view out of his side mirror, so despite being buckled in, he found a way to make an adjustment.

Tristan Herbert World Challenge Crash Mosport from Tristan Herbert on Vimeo.

Unfortunately, the result after that was not good as Tristan spun out of second place and into a tire wall. Judging by what happened to the cars behind him, it looks like there was oil on the track, but nobody else who spun behind him managed to end up in the same spot along the tire wall.

The race is scheduled to be shown on Versus on June 18 at 3 p.m.

The Brimtek team’s next race weekend is Aug. 5 to 7 at Mid-Ohio.

By Mark Hillyer
The Bald Flaggers of America

This was the third weekend in a row at the track and it was one of the best weekends of racing. I thought National Regional worked well and a big thanks to the D.C. Region for coming up with this and making it work. I did like the signs pointing to the paddock with “Thanks for coming” on the back — nice touch!

A quick run down for Saturday … perfect weather.

Group 1
SRF: Started the day with some metal to metal at turn 8. lose it here and you will end up in the tires drivers right. Fortunately the second SRF slowed him up a bit. Both cars made repairs and returned for Sunday. Think this might be a bad omen.

Group 2
Wings and things: WOW!!! The Formula Atlantics were class acts and a full field of Continentals if you like open wheel this was fun to flag, and from the drivers I talked with, it was almost as much fun from the drivers seat. Blue flag heaven (hope we helped you guys).

Group 3
Production cars – The GTL cars were quick but the lonely little 1964 Elva Courier was up for the challenge. The Miata’s were quick and nimble and then you have Beth and John turning some pretty impressive laps no “shock” here. Unfortunately Beth’s car broke but John carried the Burkhard banner well. How about a 1958 Porsche bath tub?

Group 4
SSM- Full field of cars. Same drill — qualify A.M., race P.M. Good close racing throughout the pack with the wiley veterans taking on the new upstarts. One item of note all of the SSM cars have to be built from real miata’s no kit cars here.

Group 5
Big Bore – Some heavy duty ground pounders came out and were quick. The quickest at 1:12 flat averaging 106 mph. A very exciting day with oil in turn 10 and a Corvette in the wall at Turn 1. We all learned some lessons on radio response. Nice drive Dave in the #15 AS camaro with the Bald Flagger decals. I know the competitors were jealous (heard that at lunch). I am waiting for the letters and e-mails to come in for requests.

Group 6
SM and Ts: very well run There were more cars with the Bald Flaggers decals. Mike from Planet Miata got an extra boost from the decals. With all this attention the Bald Flagger ranks are sure to grow. (razor sales are up). Met Don Knowles at registration really a class act and drove very well. Very busy day for these guys.

Group 7
Formula Vees and Fords: Had three Honda powered FF’s intresting how the politics will play out on this one. John nice drive. The Vees now were talking drum brakes, and the
big national motors all that horsepower and drafting too. If you like open wheel this was the best weekend so far. If Joe and his club ford gang were out mixing it up … perfect.

Group 8
IT: Nice group of Datsun/Nissan Hondas and Miatas with a few RX7s The Datsun/Nissans were quick and the Honda and Miata’s in ITA were a nice mix. Dave, Mike and John were fun to watch Regional racing at it’s best. Thanks guys.

Lunch at Chez Summit was never better!

Town Hall meeting this was a great idea I spent maybe 10 minutes listening, most
of the comments were positive. We need to do this more.

(Editor’s note: Art Jaso passed this along about his race against himself in his Improved Touring-B first-generation Toyota MR2 as part of the SCCA National weekend at Summit Point.)

“Saturday race group 8 went off at 5:30 p.m. after a very long day of National practice and qualifying and regional qualifying and racing. I was informed be several of my ‘friends’ at impound that it was the official End of the World because I had won the ITB race, my first win in 21 years. Of course I was racing myself and didn’t know whether to congratulate myself or trash talk myself. But I got over it and I backed that up with another win on Sunday.

“The AJ Video Services, American Red Cross, Adrenaline Automotive MR2 ran great all day. (Sip a Yuengling) I want to thank my crew, Steve Beckley (ITB MR2 No. 87) who helped me fix a faulty trans linkage after qualifying on Saturday morning, and Roger Troxel for providing the missing nut. It must have been going for months cuz once we got everything tightened back up, it felt like an F1 shifter! (Sip a Yuengling) I also want to thank Jeff Janoska for hiring the wonderful young ladies who washed my car on Sunday while I was helping out in the pit, even though that briefly brought rain. And to all the friendly faces at impound who made me fell like I’d actually won a race, thank you. (Sip a Yeungling) And a shout out to all my friends in the pit, pacecar and ‘no class Paddock.’ (Sip a Yeungling)

“It was great to have the National back a Summit Point, and to have an opportunity for regional racers to participate was one I couldn’t pass up. I salute all the members who made it happen. I’ll be back again next year.”

From SCCAProRacing.com

WDCR’s Tristan Herbert won yesterday’s Pirelli World Challenge Championship Touring Car race on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla.

Tristan held on to win by just over seven tenths of a second in his No. 33 Brimtek Motorsports Volkswagen GTI in just his first weekend in the series.

“This is the perfect example of why people get involved with local programs in SCCA,” Tristan said. “That’s where I started, with a driver’s school with the [Washington, D.C. Region] and worked my way up. This is exactly why you get into racing, and what you can do with it if you stick to it and work really hard. It’s awesome, it hasn’t even hit me yet.”

Starting third, Tristan and, another racer with roots in the WDCR, Chip Herr driving the No. 07 Grid 1 Motorsports Mazda RX-8, moved past polesitter Lawson Aschenbach at the standing start. Tristan moved past Chip on the third lap and onto the point, building a lead through the caution period.

World Challenge uses a wave around rule to prevent the Touring Car or GTS leaders from being earning a “free lap” on the rest of their class. Because of the on-track position of the overall leader during the caution, none of the Touring Cars were given the order to move past the pace car to the rear of the field.

Tristan and the Brimtek Motorsports team, however, misunderstood the command and he moved past the pace car and circulated to the rear of the field, essentially one full lap ahead of his Touring Car competitors.

Officials called him to pit lane after the green flag and held him until Chip, running second, passed the start finish line – putting Herbert on the track behind the silver Mazda.

Tristan recovered, moved past Chip on lap 22, and then held off a charging Aschenbach’s No. 71 Compass360 Honda Civic Si to the checkered flag.

“I was in first place and we had the full course caution,” Tristanexplained. “One of the officials had told our crew chief to wave us by, and just like yesterday we started to go by. I didn’t see anybody following, and the next thing I know I’m totally in the wrong spot. I know I’m in the wrong spot, I’m starting to panic, my crew is calming me down. They know the problem and they’re trying to stage me. I get pulled into the penalty box, and that was ok, they were trying to get me in the right spot. As they’re letting me go I see Chip Herr go by, and all of a sudden I have to get my head back in the game and get right back up there. I was able to get around Chip and make it happen. It was a tough one.”

Aschenbach finished second, followed by Patrick Seguin in the No. 80 Theberge Homes/capsparts.com Honda Civic Si. Chip finished 13th in class after a mechanical problem with five laps to go.

Devin Cates, another racer from the WDCR, earned the Sunoco Hard Charger Award for improving 12 positions overall on his way to a fourth place Touring Car finish in the No. 23 Cutaway Crations/Cates Engineering Volkswagen GTI.

WDCR members have again volunteered their cars to be on display in the region’s exhibit at the Washington Auto Show, which lasts until Sunday.  They are on the large (main) exhibit hall on the lower level.  Just follow the thumpity-thumpity music!

About 20 vehicles are on display representing Solo, Club Racing, RallyCross, Time Trials and Emergency Services.  Here is information about some of those vehicles:

Karen Kraus, 2006 Subaru Impreza WRX, Solo – E Street Prepared (ESP)
I mostly run National ProSolo and Tour events with it. In ESP, it mostly runs against Camaros and Mustangs, with the occasional Talon TSi/Eclipse GSX thrown in.  I won the 2008 ProSolo L1 Championship (in stock form), then I did the modifications for ESP, and took the 2009 National ESPL Championship.

Mike Snyder, Ford Mustang Shelby GT, Solo – F Stock (FS)
I purchased this car new in February of 2007, and the dash plaque authenticates this car as #450 in the Shelby GT registry. It was built to compete in SCCA Solo II and Pro Solo
competition in the F Stock Class. It competes against Camaros, Mustangs, and other Shelby GTs.

Modifications include AST Shocks, crash bolt kit, competition alignment, adjustable sway bar end links, lightweight Volk wheels and Hoosier race tires. Driven by Sam Strano at National level events, this Shelby GT always finishes in front or near the front of the pack. No other Shelby GT has won an F Stock SCCA National Championship or F Stock Pro Solo Championship title.

Eric Kriemelmeyer, Pontiac Solstice GXP with ZOK package, Solo – B Stock (BS)
The Solstice GXP competes in SCCA Stock Class B, against S2000 Club Racer, STi, C4 Corvette primarily.  It’s a 2.0L turbo four-cylinder engine provides excellent acceleration as well as above average fuel economy. With the addition of the factory ZOK suspension option, the car is lowered as well as having increased cornering ability above the base Solstice GXP. Using stock-size 18X8 wheels, the car can use enormous 295 width racing tires (stock is 245) providing a much larger contact patch for competition. Pontiac: They Built Excitement!

Alan Claffie, 1990 Mazda Miata, Solo – Street Touring S (STS)
Competes against the Honda CRX, Honda del sol, Mazda RX7 and Toyota MR2 in STS

SCCA’s Street Touring Solo category lets drivers compete in popular cars with popular modifications (aftermarket suspension, intake, exhaust, etc). Expensive and fragile racing tires aren’t allowed in this class, so it’s ideal for those who just want to show up and drive without having to bring a second set of wheels and tires to the event site.

Larry Spector , 1991 Toyota MR2 Turbo, PDX/Time Trials/Solo – Street Modified 2 (SM2)
The car is used primarily for PDX events, with occasional Solo competition as well. It’s been run at Summit Point, WV; Watkins Glen, NY; Virginia International Raceway and New Jersey Motorsports Park.

The MR2 Turbo is a mid-engined (engine behind the driver) rear wheel drive car.
It has two seats, and two trunks (one in front, and another in back) and was made in Japan and sold in the United States between 1991 and 1995.  This car has a turbocharged and intercooled 4 cylinder engine, with a 5 speed manual transmission, and as delivered, it had 200hp and a 0-60 of under six seconds, and a top speed of over 140 mph.

This car is now 20 years old, and is driven to and from the track. It’s also used for commuting in good weather!

Tristan Herbert, 2008 Volskwagen GTI, Pro Racing – World Challenge Touring
Competes nationally in World Challenge against Mazda RX-8, Honda civic si, Scion tc, Mazda 3, Acura tsx, Mazda speed 3 and Acura RSX racecars.  It’s modified with JRZ Three-Way Adjustable Suspension, Piper Motorsports Custom Exhaust, AIM Data System, 17X8 BBS RGR Wheels, Racetech Seat, (Gripper) Limited Slip Differential Transmission, Ground Control Camber Plates, Power Flex Suspension Bushings, Stop-Tech Big Brake Kit, BSH Motor and Trans Mounts and an APR chip.

Bob Crawford, 1982 Dodge Colt, Club Racing – Improved Touring C (ITC)
Races at Summit Point, Watkins Glen and other tracks.  Races in Improved Touring “C”

Jack Burrows, 1984 Mazda RX7, Club Racing – Spec RX-7 (SRX7)
The Spec RX7 is based on and races against first-generation (1981-85) Mazda RX7s.  Tightly limited drive train preparation but competition suspension – shocks, struts, springs, sway bars etc. – open exhaust, spec tires, and gutted interior.  Safety equipment includes roll cage, five-point driver harness, on-board fire suppression system, fuel cell, and electrical system kill switch. Minimum race weight (including driver) is 2,530 lbs.

It has been driven to four victories at Watkins Glen International

Matt Hayes, 2010 Womer EV-3, Club Racing – FormulaVee (FV)
The car competes in the WDCR region MARRS series with other FVs primarily at Summit Point.  The class often has 15 cars entered and the low-power, high-grip cars make for close and exciting racing with a lot of drafting.

The car was designed and produced by Womer Race Cars located inside the DC beltway.  It uses primarily vintage Volkswagen parts in a custom frame and body, as stipulated by the class rules.  The car has a top speed of about 120mph and is capable of about 2Gs of lateral acceleration.  While the car only has about 60hp, the weight of 1025lbs, which includes the driver, make for a exciting machine.

Shawn Roberts, 1988 Mazda RX-7, RallyCross – Modified Two-Wheel Drive (M2)
This is the class for the most modified 2 wheel drive cars in RallyX.  Locally the competition is mostly older Sentra’s and a Ford Focus.

Ben Lambioette, FFR Type 65 Coupe, Solo/Time Trials — X Prepared (XP)
The “Bottom Dollar” Coupe is built on a Factory Five Racing Type 65 Coupe chassis and body. It is not a “donor” kit car.  All mechanical components are new and were carefully selected to suit the uses for which the car was built.  Considerable additional work was done to the chassis and body.

It is powered by a 347 ci small block Ford V-8 built on a new Ford Racing Boss block.  Top end, recently rebuilt by Maryland Performance, sports Canfield 195 cc CNC heads, Race Tec flattop pistons, cut to match the offset of the valves, Manley H-beam rods, and Jesel “mohawk beam” shaft rockers.  It has a custom solid roller cam by Jay Allen at Camshaft Innovations.  Fuel is delivered by mechanical pump to Pro Systems Holley 4-barrel double pumper with no choke, feeding an Edelbrock RPM Airgap dual plane intake manifold.  It has a 22 gallon Fuel Safe fuel cell.  Built to rev to 7,000 rpm+, it pulled 485 peak hp and 480 peak torque at the rear wheels on a chassis dyno last year.  

It runs an Astro Performance “built” (heavy duty alloy gearset) T-5 5-speed transmission, mated to a dual disk Spec Super Twin clutch and lightweight aluminium flywheel.  Damping is by double adjustable Koni’s at all four corners and Eibach springs.  Rear is IRS, built on a 1997 T-Bird, with oversized heavy duty half shafts, and a Torsen T-2 helical gear type limited slip diff.   Brakes are six piston Willwoods up front and four pot Willwoods in the rear.  Front-rear brake bias is adjustable via dial on the lower console.  Steering is via a Fast Freddie’s Fabrication electro-hydraulic power steering set up.  Cog and tooth accessory drive and self-exciting alternator are from Jones Racing.

The car weighs 2515 pounds without driver, and a half a tank of gas.  It is not a show car or concourse replica, but was built to compete in a variety of motorsports.  A frequent competitor in Solo, in XP class, it runs autocrosses (cone-dodging) nearly every weekend with SCCA WDCR, Capital Driving Club, and at Cumberland and other airport long-circuit events.  It also saw action in last year’s SCCA Divisionals and a Pro Solo event at FedEx Field.   It is also used on road racing tracks for Time Trials and Club Trials (where four cars are released on the track, laps are timed, and the fastest lap wins) , and non-competitive track days.  We will probably do at least one hillclimb (closed public road circuit, usually up a mountain, with runs timed) with it in 2011.

The car was built by Fred Kelley of Fast Freddie’s Fabrication.  Body and paint by Chris’ Customs. Custom dash, wiring, tire trailer hitch and other details by Larry Casey of Casey Design.  It was completed in June 2009, and just completed its first full season of competition.  It is street legal, and driven to and from events, towing a small trailer on which race tires and tools are hauled.

Other displays include:

Chris Windsor, Triumph and Morgan, Historic
Gene,  427 Cobra, Time Trials — XP
Steve Huemmer, Rescue 1 
Mike Collins, Mazda Miata, Club Racing — Spec Miata (SM) and Showroom Spec Miata (SSM)
Bill Mercurio, Club Racing — Spec Racer Ford (SRF)
Justin Huffman, Club Racing — Formula Enterprises (FE)
Steve Hyatt, 1991 Golf GTI, RallyCross — PF

Ian Baas and WDCR's Ryan Ellis celebrate on the podium after winning ST in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge 200 at Daytona International Speedway.

WDCR’s Ryan Ellis and veteran Ian Baas won the Grand Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge 200 at Daytona International Speedway this past weekend, in a spectacular season debut for APR Motorsports and Volkswagen.

Ryan, a former WDCR Spec Miata racer and resident of Ashburn was making his full-time debut with the Grand Am series, alongside APR veteran and former Rolex 24 Hour winner Ian Baas. The pair piloted a brand new VW DriverGear GTI, (completed by APR Motorsports just hours before the event), in Grand Am’s popular Continential Tire Street Tuner, (ST) division.

“This seems unreal, standing here with Ian in Victory Lane at Daytona,” Ryan said. “I have to thank everyone at APR Motorsports for the tremendous effort they made to get us both here. What a great way to start the season.”

Ryan, 21 years old, was also the fastest Street Tuner qualifier, setting a new Daytona track record time of 2:06.818 (101.058 mph) in the number 171 APR/VW Driver Gear Volkswagen GTI. Ryan received some assistance on his fastest record-breaking lap.

“As always at Daytona, we had to work the draft as well as possible,” said Ryan, who led 45 ST cars to the start.

Ryan Ellis leads the ST field at Daytona.

With a full Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge racing season ahead of them, Ryan and Ian head off next to Miami for the Homestead Grand Am weekend on March 4-5. SPEED TV will be airing this past weekend’s Continental Tire series race this coming Saturday Feb. 8 at 3 p.m.

Currently a junior at George Mason University, (GMU), Ryan is a member of the Kappa Sigma Business fraternity. He serves as resident Pro Racing Instructor at Allsports Grand Prix in Sterling, Virginia, and is a host on CBS/WJFK’s weekly “In the Pits” radio talk show. Outside of racing, Ryan is an avid hockey player and has played professionally with the Potomac Mavericks of the PIHA and for the GMU college hockey team.

VW DriverGear is the accessories division of Volkswagen of America. VWDriverGear represents the lifestyle of the VW driver and provides a wide range of accessories ranging from clothing to wheels for your favorite Volkswagen or your favorite Volkswagen d river. To get gear for your driver or your VW please visit http://www.drivergear.vw.com and use promo code “VWGTIAD” for a special offer to Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge fans!

APR LLC is an automotive engineering firm operating a 36,000 sq. ft. performance campus in Opelika, Ala. APR was founded in 1997 with a corporate philosophy of Integrity, Excellence and Innovation. APR’s Sole Mission is to provide the highest quality and most highly engineered aftermarket performance products available for Porsche, Audi and Volkswagen vehicles.

For more pictures from the weekend, see APR’s photostream on Flickr.

The annual WDCR awards banquet was held Saturday at the Washington Convention Center, and the following Club Racing award and class winners were recognized.

Dick Lord Trophy (driver who accumulates the highest number of MARRS points regardless of class): Rowdy Brian Price

Tom Shaffer Memorial Award (Production driver with the most MARRS Championship points, inclusive of all the Production classes): Ken Nesbit, F Production

John M. Barnett Memorial Award (most improved Formula Vee or Formula Car driver): Nick Ashley, Formula Vee

Dune Buggies of Maryland Rookie of the Year Award: Lee York

Frank B. Pohanka Jr. Award (performance by a WDCR member in an owner-driven and owner-prepared Production or Sedan car): Ken Nesbit, F Production

Paul A. Norair Award (WDCR driver who has shown the greatest improvement during the year in either Regional or National racing): Tom Martin

Volunteer of the Year: Joelle Pence

MARRS Series Awards

Spec Miata: Ken Zalner
American Sedan: Pamela Richardson
Club Ford: Joe Marcinski
Improved Touring S: Albert Gervais
Improved Touring Enduro: David Rankin
Formula Vee: Doug Hannum
Grand Touring A: Paul Arey
H Production: Michael Macqueen
Spec Racer Ford: Eric Kurzhals
E Production: Kathy Leidich
Grand Touring 1: James McAleese Jr
F Production: Ken Nesbitt
Improved Touring A: Rowdy Brian Price.
Improved Touring B: Tom Martin.
Spec RX7: Dave Ade.
Showroom Spec: Scott Brunk.

Individuals who would have been the MARRS Champion if their classes had enough participation throughout the year:

DSR – Dennis Hanratty
Formula Enterprises: Keith McDonald
Grand Touring Pinto: Bruce Shelton
Improved Touring C: Tony Christian
Super Production Over 2.5 Liters: Robert Hasychak
Super Production Under 2.5 Liters: Phillip Ackley
Touring 3: Alan Himes

Brimtek/GermanAutoParts.com World Challenge Touring Car to be driven by WDCR's Tristan Herbert in 2011.

WDCR’s Tristan Herbert, the 2009 Mid-Atlantic Road Racing Series ITB champion, will run the 2011 season in the SCCA’s World Challenge Championships and Sports Car Wars.  Tristan will race with a team consisting of Virginia-based Brimtek Motorsports and German Auto Parts.com in their sole Volkswagen GTI in the Touring Car class.

In a press release, Dave Tilton, said, “Brimtek is committed to the entire season and all of the races on the calendar. Our team is composed of a very competitive and talented battery of individuals.  We have worked unremittingly over these past few years to advance from club racers to a credible professional organization.  Now we are ready to pit our proficiency, competitiveness and commitment against the best World Challenge has to offer.”

Tristan, a native of Reston, has gone from snowboarding (as member of the Budweiser Ariel Assault Team from 1998 to 2000) to racing motorcycles then cars.  He began his track career in 1999 on two wheels and moved to cars in 2008. 

In the past three years of SCCA club racing, Tristan has amassed 18 win and  two track records in addition to the 2009 MARRS ITB championship.

“I am a very competitive and focused guy, and I like to win,” he said.  “The opportunity to drive professionally is of course incredible, but the most important aspect for me is the competitive DNA that embodies the Brimtek team.  They are ‘a play for keeps, never quit organization’ and that suits me perfectly.  I feel confident that our commitment to each other and our race craft will catch a few of the existing World Challenge teams off guard this season.”

The GTI, with a Stop Tech brake package and Pirelli tires, has been undergoing extensive testing this winter at Summit Point Motorsports Park. The team has also made a series of suspension modifications and upgrades as well. 

“Testing during the winter months on a cold track is not ideal, but we are nevertheless learning a great deal and adapting to different track conditions,” said Ray Kopp, Brimtek’s technical director.  “We will continuously add to our knowledge base as testing proceeds throughout the winter months and into the spring.” 

The first race event of the season will be The Streets of St. Petersburg in St. Petersburg, Fla., March 25 to 27.

The team office and shop is located in Ashburn, which is in close proximity to Dulles International Airport.  The team occupies 3,000 square feet of space supporting fabrication, assembly and preparation of the Brimtek’s World Challenge GTI.  Trackside support will be provided by the team’s 40-foot, three-car transporter.

Brimtek, Inc., is a provider of technical products and solutions to the United States government with a primary focus on military, law enforcement, and homeland security applications.