Several moves were made during the off-week regarding privateer drivers. Fernando Nery was able to find a secondary sponsor, Coldaire Lite, which will adorn the hood of his car for the rest of the season and provide a much needed financial boost for him. Also, Venom USA Works Team has extended a contract offer to Jamie Rourke, which would expand the team to two cars, and ARC would provide an additional 60 funds per race to the team in the hopes of improving its performance. Two new Privateers have also joined the series. Jason Funtig has bought a used car from a team, and will be driving it as the #130 Thunderhead Power Tools car. Funtig has a lot of road racing experience, and could be a threat to get into the mains with a decent car. Kamui Sako also enters the series with his newly purchase AR2, the #101 sponsored by Fruit Gold Lemonade. These two new drivers should be fun to keep an eye on through the rest of the series.
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Friday, June 27, 2014
Round 3 at Iconiq
The scene in victory lane after the Race of Iconiq looked much the same as the previous two rounds, with the Volcano Motorsports team celebrating their third win in as many races. An elated Josep Lettenberg declared during his interview "We've got something really special going on here. Two wins in a row for me, plus one for my teammate. Also finally recording a one-two finish for the team, it's really just crazy. I'm telling you, this is the team to beat right now. We'll be going for the season win. Mark my words, we can do it." The Razgriz Racing Team also had a good day, with it's drivers coming in the 3 and 4 positions. "We had a strong run, but we just didn't have anything for the Volcano cars today. We both drove out hearts out, Karl and I, but it just wasn't enough. We'll work on the cars some more during the off week and hopefully come back stronger at Citios," said Jake Sanson after the race. Rocco Salzani had a little bit of a disappointment in the A-Main after winning the B-Main. "I just needed to go faster, that was all. We had a good car, but I wasn't driving it quite well enough to be able to do anything with it in the A-Main. I guess I just let the other drivers get into my head."
The Last Chance Dash saw a lot of drama, and Brandon Odor and Stuart Townsend were able to advance, leaving Jan Van Koelic and Ana Patrice on the outside looking in. "Wow, what a race that was," declare Odor after climbing from his car. Ana Patrice had taken the lead early in the first lap when mayhem broke loose behind her. While attempting to pass Patrice, Stuart Townsend tried to squeeze into a gap that just wasn't there, and ended up taking Jan Van Koelic into the sand trap of the final turn with him. Van Koelic had nothing nice to say on the radio after the incident. This gave Odor the chance to slip by into second, and Townsend and Van Koelic were left to play catch up. The two of them did not get along well together the next couple of laps, banging and bumping into each other as neither was willing to give quarter. It ended up with Van Koelic bouncing over the sunk tire in turn two, effectively ending his race as Townsend continued on to eventually take second. After the race, Van Koelic was seen sprinting over to the Orange Racing Team Austria team trailer, but was stopped by series officials before he could reach the trailer. "I'm hopping mad right now. First, he puts me into the dust with a stupid move, then he tries to push me into the wall on the main straightaway, then finally I guess he got tired of trying to be subtle and punted me right into the sunk tire. I'd love to go over there and give the moron a little piece of my mind. He'd just better watch out next round, I won't hold back if he's in my way." Of course, Townsend had a different view on the situation. "It was just hard racing. We're all scrambling, we've only got a short distance to go to be able to get into the first two positions to be able to move on. My advice to him would be to stick his head in a bucket of cold water to cool off, and then go hang up his helmet. He's a has been, all he can do now is whine, apparently."
Several teams had some struggles once again, including Vemac Grand Prix, which again failed to advance either driver. "It's tough," said team owner Bird. "We just need to work on our program and build better cars. We're letting the team and sponsors down. We've already lost one, we don't need to lose these other ones, too." [R]Garage also failed to advance either of their drivers during the race weekend. "We are getting better," said Shu Ito after finishing fourth in his heat. "The other teams are just getting better faster than we are, it seems."
In an impressive debut, privateer Blake Lodando finished fourth in his heat after qualifying 14th. "Hey, that's not too shabby," he said after climbing out of his car. "First round of racing, and we beat a lot of other privateers. I'm pretty happy." Missing from the race yesterday was Jamie Rourke, who could not bring up the funds to pay for the entry fee. Rumor has it that he will be added to the Venom USA Works team as a second car, as the team wishes to expand its operation. Another rumor has a couple more privateers entering the next race with cars purchased from other teams, possibly some of the used cars of the upper rank teams. This could make an interesting race at Citios with more drivers in contention. Jason Funtig is one name that has been brought up as a potential entry, but he was unavailable for comment.
The Last Chance Dash saw a lot of drama, and Brandon Odor and Stuart Townsend were able to advance, leaving Jan Van Koelic and Ana Patrice on the outside looking in. "Wow, what a race that was," declare Odor after climbing from his car. Ana Patrice had taken the lead early in the first lap when mayhem broke loose behind her. While attempting to pass Patrice, Stuart Townsend tried to squeeze into a gap that just wasn't there, and ended up taking Jan Van Koelic into the sand trap of the final turn with him. Van Koelic had nothing nice to say on the radio after the incident. This gave Odor the chance to slip by into second, and Townsend and Van Koelic were left to play catch up. The two of them did not get along well together the next couple of laps, banging and bumping into each other as neither was willing to give quarter. It ended up with Van Koelic bouncing over the sunk tire in turn two, effectively ending his race as Townsend continued on to eventually take second. After the race, Van Koelic was seen sprinting over to the Orange Racing Team Austria team trailer, but was stopped by series officials before he could reach the trailer. "I'm hopping mad right now. First, he puts me into the dust with a stupid move, then he tries to push me into the wall on the main straightaway, then finally I guess he got tired of trying to be subtle and punted me right into the sunk tire. I'd love to go over there and give the moron a little piece of my mind. He'd just better watch out next round, I won't hold back if he's in my way." Of course, Townsend had a different view on the situation. "It was just hard racing. We're all scrambling, we've only got a short distance to go to be able to get into the first two positions to be able to move on. My advice to him would be to stick his head in a bucket of cold water to cool off, and then go hang up his helmet. He's a has been, all he can do now is whine, apparently."
Several teams had some struggles once again, including Vemac Grand Prix, which again failed to advance either driver. "It's tough," said team owner Bird. "We just need to work on our program and build better cars. We're letting the team and sponsors down. We've already lost one, we don't need to lose these other ones, too." [R]Garage also failed to advance either of their drivers during the race weekend. "We are getting better," said Shu Ito after finishing fourth in his heat. "The other teams are just getting better faster than we are, it seems."
In an impressive debut, privateer Blake Lodando finished fourth in his heat after qualifying 14th. "Hey, that's not too shabby," he said after climbing out of his car. "First round of racing, and we beat a lot of other privateers. I'm pretty happy." Missing from the race yesterday was Jamie Rourke, who could not bring up the funds to pay for the entry fee. Rumor has it that he will be added to the Venom USA Works team as a second car, as the team wishes to expand its operation. Another rumor has a couple more privateers entering the next race with cars purchased from other teams, possibly some of the used cars of the upper rank teams. This could make an interesting race at Citios with more drivers in contention. Jason Funtig is one name that has been brought up as a potential entry, but he was unavailable for comment.
Monday, June 23, 2014
New Sponsor for Vemac Grand Prix
After having struggles the first two rounds, Godzilla Performance Auto Parts decided to terminate their contract with Vemac Grand Prix. In response, Vemac GP signed Oterra as the new sponsor of the #9 car.
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Round 1 at Maple
It was an elated Volcano Motorsports team that headed down to victory circle at Maple on Saturday afternoon after a thrilling victory by Samuel Highcliff with a last lap pass on his teammate Josep Lettenberg while also holding off Destiny Racing's Rocco Salzani in a three way battle through the final corners. "Man, what a great race," said Highcliff in victory lane. "This Venom STR was fast all day, took the pole with it, and now the win. That was quite a battle to get here, but we came through. Tell you what, it feels good to be here right now, I feel like I really earned it." Highcliff and teammate Lettenberg were battling most of the race, but on the last lap Rocco Salzani managed to sqeeze through to second by following Highcliff when he made the pass. "I wasn't sure that it was going to work, but I tried it anyway, and ended up second instead of third. So I guess that paid off for me," said Salzani. "Wow, what a race. If this is any indication of how the rest of the season is going to go, the fans are in for some good stuff." Josep Lettenberg seemed a little disappointed in his third place finish. "I mean, I had the lead going into the final lap. I knew it was going to be close, but I didn't expect to get nudged into third. I'm not mad or anything, it was just good, hard racing. But I definitely could have driven those last few turns a little better."
Meanwhile, with all the celebration taking place, there were several teams that had their struggles in the first race of the series. Both of the planetgenerally.de cars failed to advance from the heats. Team engineer Mark Welsh took part of the blame. "We just weren't quite as ready as we could or should have been, and that's on me. We did some testing at our shop, and went out to a track to test, but I guess we could have done more work to make these cars better. We'll be back next week, though." Another team that seemed to have first day jitters was Herbal Productions. "It really sucks, you know?" said Gote Garde after finishing last in his heat. "We had great expectations today, and unfortunately they didn't get lived up to. We really need to work hard to be ready for Dropez next week." Another letdown, although a little more successful, was Peninsula Motorsport's Niko Tomas. Tomas started the day on a high note, qualifying 4th after being at the top of the speed charts for a while with his time. He then finished second in his heat, then dead last in the B-Main, ending his day. "I just don't know what happened. We started off great, I hit it almost perfect in qualifying, then I get to the races and everything just kind of started to come unglued. It's not the car, the car ran fine. I just screwed up big, and I'm sorry for my fans, my team, and Chekit Credit Cards. I'll look forward to doing better for them next week."
The privateers seemed to fair alright, but not as well as the big teams, which comes as no surprise. Dale Aceman was fairly happy with his run. "Hey, I ended up third in my heat, and was able to make it to the B-Main from a very competitive last chance dash. I'm pretty happy, we learned some things and will come back stronger next week." On the down side of things was Jamie Rourke. "I really needed a good run today. Getting to one of the mains would have been awesome. But it just wasn't in the cards. I qualified slow, and raced even slower. Well, we'll do some work on the car this coming week and try to come back stronger next week."
Next week's race is a street course, Dropez. The Loco Hot Sauce Street Race of Dropez will go green on June 16th. The podium may look a little different this week, as the track is totally different than Maple. It is a very wide open track with long straights where cars can pick up a lot of speed. We will see who will come out on top in the second round of the NAGRCA GT Series.
Meanwhile, with all the celebration taking place, there were several teams that had their struggles in the first race of the series. Both of the planetgenerally.de cars failed to advance from the heats. Team engineer Mark Welsh took part of the blame. "We just weren't quite as ready as we could or should have been, and that's on me. We did some testing at our shop, and went out to a track to test, but I guess we could have done more work to make these cars better. We'll be back next week, though." Another team that seemed to have first day jitters was Herbal Productions. "It really sucks, you know?" said Gote Garde after finishing last in his heat. "We had great expectations today, and unfortunately they didn't get lived up to. We really need to work hard to be ready for Dropez next week." Another letdown, although a little more successful, was Peninsula Motorsport's Niko Tomas. Tomas started the day on a high note, qualifying 4th after being at the top of the speed charts for a while with his time. He then finished second in his heat, then dead last in the B-Main, ending his day. "I just don't know what happened. We started off great, I hit it almost perfect in qualifying, then I get to the races and everything just kind of started to come unglued. It's not the car, the car ran fine. I just screwed up big, and I'm sorry for my fans, my team, and Chekit Credit Cards. I'll look forward to doing better for them next week."
The privateers seemed to fair alright, but not as well as the big teams, which comes as no surprise. Dale Aceman was fairly happy with his run. "Hey, I ended up third in my heat, and was able to make it to the B-Main from a very competitive last chance dash. I'm pretty happy, we learned some things and will come back stronger next week." On the down side of things was Jamie Rourke. "I really needed a good run today. Getting to one of the mains would have been awesome. But it just wasn't in the cards. I qualified slow, and raced even slower. Well, we'll do some work on the car this coming week and try to come back stronger next week."
Next week's race is a street course, Dropez. The Loco Hot Sauce Street Race of Dropez will go green on June 16th. The podium may look a little different this week, as the track is totally different than Maple. It is a very wide open track with long straights where cars can pick up a lot of speed. We will see who will come out on top in the second round of the NAGRCA GT Series.
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
New Privateer and a driver bio
Just announced today, Robert Haks will join the series in his #928 Venom STR starting in round 2. "Unfortunately we couldn't get the car quite ready for this race weekend, but we'll be there in Dropez for the next round." Haks brought in a lot of money from a previous racing venture, but has been unable to woo a sponsor for the series.
For today's driver bio/interview, we were able to bring in Karl Weiss for a brief chat with NAGRCA TV host, puttz.
puttz: So, Karl, when the call came in from Razgriz Racing, how did you feel?
Karl Weiss: I was excited to be able to race in this series with the organization. I had a chance to drive a preliminary version of this series in the test season, and I felt pretty good in the cars. I think I actually feel more comfortable in the Speedtec cars run by Razgriz than I did in the Venom STRs in the test season. I think Razgriz is a solid organization and can help propel me to the championship.
p: What do you think of the new race format this year?
KW: I think it'll be more much more intense. As you know, there were only eight cars in the test season, so not a huge amount of pressure to perform. With twenty four cars that make it into the race, the competition will be a lot tighter. Then throw in the last chance dash and the B-main, and I think we have a recipe for success with the fans. Of course, it makes my job a lot harder, but I feel like with this solid team I will be able to come through.
p: Before NAGRCA GT, what kind of racing did you do?
KW: I used to race touring cars back in Germany. I got a lot of experience driving on tracks around Germany and Austria. I was set to drive a DTM car, but that deal kind of fell through when the sponsorship didn't sign with the team, so that was disappointing. I kept driving various touring car circuits, then I got the call from NAGRCA wanting me to test out some GT cars for a new series. I jumped at the opportunity, did some testing, and got hired to drive for a team during the test season. Now I'm all set to go.
p: What do you think of your new teammate, Jake Sanson?
KW: He should be fun to work with this year. I haven't seen him race yet, but from the testing sessions we've had so far, I think we have a winning combination. He's focused and wants to learn more, and I'm happy to give him all the help he needs. I hope that my experience in racing will teach him a thing or two throughout the year. He's also not afraid to be aggressive, just so long as he doesn't take me out, I'm good with that *laughs*.
p: One last question for you Karl. Which team do you feel is the biggest threat to Razgriz Racing this season?
KW: Well, I kind of hate to say before the season starts, don't want to put a target on our backs early. There are a couple of teams I think need to be watched out for, but I won't name them right now.
p: Okay, fair enough. Thanks for your time Karl, good luck on the track this weekend.
KW: Thank you.
For today's driver bio/interview, we were able to bring in Karl Weiss for a brief chat with NAGRCA TV host, puttz.
puttz: So, Karl, when the call came in from Razgriz Racing, how did you feel?
Karl Weiss: I was excited to be able to race in this series with the organization. I had a chance to drive a preliminary version of this series in the test season, and I felt pretty good in the cars. I think I actually feel more comfortable in the Speedtec cars run by Razgriz than I did in the Venom STRs in the test season. I think Razgriz is a solid organization and can help propel me to the championship.
p: What do you think of the new race format this year?
KW: I think it'll be more much more intense. As you know, there were only eight cars in the test season, so not a huge amount of pressure to perform. With twenty four cars that make it into the race, the competition will be a lot tighter. Then throw in the last chance dash and the B-main, and I think we have a recipe for success with the fans. Of course, it makes my job a lot harder, but I feel like with this solid team I will be able to come through.
p: Before NAGRCA GT, what kind of racing did you do?
KW: I used to race touring cars back in Germany. I got a lot of experience driving on tracks around Germany and Austria. I was set to drive a DTM car, but that deal kind of fell through when the sponsorship didn't sign with the team, so that was disappointing. I kept driving various touring car circuits, then I got the call from NAGRCA wanting me to test out some GT cars for a new series. I jumped at the opportunity, did some testing, and got hired to drive for a team during the test season. Now I'm all set to go.
p: What do you think of your new teammate, Jake Sanson?
KW: He should be fun to work with this year. I haven't seen him race yet, but from the testing sessions we've had so far, I think we have a winning combination. He's focused and wants to learn more, and I'm happy to give him all the help he needs. I hope that my experience in racing will teach him a thing or two throughout the year. He's also not afraid to be aggressive, just so long as he doesn't take me out, I'm good with that *laughs*.
p: One last question for you Karl. Which team do you feel is the biggest threat to Razgriz Racing this season?
KW: Well, I kind of hate to say before the season starts, don't want to put a target on our backs early. There are a couple of teams I think need to be watched out for, but I won't name them right now.
p: Okay, fair enough. Thanks for your time Karl, good luck on the track this weekend.
KW: Thank you.
Saturday, May 31, 2014
The Privateers
The ARC Venom STRs
#103- Dale Aceman (American Racing Company)
Venom USA Works Team
#110- Jamie Rourke
Rourke Racing
The Weston Typhoons
#100- Forrest Evers
Forrest Evers
#111- Steve Sinzer (TKO Motor Oil)
TKO Motor Racing
#333- Xavier Mathis (Mathis Motors)
Mathis Motors
The Speedtec AR2s
#112- Roland Heuber
Heuber Motorsports
#404- Fernando Nery (Nery Enterprises)
Fernando Nery
PGR, ORTA, and Destiny Racing
The Speedtec AR2s of planetgenerally.de
#18- Heiner Neuer (Fine Line)
#19- Jan Van Koelic (Tip Top Shape Gyms)
The Weston Typhoons of Orange Racing Team Austria
#5- Vince Rosek (Banner)
#99- Stuart Townsend (Hurricane Apparel)
The ARC Venom STRs of Destiny Racing
#12- Ana Patrice (Loyal Lumber)
#16- Rocco Salzani (Poultry Shack)
Herbal Productions and RRT
The Weston Typhoons of Herbal Productions
#14- Brandon Odor (Akaritech)
#90- Gote Garde (Herbal Productions)
The Speedtec AR2s of Razgriz Racing Team
#31- Karl Weiss (Key Security Inc.)
#32- Jake Sanson (365 Insurance)
Volcano Motorsports and Team [R]Garage
The ARC Venom STR's of Volcano Motorsports
#00- Josep Lettenberg (Quea-Z Antacids)
#42- Samuel Highcliff (O'Kelvin Antifreeze)
The ARC Venom STR's of Team [R]Garage
#17- Matias Maldanado (Vitoli Freezer Pizzas)
#38- Shu Ito (Podstavec Shoes)
Peninsula Motorsports and Vemac Grand Prix
The Speedtec AR2s of Peninsula Motorsports
#1- Ryan Bachelot (Ocean Point Credit Union)
#2- Niko Tomas (Chekit Credit Cards)
The Weston Typhoons of Vemac Grand Prix
#8- Sakito Takasani (Pixel8 Software Corporation)
#9- Masami Toyoma (Godzilla Performance Parts)
Driver Signings Announced!
Now, the big news that everyone has been waiting for: the drivers have announced which teams they will drive for. Here is the breakdown and some quotes from the drivers themselves:
Volcano Motosports has signed Josep Lettenberg to drive the #00 and Samuel Highcliff to drive the #42. Lettenberg is racing for the championship. "With ARC and Volcano Motorsports, as well as Quea-Z onboard as a sponsor, I'm hoping to have a good shot at the championship this year. This team will be able to field very strong cars, and it should be a fun drive." Highcliff is currently signed for half of the season, and a renewal pending good performance early in the season.
Herbal Productions announced that Brandon Odor and Gote Garde will be driving the #14 and #90 respectively. They also signed Stefan Grolz as a team member, as they were unable to sign the driver that was desired, Vince Rosek, who had engineering expertise. "We just got outbid on Rosek, someone else had a better deal for him. It's unfortunate, but we'll play with the hand we have been dealt," said Herbal. Garde said of signing with the team "It's not exactly the ideal situation for me, but I'm ready to go racing. I'm a little disappointed I do not get to work with a fellow European driver, but at least I'm going racing unlike some of the other drivers out there."
Team [R] Garage managed to get contracts with Shu Ito, who will drive the #38, and Matias Maldanado for the #17. "I'm happy to be driving the Vitoli Freezer Pizza's car," said Maldanado. "It's my favorite sort of frozen pizza. No, really, I mean it. I'm not just saying it because they sponsor my car." Shu Ito was also excited at the prospect of driving for a team based in his home country. "What can I say, this is great. Representing Indonesia in this series is a real privilege."
The Razgriz Racing Team took on Karl Weiss and Jake Sanson in the #31 and #32 cars. Karl said that he was looking forward to driving the Speedtec car of Razgriz. "These cars seem extremely fast, and they handle well too. Just a joy to take out on the track. I am confident that I can have success driving for this team. It also helps to have a great sponsor like Key Security on board. I'm glad to be driving their colors."
The team of planetgenerally.de signed Heiner Neuer and Jan Van Koelic to their driver lineup. Neuer, being a German countryman, was a natural choice for the slot. The veteran Van Koelic had lots of good things to say about his teammate. "He's enthusiastic, he's likable, and he's pretty darn fast in a race car, too. I'm happy to work with him this season, hopefully together we can bring this team to the top."
Orange Racing Team Austria gave a press conference to announce their driver signings earlier today. "We are pleased to announce," said Daniel Rosenberger, "That our drivers will be Vince Rosek and Stuart Townsend. This duo should be one of the strongest teams out there on the track." It also appears to be one of the most expensive duos, with the signing price tag coming in at over 220 money. One has to wonder how much money will be available for development of the cars.
The Japanese team Vemac Grand Prix has signed two Japanese drivers, no surprise given the team member that they signed earlier this month. Sakito Takasani and Masami Toyoma will be hitting the track in the teams two cars. These two drivers are familiar with each other from the Japanese open wheel circuit. "I'm glad to be racing with Masami. He's a guy who shows a lot of promise, and I've seen him do some great things with cars in the Japanese Formula circuit," Said Takasani upon the announcement that the two would be driving together.
Defending test season champion Peninsula Motorsports added Ryan Bachelot and Niko Tomas to its payroll today. Bachelot will pilot the #1 and Tomas the #2. The two should make a good pair, as they seem to compliment each other's skills well. "We're ready to help Peninsula take the season crown," said Tomas. It appears that bduddy is trying to go with some younger talent this season, although that may come at a slight cost of skill, but these two show a lot of promise as the series begins.
Destiny Racing has made their announcement regarding their drivers. Rocco Salzani will be driving for the championship in the #16, and Ana Patrice makes her debut at world level racing in the #12. One has to wonder how exactly she got there, but it seems clear that it is not her skill, but more likely the fact that she is an attractive woman who has wooed many sponsors along with her. It'll be interesting to see how she does. "People may criticize me as being a pay driver," said Patrice, "but I'll be out there showing them that I really can drive, too."
There is the rundown of driver signings. Be sure to keep an eye here this week to hear more about the drivers, see the cars, and prepare for the first weekend of racing.
Volcano Motosports has signed Josep Lettenberg to drive the #00 and Samuel Highcliff to drive the #42. Lettenberg is racing for the championship. "With ARC and Volcano Motorsports, as well as Quea-Z onboard as a sponsor, I'm hoping to have a good shot at the championship this year. This team will be able to field very strong cars, and it should be a fun drive." Highcliff is currently signed for half of the season, and a renewal pending good performance early in the season.
Herbal Productions announced that Brandon Odor and Gote Garde will be driving the #14 and #90 respectively. They also signed Stefan Grolz as a team member, as they were unable to sign the driver that was desired, Vince Rosek, who had engineering expertise. "We just got outbid on Rosek, someone else had a better deal for him. It's unfortunate, but we'll play with the hand we have been dealt," said Herbal. Garde said of signing with the team "It's not exactly the ideal situation for me, but I'm ready to go racing. I'm a little disappointed I do not get to work with a fellow European driver, but at least I'm going racing unlike some of the other drivers out there."
Team [R] Garage managed to get contracts with Shu Ito, who will drive the #38, and Matias Maldanado for the #17. "I'm happy to be driving the Vitoli Freezer Pizza's car," said Maldanado. "It's my favorite sort of frozen pizza. No, really, I mean it. I'm not just saying it because they sponsor my car." Shu Ito was also excited at the prospect of driving for a team based in his home country. "What can I say, this is great. Representing Indonesia in this series is a real privilege."
The Razgriz Racing Team took on Karl Weiss and Jake Sanson in the #31 and #32 cars. Karl said that he was looking forward to driving the Speedtec car of Razgriz. "These cars seem extremely fast, and they handle well too. Just a joy to take out on the track. I am confident that I can have success driving for this team. It also helps to have a great sponsor like Key Security on board. I'm glad to be driving their colors."
The team of planetgenerally.de signed Heiner Neuer and Jan Van Koelic to their driver lineup. Neuer, being a German countryman, was a natural choice for the slot. The veteran Van Koelic had lots of good things to say about his teammate. "He's enthusiastic, he's likable, and he's pretty darn fast in a race car, too. I'm happy to work with him this season, hopefully together we can bring this team to the top."
Orange Racing Team Austria gave a press conference to announce their driver signings earlier today. "We are pleased to announce," said Daniel Rosenberger, "That our drivers will be Vince Rosek and Stuart Townsend. This duo should be one of the strongest teams out there on the track." It also appears to be one of the most expensive duos, with the signing price tag coming in at over 220 money. One has to wonder how much money will be available for development of the cars.
The Japanese team Vemac Grand Prix has signed two Japanese drivers, no surprise given the team member that they signed earlier this month. Sakito Takasani and Masami Toyoma will be hitting the track in the teams two cars. These two drivers are familiar with each other from the Japanese open wheel circuit. "I'm glad to be racing with Masami. He's a guy who shows a lot of promise, and I've seen him do some great things with cars in the Japanese Formula circuit," Said Takasani upon the announcement that the two would be driving together.
Defending test season champion Peninsula Motorsports added Ryan Bachelot and Niko Tomas to its payroll today. Bachelot will pilot the #1 and Tomas the #2. The two should make a good pair, as they seem to compliment each other's skills well. "We're ready to help Peninsula take the season crown," said Tomas. It appears that bduddy is trying to go with some younger talent this season, although that may come at a slight cost of skill, but these two show a lot of promise as the series begins.
Destiny Racing has made their announcement regarding their drivers. Rocco Salzani will be driving for the championship in the #16, and Ana Patrice makes her debut at world level racing in the #12. One has to wonder how exactly she got there, but it seems clear that it is not her skill, but more likely the fact that she is an attractive woman who has wooed many sponsors along with her. It'll be interesting to see how she does. "People may criticize me as being a pay driver," said Patrice, "but I'll be out there showing them that I really can drive, too."
There is the rundown of driver signings. Be sure to keep an eye here this week to hear more about the drivers, see the cars, and prepare for the first weekend of racing.
Thursday, May 22, 2014
More sponsors sign, Destiny joins
The biggest news today was the addition of kuba's Destiny Racing to the NAGRCA GT field, bringing it up to 9 teams. In his announcement, he also gave away that Armando Tecini would be the team's engineer. Destiny Racing will bring the #12 Loyal Lumber and #16 Poultry Shack Venom STR racing machines to the first round in Maple for the Maple Challenge.
Volcano Motorsports made their move in the team member market, signing a contract with Jon Witterberg to work with the team's drivers. "With an experienced hotlapper like Jon helping our team, we hope to be putting our cars near the top of the time charts throughout the season," said puttz. The team also took on Quea-Z Antacids as a sponsor for the #00 car. It's bright pink coloring shouldn't be hard to spot on the track. O'Kelvin Antifreeze came on board as the sponsor of the #42 car. "We're very proud of our partnership with Volcano Motorsports and the American Racing Company," said the company's publicity director, Zachary Muell. "We look forward to having a good and rewarding season with them."
The planetgenerally.de team signed Mark Welsh to work with the team's engineering team to develop the aerodynamics of the team's cars. "This is a team with a lot of potential, it's got quite a name in the racing community. I hope to help that success translate into NAGRCA GT," said Welsh in an interview. The team also added sponsorships from Fine Line, makers of high quality pens and permanent markers to their #18 car, and Tip Top Shape Gyms for the #19 car. Fine Line intends to schedule a driver autograph session with the team's soon to be announced drivers to help advertise their pens and bring publicity to the team during the pre-race media day at Maple before the first round begins.
The final team news, Vemac Grand Prix brought on Ito Sanazaki to train the drivers of the team. It appears as if they may be trying to stick with the Japanese drivers they are familiar with from racing in JGTC before leaving the series, as Sanazaki is well known in Japanese racing as an excellent training coach. The #8 car will be carrying Pixel8 Software Corporation on the hood as a sponsor. Known mainly for their namesake image editing and management suite, Pixel8 also provides data analysis tools for businesses, which certainly will be given to the team for little to no cost as a perk of the sponsorship. Godzilla Performance Parts will adorn the #9 car for the season.
In addition, 2 more privateers have declared their intentions to race in the series. Roland Hueber will be piloting his #112 Speedtec AR2 in a select few races this season. He has a small budget, but wanted to give GT racing a try, usually he races low-level touring cars in and in the countries around Germany. Steve Sinzer also announced that he will bring TKO Motor Oil on his #111 Typhoon. "We're looking to run a full season with backing from TKO," said Sinzer. "I'm really looking forward to getting to race these powerful cars against some strong competition. With a Weston car and TKO in the engine, we should be able to have a good run."
Volcano Motorsports made their move in the team member market, signing a contract with Jon Witterberg to work with the team's drivers. "With an experienced hotlapper like Jon helping our team, we hope to be putting our cars near the top of the time charts throughout the season," said puttz. The team also took on Quea-Z Antacids as a sponsor for the #00 car. It's bright pink coloring shouldn't be hard to spot on the track. O'Kelvin Antifreeze came on board as the sponsor of the #42 car. "We're very proud of our partnership with Volcano Motorsports and the American Racing Company," said the company's publicity director, Zachary Muell. "We look forward to having a good and rewarding season with them."
The planetgenerally.de team signed Mark Welsh to work with the team's engineering team to develop the aerodynamics of the team's cars. "This is a team with a lot of potential, it's got quite a name in the racing community. I hope to help that success translate into NAGRCA GT," said Welsh in an interview. The team also added sponsorships from Fine Line, makers of high quality pens and permanent markers to their #18 car, and Tip Top Shape Gyms for the #19 car. Fine Line intends to schedule a driver autograph session with the team's soon to be announced drivers to help advertise their pens and bring publicity to the team during the pre-race media day at Maple before the first round begins.
The final team news, Vemac Grand Prix brought on Ito Sanazaki to train the drivers of the team. It appears as if they may be trying to stick with the Japanese drivers they are familiar with from racing in JGTC before leaving the series, as Sanazaki is well known in Japanese racing as an excellent training coach. The #8 car will be carrying Pixel8 Software Corporation on the hood as a sponsor. Known mainly for their namesake image editing and management suite, Pixel8 also provides data analysis tools for businesses, which certainly will be given to the team for little to no cost as a perk of the sponsorship. Godzilla Performance Parts will adorn the #9 car for the season.
In addition, 2 more privateers have declared their intentions to race in the series. Roland Hueber will be piloting his #112 Speedtec AR2 in a select few races this season. He has a small budget, but wanted to give GT racing a try, usually he races low-level touring cars in and in the countries around Germany. Steve Sinzer also announced that he will bring TKO Motor Oil on his #111 Typhoon. "We're looking to run a full season with backing from TKO," said Sinzer. "I'm really looking forward to getting to race these powerful cars against some strong competition. With a Weston car and TKO in the engine, we should be able to have a good run."
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Sponsorship Moves
Today marked the opening of the sponsor and team member signings, and lots of activity quickly picked up. We'll run you through all of the moves made today team by team.
First up, Herbal Productions signed a deal with Akaritec to sponsor their #14 car. The #90 will go unsponsored for the moment according to team owner Herbal. He is hoping to increase his team's profile in the first couple of races to pick up a more lucrative deal for the team. No announcement has been made regarding a team member as of yet.
Team [R]Garage made moves both in the sponsorship and team member fronts. Greg Farleigh was announced to be the team's driver mentor for the season. "This is a great opportunity for me," said Greg during the [R]Garage press conference. "I hope that my years of experience behind the wheel will be transferred over to the drivers of this team and give us some solid results this season." Sponsorship contracts for both cars were also signed to begin the season, with Vitoli Freezer Pizzas going to the #17, and Podstavec Shoes going to the #38. "This is a real opportunity to reach out with our brand and get some international exposure," said Podstavec Shoes in it's press release. "We are proud to partner with a renowned racing organization like [R]Garage who have had some success on other stages around the world."
The Razgriz Racing Team hired Austin Meyers as an engineer to work in the engine shop. He formerly worked for American Racing Company, but now he will be working on the Speedtec cars of RRT, trying to squeeze every ounce of power from the engines in the AR2. Key Security and 365 Insurance came on board as sponsors of the #31 and #32 cars. In honor of their new sponsorship, 365 Insurance has agreed to give people a 32% discount on new insurance plans for the first 3 months of their contract. "It's just great to be out here, get a chance to increase our profile with people and offer them a great deal," said Jon Winters, an agent for 365 Insurance. The team is fired up and ready to go, the last step will be to add the drivers, which will be announced this coming weekend.
Orange Racing Team Austria announced the addition of Aaron Miles to their team. Unfortunately, Aaron was unavailable for an interview today, but did send out a brief press release via Twitter saying "Glad to be part of the ORTA engineering team. Let's go racing!" His aerodynamic specialty should be a big help on the Typhoons run by the team. Banner signed on to the #5 car, saying it was a "Banner" day for the company to join NAGRCA GT with Orange Racing Team Austria. Hurricane Apparel became the sponsor of the #99. "This is a great opportunity to be on the front of this fast Weston racing machine, and it's also great to interact with all the fans and gain a lot of exposure for our brands," said Steven Chalvier, CEO of the company. Hurricane Apparel will reportedly begin producing hats and t-shirts for both of the ORTA cars and drivers, which will be sold starting the first race weekend.
Finally, Peninsula Motorsports brought Petra Moleski on board to do work on the team's chassis. "I'm happy to be here with the defending champions working on their cars for them. Hopefully we will have a good season." The team announced that their #1 car will be sponsored by Ocean Point Credit Union. Chekit Credit Cards will adorn the #2 car. "Both of these sponsors will be great partners to work with throughout the year," said team owner bduddy at the signing announcement.
Stay tuned to hear about the others team's decisions as they become available to us. Also, car images are expected to start appearing soon with the sponsor's colors adorning them.
First up, Herbal Productions signed a deal with Akaritec to sponsor their #14 car. The #90 will go unsponsored for the moment according to team owner Herbal. He is hoping to increase his team's profile in the first couple of races to pick up a more lucrative deal for the team. No announcement has been made regarding a team member as of yet.
Team [R]Garage made moves both in the sponsorship and team member fronts. Greg Farleigh was announced to be the team's driver mentor for the season. "This is a great opportunity for me," said Greg during the [R]Garage press conference. "I hope that my years of experience behind the wheel will be transferred over to the drivers of this team and give us some solid results this season." Sponsorship contracts for both cars were also signed to begin the season, with Vitoli Freezer Pizzas going to the #17, and Podstavec Shoes going to the #38. "This is a real opportunity to reach out with our brand and get some international exposure," said Podstavec Shoes in it's press release. "We are proud to partner with a renowned racing organization like [R]Garage who have had some success on other stages around the world."
The Razgriz Racing Team hired Austin Meyers as an engineer to work in the engine shop. He formerly worked for American Racing Company, but now he will be working on the Speedtec cars of RRT, trying to squeeze every ounce of power from the engines in the AR2. Key Security and 365 Insurance came on board as sponsors of the #31 and #32 cars. In honor of their new sponsorship, 365 Insurance has agreed to give people a 32% discount on new insurance plans for the first 3 months of their contract. "It's just great to be out here, get a chance to increase our profile with people and offer them a great deal," said Jon Winters, an agent for 365 Insurance. The team is fired up and ready to go, the last step will be to add the drivers, which will be announced this coming weekend.
Orange Racing Team Austria announced the addition of Aaron Miles to their team. Unfortunately, Aaron was unavailable for an interview today, but did send out a brief press release via Twitter saying "Glad to be part of the ORTA engineering team. Let's go racing!" His aerodynamic specialty should be a big help on the Typhoons run by the team. Banner signed on to the #5 car, saying it was a "Banner" day for the company to join NAGRCA GT with Orange Racing Team Austria. Hurricane Apparel became the sponsor of the #99. "This is a great opportunity to be on the front of this fast Weston racing machine, and it's also great to interact with all the fans and gain a lot of exposure for our brands," said Steven Chalvier, CEO of the company. Hurricane Apparel will reportedly begin producing hats and t-shirts for both of the ORTA cars and drivers, which will be sold starting the first race weekend.
Finally, Peninsula Motorsports brought Petra Moleski on board to do work on the team's chassis. "I'm happy to be here with the defending champions working on their cars for them. Hopefully we will have a good season." The team announced that their #1 car will be sponsored by Ocean Point Credit Union. Chekit Credit Cards will adorn the #2 car. "Both of these sponsors will be great partners to work with throughout the year," said team owner bduddy at the signing announcement.
Stay tuned to hear about the others team's decisions as they become available to us. Also, car images are expected to start appearing soon with the sponsor's colors adorning them.
Saturday, May 17, 2014
Team [R]Garage official announcement
Team [R]Garage confirmed their second car number yesterday as well as their manufacture of choice. The team will be running the #17 and #38 ARC Venom STRs for the series. "This should be a great opportunity for [R]Garage to expand it's horizons," said Rendy. "We look forward to challenging for the season trophy." This brings the field to eight full teams, and 5 privateer/factory teams, bringing the grid up to a total of 21 cars. The NAGRCA principals hope that at least 2 more teams will join for the season. Things should start heating up in a few days as sponsors and team members will begin signing contracts with the teams. Stay tuned for announcements once those signings begin.
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Peninsula Motorsports Returns
The champion of the test season, Peninsula Motorsports, officially announced their return to NAGRCA GT competition earlier today. "We're ready to defend our title," said owner bduddy. "Moving over to Speedtec should help keep us at the top of our game and ahead of the other competitors. It's an exciting time for us as we try to build a championship defending team." Peninsula Motorsports has reportedly begun making moves in the driver contract arena, sending out offers to a select few candidates. This team will certainly be one to keep an eye on, bduddy has proven that he has the management ability to take his team to the top.
In other news, 3 more privateers have announced their entry into the series. Fernando Nery, driving a car sponsored by his father's company and paid for out of his own pocket. He will be piloting the #404 Nery Enterprises AR2 in the season. A second hopeful, Xavier Mathis, has also announced his entry into the series. "We've got a little money coming in from the car dealership, enough to be able to fund my racing efforts," said Mathis at his announcement. "The Mathis Motors #333 Typhoon will hopefully be a car to be reckoned with." The last announcement comes from the British racer Forrest Evers, an aging veteran racer who plans on racing only the street circuits. "Street circuits were my strongest suit in my younger racing days, so I decided to give the NAGRCA GT Series a go, and try to give the younger racers a bit of a run for their money on the street circuits." Look for his #100 Typhoon to be tearing up the track on the street circuits.
In other news, 3 more privateers have announced their entry into the series. Fernando Nery, driving a car sponsored by his father's company and paid for out of his own pocket. He will be piloting the #404 Nery Enterprises AR2 in the season. A second hopeful, Xavier Mathis, has also announced his entry into the series. "We've got a little money coming in from the car dealership, enough to be able to fund my racing efforts," said Mathis at his announcement. "The Mathis Motors #333 Typhoon will hopefully be a car to be reckoned with." The last announcement comes from the British racer Forrest Evers, an aging veteran racer who plans on racing only the street circuits. "Street circuits were my strongest suit in my younger racing days, so I decided to give the NAGRCA GT Series a go, and try to give the younger racers a bit of a run for their money on the street circuits." Look for his #100 Typhoon to be tearing up the track on the street circuits.
Monday, May 12, 2014
Vemac Grand Prix Joins!
Earlier today, team owner Bird confirmed that he would be entering his Vemac Grand Prix team to the series. He is a returning manager from the test season, where his team unfortunately finished well in the back. Now driving brand new Weston Typhoons, Vemac Grand Prix hopes to bring the #8 and #9 cars to the top of the points standings. "My entry has it's home in Japan, were the car constructor Vemac has participated in JGTC and Super GT in the little class. Unfortunately they ended their engagement now and so the team looks for a new option to race." That option is NAGRCA GT, making that the 7th team to be added to the grid.
Sunday, May 11, 2014
More Team News
As expected, two more teams are confirmed with manufacturers. Daniel Rosenberger's Orange Racing Team Austria will be driving Weston Typhoons, numbered 5 and 99. DuklaLiberec has confirmed his entry as the planetgenerally.de team. The planetgenerally.de press release stated "A few hours ago planetgenerally.de released a press statement, saying that the German team will partake in the newly announced NAGRCA GT Series. According to the news release, the team is headed by speedway rider DuklaLiberec.
"We are happy to announce that planetgenerally.de is ready to take up a new challenge", he stated. "Although our squads in the previous competitions are known to be all-German, non-German drivers are equally welcomed."
Furthermore, planetgenerally.de has reserved the numbers #18 & #19 and its drivers who are to be announced after the drivers' auction will be driving the Speedtec AR2."
Meanwhile, Herbal Productions made their own announcement regarding a manufacturer contract, and also hinting that the second car for the team will carry the #90 on the side. Said Herbal "We are pleased to partner with Weston to represent their brand in the NAGRCA GT Series. We hope that this partnership will continue to flourish as the season progresses, and hope to add some strong drivers to our lineup in a couple of weeks."
In another announcement, Jamie Rourke announced that he will be attempting to run some races this season as a privateer. "We've got a little funding available to run some races, I'm hoping to manage a full season, but that doesn't look to likely. The #110 Venom STR will definitely be at the first couple of races, at least. If we can do well and earn some more money, well, we'll see." Rourke has a stock car racing background, but wanted a chance to go road racing. He got an opportunity in a few local races, but wanted to move to the big time. The startup of the NAGRCA GT Series afforded him the perfect opportunity, and with a little money in his pocket, he was able to purchase a car. He appears to be relying mainly on race winnings to compete, but he may be able to reach a deal with Egg Rock if he manages to pull off a couple of good finishes early on. He will be a story to watch early in the season.
"We are happy to announce that planetgenerally.de is ready to take up a new challenge", he stated. "Although our squads in the previous competitions are known to be all-German, non-German drivers are equally welcomed."
Furthermore, planetgenerally.de has reserved the numbers #18 & #19 and its drivers who are to be announced after the drivers' auction will be driving the Speedtec AR2."
Meanwhile, Herbal Productions made their own announcement regarding a manufacturer contract, and also hinting that the second car for the team will carry the #90 on the side. Said Herbal "We are pleased to partner with Weston to represent their brand in the NAGRCA GT Series. We hope that this partnership will continue to flourish as the season progresses, and hope to add some strong drivers to our lineup in a couple of weeks."
In another announcement, Jamie Rourke announced that he will be attempting to run some races this season as a privateer. "We've got a little funding available to run some races, I'm hoping to manage a full season, but that doesn't look to likely. The #110 Venom STR will definitely be at the first couple of races, at least. If we can do well and earn some more money, well, we'll see." Rourke has a stock car racing background, but wanted a chance to go road racing. He got an opportunity in a few local races, but wanted to move to the big time. The startup of the NAGRCA GT Series afforded him the perfect opportunity, and with a little money in his pocket, he was able to purchase a car. He appears to be relying mainly on race winnings to compete, but he may be able to reach a deal with Egg Rock if he manages to pull off a couple of good finishes early on. He will be a story to watch early in the season.
Saturday, May 10, 2014
More Teams Confirm
After a frenzy of first day activity, 4 teams are confirmed for the season, two of them announcing contracts with manufacturers. Volcano Motorsports confirmed earlier rumors by making the announcement that they will be driving Venom STRs for the season. "We're excited to partner with the American Racing Company and hope to bring them good results, and help bring their racing profile to the front," said team principle puttz during the announcement. Newcomer Razgriz Racing Team, owned by MidnightRunner, also gave their announcement along with their partnership with Speedtec, being the first team to run the AR2. The team will run car #31 and #32 for the season campaign. "We hope to show some strength early, and continue to build on that success. With Speedtec backing us with their quality cars, and hopefully some strong drivers, RRT should be a force to be reckoned with," said MidnightRunner at the team's unveiling. Sources say that RRT has already made some moves in the driver market, sending out contract offers to several of the top drivers looking to race in the series. Herbal Productions (Herbal) and Team [R]Garage (Rendy) also announced they will be running in the series. They have yet to announce the manufacturers they will be racing for. A rather cheerful Rendy declared "Team [R]GARAGE has been confirmed an entry to this competition. It has returned to the GR grounds after AIOC S2 inactivity where Rendy was treated due to Typhus and an out-of-GR tournament entry days after." The field should continue to grow in the next couple of weeks. As previously reported, there are at least two other prospective team owners expected to make an entry to the series soon. Then the real pre-season activity will start, with sponsors and team members beginning to be signed, culminating in the announcement of driver contracts for the start of the season.
NAGRCA GT Series Begins
Welcome all to the NAGRCA GT series. I'm excited to be introducing you to the inaugural season of this management competition. Keep your eyes on this blog for updates regarding teams, drivers, and the series in general. There may also be some fictional background stuff on cars and drivers in the series, if that sort of thing might be of interest to you. I hope you all enjoy this new, unique type of competition that I don't think has ever been successfully done on GRIF before.
And now, the latest series news:
Team owner puttz returns to NAGRCA GT Series competition with the familiar Volcano Motorsports team, cars #00 and #42. Rumor has it that the team will be running the Venom STR since the team is based in America, but it has not yet been confirmed. Says puttz "We are currently in negotiations with a manufacturer, I can't say yet who it is, but we will be announcing it as soon as we know for certain." Another rumor floating around is that Daniel Rosenberger and DuklaLiberec are to submit applications for team ownership in the next few days, we will update you as more news gets to us. One final piece of news, the Venom USA Works Team, the factory team for ARC, appears to be entering a single car with veteran Dale Aceman as the driver. Says Aceman "I'm excited to get the chance to represent my country and ARC driving in the NAGRCA GT series. We'll see how we stack up against these other outlet teams. ARC is trying to keep the budget down for the team itself, but hopefully we will have a good run."
And now, the latest series news:
Team owner puttz returns to NAGRCA GT Series competition with the familiar Volcano Motorsports team, cars #00 and #42. Rumor has it that the team will be running the Venom STR since the team is based in America, but it has not yet been confirmed. Says puttz "We are currently in negotiations with a manufacturer, I can't say yet who it is, but we will be announcing it as soon as we know for certain." Another rumor floating around is that Daniel Rosenberger and DuklaLiberec are to submit applications for team ownership in the next few days, we will update you as more news gets to us. One final piece of news, the Venom USA Works Team, the factory team for ARC, appears to be entering a single car with veteran Dale Aceman as the driver. Says Aceman "I'm excited to get the chance to represent my country and ARC driving in the NAGRCA GT series. We'll see how we stack up against these other outlet teams. ARC is trying to keep the budget down for the team itself, but hopefully we will have a good run."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)