Video post: PCA Autocross, getting the rust out

After a year's worth of events had nearly passed by in 2012, the planets aligned and the impossible happened: I had off from the shop, there were no car shows to work, and I didn't already have 10 different things scheduled the day of an autocross I could actually attend. Finally, I could have a little fun.



It's a little intimidating to have your first event back be a Porsche Club event, after all, it's a little like bringing a knife to a gunfight. But there is shared DNA between the Porsches and VWs, so why not? Never mind that most of the cars there would have two to three times the power, let's see what we can do!



 Turning in times in the 59 and 58 second range (the very fastest entries were down in the 52-54 range), I managed to push the little 8v and land solidly mid-pack with a best time of 58.3, finishing 31st out of 52 entered.


Given a few more RPM and some more tidy lines I think I could have easily been down into the mid 57s, maybe even better, but as is I had a blast, everyone was very friendly and with a little luck, I'll be able to get out at least one more time this year. Planets allowing of course.

_WRS

Pic post (vintage): Old school (this is what it really looks like)

Josh did a little digging in the archives (for once) and scanned in this gem of his 1986 GTI and our buddy Damion's 1991 GTI at a Baltimore autocross back around 1993 / 1994. Autocrossers Inc used to hold these events on the parking lot where Raven's stadium now resides - a real shame as it was an easily accessible and growing event. Had they been allowed to continue I'm sure that the Baltimore VW landscape would be significantly different than it is today. I'll see if I can convince Josh to find and scan more, as there were some great cars that used to attend. Funny how different things were back then, and how far they've come. Whether that's for the best or worst I'll leave you to decide.

_WRS

Video Post: You never forget your first

Hot rod and custom-builder / legend, Chip Foose, talks about his love of the Mk2 GTI. Pretty hard to argue with anything he says; we agree wholeheartedly.

So. Think that drawing is for sale?

_WRS

24 hours, 16 valves, 1837 miles, and one Mk3 GTI - The Britcar 24 2011

Photo copyright / courtesy of John Brooks

As human beings we all share at least one similarity: We dream. As car automotive enthusiasts, and more specifically motorsport anoraks, we've all likely shared the same little day dream: Take a modest budget, a group of friends, a cheap car and go giant-killing at a proper endurance race with something akin to David's sling-shot in a battle of the Goliaths - if you allow me to use that well-worn cliche.

VW Sport Caravan GTI (Part 5.75, work to be done)

There is work to be done. Lots of work. The trail on new information has gone a little cold,  but we're forging ahead as planned, and after a hectic couple of months of moving, working, adjusting, and everything else you can manage to cram into a 2 month period, things are finally heading forward on our VW Sport Caravan GTI. Tools are in hand, parts are beginning to arrive. With this, we'll have more frequent updates and new content as we rebuild (but not restore) the GTI for track time in 2012. It's a bit of a mountain, but the beauty of these cars is their simplicity, so once the primary chassis work is completed, things will start to come together quickly. Or So I hope.

So this will be the first of many new post on the GTI - it's already on jack-stands and underbody prep is under way...

More soon...

_WRS

Pic Post: (vintage) David Rugh / Portland Racing GTI

David Rugh, Columbus Ohio 1985. Picture copyright / used with permission Mark Windecker.

The best yet. We've been searching high and low for additional pictures of the other Portland Racing VWs from 1985. Our buddy Mark Windecker, an amazing photographer with amazing archives, has come through for us once again. He went back through his catalog of the 1985 Columbus Ohio IMSA Champion Spark Plug Challenge race, and came up with this shot of the #04 Portland Racing entered GTI, driven by David Rugh. David finished 5th, and in this shot we can clearly see a number of similarities between our VW Sport Caravan GTI and those they ran on the track. It has the same paint scheme and windshield retainers, and from what we can see a very similar cage. Standard fenders of course, and what looks like a Kamei front spoiler, but its an encouraging shot.

Just think. Twenty six years ago the car would have seemed rather cheap and disposable compared to the big IMSA GTP cars which were the main event, and few photographers would have bothered to waste the film. Film isn't cheap; not now, not then. Thankfully Mark was there, documenting more than just the big show, and providing us with the chance to take a look back in time at what the more grassroots guys were doing back in 1985.

We're in the process of tracking down more information, and this particular pic has come up with the most promising leads thus far. More soon. Hopefully.

_WRS

VW Sport IMSA GTI (Part 2: The pick-up, near death experiences)

I generally find myself to be a decisive person...except of course when I'm not. Generally though once I put my mind to do something, or am already in motion, I will keep plowing ahead like the bull that I am. This is usually how I 'get things done,' but when it came time to pick up the VW Sport IMSA GTI, it was what could have very nearly put us off the road, or worse.

Observe: A beautiful winter day. Nearly 70 degrees Fahrenheit and warm sun beaming down from overhead as I began to unpack the show-displays from trailer which I was borrowing from work, and got things sorted out for an early start on Saturday morning. My friend and co-worker (and very occasional contributor here) Jason had agreed to come along, and although it was going to be a marathon day, both of us were really looking forward to the road trip. Sure it was expected to be about a 13 hour drive round trip, but it was exciting! We were on our way to pick up the GTI...



At approximately 4:45 AM I received a text messsage from Steve, who rather ironically (or is it coincidentally) would be heading to Baltimore for the weekend, which concluded with 'A little snow this morning tapering off this afternoon. Safe trip!'" Hmm. I had forgotten that the region of New York State where we were heading was in fact quite far north compared to New York City, where I live, and the weather could indeed be different there. However I couldn't recall any mention of snow on any forecasts mentioning snow out west, so I got in my car and headed up to NGP's shop.

Introducing: The VW Sport IMSA GTI (Part 1: discovery, research and acquisition)

"Hey, you might want to check your email...Alan sent a link for a GTI listed over on Bring a Trailer. It looks pretty cool." These are the words that I heard from my brother Josh when I answered my phone early one Friday morning; February 4th to be exact. I hadn't checked my email yet, as there are very few things I ever do in the morning before drinking some coffee, but the urgency in Josh's voice prompted me to, and boy am I glad that I did. Alan's email was brief and to the point. A link, and the text, "Seriously let's get it."

Behind the wheel: The VW Sport USA 'Zonker' turbo 16v Syncro

It's a strange thing to meet your idols. Whether metal or flesh, the chance for disappointment is quite high. After all if you're anything like me, you've built your idols into something beyond what everyone or everything else you're familiar with. More capable, more complete, faster, more fun, smarter, able to do everything you can but without even trying. Sometimes though, things really are as good as you imagine. Imagine having a musician who you really like. You enjoy their music, respect it and their ideas, and you feel like if you ever had the chance to hang out, you'd have a lot to talk about, or at least get along well. Well the Zonker turned out to be just that.



I first became aware of the famous 'Screamin' Yellow Zonker' (named after a popcorn candy which had a bright yellow candy shell) back in the ancient days of the internet. As I've mentioned before, Josh and I had a website / informal club called Charm City VW, and back then there wasn't any chance of having the cash or connections for something exotic like a Rallye Golf. No, we had just one amazing car to lust after, and it was for sale. The Zonker. It made the rounds on all the sites...JWelty, etc, and one could only dream of having a chance behind the wheel, let alone the cash to buy it. Little did I know that 7-8 years later I would have that chance.

But first, a little bit of history. The Zonker was a one-off build by VW Sport USA. VW Sport was essentially the Volkswagen of America version of VW Motorsport. They handled the racing operations for Audi and VW, had a line of products available through dealerships, and generally promoted the brand as a sporting option compared to the rest of the cars out there. VW Sport had some trick parts and trick cars, and the Zonker was perhaps the most trick of all. There is a very excellent history over on the Euro Parts Inc website, but the Zonker had it all.

First, the shell was prepped by VW Motorsport. As a concept / demo vehicle, many of the parts were straight from the European GTI models and some were very custom. The Zonker had a standard CIS-E 1.8 16v motor mated to a 5-speed Syncro all wheel drive system. Suspension was lowered with higher rated dampers and springs, while the wheels were a 1-piece BBS mesh design. Externally the shell had been sprayed in an eye-popping Ferrari yellow, fitted with a BBS body kit, and had European GTI bumpers, headlights, grill and tail lights. The interior was fitted with beautiful power Recaro seats covered in black leather, with matching rear seats and a KPH instrument cluster. According to legend this car pre-dated the Rallye Golf, which would make sense since it was a 1987 model GTI.



After being constructed and sent to VW Sport in the states, it was sent to Callaway Cars for further development. There it was turbocharged, and that is where the unique (although questionably efficient) intake manifold / intercooler was installed, along with turbo charger and fueling upgrades. The EPI site has a lot of additional detail about the turbo system, including whether or not it even worked as designed for the first leg of the car's journey. This would not be surprising to some extent...



VW Sport, coincidentally, is not the same VW Sport that operated in Virginia in the mid to late 90s. Brad Beardow, of the 1990s VW Sport was friendly with Joe Hoppen of Joe Hoppen Motorsport, who had in the 70s and 80s been head of VW Sport and Audi Sport in the USA. (Porsche too) So with Joe's blessing Brad was VW Sport USA for that time period, despite not being a factory entity. Things changed and at some point Brad changed the name to 1552 Design (now known simply as fifteen52) - so although both companies had the same name, in the 1980s VW Sport was part of VWoA, while in the 1990s it was the VW arm of Joe Hoppen Motorsport, who thanks to his previous position had the okay from the suits to use the name...make sense? Ok, good.



So to continue. The Zonker was sold a time or two, always at very high prices, and it sort of fell off of my radar. I was busy with my new job at NGP Racing, and there were new more powerful and more exciting cars out there that I got to work with on a regular basis. Imagine my surprise when a trailer rolled up one morning in 2004 and began to unload...and the precious cargo it contained was none-other than the one, the only, the Screamin' Yellow Zonker.



I was floored. Here it was, in the flesh...and in one piece! Well mostly. The car was pretty far from running, and the 15" BBS had long since been replaced with a set of 17" mesh wheels of unknown origin. But it was otherwise complete, and we were going to work on it and get it back on the street. A legend under our roof and under the knife.



Unfortunately the factory CIS-E management, which doesn't exactly love dealing with positive manifold pressure on the best of days, was far beyond repair, and the cost of restoring it to original factory condition would have been too pricey and would have resulted in less-than-good performance. So the decision was made to change over to VW's Digifant engine management system from a G60 Corrado. It was still part of the VW parts bin family so not totally sacrilegious, more or less period correct, and could easily handle the fueling needed for the stock-block 16v. The fact that there are plenty of off-the-shelf turbo software options for the EPROM didn't hurt either.



Other than getting things running again, we left the Zonker exactly as it had arrived, which was damn near how it was way back in 1987. With the Syncro system disconnected, the boosted 16v motor made a solid 155 or so wheel horsepower. Not bad, and that was not pushing things at all on the boost gauge...maybe 6lbs or so. When Ronnie took her out for a test spin I just happened to be taking out a then-new R32 for a little drive down the road. It was a unique case of the very first and the very latest in all-wheel-drive performance hatches from VW. Needless to say we couldn't help but test each other out a little bit, and it's notable that the little Mk2 Zonker was able to put just a smidgen of daylight between itself and the big old 3.2 VR6.



Once the work was completed and it was just about time for customer pick up, I could resist getting behind the wheel, if only for a second. A chance like this was less than likely to present itself, and the simple fact of the matter is that it's good to know just how good the car was running. You never want to turn a car over that you wouldn't be happy to drive home yourself, so in the interest of ah 'double checking,' I approached the bright Ferrari Yellow GTI, opened the door, and entered the cabin.



The seats. The leather-clad Recaro buckets, there is nothing better. I've always been a fan of the Recaro Trophy seats, as used in the 87-89 Jetta GLi, but these are even better. Firm but comfortable with adjustable leg support, they position you perfectly for the leather-wrapped steering wheel. All the other controls are more or less as expected. Starting up the Zonker was normal as well. I selected first gear, slowly released clutch, and pulled out from the parking lot.

As I let the vitals come up to temperature, I took particular notice of how the car felt just cruising along. Like all other Syncro Volkswagen models that I have driven, the ride comfort, over bumps especially, is significantly better than the standard semi-independent torsion beams used on the FWD Golf and Jetta. Throttle response was decent, and as the road opened up I put my foot down.

Boost built in a reasonably quick fashion, considering it has a 'real' sized turbo and not a pea-shooter like a K03, and best of all it pulled smoothly all the way up to 7,000rpm. No drama, no hiccups, and not too peaky, the power delivery was the very definition of tractable. It wasn't insanely quick by any standard definition, but had it been released back in 1988, the Zonker would have been a game-changer, and it is chassis that really made the experience.



I'm not quite sure what it was, but the Zonker was amazing to drive. It was a fairly soft ride, able to soak up bumps and very 'OEM approved' and all that, but offered complete control. Not that I pushed things too hard, as it would be particularly poor form to wad up a piece of VW history especially when it belonged to someone else, but the Zonker certainly had tenacious grip in all situations.

There was very little that the Zonker could not do well. Had the Zonker been released as a limited-edition, factory performance option or separate higher-end model from the GTI, there is no doubt it would have gone down in history as one of the all-time greats. Having the chance to drive G60 equipped Rallye Golfs from time to time, the Zonker is in my opinion, notably better. It was a touch more nimble and a good deal smoother. The G60 engine is one of my all-time favorites, despite the fact that it is considered a poor unit by many other VW enthusiasts, but the 16v turbo as seen in the Zonker was really that much better. It was more powerful, it was smoother, and had a more natural sort of feel.

Unfortunately the Zonker was a one-and-done, much like the A59 was some years later. One can only wonder what sort of impact it would have had in the market, as well as the sort of ramifications for VW enthusiasts like ourselves...

VW Sport really had their heads on straight back in the mid 1980s, and as we will soon unveil the Zonker is not the only piece of their history to escape into the public hands. The story will soon follow, but the details and car to follow are most certainly worthy of the Zonker fame and notoriety, if not more so on certain levels...watch this space.

_WRS

Across the pond: Kamei Racer Replica

The Mk1. The original. The Best. And for years, sort of put on the back burner of the scene here in the USA. Sometime in the past couple of years that all changed, and they became the 'scene' thing to have. Unfortunately almost all of these cars or builds are more towards the show than go. Not that there's anything wrong with that per say, but as the most nimble, lightweight and spartan VW, it seems criminal to take a Mk1 and burden it with show queen status.



Not everywhere though, and it seems the tide may be turning. For example, Luis's killer brown supercharged 8v over on VW Vortex, which is sporting the key elements but has dare I say, a ride height and look that can be thrown around a bit? And nary a 'lower it' to be seen. GMP Performance restored their long moth-balled and historically significant racer, and there seems to be a renewed interest in the rich, if somewhat hard to research motorsport history of the VW brand.

Michael Flynn, a reader over the Atlantic and a member Club GTI, sent over word of his own motorsport-themed rebuild. His is of one of the most famous VW race cars of all, the Kamei Golf. The Kamei Golf is one which needs little introduction to the hardcore, but for the uninitiated it was one of the most visible and visually impressive GTIs to put tire to track. It raced in Germany at first, then over in the USA, and in fact is still here.



Not looking quite the same rather obviously, with that Westmoreland front end, but it's the same car.



Mike is going for the classic look naturally, and is nearly there. He's got a very detailed thread of the build, which looks to be quite promising. (and that's all paint! no vinyl wrap)



The car runs a 2.1 TSR-built 8v motor, with a 'Pack C' head and TSR cam. TSR is / was one of the classic tuners of the 90s over in the UK, and their heads are the stuff of legend...and the motor is quite stout, as you can see in this track-day video that Mike sent over a few days back. Sort of makes me a bit teary thinking back to my own Mk1; the sound is quite similar.

So I suppose all is not lost, after all what goes around comes around, and eventually the hard-parking / no fun to drive thing will become passé and we'll swing back the other way. Sometime soon I hope to be back into a Mk1 myself, and you can bet it'll be built for performance. Looks too, but the car has to perform, after all it's like they say: Going fast = looking good.

Pics / info: Thanks to Michael Flynn / Club GTI UK - Check their forums for an amazingly full history of the Kamei Golf.

_WRS

Pic Post: (vintage) Mk1 at the Ring

May, 1977 at the Nurburgring.

_WRS

Before the storm

Some of us (Josh) fared a little better with the snow and didn't lose any body parts, or get stuck. But then I wasn't about to leave at 8am Sunday morning to beat the storm like he did, at least not on 3.5 hours of sleep, so I suppose I shouldn't complain. Others had more gumption, not to mention more dependents (Cats tend not to do well without food and water), so getting locked out of NYC by 20"+ of snow wasn't much of an option for him and Yuko.

On a side note, I think I just realized I prefer Mk5s to Mk6s? Not sure, but it certainly looks more purposeful. Maybe it's just the fact it's a Golf rather than a GTI...

Pic: Yuko

_WRS

Behind the scenes with Frank the Biz

Now that the issue is out, I can finally post up some pictures that I've been sitting on since this past Summer. A little look inside the last-ever photo shoot of one of the U.S.'s most famous VWs. Josh, who hadn't shot anything for Performance VW for some time, got the nod to give Frank 'the Biz' Bisogno's legendary Mk3 it's final shoot before she was parted out and put out to pasture. Josh has shot Frank's car on three other occasions; twice for PVW and once for Eurotuner.



Frank has been around the scene for quite a while, and although not all that active on the long-distance show circuit these days, his 1995 GTI VR6 has always been a benchmark.



The attention to detail, the constant innovation and being one-step ahead of the game has been the hallmark of Frank's car. It's never been the exact same way twice, anytime I've seen it, even if it had only been a few months.



It's been on magazine covers, had multiple full-features, and Josh has shot them all. Us old-school heads have to stick together, you know? From supercharged VR6 12v (with the infamous Z-Engineering blower), shaved bay, back to NA, turbo'd, and now with a 3.2 R32 motor, naturally aspirated. Wheels went from 16" OZ Volcanos to a bunch of bigger / wider 17s, before going back to these super hot, super chrome Fittipaldis.



Suspension has always been coilovers, but the car has never the been lowest of the low. It's always been a looker sure, but then it's always had visual balance rather than 'just' being retardedly low.



Frank is a VW technician by trade, so has done the vast majority of the work himself. Changing interests and changing priorities meant he was finally ready to move on to the next challenge...his bike being one of the newer priorities, not to mention his fiancé. (that's her in some of the pictures)



So while Josh spent time setting up the shots, directing and getting the final iteration of Frank's Mk3 captured for all eternity, I was trying to get my own take on the afternoon. And sweating, profusely, because it was blazingly hot up on top of this parking garage in downtown New Haven.



This car is really unlike most of what I tend to concentrate on. It's more of a hard-parker than a hard-driver. In order to keep up with the times it's on air-ride, naturally, so it's not a performance car in the more traditional sense. It is however, really something closer to mobile sculpture than most of what I see out there.



Some of which is innovative, some of which is just 'follow the pack.' And nothing, in my opinion, is worse than following a fashion simply for the sake of it.



Frank's car has been constantly updated, upgraded and re-worked over the years into something more than a 1995 GTI VR6. It's one of, if not the only car I've ever seen owned by one person for this length of time in the 'scene;' they usually are built once, then sold, parted or wrecked between an average of 2 months and 2 years.



Think of them...all those feature cars, all those thousands of dollars, all of that time. Gone, destroyed or passed on to uncaring owners who let them slip into dust and grime. Got my feature, and on to the next one...



And now so goes Frank's Mk3. Nothing lasts forever, it's stupid to think that it will, but it was always nice to check out what was new on The Biz's car. But no more. It was nice to be there to capture Josh, capturing the car and the owner, one last time.



_WRS

Interview: 2010 U.S. Rallycross 2wd Champion Josh Wimpey

One of the most exciting things to happen to the USA motorsport landscape this year was the introduction of the U.S. Rallycross Championship. As with any new series the entire thing was a big question mark: What would the fans think? Would it catch on? Would anyone even show up to race? While many were excited, no one really knew what it would take to be competitive, especially in two wheel drive. One of U.S. rally racing's up-and-coming talents, Josh Wimpey, emerged as the first ever champion of the two wheel drive class, with his 1987 GTI 16v carrying him to victory. We talked with Josh a little bit about his history, his team Quantum Rally Sport, and what his plans are for the future...



Wolfsburg Rennsport: First up thanks for taking to time to speak with us Josh.

Josh Wimpey: No problem at all.



WRS: What's you're general background when it comes to cars and motorsport. Is this a life-long passion, or something that has developed over time?

JW: Well, I would say that it all started because of a couple of factors. First, my dad forced my brothers and I to work on the family cars when we were kids so we learned about cars and working on them from an early age. Of course we wanted to go ride bikes and skateboard so we hated it. Sure enough, by the time we were teenagers we had surpassed our father in wrenching on cars, and even occasionally would drag him out to the garage to hold a flashlight or pass tools. In addition to teaching us about mechanic'ing, he also took us out for deliberate snow hooning every winter in his baby-blue Pinto and later a 1st generation RX7. Second, riding and driving pretty much anything we could find from bikes, to lawnmowers, to grandma's car became a highly competitive endeavor between my brothers and I. Around age six my twin brother Jeremy and I convinced my grandmother, who was blind in one eye, that it would be safer if the two of us piloted her Ford Granada for her around the mostly dirt roads of Northern Georgia. And so we did, taking turns working the steering wheel and communicating to the other who would work the brake and gas pedals because we were too small to do both at once.

A fondness for Knight Rider, The A-Team, AirWolf, and The Dukes of Hazard only fueled the fire for going fast on dirt. A progression from RC cars and riding lawnmowers to real cars was inevitable. As teenagers, we began off-roading anything we could get our hands on; namely a Ford van, a Buick Century station wagon, and a couple of Postal Jeeps. It was always competitive as we would see who could get further up a hill, or slide further in the gravel, or go faster but, it certainly was not formal motorsports.



WRS: So how did you become involved in rallying?

JW: Needless to say my brothers and I knew what Rally was. However, we only knew rally as it existed overseas, from the few times a year that we caught a glimpse of some WRC footage from the Safari Rally, or some other European events. When we were 19 Jeremy and I purchased a 1985 VW GTI together, and proceeded to drive it as hard as possible on gravel and snow covered roads whenever we could. A couple years later someone mentioned to me that there was a Rally group that held events in Orange Virginia, and I should go check it out. This was the first time that I had ever heard of anything rally or rally related in the US, and the first time I had thought of Rally as something other than a really cool wall calendar. So I went to my first Washington DC region SCCA rallycross at a gravel parking lot in Waynesboro VA, only 30 minutes from where I lived at the time. With our shared 1985 GTI getting even more rusty, I found a replacement car, a 1987 GTI 16v with a bolt-in Autopower rollbar for $400, it didn't run, and set out to run the SCCA rallycross events. From my interactions with the SCCA group I learned that REAL Stage Rally existed in the US, and decided I wanted to do it. Jeremy and I mentioned this to our friend Eric Langbein and he got so excited that he bought himself a Toyota Celica All-trac to run for himself. Eric and Jeremy began running the Celica in rally right away while I went to Colorado for graduate school, and I found an SCCA rallycross scene out there in the interim. During the summer I returned to Virginia, and Jeremy, Eric and myself built my GTI into a real rally car so we could go rallying once I was out of school. After graduating, and finally getting some work, we entered our very first event Cherokee Trails 2005 in Tennessee. The rest is history.



QRS: And why rally rather than say, circuit racing at a track?

JW: Rally is more raw and visceral than road racing, and I find that really rewarding. Track racing can be stuffy. and there are a lot of people who spend way too much time fretting about hypothetical rules and competitive advantages, while many racers are paranoid and secretive at the track. Part of that is because road racing requires a certain amount of strategy and gamesmanship that is absent in Rally, where you compete against the clock. Rally competitors develop a different kind of relationship with one another, much like competitors in other individualized sports such as skateboarding and downhill skiing do, where camaraderie is dominant. Passive aggression and playing dirty won't get you any friends in Rally and it won't get you any wins either.



QRS: So why did you choose to campaign a Volkswagen when there are so many other options out there?

JW: I could give a huge list of reasons why we keep campaigning VWs, and why you should too, but they wouldn't reflect the reasons why I started out in one. I would love to say that I picked a Volkswagen for any reason other than 'I had one that I bought for $400,' but I would be lying. The truth is, I stumbled into picking a great car and a great platform on accident and I fell in love with the Volkswagen GTIs right away. They are great cars, light weight, easy & fun to drive, easy to make competitive, and easy to work on. In 1998 when I still didn't know anything about US Rally, I drove my GTI up to this new shop in Aberdeen MD and met Dave Graf and Ed Sheets of NGP racing to see what kind of go-fast bits they sold for my car. Despite leaving empty handed, I had Ed drive my car to see if he could diagnose a hiccup and spent the next few years thumbing through catalogs of aftermarket VW parts while dreams swirled in my head.



QRS: Cool, so what pushed you over the edge from dreamer to racer so to speak, and how long did it take for that to happen?

JW: As I mentioned before, I was always a dreamer and as soon as I found out that Rally existed in the USA, I decided that it was something I was going to do. It took about 4 years for that to happen because I went back to school.



QRS: In your opinion and from your experience in rally, are VW's under-represented in the motorsport scene compared to other marques? There are a lot of them out there on the streets, lots of 'tuners,' but not as many seem to be involved in motorsport...

JW: VWs are still quite popular in rally here in the US. There are at least a dozen mk2 VW Golfs and Jettas, a few Mk3 and Mk4 cars, at least one mk5 car, a couple new beetles, an old beetle, and a surprising number of mk1 rabbits still going strong in rally, with the occasional Scirocco or Corrado thrown in the mix. So, VW enjoys a lot of popularity as a 2wd car in US rally with one or two 4wd franken-cars put together by some crazies.

The tuning scene is cyclical and follows all kinds of trends. It is when these trends happen to overlap with motorsports that you see a lot of enthusiasm and increased motorsports participation. For example, about 10 years ago, autocross was huge and you saw a lot of tuners catering to autocross setups. Right now, the trend is car-as-art cartoonishly-low-so-you-can-barely-drive-it. In that world, broken sub frames, oil pans, and suspension components are seen as a badge of honor. There is very little overlap with any kind of motorsports, and, participation wanes.

Luckily or not, rally has never been a mainstream motorsport in the US. Even the massive wave of enthusiasm from the Subaru faithful over the past decade produced relatively few rally newcomers.



QRS: What have been some of your favorite moments in stage rally?

JW: There are a couple of things that really make a rally special for me. The first is great roads. Truly great roads are hard to find and harder still to get permission to race on. The roads at Idaho Rally, Rally West Virginia, Rally Tennessee, and Cherokee Trails are simply a pleasure to race on, so anytime I get to do those events is a favorite moment. The second thing that makes a rally special is having great competition and camaraderie. Anytime we get to trade stage times back and forth with a great competitor is amazing. Last year, we got to duke it out with Doug Shepard at Rally Tennessee and with Eric Burmeister and Chris Duplessis at New England Forest Rally, and we couldn't have been happier to fight for just seconds after over 100 miles of racing.



QRS: Do you and your twin brother have telepathy? (haha)

JW: Not that I know of...



QRS: In all seriousness though, how is it having your twin brother as a co-driver?

JW: Well, it is definitely a huge advantage. Jeremy is certainly the best co-driver I could ask for and one of the top three co-drivers in the US, period. Jeremy is a very good driver and that really helps him as a co-driver because he can provide excellent coaching in addition to managing the driver and delivering pace notes as a driver needs them. Additionally we work well together as a crew, like the same foods, like to camp instead of hotels, and I get to hang out with my best friend the whole time. Pretty cool!



QRS: I guess you were sort of unknowingly practicing being drivers and co-drivers when you were bombing around in your grand mom's car back in Georgia...building up that trust that a driving team must have to be successful?

JW: Absolutely. Grandma got us started!



QRS: So how did your competing in the inaugural U.S. Rallycross Championship come about?

JW: We heard about this new series and thought it might be fun. If nothing else, it was only a few hours drive away which is extremely nearby in rally terms. The truth is no one involved in the first event had any idea of what to expect. I watched a handful of European Rallycross races online before the event and said, that looks like fun...lets go try it.



QRS: When you scored your win in round 1, did you already have the overall championship in your sights, or was it strictly a take-it-as-it-comes sort of endeavor?

JW: Like I said, no one knew what to expect at the first event. I am pretty sure that worked out to our advantage somehow, even though I had never driven a car on a racetrack before in my life. The win at round one was amazing and I think encouraged other competitors to come out and race in the other events. When people saw that you could win an a 150hp VW, they realized they didn't need to be worried about being outclassed by 500hp Porsches and such...Yet! Likewise, it sealed the deal for me. The event was fun and well attended and really gave us a chance to interact with fans which is great so we decided then and there to campaign the whole series.



QRS: Not that we're asking you to give anything away, but do you have any tricks that help you compete with the more powerful cars, like Dillon Van Way's turbo Focus or Matt Johnson's V8 Ford wagon? It has to be intimidating going up against cars with twice the power.

JW: We knew that after the first event things would get more difficult, and they did. A lot of new drivers showed up with competitive cars and we knew that our effort was outclassed in terms of horsepower and grip, so I had to try very hard to play to our advantages. Namely, the car is lighter than any of the cars that have shown up so far, so we can carry speed further toward each corner before braking. Running a front wheel drive car is a huge disadvantage in the drag-style starts, but a small advantage on the dirt while horsepower is huge advantage anytime you can get the car pointed straight enough to use it.



At the second event, it became clear that Matt's V8 was unbeatable off the line, so chasing him down and passing would be the only way to compete unless he made a mistake. The final weekend of racing we came with a bit more ammunition as NGP Racing and Diebold Autosport had done an amazing job squeezing some more power out of the car and shaving off some excess weight. The payoff was that we could go out and run faster laps than any other car including Matt's and Dillon's. But, I never did get a good run on passing him so we finished right on his bumper in both A-mains despite qualifying on the pole in each.



QRS: It had to be an awesome feeling when you realized you were the first ever 2wd champion in the U.S. Rallycross Championship.

JW: Definitely. Going into the final race, there were three guys that could take home the championship depending on how things went down in the final heat. We had a lead in the points so, the most important thing was to finish in the top three and not crash. When I saw that we had a chance to win the final race and the championship in the final few corners, I pushed hard but it wasn't meant to be. I'm happy with the championship win but would have loved to win another event as well.



QRS: So what are your plans for 2011?

JW: Well, it is sponsorship season right now so we have some feelers out in a bunch of different directions trying to make things happen. There are some really good stage rally events like Rally West Virginia on the schedule next year and we would love to finally complete the entire MaxAttack! 2wd National Championship series so those things are on our list. For Rallycross, next year will have events on both coasts and the center of the country and I hope to get a program together to defend our championship so we will just have to see what happens. It should be exciting no matter what.



QRS: Best of luck next year, thanks again, be sure to keep us in the loop with any developments.

JW: Thanks, I will.

For more information on Josh Wimpey and Quantum Rally Sport, check them out:

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_WRS