APR does it again, Baas and Hurley finally take a win

The same weekend that I was busy slangin' parts at Waterfest 15, the guys from the APR Motorsport team were heading into battle in the Koni Challenge Street Tuner class at Barber Motorsports Park in their home state of Alabama. The team was on a streak, with the 181 picking up wins at the previous two rounds at Watkins Glen and Mid-Ohio, but the 171 car had yet to put a notch in the old gun barrel, despite being in prime postion more than once.

All that was finally to change at Barber, with Ian Baas holding off the hard-charging 111 Subaru Legacy of Andrew Aquilante during the first half of the race, and Josh Hurley finishing up strong, finally scoring a victory. I had a chance to speak with Baas at Waterfest, the very next day after his win, as he had flown up with Stephen from APR to check out the festivities. He was obviously enthused, and said he really had to work to hold off the Subaru for the first half of the race. Apparently the track really did not suit the APR Mk5 GTI, as the Glen and Mid-Ohio did, and it was a hard-fought, and much deserved (in my opinion) victory.

There are three races left to the season, and with the last three going to APR, you can bet that Grand-Am (the sanctioning body for the Koni Challenge) will impose some penalties to try and even things out between the GTI's and the rest of the field. More weight? Probably, although Grand-Am monitors boost response on the engines very closely, and I wouldn't be surprised if they took a pound or two of boost instead. Either way, with the success that APR has finally found for Volkswagen and themselves in the series, you can bet that sheer optimism and determination might be enough to carry them through to at least one more win this year.

Me personally, I can't wait to see the new Mk6 GTI race cars...I'd assume that VW has already delivered a few down to Auburn to get a jump on the 2010 season right?

_WRS

Video Post: In-car Turner Motorsport footage from Watkin's Glen

I was over on the Eurotuner blog today and saw this video they had linked to from Turner Motorsport. It shows some furiously hectic last-blast end of the race action at the combined class Grand Am / Koni Challenge race at Watkins Glen. You can spot some APR GTI's getting passed, along with most of the other ST field, but the main focus here are the Turner M3's, since all the footage is from inside those cars. Obviously. Anyways, it's makes great use of the fact that almost anyone can afford a decent in-car camera system these days. I think it's amazing, and very cool, that Turner puts the time and effort into releasing this footage to the public for them to watch. does a great job of building the brand and building loyal fans too.

By the way, these cars sounds so bad-ass in this footage it's enough to make me want to buy an E46 M3. Something I never really have thought about before.

_WRS

APR wins again! Sweeney and von Moltke make it two in a row

Once again APR has dominated and come out on top with their second win ever as a team, and second win in a row for the 181 car of Mike Sweeney and Dion von Moltke. Although the top qualifying number 171 of Ian Baas and Josh Hurley lead the majority of the race at Mid-Ohio, electrical problems popped up with only six laps to go, allowing von Moltke to charge ahead and take the win.

The APR Motorsport / BBS team was the one to beat all weekend, and clearly they have really come into their own with the results they've been enjoying. But hard work and commitment are rewarded with results, much as Audi has proved with their Le Mans wins, so it's not really all that surprising. Next up is the home race, or at least home state, for APR, at Barber Motorsports Park on the weekend of July 17th-19th. They're running split classes again for the Koni Challenge...I can't even think about going thanks to Waterfest being that weekend, but if you're down south it would be a great event to attend. Check out the Koni Challenge site for the full run down of the remaining race schedule.

_WRS

Koni Challenge: APR Motorsport locks down the front row at Mid-Ohio

APR Motorsports is on quite the roll. Not only did they just give Volkswagen its first win in over 25 years in a professional road racing series inside the USA, but they've nailed down the pole position at each of the last three races, and locked up the whole front row at the last two. The 171 car of Baas and Hurley sits on pole for this weekend's race at Mid-Ohio, and the 181 of Sweeney and von Moltke are right behind, sitting on the outside of row one. That's got to feel great. I've always said that the only thing lacking from VW's success in the motorsports arena is the lack of commitment and money. Very few teams have had both the money and the commitment to achieve success. It generally tends to be either one or the other. (i.e. all passion and no money, or all money and no follow through)

With APR, VW has found a committed partner in racing. I think it says a lot about APR as a tuning company, compared to a lot of others. Few people are willing to put their company's profits on the line with a motorsports program, but it's also one of the best ways to test and improve your products and knowledge. Racing is expensive business...some may consider the Koni Challenge to be the minor leagues, and compared to the stuff at Le Mans it certainly is, but this is no nickel and dime affair. After an up and down first year you would be excused for thinking that maybe APR would drop out or not fully committee, especially with a faltering economy. Not the case though, and it has payed off. I'm very curious to see if Volkswagen gives APR a little more support next year. Perhaps a few Mk6 GTI bodies in white? That would be very cool, and probably make the conversion from street car to race car a bit easier. After all, the current crop of Mk5 GTi's were just standard Mk5's to start with, so there is a lot of labor involved in stripping them out and making them race ready.

Although the race is this weekend, it won't be broadcast until June 28th at 12:30 on Speed TV. This may mean that results aren't much of a surprise, but hey, it should still be an exciting race either way. It's times like this I really wish I had cable. hehehe. Go APR!

_WRS

Busy weekend - get thee to Mid Ohio!

I don't have a time machine nor an airplane. If I did, I would do one thing, other than the stuff I already have to do this weekend, and that is: Go to the Mid-Ohio Sportscar course. Its is quite the weekend of racing for Volkswagen in the USA. Not only is it the first round in the Koni Challenge since APR won at Watkins Glen, but the Jetta TDI cup is also running as a support series. It should prove to be one hell of a weekend. In TDI cup you'd think I might not have a guy to route for, but you'd be 100% wrong. AJ Nealey is a Maryland local and has been doing pretty well so far, and with past successes at Mid Ohio in NASA, should be able to do quite well. It would be great to see AJ win, and he clearly has some talent behind the wheel given his results from the last year. Check out AJNealeyracing.com for his full bio.

APR is hoping to make it two in a row, and with their cars running strongly in the past at Mid Ohio, there's no reason to think they won't be anything but contenders. With Grand-Am running split classes, same as they did at Lime Rock, it should turn out to be quite a battle without all those pesky Grand Sport class cars getting in the way. Naturally we are pulling for the APR Motorsport guys 100%, and look forward to seeing the 171 or 181 back in the winner's circle this weekend.

For the full run down on the Koni Challenge series, including live timing during practice and the race, check out the Grand-Am site. For Jetta TDI Cup info, go to the SCCA's site, which will give you the info you crave.

I'd have more to say, but I'm late for dinner. More tomorrow!

_WRS