Sebring bound

1 GTI
2 people
7 cameras
20 hours
1150 miles...

Sebring 2011; live updates from Wednesday to Saturday

In under a week's time, we'll be heading down to Sebring Florida for the second year in a row, and I for one can simply not wait. It's looking fantastic, with near 60 cars on the entry list, and the vast majority of those additional cars over last year's race have been gained in the prototype ranks. With Audi coming back after their absence in 2010, Flying Lizard coming back as strong as ever, and Falken with a much improved team working behind the scenes, we'll have plenty to cheer for.

Video Post: Team Falken Tire ALMS Sebring Testing

Our friends over at team Falken Tire just released this teaser video of their Sebring testing, with a little input from their new team manager Derek Walker, and (I think) they might just have one of the coolest intros I've ever seen. Totally #winning.

_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.

CTSCC - APR Motorsport victory in ST!

APR Motorsport's Ian Bass and Ryan Ellis earned their second victory in as many races, piloting their Mk6 VW GTI (sponsored by Driver's Gear, Motul, BBS) to the winner's circle in this weekend's Kia 200 at Homestead Miami. With APR edging out the iMoto Mazdaspeed 3 and RSR Motorsport's MINI Cooper S for the win, and locking down fourth position with the #181 GTI of the Gleason brothers, APR and Volkswagen are now in firm command of the championships, both with 70 points over nearest competitor Kia who has 56. Likewise Baas and Ellis are tied for first place in the driver's championship, at 70 points each, with Kinetic Motorsports / Kia driver Nic Jonsson in third with 56 points.



Round three will see the GS and ST class cars running at APR's home track of Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama on April 7-9th.

For more see grand-am.com / goapr.com

_WRS

CTSCC - Round 2 from Homestead Miami (today at 4:15pm)

The second round of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge takes off today at Homestead Miami Speedway at 4:15pm eastern. APR Motorsport is there ready to continue the success they had in the ST class, and hoping to improve on their results in GS. GHary Gibson landed the big B8 S4 landed pretty much square in the middle of the GS field, 16th out of 29 cars. The 3.0 TFSI V6 showed supreme flashes of speed last season, but so far hasn't quite found the groove that the ST GTIs have.



Speaking of which, the two 2.0t Mk6 GTIs are toward the sharp end of a very competitive field. While not able to pull out a class poll-position, the 171 of Ian Baas and Ryan Ellis sits 6th out of 34 cars, and the 181 of the Gleason brothers earned 8th position.



Check out live timing and scoring at Grand-am.com or check out APR's Twitter feed for live updates.

Video Post: Quantum Rally Sport in the 2010 NEFR

An excellent compilation of footage of the Quantum Rally Sport Mk2 GTI taking on the New England Forest Rally in 2010. We had an interview with driver Josh Wimpey a few months back, and his co-driver and twin brother Jeremy just co-drove for Travis Pastrana in this past weekend's 100-acre wood rally. With the Quantum Rally Sport TDI-powered Mk2 on the road to completion, 2011 should be another great year for the Wimpey bros.

_WRS