February 26, 2013
We've Moved!
If you've come here looking for news from StopTech, we appreciate you visiting. This site is no longer being updated. We have a new home within the pages of our website, though, at http://www.stoptech.com/media-center/blog. Please click through and bookmark the new site when you get there. We will be adding new blog posts on a regular basis, as well as posting to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and more. So follow us there for all of the latest inside information from your favorite high performance and racing brake experts!
October 24, 2011
Cars & Coffee - 10/22/11: Ferrari Day
This past weekend's Cars & Coffee event was a day devoted to Ferrari. Occasionally there will be a featured marque at this weekly gathering and this Saturday it was sportscars from Maranello. From new 458 Italias, 430s, 360s, 355s, Maranellos, Stradales, Scuderias and a new 599 SA, to classics like the 250 GT SWB, 250 GT Tour d' France, 500 Mondial and 340 Mexico, it was one of the best shows ever.
The gang from Tillack alone brought half a dozen of the coolest cars ever to show at C&C - one of Niki Lauda's F1 car, a Scuderia Ferrari Lancia D-50 made from spare parts, a 250 GT Speciale, gorgeous blue and white Vignale bodied 340 Mexico, Superfast and 500 Mondial/Testa Rossa.
Of course, there was also a line that included two 275 GTBs, an SWB, TdF, Lusso, 330 GTC Daytonas and a stunning 250 GT Pininfarina Europa Coupe. Other notable Ferraris in attendance were the 365 GTC/4, 365 GT 2+2, 512BBi Boxer, and a 575 Superamerica. Plus a rather nice looking Maranello with a StopTech Trophy BBK on it.
But there was plenty to see even if you weren't much of a Ferrari fan. There was a nice line of Porsches, a Lexus LFA, Fiat 600 Multipla, old school 1970 Subaru microvan with wheelie bars, shag carpet and a velour dash, a new Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 and two, yes two, McLaren MP4-12Cs. One in black and one in a ruby red that really showed off the car's shape well. It's amazing how compact and low in the chassis that V8 is!
October 18, 2011
StopTech-Sponsored Cayman Interseries at Rennsport Reunion IV
The StopTech-sponsored Cayman Interseries made its inaugural
Rennsport Reunion appearance last weekend with its largest field ever and a full schedule of on-track
action and off-track promotions at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
Friday’s practice was
dominated by championship-winning pro driver and Porsche stalwart David
Donohue, driving the No. 6 Cayman S themed after the mighty Sunoco/Penske
Porsche 917-30 driven by his father Mark Donohue. The day’s official fastest
lap, however, went to Cayman Interseries regular Mark Sandridge. Driving his
white and red-and-yellow striped No. 49 Cayman S, which is modeled after his
1994 IMSA Champion Team Salad Porsche 911 RSR. Sandridge clocked a 1:39.915 in
the second and final session of the day Friday afternoon.
“The field is very
close, so if I happened to nick off a good lap it can’t be much quicker than
one of the other guys, who are real close to me anyways,” Sandridge said. “It’s
just fun being here, I am glad the car feels good, and we are getting a little
better effort here than the last race in Atlanta. I got it dialed in, my
teammate Joe Varde helped me get it dialed in, and it just feels good.”
Second quickest Friday was debuting driver Jack Kachadurian
who was piloting a red and white No. 14 Cayman S that pays tribute to a Richard
Lloyd Racing Canon Porsche 956.
“Rennsport Edition”
Cayman S
The car that made the biggest impact during the weekend though,
was a star even before it hit the track. At a VIP unveiling on Friday morning, series
founders Porsche Napleton of Westmont debuted a special “Rennsport Edition”
Cayman S that was built specifically to commemorate the event.
The car was formally unveiled in the Cayman Interseries
paddock area by Detlev von Platen, President and CEO of Porsche Cars North
America, Gill Campbell, CEO and General Manager of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca,
Ed Napleton, President of the Napleton Auto Group, Ron Barnaba, Napleton
Porsche of Westmont General Manager, Porsche racing legend Hurley Haywood and David
Donohue, a Rolex 24 at Daytona winning Porsche driver.
The one-off “Rennsport Edition” design pays tribute to
Porsche’s famous race cars and drivers and the equally iconic circuits on which
they raced and won. The entire top of the Rennsport Edition Cayman S features
“ghost” images of legendary race tracks from around the world, the stripe on
the hood has a list of Porsche factory drivers and other notables from over the
years while the roof stripe has a list of all of the factory race cars ever
produced. The commemorative No. 4 Cayman was driven throughout Rennsport
weekend by Jack Baldwin, the man who makes the cars in the series competitive.
Throughout the weekend, legendary Porsche drivers in
attendance (like Hurley Haywood and Justin Bell at right) were autographing the “Rennsport Edition” Cayman S, adding even more
history to the rolling showcase of Porsche’s competition legacy. The positive impact of the colorful car will
be felt even after Rennsport Reunion IV ends as Napleton Porsche will sell the
car to highest bidder in the coming weeks, with a significant portion of the
proceeds being donated to the Children’s Tumor Foundation (CTF).
The drivers were racing in support of the CTF during the
weekend and even hosted several young neurofibromatosis (NF) patients and their
families at the track on Saturday, in cooperation with Porsche Cars North America
(PCNA) and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
Rennsport Reunion IV Concours
In other off-track happenings, the Cayman Interseries was
also invited to compete as its own class in the Rennsport Reunion IV Concours
competition.
A total of six Caymans were awarded medals of excellence,
with the No. 4 “Rennsport Edition” Cayman S earning a perfect-score for class
best-of-show honors. The winning Cayman features a commemorative livery
designed and created by Dave Schnorr that pays tribute to Porsche’s great
racing legacy.
Other competitors earning Cayman Interseries Concours medals
were Wayne Nykyforchyn (No. 11 Marlboro/Joest Racing Porsche 956), Lori
Cassling (No. 23 “Pink Pig” Porsche 917/20), John Martino (No. 7 Newman/Joest
Racing Porsche 962), David Gronke (No. 8 Blaupunkt/Joest Racing Porsche 962)
and Jack Kachadurian (No. 14 Canon/Richard Lloyd Racing Porsche 956).
The Concours was just another spectacular part of the
Rennsport Reunion experience that left all in the Cayman Interseries paddock
impressed.
“I really didn’t know what to expect because I had never
been to a Rennsport before,” said reigning Cayman Interseries Champion Lee
Davis. “Just looking at all of these amazing cars around here, I don’t know if
there’s been a dollar figure put on the amount of great cars here, but it is
great to see so many Caymans here. It’s fantastic, a lot of good cars and good
drivers here.”
Cayman Interseries
Sprint Race
In Sunday morning’s sprint race, Lee Davis drove straight
from the pole to victory, but the flag-to-flag win was far from easy.
Davis led into Turn 1 at the race start in his black and red
No. 33 Cayman S that carries the colors of the Advan Porsche 956s and 962s and
Luna-C Clothing, but immediately felt what was going to be race-long pressure
from debuting driver Jack Kachadurian. Driving a No. 14 Cayman S in the theme
of a Richard Lloyd Racing Canon Porsche 956, Kachadurian jumped from third to
second at the race start and kept the heat on Davis for the majority of the
race.
“It feels awesome, it really does feel awesome,” Davis said.
“It was one of the longest sprint races for a little bitty short race that I
have ever been in. Jack was right in my
mirrors for most of the time, and he got into me a little bit going down into
the Corkscrew, I just corrected and kept going, and fortunately it was a light
hit. I gapped him a little bit but then the track was coated with oil later in
the race. I am glad everybody made it
through that with no major damage.”
Davis crossed the finish line just ahead of Kachadurian
while Mark Sandridge, driving his white and red-and-yellow striped No. 49
Cayman S that is modeled after his 1994 IMSA Champion Team Salad Porsche 911
RSR, prevailed in a great battle with Henry Davis to take the final podium
spot. No relation to Lee Davis, Henry
Davis finished fourth in his No. 21 Cayman S that carries the memorable
markings of the silver Martini Porsche 917s.
Bob Schneider completed the top five in his No. 40 Cayman S that pays
tribute to the Martini “Baby” Porsche 935.
In Sportsman class action, Will Conniff led early on and
again when it counted to score the victory in a yellow No. 55 Cayman S that is
themed after a David Piper Racing/Sandeman Porsche 917K. Connif waged a great mid-race
battle with Mike Cassling, who drives a blue and yellow Cayman S in the colors
of a Hydro Aluminum/Brun Porsche 962, and scored the win when Cassling spun off
course in the oil that coated the track in the final laps of the race.
“It’s great to be back, I miss it badly,” said Conniff, a
series regular the past two seasons. “Personal reasons are why I am not out
here more because I love the guys and I love the format. Really, it’s just getting back in the car.
When you are out of that car you just really lose a lot of your feel and
momentum. I felt good about coming back
after being away for almost a year and it was a blast.”
Conniff didn’t even know he was passing for the victory when
he saw Cassling’s stranded car off course in the downhill run out of the
Corkscrew.
“I had no clue,” Conniff said. “I was just focused on what I
needed to do, stay on the track and try not to do anything stupid.”
David Gronke finished second after a strong run in his white
and blue No. 8 Blaupunkt/Joest Racing Porsche 962-themed Cayman S. Randy
Cassling, at the wheel of his black, yellow and red No. 18 Cayman S that pays
tribute to the Le Mans winning factory Shell/Dunlop Porsche 962, finished third
to salvage a podium finish for the Cassling family after his brother spun out
of the lead.
Cayman Interseries
Enduro Race
In Sunday afternoon’s main event, Mark Sandridge took
control when race leader Lee Davis fell victim to lapped traffic to score a
strong victory in the final race of the doubleheader.
Sandridge was running second to Davis at the halfway point
of the 45-minute race when opportunity knocked.
“It’s pretty rewarding,” Sandridge said. “Yesterday I was
pretty down after qualifying when I ran fourth, so I went home, we studied the
films, and I think we just worked as hard as anybody did, although you have to
give Lee credit, he had the field covered.
He would have won the thing hands up, and I would have been happy with
second quite frankly. You just had to be patient and that’s probably why I was
a little slower, I was probably a little more patient than most people.”
Davis led from the drop of the green flag and was
maintaining a comfortable lead over Sandridge when a lapped backmarker forced
him off the track and into the wall.
Davis was uninjured but his No. 33 Cayman S suffered significant
left-side damage.
“You never have it won until the checkered flag falls and
you come across it first,” Davis said. “It’s really disappointing, and I just
have to chalk it up to one of those racing things, I guess, and be proud of
what I did up to that point. I had a pretty good lead up until then, won the
sprint race this morning, and now I am looking forward to Daytona.”
Henry Davis – no relation to Lee Davis – finished second to
cap a strong weekend in his CARS-prepared No. 21 Cayman S that wears the
classic paint scheme of the silver Martini Porsche 917s. Davis was delighted with both the podium
finish and the Rennsport event itself.
“The guys at Napleton did a fabulous job,” Davis said. “What
a great series they created, and I want to thank Ron Barnaba and everybody.
Great event, great weather and a great track. The organization they have out
here at Laguna Seca is fantastic. Nobody
else has it together like these guys do, everything just runs perfectly.”
Jim Bacus, making his first race start of the year in his
purple and green Cayman S modeled after the famous Martini “Hippy” Porsche 917LH,
drove a smart race to finish in third place.
In the Sportsman class, Will Conniff went two-for-two Sunday
when he won the 45-minute finale after also taking the morning sprint in a
yellow No. 55 Cayman S themed after a David Piper Racing/Sandeman Porsche 917K.
“Top weekend,” Conniff said. “I got in this for the social
aspect, but racing with Napleton, I run with a great group of guys. This was a rental this weekend but it was
smoking, as good as it gets. I have to thank the crew, everyone here, and it
was a perfect weekend for me.”
Conniff shared the afternoon podium with second-place
finisher Tony Sitko, who drives his red No. 70 Cayman S that is a replica of
the Le Mans class-winning Dick Barbour Racing Porsche 935. Randy Cassling also doubled up on podium
showings and finished third for the second time Sunday in his black, yellow and
red No. 18 Cayman S that pays tribute to the Le Mans winning factory
Shell/Dunlop Porsche 962.
Conniff, who improved his lap times by nearly 10 seconds
from Friday practice, was awarded the JRZ Suspension Engineering “Fine Tuning
Award” as the competitor showing the most progress by improving car setup,
on-track performance and lap times.
Lee Davis was awarded the inaugural Porsche Cars North
America (PCNA) “Porsche Spirit” award as the competitor that best exemplified,
on and off the track, the outstanding attributes of Porsche competition
excellence and sportsmanship throughout Rennsport Reunion weekend.
Among the record number of Cayman Interseries competitors
racing at Rennsport Reunion this weekend was Ed Napleton, President of the
Napleton Auto Group, the parent organization of Cayman Interseries organizers
and owners Napleton Porsche of Westmont in Chicago. “I haven’t seen any of the
other events, but all I can tell you is that I was very impressed with this,”
Napleton said. “Everything here was outstanding. I think all of the people are high caliber, a
nice group and they kind of mesh well together. When you put an event on like
this and have a high level of the participants enjoy themselves, it is a
tribute to what Ron (Barnaba) and his staff have done to make it click. It is
done with our approval as a company, but the actual events take so much
work. It’s Ron’s passion and I am glad
to see that we were able to satisfy all of these people and make a really nice
happening out here. It is like Woodstock
for adults.”
Next up for the Cayman Interseries is the season-ending
Daytona Continental Historic Races at Daytona International Speedway, November
9 – 13.
About Porsche
Rennsport Reunion IV: Porsche Rennsport Reunion IV is the world’s
greatest gathering of Porsche race cars and the drivers that drove them to
victory, held at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca from October 14 to 16, 2011. Hosted
by Porsche Cars North America, it will assemble the wide variety of Porsche’s
most historic racing models from the nimble 550 Spyder of the mid-1950s through
the mighty 917 and 956/962 of the 1970s and 1980s to the highly successful RS
Spyder of the last decade.
About Porsche Cars
North America: Porsche Cars North America, Inc. (PCNA), based in Atlanta,
Ga. is the exclusive U.S. importer of Porsche sports cars, the Cayenne SUV and
Panamera Gran Turismo. Established in 1984, it is a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Porsche AG, which is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, and employs
approximately 220 people who provide parts, service, marketing and training for
196 dealers. They, in turn, work to provide Porsche customers a best-in-class
experience that is in keeping with the brand’s 63-year history and leadership
in the advancement of vehicle performance, safety and efficiency. At the core
of this success is Porsche’s proud racing heritage that boasts some 30,000
motorsport wins to date.
About The Cayman
Interseries: Established in 2009 by Napleton Porsche of Westmont, Illinois,
the Cayman Interseries is North America’s only auto racing championship
featuring the exclusive use of the 320-horsepower Porsche Cayman S. Sanctioned by Historic Sportscar Racing
(HSR), the Cayman Interseries conducted its first official season in 2010 and
crowned a pair of champion drivers in both the sprint and endurance racing
formats. Races are run on legendary circuits such as Daytona, Sebring,
Mid-Ohio, Watkins Glen, Road Atlanta, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and other
premier venues, primarily on HSR and SVRA event weekends. Every competing
Porsche Cayman S is exclusively supplied and prepared by Napleton Porsche and
each car competes with an assigned and specific heritage livery themed after a
famous Porsche race car from the past.
Learn more about the Cayman Interseries at www.CaymanInterseries.org.
Phone calls direct to Napleton Porsche may be made at (630) 725-0911 and email
inquiries can be sent to racing@napletonmotorsports.com.
October 7, 2011
Team StopTech Races to Several Championships in 2011
Team StopTech extends well beyond the StopTech-liveried
Porsche driven by our CEO. In fact, looking at the podium at Sunday's World
Challenge race would have shown at least five other drivers who run Centric,
Power Slot or StopTech equipment. Five spots on the podium? Well, there are
three classes that run in the SCCA Pro Pirelli World Challenge Championship -
GT, GTS and TC. Of the nine podium finishers, StopTech was involved with five
of them.
World Challenge is one of the least expensive ways to go
professional racing, with relatively unmodified sports and sporty cars that
look pretty much like the ones you'll find at your local dealership. StopTech
has always been right at home in this type of racing because this is where we
cut our teeth. The brakes we have developed for this type of racing have been
delivering added benefits to the brakes you can get for your street cars.
Production based racing, whether at the professional or amateur level, gives us
a rolling laboratory to continue our research and development. Born in the
extremes of racing, StopTech and Power Slot brake systems are designed to
deliver championship winning results even in your daily commute. World
Challenge is a natural fit.
The lowest rung on the World Challenge ladder is Touring Car,
or TC. Last but not least certainly applies here, with Hondas, Volkswagens,
Mazdas, Volvos and the like ripping around Laguna Seca in about 1:40 flat. To
put that in perspective, the Dodge Viper ACR holds the production car record at
this track at 1:33. In Sunday's race, the top three finishers - Lawson
Aschenbach, Tristan Herbert and Robb Holland - were all running Power Slots or
StopTechs. Aschenbach actually had to start at the back of the field after
missing Saturday's qualifying, but the Compass360 Civic was at the front when
the checkers flew after an impressive charge through the field by Lawson. His
great launch that brought him from ninth to fourth on the very first lap earned
him the Optima Batteries Best Standing Start Award. The win also clinched the
championship for this young driver.
The middle rung of the World Challenge ladder is GTS, or
Grand Touring Sport. This class features Mustangs, Camaros and a pair of
tweaked Acura TSX race cars. These cars run 1:36 laps around Mazda Raceway and
are among the most evenly matched cars on the grid. Paul Brown’s GTS class
flag-to-flag win in the No. 50 One Hour Heating and Air/Luminox/Kenny Brown
Ford Mustang Boss 302S clinched his first career World Challenge title. Brown
qualified his StopTech-equipped Boss 302S on the pole, pulled away at the
start, and hustled to a 2.713-second margin of victory.
The top class in World Challenge is Grand Touring. This is
where the Porsches, Corvettes, Volvos and Cadillacs come to play. The top cars
can run a lap in under 1:28 here. While the GMG Porsche of James Sofronas was
still in the hunt for the championship as late as the last lap, a collision
with a slower car dropped him to tenth. The championship went instead to
Patrick Long, who does double duty with the Flying Lizards in ALMS from
time-to-time.
Still, Sofronas had much better luck than StopTech's Dino
Crescentini. After qualifying 8th in class and a great start, Dino was taken
out in a first lap incident that also claimed the Cadillac CTS-V Coupe of Andy Pilgrim.
Mike Skeen took the win and Skeen’s teammate, Patrick Lindsey, was third in the
No. 12 CRP Chevrolet Corvette. Lindsey had been battling with Sofronas, Johnny
O’Connell’s Cadillac and the second-place Volvo S60R of Randy Pobst for a good
portion of the race until Sofronas was knocked out and Patrick inherited third
for good.
StopTech customer, Turner Motorsport captured the 2011
Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Grand Sports (GS) Driver and Team
championships with a sixth place finish in Saturday's Grand-Am race at the
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The title is the team's sixth professional
championship and the result was instrumental in securing BMW a second
consecutive GS Manufacturer crown.
Paul Dalla Lana and co-driver Boris Said needed only to
finish 11th in the StopTech-equipped No. 96 M3 to win Dalla Lana his first
professional racing championship and Turner Motorsport the Team title so the
duo stayed with a conservatively aggressive plan throughout the
two-and-one-half-hour race around the rolling 2.6-mile, 13-turn road course.
Dalla Lana started from the fifth position after his
season's best qualifying effort. Pitting during the first of the race's seven
caution periods Dalla Lana handed off to Said. Strategist Don Salama used the
remaining yellows to the team's advantage, pitting Said at the right time to
allow him to run as high as second and never less than 10th. A text book team
effort, sixth place at the checkered flag was more than enough to secure the
two championships. A significant contribution to Dalla Lana's championship was
made by BMW ace Bill Auberlen who co-drove with Dalla Lana to five consecutive
podiums, including a win at Homestead-Miami Speedway, to begin the season.
"This is a special year so we will make sure we
celebrate Paul's championship with the same vigor with which we raced for
it," said Will Turner. "On top of our team title, the entire Turner
Motorsport team is pleased to have contributed so strongly to another
Manufacturer's title for BMW. Our Continental program continues to go from
strength to strength and our Rolex program has grown into quite a force this
year. A large part of that is due to the hard work of our sponsor partners Cobalt,
Continental Tires, Escort Radar, FORGELINE, H & R Springs and StopTech. It
is hard to believe that testing for the 2012 season begins next month so we
will soon be right back to work."
The 2012 Grand-Am season begins during the 50th annual Rolex
24 at Daytona on January 28 – 29.
Gumout pole winner John Buttermore, of Wixom, Mich., drove
flag-to-flag to capture his first Touring 1 National Championship at the 48th
SCCA National Championship Runoffs at Road America. Tom Sloe, of Newbury, Ohio,
and Mike McGinley, of Overland Park, Kan., finished second and third,
respectively.
The T1 and STO classes ran a combined race. Buttermore got a
great jump from the T1 pole in the No. 52 Hoosier/Carbotech/StopTech and led
the first lap before the yellow came out on lap two after contact between two
STO cars brought out the caution.
When the race went green six laps later, Buttermore put a
sizeable gap between himself and Sloe. In fact, Buttermore was third overall
between the two classes. He turned the Hawk Fast Lap of the race with of
2:33.069 (94.313 mph) en route to 8.931-second margin of victory over Sloe to
win his first-career Runoffs National Championship.
“We’d prefer it [the race] had gone green the whole way,”
Buttermore said. “We spent a lot of time up here working on making the car
smooth and consistent. We, maybe, sacrificed a little bit of speed. It was set
up to run 13 laps hard. We did our development with StopTech brakes and
Carbotech. Two years ago, I was leading the first five laps of this event and
the brakes were on the floor and gave it back. Today, is quite a redemption.
“We knew we were faster than the STO cars at that point,
under acceleration especially. I dropped back a little bit [on the restart] to
give them [STO driver] some room so that we could get our start at speed and
get around them by Turn 1 and not have them affect our race. When I looked back
in my mirror after going into Turn 3, I saw Tom had gotten around them too. It
cleared us up.
“I am pretty excited. It’s a big effort. The last four years
I’ve gotten four medals, all of the wrong color and with three different cars.
It’s kind of been a hodge podge adventure to finally get this win with the
Corvette, which is the best car on the street and on the track.”
Now in its 48th year, the SCCA National Championship Runoffs
annually crowns Champions in the Sports Car Club of America’s Club Racing
classes. The live broadcast of all 28 National Championship races will be
available throughout the weekend at www.Speedcasttv.com/scca and later
available On Demand from the same site.
Follow the action on Twitter @SCCAOfficial or the SCCA, Inc.
Official Facebook page at facebook.com/sccaofficial. More information is
available at www.scca.com.
If you’re wondering how you can get the same results, we offer a whole range of
products to help you and your customers get into Victory Circle too.
In World Challenge, GT customers are running our TrophyBBKs, with 4- or 6-piston anodized calipers and oversized AeroRotors with anodized AeroHats.
GTS racers are winning with StopTech BBKs, using painted 4-
and 6-piston calipers as well as optimized airflow AeroRotors/AeroHats.
The TC field is a virtual Centric Parts catalog in motion,
with contestants running full StopTech BBKs, as well as Power Slot and CentricParts rotors.
North of the border, our Canadian customers in CTCC have
also been running and winning with BBKs as well as Power Slot rotors.
Grand-Am ST cars like the championship-winning Turner
Motorsports BMWs are using DRKs, with improved airflow 2-piece rotors.
As mentioned above, John Buttermore just clinched the SCCA T1 National Championship in his
StopTech-equipped Corvette.
We’ve also been getting messages from other privateers in
NASA and SCCA action, who are thanking us for helping them succeed using
StopTech race brake systems.
Additionally, our circle track and
off-road race programs are also progressing nicely.
In Lucas Off-Road Racing Series (LOORRS), the 4 Wheel Parts Pro2 Truck has seen some success
with their Power Slot rotors. We are also working on improvements to STOR-60GT
race calipers.
StopTech’s new pillar vane rotors, meanwhile, are also being tested in a number of different circle track series with a lot of good data being generated.
Congratulations to all of you! 2011 has been a great season
so far but there are still championships to decide. Through StopTech’s direct
involvement in World Challenge, working with our customers who campaign cars in
Grand-Am, NASA, SCCA, circle track and off-road racing, as well as through our
work with one-make series like the Napleton Cayman Interseries, StopTech is
committed to developing brake systems that will help your car stop better - on
the track or on the street.
“Brake late, finish first” is more than just a catchphrase –
we see it at every race, how good brakes can make the difference between
winning and losing. That’s why we’re committed to continuously researching and
developing race and high performance brake systems that will help you win in
whatever type of vehicle you drive. 2012 should be another great year for
StopTech and our customers. Not only do we have data to help us improve our
existing products, but we have several new products and innovations in the
pipeline. More about that later, but for now…congratulations to all of you and
thank you for your continued business.
September 20, 2011
Team StopTech Scores Several Podium Spots in World Challenge Laguna Seca
World Challenge is one of the least expensive ways to go professional racing, with relatively unmodified sports and sporty cars that look pretty much like the ones you'll find at your local dealership. StopTech has always been right at home in this type of racing because this is where we cut our teeth. The brakes we have developed for this type of racing have been delivering added benefits to the brakes you can get for your street cars. Production based racing, whether at the professional or amateur level, gives us a rolling laboratory to continue our research and development. Born in the extremes of racing, StopTech and Power Slot brake systems are designed to deliver championship winning results even in your daily commute. World Challenge is a natural fit.
The lowest rung on the World Challenge ladder is Touring Car, or TC. Last but not least certainly applies here, with Hondas, Volkswagens, Mazdas, Volvos and the like ripping around Laguna Seca in about 1:40 flat. To put that in perspective, the Dodge Viper ACR holds the production car record at this track at 1:33. In Sunday's race, the top three finishers - Lawson Aschenbach, Tristan Herbert and Robb Holland - were all running Power Slots or StopTechs. Aschenbach actually had to start at the back of the field after missing Saturday's qualifying, but the Compass360 Civic was at the front when the checkers flew after an impressive charge through the field by Lawson. His great launch that brought him from ninth to fourth on the very first lap earned him the Optima Batteries Best Standing Start Award. The win also clinched the championship for this young driver.
The middle rung of the World Challenge ladder is GTS, or Grand Touring Sport. This class features Mustangs, Camaros and a pair of tweaked Acura TSX race cars. These cars run 1:36 laps around Mazda Raceway and are among the most evenly matched cars on the grid. Paul Brown’s GTS class flag-to-flag win in the No. 50 One Hour Heating and Air/Luminox/Kenny Brown Ford Mustang Boss 302S clinched his first career World Challenge title. Brown qualified his StopTech-equipped Boss 302S on the pole, pulled away at the start, and hustled to a 2.713-second margin of victory.
The top class in World Challenge is Grand Touring. This is where the Porsches, Corvettes, Volvos and Cadillacs come to play. The top cars can run a lap in under 1:28 here. While the GMG Porsche of James Sofronas was still in the hunt for the championship as late as the last lap, a collision with a slower car dropped him to tenth. The championship went instead to Patrick Long, who does double duty with the Flying Lizards in ALMS from time-to-time.
One more race remains on the World Challenge schedule, and even though the three championships are already decided, the race at Road Atlanta should be just as exciting as Laguna Seca.
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