AUSTIN, TEXAS — Unsettled weather formed the backdrop to an exciting Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race at one of the country’s most impressive race tracks, the Circuit of the Americas in Texas. Known for hosting the United States’ round of the Formula 1 calendar in early November, this weekend’s event was all about sportscar racing.
IMSA’s TUDOR series combined with the only North American round of the FIA’s World Endurance Championship on Saturday, while the two-and-a-half-hour CTSCC race was Friday’s highlight.
Gimple, who had qualified in P4 made quick work of the leaders and took the lead of the race in the early going. As expected, his #75 Children’s Tumor Foundation / Honda HPD / Racing4Research.org Civic Si — the lead front-wheel-drive car — suffered tire degradation earlier than its rear-wheel-drive Street Tuner competition, and Kyle did a masterful job of maintaining the pace in third while conserving his Continental rubber.
James Vance, meanwhile, made his way up the ST leaderboard from his P9 starting position in the #74 ExpoSystems / Honda HPD / Loudbasstard Civic Si he shares with Jon Miller.
Ray Mason, who started the team’s Grand Sport-class #76 Children’s Tumor Foundation / Touge Tuning / Racing4Research.org Subaru WRX STi, also moved through the field to P9 as rain began to fall, before handing the car off to team-mate Pierre Kleinubing. Thanks to the tricky conditions — with part of the track wet and party dry — the Subaru, with it’s class-exclusive four-wheel-drive system, looked set for another top-five finish, if not a podium. Unfortunately, with about 45 minutes to go, the car suffered a rear differential failure, sidelining the car.
“We felt we were in a strong position for a good result today, with the sporadic rain,” remarked Mason. Team Principal Karl Thomson added, “I was really happy with Ray’s performance today. As we’ve seen before he’s simply sublime in the rain, and he showed that again today. It’s unfortunate to have the Subaru’s race end early, but we’ll be back in Atlanta looking to end our first year in GS on a high note.”
The Hondas pitted together when their fuel window opened, with Eversley taking the wheel of the #75 and Miller close behind in the #74. As the rain fell more heavily and consistently, both drove consistently and carefully, being ready for a fight to the end. Miller brought his car home in seventh, allowing him and Vance to notch their best result of the season for C360R. “It’s great to keep moving up the results with every event,” remarked Vance. “Jon and I are really happy to be in a Compass360 Honda and a big thank you to the crew for all their hard work this weekend.”
Eversley, meanwhile took the lead with just over an hour to go. Fending off a hard-charging Porsche Cayman of now-championship leader Eric Foss and Mazda MX-5 of the Brothers Pombo, Ryan built a lead of ten seconds as conditions worsened. He was able to hold that until the end of the race, taking a dramatic victory at a track that generally doesn’t suit the Hondas.
“We saw the rain coming and everyone in the pits was doing a little rain dance,” laughed Eversley. “In the dry the gearing of our car is a little off, but with the rain it evened that out. Kyle did a simply amazing stint right at the front and saved the car for me so I had enough to fight with an maintain the gap at the end.”
Gimple was equally enthusiastic. “Hats off to the crew for an amazing stop. They really rocked it and made a huge difference. Also thanks to Ray Lee making the right call on the pit wall to leave the dry tires on even though it was raining. I’m super happy to win again for these guys.”
The Compass360 Racing crew returns to Toronto for what will be a quick turn-around before heading to Road Atlanta for the CTSCC season finale on October 3rd for the Petit LeMans weekend.
The CTSCC race at Circuit of the Americas will be aired September 28th at 12:00pm ET on Fox Sports 1, and will be available for streaming post-broadcast a http://imsa.com.
About Racing4Research: Developed by the Children’s Tumor Foundation, the Racing4Research™ (R4R) program utilizes competitive, professional auto racing as a vehicle to increase awareness of neurofibromatosis (NF) and to raise funds for research through corporate sponsorship, personal donations, and individual fundraising by NF Heroes – children and adults from around the country who live with neurofibromatosis. The Racing4Research program offers families living with the disorder a uniquely empowering weekend, and has raised more than $3.5 million dollars since 2008.
For details please visit http://racing4research.org, “Like” the R4R Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/racing4research, and follow https://twitter.com/Racing4Research on Twitter.
About Compass360 Racing: Compass360 Racing (C360R) is the motorsports division of Compass360 Brand Architects, a Toronto-based firm offering marketing expertise to clients in diverse industries across North America. The team, with support from Honda Performance Development (HPD), fields front-running Honda Civic Si’s in IMSA’s Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, winning series Championships in 2010, 2009, 2007, and 2006. C360R also won Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car Championships in 2013, 2012, and 2011, and the Canadian Touring Car Championship in 2010. It added a two-car Subaru WRX STi effort to its programs for 2014, one each in CTSCC GS-class and PWC GTS-class. For details please visit http://C360R.com, “Like” on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/C360R, and follow on Twitter https://twitter.com/C360R.
CTF PR inquiries should be directed Jill Beck. +1.408.206.2479 or jbeck@ctf.org
C360R PR inquiries should be directed to Karl Thomson. +1.416.465.2299 x21 or karl@compass360.com.
From: C360 Racing
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