NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill presented by Hawk Performance Getting Lamborghini, Honda and Wolf
Foust, Miller, Eversley in the field
NAPA VALLEY, Calif., (Nov. 23, 2016)
- The 14th edition of the NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill presented by
Hawk Performance is shaping up to be the most competitive ever. The
twice-around-the-clock plus one-hour race to run December 3-4.
The NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill presented by Hawk Performance is getting heavy entries at the sharp end the grid.
Drifting
and IMSA competitor Tyler McQuarrie is anchoring a strong line-up
drivers that will be running a new Lamborghini Gallardo. McQuarrie is
being joined by Le Mans and IMSA driver Marc Miller as well as drifting
and rallycross ace Tanner Foust along with accomplished sports car
drivers Tom Dyer and Pat O'Keefe.
"Every year the competition gets stronger and stronger, but this year
seems to be even more so," McQuarrie said. "I think the Lamborghini will
be very competitive especially since it is all wheel drive. We
typically see some wet conditions during this race and that will put us
at a huge advantage. I think our main competition will be the Flying
Lizard Audi R8. They have a great car, drivers, and team. We can't make
any mistakes if we want a shot at them. I love the 25 because it is a
complete team effort. The track is dark at night, weather is typically
very bad, tons of traffic on track, so it is a true test for the entire
team. Simply just finishing is a massive accomplishment, but we are
going there to get the win!"
Team
Honda Research is coming back to the 25, this year with two turbo
charged Honda Civics. This is the first year for turbo engines in the
Civic and the all Honda associate team is looking forward seeing how the
cars will perform under the rigors of a day and an hour of racing.
"We
are running two newly built 2016 Honda Civic Coupes," John Whiteman,
race strategist and team co-manager said. "Because the Civics were
developed in North America, they are truly an example of our mantra 'we
race what we develop and develop what we race.' We have 10 drivers
currently assigned to drive, five per car. All drivers are Honda
associates from the U.S. and Canada. They driver lineup is Matt Staal,
Lawrence Hwang, Derek Ferretti, Scot Nicol, Sage Marie, Mike Tsay, Doug
Chan, Calvin Tam, Chad Gilsinger and, Brian Shanfeld."
"This
is the first year for OEM turbo charged engines in the Honda Civic," he
continued. "As such, we have had to learn about the new engines in
terms of race conditions durability and how to optimize fuel economy
versus performance. Team Honda Research is a 100% Honda Associate team
that is the official race team of Honda R&D Americas, Inc. The team
is supported by Honda Performance Development and American Honda Motor
Co, Inc. While the race cars, transporters and equipment is owned by
Honda all the associate hours for building and racing the cars is
entirely voluntary and unpaid."
Sports car ace Ryan Eversley will be in the JFC Racing MJ-V8 Wolf with teammates Al Unser Jr., Mike Jackson and Todd Harris.
"The
Wolf is an extremely capable machine," Eversley said. "The amount of
aero generated from the massive wings and also the tunnels under the car
makes it incredibly fun to drive. We were one of the fastest cars
entered last year and now we'll have twice the power and more aero so
I'm excited to see what it can do! There are some very strong cars
entered and if I had to choose I'd say that the Flying Lizard Audi will
be tough to beat. We'll have the pace, but they've got the proven
reliability. There's a few other prototypes entered as well that could
be considered favorites as well. Ryno Racing, etc. Should be fun as
usual!"
Eversley likes the back to basics racing that the 25 provides.
"I
enjoy the 25 hour because it's an event that's more about the
experience and less about the modern day racing politics," he continued.
"You don't hear about driver rankings or B.O.P. (Balance of
Performance). You hear about race car drivers in race cars, racing and
it's just a ton of fun. Prototypes with Indy 500 winners share the track
with Spec Miata drivers that have rookies driving them. What's not to
love?"
Professional
drivers listed on the entry include: Bryan Herta, Colton Herta, Ryan
Eversley, Al Unser Jr., Kyle Marcelli, Dion von Moltke, Colin Braun,
Johannes van Overbeek, Darren Law, Sean Rayhall, Tyler McQuarrie, Kelly
Collins, Taz Harvey with more expected.