Flying Lizard Audi Wins NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill presented by Hawk Performance
Ryno Ginetta second
WILLOWS,
Calif., (Dec. 4, 2016) - The 14th edition of the NASA 25 Hours of
Thunderhill presented by Hawk Performance has been won for the second
year in a row by the No. 45 Flying Lizard Audi R8.
In
a dramatic late race twist the dominate No. 57 Ginetta of Ryno Racing
came to the pits with a right rear suspension problem at 9:15 a.m.
(21+ hours into the race of which it led to that point). The No. 45
Audi R8, run by the Flying Lizard team, lurked in the top three all race
just waiting for the 57 to have a problem. It was time for the
defending race champions to take the overall lead. Darren Law was behind
the wheel of the 45 when he took the lead with three hours remaining.
It was not clear sailing from that point. NASA officials parked the 45
for 15-minutes at 10:20 a.m. for on track contact. The deficit to the second place 57 Ginetta was just six laps at the checkered flag.
The 45 Audi R8 with Toyo Tires was driven by Darren Law, Mike Hedlund,
Johannes van Overbeek and Dion von Moltke and covered 751 laps,
approximately 2,103-miles.
"Two
in a row," exclaimed Darren Law. "We had some adversity this weekend. I
didn't think we would have gotten the prototype, but they had problems
this morning and it worked out. We had that late penalty this morning.
We had enough of a lead that it really didn't matter, but it was an
anxious moment. The car ran flawlessly, the Toyo Tires were great and
the crew was right on all day. Everything came together. It was also
nice to bookend the overall podium with our No. 74 Porsche coming in
third place. Unbelievable!"
The No. 57 Ryno Racing Ginetta was able to hold on and take second overall and first in the ESR 
Class. The 57 was driven by Ryan Carpenter, Colin Braun, Parker Chase, Bryan Herta and Colton Herta. The team covered 745 laps.
"It's
a great day for us," Braun said. "The Ryno Racing guys did great all
day. We had a stub axle break on the right rear of both cars this
morning. Other than that we ran flawless for the whole race, just tires,
gas, oil and a fresh driver. All of the drivers did a great job staying
out of trouble. That is the cruelness of this sport. You have to have
all of the pieces together. We just didn't have everything locked down.
Both parts broke within 20-minutes of each other. We showed we had a
superfast car. The Ginetta guys build a solid car. We showed it can go
25 hours of grueling racing. An impressive testament to the team and the
car maker."
The E0 Class was won by the pole sitting No. 11 Nissan 350Z of Valkyrie Autosport. The car was 
driven by Andy Lee, Brian Lock, Anan Sharma and Giles Powell and covered 677 laps.
"It went basically according to plan, except for one thing," Brian Lock said. "We busted a seal in the steering rack around midnight.
After leading pretty solidly for the first half of the race the doubts
started to creep in. Was the part going to hold out? We were waiting for
a catastrophic failure, but it never happened. We must have pumped
10-quarts of oil through that thing. The 350Z is bullet-proof. For our
first 25 hour win we are just ecstatic."
In E1 it was the No. 95 BMW of Grip Racing that pulled off the win over the No. 46 BMW of Art 
Racing that finished on the same lap. Drivers Mason Filippi, Chuck
Hurley, Mark Drennan, Eric Sidebotham and Andrew Newell covered 677
laps.
"It
is awesome," Andrew Newell said. "This is my eighth year running the
25. I have placed before, but this is my first win. Everyone seemed to
race me really clean. At the end it came down to us and the No. 46 car.
We both had to pit with 10-minutes remaining for a splash and go. We
were running out of gas with two laps to go, but brought it home. The
car ran like a top all race."
The No. 29 BMW of KD Motorsports came home as the E2 Class winner covering 645 laps. The 29 
was driven by Matt Lowell, Corey Peters and Kevin Doyle.
"Nothing
went wrong, just flawless," Kevin Doyle said. "The car held together.
All three drivers ran clean the entire 25 hours. Our biggest issue was
we had to change front brake pads. We planned for it and we made a nice
clean stop to change the pads and other than gas and oil that was it."
The
No. 38 Mazda Miata of RA Motorsports won the E3 Class for the second
year in a row covering 604 laps. The Miata was driven by Ron Gaymon, Ray
Meister, Duke Zander and Todd Tagget.
"It's
amazing," Ray Meister said. "It was totally unexpected. If you stay on
the track and the car holds up it will work out. We really didn't
expect to win. With this car we had no real drama all race. That was our
secret. Our 40 team had some drama, but we ran a nice clean race with
no mechanical issues."
In
the ENP Class the No. 71 Diamond Level Motorsports NASA elan NP01
Prototype powered by Mazda won the class and was sixth overall covering
701 laps. The prototype was driven by Jeremy Croiset, Thomas Woods,
Aaron Meyer, Jason Ricker 
and Jaime Florence.
"Wow,"
Jeremy Croiset said. "I am almost speechless. The NASA elan Prototype
NP01 powered by Mazda ran flawlessly. For me personally this is a total
vindication of the program. I knew this car was capable of what we
achieved today. We had zero mechanical issues. Not a single complication
the entire 25 hours. If that isn't a seal of approval on the NASA
prototype project I don't what is. We finished the most grueling race in
the world without a single mechanical flaw. A huge thanks to Toyo
Tires, Vet Sports, Bylight, Fisher House and of course Diamond Level
Motorsports who prepared the car. It was an amazing effort. A massive
thanks to everyone at Elan Motorsports."
Professional
drivers listed on the entry include: Bryan Herta, Colton Herta, Ryan
Eversley, Al Unser Jr., Sean Rayhall, Dion von Moltke, Colin Braun,
Johannes van Overbeek, Darren Law, Tommy Sadler, Darren Law, Tyler
McQuarrie, Kelly Collins and Taz Harvey with more expected.
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About Hawk Performance
Hawk
Performance is a leading supplier of severe duty and high-performance
friction products manufactured in ISO-certified facilities for the
motorsports 
and performance automotive aftermarket. Hawk Performance products are
engineered to allow users to control, command, and conquer the terrain
for which their vehicles are designed. Decades of experience in
developing friction materials for aerospace, industrial, military,
automotive and motorsports applications give Hawk Performance an
advantage over the competition. In the past decade, Hawk Performance
friction products have won more motorsports championships than any other
friction manufacturer. More information at www.hawkperformance.com.
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The
National Auto Sport Association (NASA) was formed in 1991 with the
premise of delivering high-quality motorsports events to enthusiasts at
major racing venues throughout the nation. NASA has created programs
that allow owners of both racecars and high-performance street-driven
vehicles to enjoy the full performance capabilities of their cars in a
controlled professionally managed environment. NASA offers many
different programs that will allow you to enjoy motorsports on a number
of different levels, including our High Performance Driving Events
(HPDE), Rally Sport, Time Trial, NASA-X and Competition Racing programs.
NASA Membership
NASA
members are entitled to enter and participate in any NASA event across
the country, and membership includes an array of benefits, including
vendor discounts and a subscription to the organizations online
newsletter the NASA Speed News. Members will also receive a colorful
membership hard card that will identify them as part of the organization
and a welcome packet that includes more information on the many
benefits and programs available to NASA members. While participating at
events, all NASA members are covered by an extensive insurance policy,
which includes General Liability, Accidental Death and Dismemberment,
and Excess Medical coverage. Best of all, membership is only $45. Refer
to www.nasaproracing.com for member information.
NASA Thanks Our Partners
NASA
would like to thank its National sponsors for their continued support:
Toyo Tires, Mazda, Hawk Performance, Winding Road Racing, Millers Oils,
and GoPro. We also want to thank MAZDASPEED, Honda Performance
Development (HPD), Nissan, and Ford Motor Company for supporting our
members. We greatly appreciate those companies that offer our racers
contingency support, including Toyo Tires, AIM Sports, AST Suspension,
BFGoodrich, Ford Racing, Maxxis Tires, Traqmate, Hawk Performance, Honda
Performance Development (HPD), Hoosier Racing Tire, Injector Pulse,
MAZDASPEED, Nissan, Frozen Rotors, Rossini Race Engines, Spec Clutches,
Sampson Racing Communications, Winding Road Racing, and Yokohama. NASA
competitors can also get discounts from Millers Oils, Mazda, Honda
Performance Development, FR.Sport, Jongbloed Racing Wheels, Promotive,
Racing Fire Systems, Ford Performance Racing School, Tire Stickers, Fuel
Safe, Avis, Konig, Winding Road Racing.
NASA at a Glance
*
NASA was founded in 1991 on the premise of providing motorsport
competition programs that allow owners of both racecars and
high-performance street-driven vehicles to enjoy the full-performance
capabilities of their cars in a safe and controlled environment.
* NASA has over 14,000 members in 15 regions.
* Key events include the Eastern States Championships at Watkins Glen International Sept. 23-25;
NASA Western States Championships at Buttonwillow Raceway Park, Oct.
13-16, 2016 and the season culminating NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill,
Dec. 3-4 presented by Hawk Performance.
* The NASA National Championships will run 31 race classes and nine Time-Trial classes during the event.
*
NASA runs over 150 events each year encompassing over 250 races,
including the association's Rally Sport and Time-Trial program.
* Manufacturer partners include MAZDASPEED, Honda Performance Development (HPD), Nissan and Ford Racing.
*
NASA Management: Jerry Kunzman, Executive Director; Ryan Flaherty,
National Chairman; Jeremy Croiset, Director of Business Development;
Dave Ho, Business Operations Manager.
Follow NASA
Facebook: National Auto Sport Association
Twitter: nasaproracing
Instagram: nasaracing
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