KW Racing

Buttonwillow, CA (Wednesday, November 7th, 2012) FX Motorsports Development and Billy Johnson set the new overall record at Super Lap Battle to become the Fastest Time Attack car in the United States.

On the final session of the Super Lap Battle finals the FX Motorsports Development NSX piloted by Billy Johnson launched onto a hot, traffic laden, dirt filled track to reset their previous record of 1:40.981 with the new time of 1:40.379. This time brings the season to an end in dramatic fashion where FXMD lost their motor on the final session of testing the day before Super Lap Battle only to bring it back minutes before the second to last session started.

Crew chief Radomir Banda (FES) said, “I am happy with how much we learned about the car. We have been chasing our tail for so long trying to get this car set-up properly and now we feel we have a good baseline. The team did great, no one quit even when things look dire, and everyone just kept on pushing to get the job done.”

Team principle Ken Namimatsu said, “The team has really gelled this year and it showed this past week when the pressure was on. We were literally dealing with seconds in the final two hours of the race to get things done. The crew came through big, and Billy as always delivered when we needed him most. I am so proud of this team!” Big thanks to Marty at Turbosmart, Bryan at Fuel Injector Clinic, and Brock at Borg Warner for overnighting parts we so desperately needed. I also have to credit Sam Kwa from Yokohama for providing us advice throughout our testing and race day.

We would like to thank all of our sponsors for their superior track proven products and unwavering support throughout the season and we hope to continue to build on our relationships into 2013. Many more refinements to come! Thank you all again!

Buttonwillow Raceway Park, CA, November 7, 2012: The Global Time Attack series pits drivers and cars against the clock to see who can run the fastest lap time in their respective class. The invite only event catered only to the fastest time attack teams in the country and the event saw a stacked field. The EAS Supercharged BMW M3 fit into the Limited RWD class, marking its first time within the series.

Buttonwillow Raceway Park is one of the premiere road racing and testing facilities in The United States. The track’s versatility has made it popular among club racers, track day clubs, motorcycle racers, professional race teams, car manufactures, tire companies, publishers and media outlets, commercial production companies, and go karters. The track is located just ½ mile west of Interstate 5 on Lerdo Highway.

Wrapping up 2012 race season, European Auto Source (EAS) finished 3rd place with an official time of 1:56:841 in Limited RWD Class with their Supercharged 2011 BMW M3. Despite temperatures in the 90s and the M3 still being in street form (3750lbs), Driver Dez Ballard was able to pilot the EAS M3 to faster time of 1:55.934 (unofficial) on the last session.

“The EAS BMW M3 was absolutely amazing at the event. The KW Motorsport 2-way Adjustable Coilovers & Hankook Ventus TD Tires provided phenomenal grip on the track. New aerodynamic aides provided by APR Performance & Vorsteiner. The car had a tremendous amount of grip through the corners of Buttonwillow and the brakes were absolutely incredible. The EAS/Berk Technology race prep, Macht Schnell hardware, Akrapovic exhaust performed flawlessly. Our sponsors and the crew at EAS gave me the absolute best car for the job!” – Dez Ballard, Driver

Special thanks from the help of valued sponsors like Berk Technology, APR Racing, Akrapovic, KW Suspension, Hankook, Vorsteiner, & Macht Schnell. Full images from the event can be found on our Flickr feed here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/europeanautosource/sets/72157631962031309/

This event marks the first appearance for EAS in the Global Time Attack

Good news for the fans and followers of the KW Suspensions sponsored World Touring Car Championship; Speed Channel will be airing the event on Sunday September 23rd at 19:00 PST with a re-broadcast on Monday the 24th at 06:00 PST. Seen as a breakthrough deal for domestic television coverage of the WTCC in the USA, the deal follows on from an existing season-long agreement to air 26-minute highlights of all WTCC rounds on SPEED 2 and online in the USA.
SPEED has also committed to broadcast highlights of WTCC’s three remaining rounds in Japan, China and Macau, which will ensure that by the end of the season 12 hours of coverage of the WTCC will have been shown in the USA.
Erik Arneson, Vice President, Media Relations for SPEED Channel, said: “WTCC is made for TV, action packed and nicely produced by Eurosport Events. Sonoma will offer a great theatre for the WTCC’s first appearance in the USA. I’m certain North American motorsport fans will enjoy WTCC on SPEED Channel.”

Following the debut of the KW Suspensions Speedhunters Toyota 86-X at the Gatebil car festival in July, Fredric Aasbo and his team took part at the high profile British Drift Championship Super Pro finals this past weekend. Held at the historic Silverstone F1 circuit, the event gathers some of Europe’s finest drivers, cars and teams for an all out drift competition at the lightning fast drift course.

- Being our very first competition with the 86-X we came here focused on dialing in the car and eager to compare our pace to the competition. The UK drifting scene has always been a pioneering force here in Europe and a big inspiration for me personally!

Fredric, who currently runs Europe’s first factory backed drift program with Toyota and Speedhunters, flew in from Las Vegas hot off his second place finish at Formula Drift Round 6 in the Need for Speed Scion tC also on KW Coilovers, drift car run by Papadakis Racing. This weekend, after qualifying first at Silverstone, Fredric and his team were able to take it one step further. At the end of the day they stood atop the number one podium spot – with a severely battle scarred 86-X being living proof of the extremely tense battles of the day.

- It feels absolutely amazing to take the win here today! It is very rare for a competition car to be dominating right out of the box, but I think this proves our determination and the capacity of the 86-X. This victory came together courtesy of a hundred percent dedicated team, sponsors that dare to think outside the box and a truly bad ass car.

The team is currently on its way to Ireland for the Prodrift finals at Mondello Park this upcoming weekend. Fredric will then fly back to California and Papadakis Racing to prepare for the Formula Drift finals at Irwindale Speedway mid-October.

ABOUT THE TOYOTA GT86

The GT86, or Scion FR-S in North America, is a brand new sports car from Toyota. Packing 200 horsepower, rear wheel drive and a class leading low center of gravity, the GT86 is a true drivers car. Read more at http://www.toyota.co.uk/gt86 and at http://www.scion.com/frs

ABOUT FREDRIC AASBO

Fredric Aasbo is a Norwegian drift motorsports athlete. Having earned over thirty wins across Europe, Asia and the United States over the last five years, Fredric has established a global competition platform courtesy of title sponsors Toyota/Scion, Electronic Arts’ brands Speedhunters and Need for Speed and Papadakis Racing.

86-X program partners include Toyota, Speedhunters, Japan Auto, PeeBee Motorsport, COMP Turbo, Motegi Racing, Brian Crower, Advanced Clutch Technology, KW Suspensions, TRA Kyoto, Nuke Performance, Takata, WP Pro Brakes, Kjør for Livet, Ås Videregående Skole, SWR Performance Engineering, Auto-Sign, BullStar-Performance, Biltema Sofiemyr & Follo, KRB Trading, GS Bildeler, PBC Auto, Sørlie Communications, BS Bildeler, RS Bilglass, AGIP/ENI.