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- Team RDR Wins the Silver Medal at the 2007 SCCA T-3 National Championship Runoffs -

After 3 days of testing and 4 days of qualifying, Team RDR took the green flag for the T3 Championship Race. The start of the race was delayed 2 hours due to strong storms in the vicinity. With a soaked track and continued rain, the 27+ car field took the green. Team RDR drivers Scott Shelton, Dennis Holloway, Jim Holloway and Rick Gilhart all ran well during the race in spite of the messy racing conditions.

On lap 17 Team RDR driver Rick Gilhart found himself in the lead after a close pass going into turn 6. Three corners later after exiting turn 9 the transmission was not able to go into 4th gear subsequently allowing the second place Mazda RX8 car to take the lead. After trying to engage 4th, then 3rd, then 5th, finally 2nd gear was obtained and the transmission starting to work fine again to the end of the race. Rick and his Team RDR/Mother's Polish/Hoosier Tire RX8 charged back finishing 1 second behind the leader.

- Press release from the club announcing themselves overturning their own decision -

SCCA Board Overturns 24 Runoffs Class Mandate For 2007; 25 Classes Means Touring 3 Will Race!

SCCA Staff Writers

Rick Gilhart in his Mazda RX-8 and other T3 drivers will make their way back to the SCCA National Championship Runoffs in 2007 (SCCA/Steflik image).

TOPEKA, Kan. (Sept. 12, 2006) – Sports Car Club of America Inc.’s Board of Directors voted Monday night to rescind its 24-class limit for the 2007 SCCA National Championship Runoffs, thus allowing all 25 classes from 2006 to compete next year.

The vote came after considerable member feedback after Touring 3, a new SCCA class in 2006, did not make the cut with its 2006 participation numbers to qualify for the 2007 event.

“It was determined by the Board that there were extenuating circumstances for a couple of classes, most notably Touring 3, which started from scratch in 2006,” SCCA Chairman of the Board Bob Introne said. “We will run 25 classes again in 2007, but will go forward with the 24-class format beginning in 2008.

“The Board recognizes that 24 classes is still the long-term solution for the Runoffs as an event. However, due to the short notice of the criteria and T3’s infancy as a class, we believe the most fair way to progress into 2007 is with 25 classes.”

The final 2006 participation numbers are available here.

The 2006 SCCA National Championship Runoffs will take place Oct. 9-15 at Heartland Park Topeka in Kansas. Dates for the 2007 event will be announced during that week.

Heartland Park Topeka was the back-drop for the latest assault on SCCA National Club Racing.

There were 9 T3 racer's that competed in the final National at HPT prior to the National Championship's to be held in October. Team RDR came away with their regular season-ending, 9th straight win.

More excitement from the weekend came when the new Mother's Race Transporter made it's racing debut. The countless hours that went into the planning and executing of the transporter was apparent. The Transporter is a Chip Foose design and built to the specs of Jim and Dennis Holloway. Thanks for sharing your "gem" with Team RDR!

Thanks to Team RDR owner's Robert and Bonnie Davis for their willing support and expert "TEAM" management.

Team RDR is gearing up for the Runoff's to be held in October at HPT. If you're in the Topeka area the week of October 7th-14th, please stop by and visit our team!

Buttonwillow Raceway in Southern California provided the backdrop for another successful fun-filled race weekend. The RX-8's were glued to the track with their Hoosier tire's on all four corner's. Dennis, Jim, Scott and Rick all laid down fast lap times all weekend long. The team covered the podium for both races.

Formula Mazda driver and team member Weldon Munsey had a great weekend ending up with two National 3rd place podium finishes.

Friend Nick Esayian brought up his M-5 for a few laps around the track. The car was very fast and is rumored to be running with an RX-8 rotary motor.

The RX-8 racer's scored 2 more National wins adding to their 2006 win total. Saturday's race at Firebird Raceway in Arizona was a complete downpour. All three Mazda driver's managed to bring their car's back without damage in spite of the absolute treacherous rain storm.

Sunday's race brought much better weather to the delight of Team RDR. The Mazda driver's swapped the lead and finished 1, 2, 3.

The next race is at Button Willow Raceway in Southern California. The team looks forward to racing in the continually growing National T3 class.

Back to Sebring last week to run the PCA Sprint Race at the 48 Hours at Sebring. We were testing many new items at the 3.7 mile course including a limited slip diff., GT3RSR wing, front splitter, 2wd vs. AWD, Evo V-Flow air box and filter, Evo's Clubsport brake upgrade (larger light-weight rotors and GT2/3 calipers), GIAC Flashloader w/ race gas program, etc.

In order, the limited slip diff. made it much easier to put the power down coming out of the corner's. The car felt completely hooked up.

The wing and splitter made a huge difference in down force, so much that I actually ran a little too much rear wing slowing down the top speed on the straights a bit. But was it ever good through the high speed corner's.

The 2wd vs. AWD test was a bit inconclusive as all we did was pull the driveshaft out leaving the camber/toe settings, spring rates the same. I firmly believe in order to test this properly one would have to pull the front AWD assembly out, change toe, change camber and change spring rates. All of this will be done for the Road Atlanta PCA Race the end of March, I'll keep you posted.

The Evo V-flow air box was a simple install and seemed to add a little hp as well as a better air box sound. No check engine lights all weekend.

The Evo Clubsport brake package was amazing after going with a slightly more aggressive pad. We started with Pagid Yellow's in the front and Black's in the rear(typical Cup car setup), but because of the extra weight of the TT we decided Blacks would help haul the car down a little better. I believe Yellow's are perfect for the TT's ABS system. My car is w/o ABS.

The GIAC Flashloader system is very cool and effective. I could choose between a stock program, 91/93 octane program ,or the Race gas program. Depending on how hard you want to push your car you can adjust the program accordingly. I practiced in the 91/93 program and qualified and raced in the race gas program. The car ran very strong all weekend with oil temp and water temp staying in very safe ranges at all times.

Finally, we qualified 4th out of some 60+ cars (mostly cups) and finished 4th in the race. We ran both qualifying and the race in AWD weighing in at about 2,880 w/o driver. In qualifying we bettered last year's time running a 2:11.3. In the race we were better by a second from last year running a best lap of 2:12.5.

A big thanks to the "Evolution Motorsports Group" for wanting to push the envelope and for making fast and reliable quality products.

The RDR Team driver's Scott Shelton, Jim Holloway, Weldon Munsey, Dennis Holloway, and Rick Gilhart competed in the Snowbird double National at Phoenix International Raceway this past weekend. This was the first race in which T3 cars raced at the National level. Mazda becomes the first manufacturer to win an SCCA National Touring 3 race.

The Mazda RX-8's proved to be extremely reliable and were very easy and fun to drive. The team's next event will be California Speedway in two weeks. The driver's thank their fine crew, team manager, and team owner for the excellent weekend.

For more information about Mazda's racing program click on the Mazdaspeed link below.

The winter months are closing in on Cincinnati as we prepare for the 2006 season. Racing begins January 2006 starting with the Snowbird Double National at Phoenix International Raceway. We'll once again be racing for and with Mazda.

In February it's off to sunny Florida to race the 48 Hour at Sebring event. Last year we managed a 5th overall and 2nd in class. This year we're looking for a 1-2 finish with the Gilhart/Goldrich GT1-R Porsches, alphabetical order of course.

March and April bring on Firebird and Buttonwillow for Mazda and Road Atlanta for the TT. Mid-Ohio follows in May, with Watkins Glen to follow in July.

A return to Mazda Laguna Seca happens in August with the SCCA Runoffs/National Championships to conclude in September.

In '06 Clark will be racing his newly converted Spec Miata in the Southern Pacific Division. He's looking forward to the new Runoff's venue in Kansas!

The 996 TT race car has taken over 2 year's to get to where it is today. Starting from a 2002 996 TT street car, the car has been transformed into a very competitive World Challenge race car. Some of the items on the car include: Moton Motorsport shocks, Forgeline wheels, FABCAR dual master-cylinder, FABCAR roll cage, Kelly-Moss carbon fiber dash, doors, roof, and hood, AP Air Jacks, GT3R wing with Briggs uprights, splitter, Lexan windshield, quarter and rear window's, Pagid race pads, light-weight battery, Recaro GT3 race seat, Schroth harnesses, Evo shift link, B& M short-throw shifter, Cup window net, GT3 steering wheel with Porsche Motorsport quick disconnect, fire suppression system, FABCAR aluminum sub-floor, etc.

Engine mods are from Evolution Motorsports and include: GIAC stage 4 ecu tuning, KKK 24 turbos, GT2 intercoolers, Evo diverter valves, Fabspeed exhaust, Light-weight clutch and flywheel, Motorsport LSD.

GT2/GT3 front caliper's/rotor's rear TT rotor's. The car is now set up to GT2 specs and weighs in at 2,870 lbs.

A big thanks to Evolution Motorsports, FABCAR, Moton Shocks, GIAC Tuning, Farler Performance, Forgeline Wheels, and Wright tuning for all their help with this project. These folks are all great at what they do and together have created an awesome car!