Search

About NASA | Community |  FAQ |  Contact Us | Member Profile         Do NOT log into or register on this website ==>

 
Wednesday , April , 24 2024
You are here : Press Room

Regional and National News

One Motorsports Radical on Pole for NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill presented by Hawk Performance

Author: NASA-GL/Saturday, December 5, 2015/Categories: National News

Rate this article:
No rating
   
PRESS RELEASE


One Motorsports Radical on Pole for NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill
presented by Hawk Performance
 
Rayhall posts pole time

WILLOWS, Calif. (Dec. 4, 2015) - Sean Rayhall will lead the 63 car field to the green in the No. 67 One Motorsports Radical for the 13th running of the 2015 NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill presented by Hawk Performance for tomorrow's 11 a.m. start.

Under near perfect weather conditions of 50 degrees, the 63 car field took to the track at 5:15 p.m. PT for a 30-minute qualifying session. Throughout the half-hour the battle for the overall pole position was between the Radical No. 67 of One Motorsport and the Ryno Racing No. 8 Ginetta LMP3 car. Knocking on the door of the event pole in third was last year's overall winner the No. 17 Davidson Racing Norma. When the checkered dropped on qualifying it was the ESR Class Radical of One Motorsports taking the pole with sports car ace Sean Rayhall at the wheel. He will lead the 63 car field to the green for the 13th running of the 25 Hours of Thunderhill presented by Hawk Performance with a time of 1:40.275.

"It is awesome to get the pole for One Motorsports this year," Rayhall said. "They haven't had one for a few years. We came up short in the rain last year. It is hectic as usual there, just a ton of traffic. You have to pick your spots to pass and get a good exit off the turns. It is tough this year, you don't know who is in the cars. You see one Miata and then the next one has more horsepower so you really don't know sometimes. This race is about survival, not fast lap times. The pole means nothing for the long run. We need to keep the fenders on the car and go the distance. The team has done a lot of work on the endurance aspects of the car for this year."

In the ES Class Burt Frisselle drove the No. 16 Davidson Eagle to the class pole with a time of 1:43.501.

"The car ran really good," Frisselle said. "It is always interesting qualifying here for the 25 because it is in the dark. The whole field is out there at one time. Less stressful than last year without the rain so it was good. We had to keep it clean. We decided to go with a softer tire compound. I may have run it too hard before qualifying, but we got the job done. I can't wait until 11 a.m. to roll around tomorrow."

In E0 it was the No. 30 El Diablo BMW driven by James Clay who took the top spot with a time of 1:54.296.

"It is always a little hairy out there qualifying at night," Clay said. "There are a lot of cars on track and there are a lot of quick ones. My car was cold so my first couple of laps I was just praying to stay clean. I was able to get a good lap and didn't get held up and put one together. We are not going to run that pace in the race. We have an old world challenge car we resurrected so we are good. We have six guys driving all good guys and we are going to have some fun."

The No. 0 BMW driven by Mark Drennan, double 2015 NASA Spec Miata Champion, put the red and white car on the E1 pole with a lap of 2:00.314.

"It was great, we got a fantastic result," Drennan said. "I haven't driven in the dark in a while so it was a little disconcerting for a lap or two. They have changed the light rules this year, so it was a little tough to pick up my points. I ended up just barely on pole. I have been racing a Spec E46 all last year, so compared to a Miata it is a lot different. Our strategy is to keep the car on the track all of the time and finish."

Joel Miller drove "Kermit" the green No. 34 Mazda RX8 to the pole position in the E2 Class with a time of 2:05.396.

"I started where we finished last year," Miller said. "My spotter was able to get me a gap on the track and I got a fairly clean run. We are just doing our thing here at Mazda. Kermit has one win, so we are trying to get RDR and Mother's another win. I usually drive the Mazda P2 car in IMSA and I tell everyone that this event is a lot of fun!"

The No. 40 of RAmotorsports40 Mazda Miata was driven by Darren Polsley to the E3 Class pole positon with a time of 2:06.635.
"I didn't really get a clean lap with all of the traffic," Polsley said. "The car is so good, I guess it was good enough for the pole. Our strategy is to survive until the rain Sunday morning and then survive the rain. It is a balance between pace and longevity, we need to strike the right balance."

Marking its first on track competitive appearance is the all-new NASA developed NP01 Prototype. Tyler McQuarie drove the No. 6 NP01 of CLP Motorsports to the class pole with a time of 1:52.079.

"It is the first time getting the NP01 on track in competition," McQuarie said. "There is not a lot of open track out there with all of the cars. You really need to keep the momentum going with the NP01 as it doesn't have a lot of torque. I think our time put us in the top 10 overall, so not a bad start to the weekend. We are first in class, so we will take it. We are going to focus on just keeping the car together. The car is brand new, so we just need to be mistake free and make it to the end."

25 Hours of Thunderhill presented by Hawk Performance information:






Professional drivers listed on the entry include: Al Unser Jr., Ryan Eversley, Kyle Marcelli, Randy Pobst, Burt Frisselle, Brian Frisselle, Dion von Moltke, Mike Skeen, Colin Braun, Kurt Busch, Johannes van Overbeek, Guy Cosmo, Darren Law, Tommy Sadler, Sean Rayhall, Darren Law, Tyler McQuarie, Kelly Collins, Taz Harvey, Jeremy Croiset, Will Faules, etc.

The NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill presented by Hawk Performance will see a field of 63 cars racing in seven classes (ES, ESR, E0, E1, E2, E3, NP01) going twice around the clock plus an hour over the 2.86-mile, 15-turn track located 90-minutes north of Sacramento.

For additional information, please contact NASA Media Director, Kyle Chura at kyle@kcapr.com or (248) 821-0468.  More detail on NASA and the Thunderhill 25 Hour can be found at nasaproracing.com or nasa25hour.com.




About NASA
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, 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, MAZDASPEED, Nissan, Jongbloed Racing Wheels, Bimmerworld, Frozen Rotors, Optic Armor, Neo Motorsports, Spec Clutches, Driven Racing Oil, Altronics Inc., ANZE Suspension, GT Radial Tire, Tilton, Racefab Inc., Sampson Racing Communications and Yokohama.  NASA competitors can also get discounts from Mazda, Maxxis Tires, Racing Fire Systems, Ford Performance Racing School,Fuel Safe, Vehiport, APR Performance, Avis, Cruise America, Eibach Springs, Exedy, Fastbrakes, Konig, The Mid-Ohio School, Konig, Molecule, Red Line Oil, Winding Road Racing, Torco, TPIS, Porterfield and Monster Clutch.
 
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 16 regions.
 
* Key events include the NASA Western Championships at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, July 31 - Aug. 2; the Eastern Championships at Virginia International Raceway Sept. 4-6 and the season culminating NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill, Dec. 5-6.
 
* The NASA National Championships will run 36 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, Will Faules, National Event Manager.
 
Follow NASA
Internet:         nasaproracing.com
Facebook:     National Auto Sport Association
Twitter:          nasaproracing
Instagram:     nasaproracing





Number of views (4104)/Comments (0)

Tags:

Please login or register to post comments.

NASA Great Lakes Sponsors
Click a tile for more info.