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Aug 21, 2014 / news

COMPASS360 RACING LOOKS TO WIN AGAIN IN VIRGINIA

Team’s Three-Car Squad Returns to a Favourite Track Looking to Build on Momentum in Wisconsin

Danville, VA — The undulating ribbon of tarmac that rises and dives across the picturesque Virginia countryside, forming the challenging race track known as Virginia International Raceway, is a favourite of Compass360 Racing. Not simply because it is demanding on both car and driver, but because it’s a true “driver’s track”, a place that separates the men from the boys; where championships can be won and lost.

“This track holds a special place in my heart,” opined C360R Team Principal Karl Thomson. “It’s the place where our team won its first professional race, back in 2005. It was a crazy battle, with variable weather. We made a strategy call and managed to be on the right tires at the right time, and my co-driver Daniel Herrington drove an inspired closing stint through the spray.”

That race was the start of an impressive record of wins, podiums and championships for Thomson’s team. Now in its 11th consecutive Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge season, C360R has grown to become one of the most successful Street Tuner squads, having won Driver and Team championships in 2010, 2009, and Manufacturer championships in 2007 and 2006.

VIR has proven to be a track where the team has always run well, with many of the team’s drivers finishing on the podium. A few years after the Thomson/Herrington win, Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood took second in 2008. The team returned to the top step in 2010, when Zach Lutz and Ryan Eversley won, a feat repeated the following season when Thomson and Eversley paired to take first place.That 2011 win also marked the first win for the Children’s Tumor Foundation’s Racing4Research program. R4R has partnered with Compass360 Racing since 2010, and uses each race to raise awareness of Neurofibromatosis — or NF —creating a uniquely empowering weekend for children and families living with the disorder, which affects one in 3,000 people.

“The win at VIR for Ryan and Karl was something really special,” remarked R4R Program Director Jill Beck. “The drivers invited a couple of the kids, NF Heroes, up on the podium with them to celebrate. It was an emotional moment.” It was a moment that’s been repeated numerous times over the past three seasons, in both CTSCC and Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car competition.

The No 75 Honda Civic Si and No 76 Subaru WRX STi wear liveries featuring original artwork by renowned artist and NF Hero Jeffrey Owen Hanson. The painting, “A Day at Daytona” will be auctioned off at the annual CTF Gala, which will be held on October 30th at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. The cars will be on display outside the hotel prior to, and during, the event.

This season Kyle Gimple and Eversley, piloting their No. 75 Honda CTF / HPD / Racing4Research.org “Art Car", have taken the team’s best result of the year with a win in the ST class at Watkins Glen in upstate New York. The duo also took a solid second place in the Grand Sport-class Subaru WRX STi at Lime Rock. And at the most recent race at Road America in Wisconsin, Ray Mason and Pierre Kleinubing took that same car to a third place finish, after leading the race for much of the closing stages.“After so many years of success in the Street Tuner class with the Hondas, we added a GS program with the Subaru,” noted Thomson. “It’s great to see the hard work of our crew and drivers paying off with some podium finishes to match the results of our ST Hondas!"

For the VIR round, Gimple and Eversley will look to win again in their Honda. James Vance and Jon Miller return in their No. 74 Expo Systems / HPD / Loudbasstard Honda and hope to continue their run of solid top-ten finishes as Vance chases Rookie of the Year honours. Mason and Kleinubing will pair to try and get the first GS win for the team in their No. 76 CTF / Touge Tuning / Racing4Research.org Subaru.

“We were very close to a win at the last race,” stated Mason. “We think the WRX should be good at VIR as it’s very stable through the uphill esses and the downhill after the back straight. The four-wheel-drive should be a help there, especially if it rains."

The CTSCC VIR event gets underway on Friday morning, with the 2.5-hour race scheduled for Saturday at 2pm. Streaming video and live timing will be available at IMSA.com, and will be aired tape-delayed on Fox Sports 1.