NEW 2012 HONDA CIVIC SI GETS FIRST GRAND-AM TOP-FIVE AT HOMESTEAD

Homestead / Miami, FL -- Ray Mason and Ryan Eversley followed up their strong seventh-place finish at Barber Motorsports Park with a solid fifth-place finish in their #75 Columbus Truck / Honda Performance Develpment car at Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend, giving the new 2012 Honda Civic Si its first top-five result in professional competition. The result moves them to third place in the hotly-contested Street Tuner points race. It marked the second race in a row that saw Eversley drop out of a podium position thanks to a late-race yellow flag. "We're still at a deficit under braking compared to the other ST cars," noted Ryan. "When we get a yellow flag with five minutes to go, we lose the gap we've built and struggle to be the last of the late brakers into turn one."

Team-mates Andrew Novich and Adam Burrows brought the #74 Dr. Kimberly Henry / Speed Secrets / HPD Honda Civic Si its second tenth-place finish in succession, moving into fifth place in the points standings.

 

John Kuitwaard and David Thilenius had a challenging day in the #76 Metropolitan Foods / HPD car, finishing 27th after running in the top ten for most of both drivers' stints, while Bo Roach and Zach Lutz were pleased with their 13th-place finish in their first drive together as a duo.

 

"We're continuing to develop the new 2012 Civic Si, and it's getting closer to the front every race," noted Team Principal Karl Thomson. "Our Technical Director Ray Lee is working closely with the folks at Honda Performance Development to move this car up the field, and we are all very pleased with how quickly it's becoming a competitive package. We're targeting podiums in the next few races, and hopefully we'll see a win before the year is done."

 

---

 

Enjoy some additional shots from the weekend, courtesy of our friends Michael and Leslie Stahlschmidt at Sideline Sports Photography:

The 2012 Civic Si is getting stronger, but so is that nasty little Focus.

 

And whenever you look over your shoulder, there's a Freedom MX-5. So small and so fast!

 

Ah, Miami. We can always count on the weather to be unpredictable. This year was no exception, which provided some very interesting racing in the early going.

 

Some of us love the rain... bring it on!

 

Grand-Am Road Racing at Homestead in the rain... the very definition of Chaos Theory.