[MRaburn]

CarDomain Blog


By Ryan Douthit
Subiesport Magazine



Well, it's certainly been a busy few weeks in my little corner of the motoring world. Just a few weeks ago my group wrapped its first Driving Sports Time Attack Challenge, which was held as part of the Mazda Grand Prix of Portland, in Oregon. In all an eclectic mix of 22 cars turned out to prove their mettle on the freshly repaved curves of Portland International Raceway.

At the end of the day Cobb Tuning’s awesome 2009 GT-R took the champion’s podium in the AWD PRO class (1:22:19), followed by Dr. Rick Edwards in a 2008 Mustang FR500S spec racer in the RWD PRO class (1:26:012), and a big golf clap to Erick Miller for rounding up FWD PRO in his 1993 Honda Civic (1:33:12). Worth noting, Steve Pepka in the Supra 6-powered 1971 Datsun 510 pulled a 1:31:294, pretty impressive for a nearly 40 year old chassis. Continue reading...

In RWD MOD class Adam Griffith in his Apex Restoration 1993 RX-7 ran a blistering 1:28:07 on class-restricted street tires. Following him up was Eddie Nakato in an AWD MOD class 2005 Subaru STI (1:29:697) with Eric Bizek just trailing, pulling a second win for Cobb Tuning in its FWD MOD classed 2007 Mazdaspeed3.



Worth mentioning, we created a special class for driver John Brewer, who wanted to run with the group in his 1992 Swift 2000cc racer. According to Brewer, this car can pull in excess of 3 Gs in the turns. It’s final scored showed just how fast a small, but lightweight racer can be with a 1:18:731 final score. Now, consider, the Cobb GT-R was only 3.5-seconds slower, carrying nearly four times the heft. Both seriously fast cars.



A complete rundown of best times for the first Driving Sports Time Attack Challenge can be found at DrivingSports.com.

We’re looking to make this an annual event. That is, if the Mazda Grand Prix returns to Portland. Early indications, in spite of the thin crowds at the inaugural event, is that it was a building year and they’re already looking to come back to the City of Roses.

Now my attention is turned Subiefest 3, coming on September 5 to Willow Springs Raceway. This will be an amazing event, mixing music, racing, and lots of hands-on track action. Though the event’s focus is Subaru enthusiasts, everyone is welcome to come out and enjoy the weekend with thousands of other petrolheads for a party in the desert unlike anything else. More information at subiefest.com.










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