Posted on: January 17, 2012
Since time attack was introduced to North America the import car scene has been growing more and more fond of the "race the clock" form of motorsport. Maybe its the insane cars or the colorful drivers, maybe it's the accessibility to those cars and drivers at the events, or maybe it's because many of the cars are built using the same parts that are available to the public. Whatever the case may be, Berk Technology is in love with Time Attack and we've been actively competing in the sport since 2006. Now there are over six sanctioning bodies in the North American Time Attack scene, the newest of which is Global Time Attack, the brainchild of John Naderi, the man who is credited for bringing this form of motorsports to US soil. Global Time Attack hosted its first event recently at Willow Springs Raceway and Berk Technology was one of the lucky teams who were extended the invitation to come and compete.
The Berk Technology BMW 135i fell nicely into the Global Time Attack Street GT class which is largely the same as the Redline Time Attack Street Tire class, of which Berk Technology took home the 2010 championship in. Having strayed from time attack to compete in the MotoIQ Pacific Tuner Car Championship sprint race series this year, Berk Technology was excited and eager to get back to doing what they do best, racing the clock. As always, Berk Technology progresses toward perfection with the Street GT RWD class BMW 135i and since our last time we competed in a Street Class time attack setting at Willow Springs back in July of 2010, some notable changes had been made to the car. A new aerodynamic package with the help of Andrew Brilliant and APR Performance were added along with our Performance Friction Z-Rated brake kit to help maintain cornering speed and slow down effectively on the high-speed Willow Springs Circuit. VMR Wheels were also added, wrapped in the same Hankook Ventus RS-3 street tires that helped us win the 2010 Redline Time Attack Street Tire RWD Championship. With the minor, but effective improvements to the car, the team had high hopes of gunning for the street tire RWD record.
The event spanned the course of two days and any lap time run during the entire event counted toward the competition. The Berk Technology crew chased the perfect setup all Saturday to provide driver Mike Bonanni with the best weapon possible for the job. The Street GT RWD class saw stiff competition in the form of another well-known BMW 135i from Evolution Racewerks. Those that have followed Berk Technology or Evolution Racewerks in the past three years know that the two teams are constantly battling each other for 135i supremacy, usually finishing 1-2 at every event. The two teams were yet again within a second of each other on Saturday and Global Time Attack decided to fuel the fire by awarding a $200 cash prize to the winner of the battle between Evolution Racewerks and Berk Technology.
Coming into Sunday morning, the Berk Technology crew was trailing Evolution Racewerks by a small margin so the team made a few last-minute tweaks on the car and sent a focused and determined Mike Bonanni out on track to put together the magic lap. Bonanni was able to orbit Willow Springs in 1:29.041 which put Berk Technology ahead of Evolution Racewerks and into the lead in the overall Street GT class hunt as well as the Street GT RWD class. The time would stand as none of the teams were able to better their times in the late afternoon and Berk Technology was awarded several achievements:
1st Place - Overall Street GT Class
1st Place - Street GT RWD Class
New Street Tire RWD Track Record
Fastest RWD Car
Wild Card Winner - Berk Technology vs. Evolution Racewerks
The event was a huge success and the Berk Technology crew could not be happier with the results. You can check out the Berk Technology BMW 135i next at Round 3 of the 2011 MotoIQ Pacific Tuner Car Championships at Auto Club Speedway May 28th and 29th.