The new Thailand Super Series (TSS) season has almost arrived. Tomorrow the two day BoP programme gets underway, before, on Thursday, there will be a full day of unofficial practice ahead of the official programme starting on Friday morning and the first race of what promises to be a hectic and intense weekend of racing is set to kick off at the tail end of that day.
With less that 48 hours to go until the first of the racing engines scream into life in the North East there are a lot of final pre season developments now playing out – and few are more visually sensational than the arrival of the striking Reiter Engineering-built KTM X-Bow GT4.
The X-Bow GT4 is set to pitch up in Super Car GTC, where, as an FIA GT4 category homologated car, it should be a perfect fit. The new car’s arrival here is thanks to a few dots joining up; because Vattana Motorsport is the official Thai agent for Reiter Engineering it became an entirely logical fit. In Khun Narasak Ittritpong the racing X-Bow GT4 will have a fast and capable driver, the cards are stacking up quickly in its favour.
If the all carbon fibre machine (which has been immediately dubbed the ‘Batmobile’) is as fast as its dramatic looks suggest, then it’s got to be a very strong contender for ‘GTC’ victory this coming weekend. If the racing ‘script’ plays out like the movie, Buriram will become Gotham City, Khun Narasak will be the Caped Crusader and his rivals will be utterly vanquished – but there’s a long way to go, we’re only going to know the answer to that question in five days time.
Meanwhile, last year, Khun Craig Corliss eschewed the growing trend towards bringing in ‘Cup’ specification cars and stuck with what he knows best, a formula that has brought him so much success, namely campaigning the big and bold ‘Australia V8 Supercar breed’. He shipped his Holden Commodore back to its original builder, Australia’s legendary Triple Eight Engineering concern, and the results were electrifying, the New Zealander finished the season as the Vice Champion. He was totally vindicated in his decision.
Khun Craig then played the same card again and returned the car to Australia at the end of last year for another big overhaul, so the question remaining to be seen is if he can carry that championship front running form into the new season and chase the title again. So over the next few days when the big green machine hits the track in Buriram – all eyes will be on its laptimes.
New machinery keeps on arriving. B-Quik Racing has recently confirmed that it will enter two Audi R8 LMS Cup racecars in Super Car GTM this year; Khun Daniel Bilski will therefore have the ‘four rings’ on his car running alongside the regular #26 entry of Khun Henk J. Kiks.
Rotary Revolution’s new build RX-7 racer only made its TSS debut at Bira Circuit last September, but the die had been cast and in Buriram next week there well be two of these machines on the GTC grid as a brand new example will be in the hands of Khun U-tain Pongprapas for his Super Car rookie year.
Finally to TCR. It’s is a new concept for Thailand and that means confidence is needed in order for drivers and teams to take the plunge and make the required investments. Racing Spirit recognises and understands that and is providing the underpinnings for the long-term success of the exciting category.
To provide support to the SEAT cars racing in TCR Thailand this year, as well as facilitating their smooth transition from factory to team, Racing Spirit has made a major financial investment in a spare parts inventory to ensure that any issues to arise can be addressed immediately at the racetrack. That – almost literal – ‘mountain’ of spare parts is a very clear demonstration of Racing Spirit’s long-term commitment to TCR Thailand.
Dark menace
When KTM, the renown Austrian performance motorcycle and niche sportscar manufacturer, teamed up with Reiter Engineering, a German racecar builder that has become synonymous with on track success with Lamborghini’s Gallardo model, to develop a pukka racing version of its famous ‘X-Bow’ lightweight sportscar most people stood up and took notice. Clearly all the ingredients to create a new winner were in play.
And that’s already proved to be the case. The X-Bow racer was developed for FIA’s entry level ‘GT4’ category and the results have been impressive thus far; in its first year racing, 2015, it won the AM class in the FIA European GT4 Championship and finished runner up in the PRO class. The X-Bow has made its way across the Atlantic and is now enjoying success in the Pirelli World Challenge. In fact according to Reiter it has 10 poles and 10 wins to its name from its first racing season.
It’s also forming the backbone of the new ‘Reiter Young Stars’ championship, which kicks off this year with a new approach to getting new drivers up the racing ladder. More than 30 cars have been built so far – and now it’s coming to Thailand.
In just a few days time the KTM X-Bow GT4 will pitch up in Super Car GTC in Buriram, where, as an FIA GT4 category homologated car, it should be a perfect fit. The new car’s arrival here is thanks to a few dots joining up; Vattana Motorsport is the official Thai agent for Reiter so it became a logical fit.
And onto the next synergy. Reiter’s Khun Tomáš Enge is now a household name here as he’s been involved with Vattana Motorsport for several years, firstly setting up the team’s roster of racecars and later actually racing them. So successfully in fact that he won the 2015 Super Car Class 1-GT3 title after having finished as vice-champion the year before. In winning the crown outright last year he became the first former F1 driver to ever win a championship in Thailand – and handily he’s also core to the X-Bow programme.
“I’ve been with project right from beginning,” Khun Tomáš says. “Straight out of box it was a good car, it was reliable.” He reckons it has a lot of positives to tick off the prospective racecar ‘list’. “It’s a cheaper solution certainly, a unique concept, no other other GT4 car uses a carbon chassis and of course it’s a very good looking car, how the driver gets in and out it’s more like a jet fighter, it’s a different concept.”
The project was conducted by Reiter and KTM and with the strict limitations that come along with GT4 regulations the original 2.0-litre, 4-cylinder turbo engine (which is sourced from Audi) is retained; that means around 360 hp is available.
But while top end power isn’t the highest, the ultra-lightweight carbon-fibre monocoque means that the X-Bow racer weighs in at a miserly 999 kg (before BoP is applied). So it’s a car for the driver to enjoy and exploit. That light weight means it’s also easy on tyres, Reiter reckon it can run for 4 hours in Endurance races before the tyres need changing. Similarly for the brakes too, they last longer than expected.
Khun Tomáš reiterates this. “The technology is tied to it being carbon fibre and it’s very cheap to run as the tyres and the brakes are very capable and from [more powerful] cars, but the X-Bow is light so the tyre and the brakes have very little wear. Plus fuel consumption isn’t high as it’s using a 2.0-litre turbo engine.”
Another plus point is safety. The carbon tub means it’s structurally very strong and Reiter reckon it’s the safest GT4 car, especially as it features an enveloping cockpit canopy that hinges in the front, smack in the centre in fact, giving it something of the feel of a dramatic supercar show concept from the golden years of design exploration. That cover hugs a beefy FIA homologated rollcage.
Visually, the biggest change is the thoroughly redesigned exterior. Apart from the signature canopy the racing X-Bow GT4 features new carbon fibre bodywork to hone its aerodynamic abilities, notably a sweeping engine cover as well as flat side panels and an open rear that give it the feel of a ‘mini LMP’ car.
It’s fundamental characteristics all add up to giving it a real racecar experience. “It’s a sportscar, it has a very low Centre of Gravity, the driver sits on floor, lies down almost, it’s like single seater or like an LMP and when the canopy closed is closed it looks like an LMP and inside also, but with more room.
So will it suit the high-speed nature of Buriram? Due to the very tough restrictions placed on the X-Bow to achieve the BoP required to run in GT4 it’s a long way off its optimum performance capabilities. “Without BoP it’s massively fast but for the BoP we have restricted rpm, the ride height has been raised and there is a lot of weight,” says Khun Tomáš. “For me the car suits most tracks, but with Buriram you have three long straights and so the driver needs to make up time in the corners, but with the BoP restricted rpm, then it’s not so straightforward.”
Super Car GTC will enter its third season this year and it’s steadily growing its appeal as an affordable step onto the Super Car ladder; in fact this year GTC is being repositioned become the second rung on the ladder, feeding directly into GTM. The GTC ‘concept’ is closely modeled on the FIA’s GT4 category and this breed of cars are being targeted as a strong fit for the class, once optimally adjusted to fit TSS’s BoP own requirements.
The X-Bow becomes the first GT4 to hit GTC and it looks like it’s going to be a great fit and open the door for more GT4 cars in the near future. “We have built plenty of cars already, in fact we are flat out in production,” says Khun Tomáš. “I think it’s a beautiful car and it’s going to be great for the spectators too, they will responded to this car.”
A brand new racecar that oozes a lot of potential and has all the requirements to win will also have a proven driver behind the wheel as Vattana has confirmed Khun Narasak Ittritpong will be in carbon cockpit during the races in Buriram. He’s certainly very enthusiastic to get his hands on the new car, and Khun Narasak says the X-Box GT4 continues the team’s long tradition of bring exciting new racecars into Thai motorsport.
“When the new season opens always the best things will happen,” he says. “When you say or hear of Vattana Motorsport many people think it’s always about having the most powerful weapons, for both racecars and drivers, and yes that truth.”
He’s convinced the X-Bow is going to be a winner this year, especially with race fans. “This car will take eye contact from any other car in Super Car GTC, so if not the best car but it will make the best time and result for sure. The KTM X-Bow GT4 is a car that will make your heart ‘boom boom’ if you love motorsport.” The potential is there, so expect Khun Narasak to be on the pace in Buriram in a few days time.
Double rotary power for GTC
It’s not even a year since the Rotary Revolution team stood up proud and pushed back in no uncertain terms against the wave of turnkey racecars coming in from overseas with its announcement of a dramatic new build programme which, at a stroke, demonstrated that the long Thai tradition of developing bespoke racecars was still alive and well.
The first racing RX-7 to came out of the team’s On Nut workshops was finished in an eye catching pink hue and it proceeded to grab attention in no uncertain terms. Dubbed ‘Pink Sakura’, this racing machine caused a sensation with the fans and media alike. It was nicely put together too, what this tiny team lack in budget they clearly make up for in passion, skill and a desire to ensure that ‘rotary’ power never falls of the Thai racing radar.
That car only made its TSS debut at Bira Circuit last September, but the die had already been cast and in Buriram next week there well be two of these Mazda RX-7 racers on the grid as a second example will be in the hands of Khun U-tain Pongprapas for his Super Car rookie year.
In fact such has been the success of this new racecar build programme Rotary Revolution expects to have built ten examples by the end of the year and for our return visit to the North East in July there should be a trio of these cars in GTC if the company can get another prepared in time.
Khun U-tain is a new name in Super Car, but he isn’t a new name in the paddock as he’s been racing at 1500/1600 level for the past four years, while before that he spent eight years shaping his skills in karting. Last year during the final season of Super 1500 he looked sharp all year, picking up three wins and a runners up spot in Class B, so he’s well placed to step up to GTC.
So why did he feel the time was now right to graduate to Super Car? “I wanted to move on to a new challenge and partnering with the Rotary Revolution team gave me that opportunity,” Khun U-tain says, adding that with the phasing out of Super 1500 his older Honda model was no longer eligible to race in TSS.
With a strong affinity with the Mazda brand, Rotary Revolution’s new racecar build project arrived at the just right time and perfectly resonated with Khun U-tain’s assessments for a new racing programme. The dots joined up, it became an obvious choice. “I always love the RX-7 and the power of the rotary engine, it’s a dream to race one,” he says.
However it’s a big step forward from a smaller front-wheel-drive 1500cc Honda to a pukka racing RX-7 and Khun U-tain freely admits that 2016 is going to be primarily a learning experience, his main objective is to find his feet in the new car and new category. “I have never raced a car like this before, this [will be] the first time,” he says. “My expectation is to get as much experience as possible and to drive with [the] top class drivers in the country.”
Holding him back also will be the fact his RX-7 is running below the car’s full technical specification due to the race against time that’s had to be undertaken to get to the grid in Buriram. That means he will be using a racing suspension that’s a level below the full trim package that’s used on the ‘pink’ car while in other areas he will also be a phase behind the development curve.
The car will be progressively updated to the full ‘Step’ package, but as it stands it provides him with a perfect learning curve. The Mazda is going to be eye catching too, finished in the green, white and red flowing stripes of its main sponsor. Despite the challenges, don’t expect Khun U-tain to be tardy, he’s a quick driver in a capable car so he should be swiftly hunting down podium places.
B-Quik doubles up its Audi entries
The new machinery keeps on arriving. B-Quik Racing has recently confirmed that it will enter two Audi R8 LMS Cup racecars in Super Car GTM this year; Khun Daniel Bilski will therefore have the ‘four rings’ on his car running alongside the regular #26 entry of Khun Henk J. Kiks.
Last year was Daniel’s first year in Thai motorsport and he drove B-Quik’s Porsche 997 GT3 Cup in GTM. The Australian took a trip to the podium during the season opener in Buriram but it was a year that saw a few ups and downs as he bedded into Thai racing.
He also competed in Audi’s pan-Asian ‘R8 Cup’ one make race and the car he used during that 2015 programme has been shipped to Thailand to join TSS.
So he knows the car inside out, he learnt Buriram and Bira last year and he’s comfortable with the team, so all the ingredients are in place to take a step forward. And clearly Khun Daniel’s raring to go. “I’m delighted to confirm I’ll be returning to the TSS this season driving the Audi,” he says. “I’m extremely grateful to Henk and the whole B-Quik team for their ongoing support and can’t wait for the season to start.”
With B-Quik also planning to join Super Car GTC this year, it’s expanding fast and along with its Super Eco entries, will run six cars in Buriram split across three categories. Khun Daniel says that the team is clearly going places and that doubling up the Audi entries is a visual demonstration of that ambition.
“B-Quik Racing is a results-driven organisation which continues to push itself and its people to higher levels,” he says. “Bringing two Audi R8 LMS Cup cars to TSS shows B-Quik’s major commitment to motorsport in Thailand and TSS, and I can’t wait to see both Audis on the grid together for the first race in Buriram.”
Khun Daniel is quick to admit that while he got to grips with Buriram and Bira last year, he didn’t end up with anything like the points he would have wanted, a podium in the North East being his main season highlight. “Last year was a tough introduction to the TSS for me, and it’s no secret we didn’t get the results we wanted,” he says.
However his TSS ‘rookie’ year is done and now it’s onwards and hopefully upwards; commitment and determination are the keywords. “Bringing the Audis certainly shows we are serious about being competitive this year,” Khun Daniel says.
“Seeing the equipment, drivers and preparations our rivals are bringing this season it’s going to be an even tougher year than last year but we’re up for the challenge and looking forward to a strong season ahead,” he continues. “I’ll be pushing for results to help Henk and the team reach our championship goals.”
A week ago the team completed its pre season test at Bira Circuit where both Audis ran over two days. The pace, consistency and reliability were all promising and with a technical reorganisation of the team over winter Khun Daniel and the rest of the B-Quik team are raring to get out on track this week.
It’s not just about cars
‘TCR’ is a brand new racing concept, it’s a whole new type of category with a whole new type of cars. ‘Cost containment’ and ‘equality’ are the bedrocks of TCR and while the cars are very competitively priced and long-term running costs are low, motorsport isn’t a cheap sport and always involves investment and a great deal of commitment.
For teams and drivers to take the plunge and invest in buying and running a TCR car requires complete confidence in the programme right across every aspect. It’s a big commitment. To ensure that Thai participants have full confidence in TCR, Racing Spirit, the promoter of TCR Thailand, is working hard to ensure that it can provide immediate support.
The SEAT Léon Cup Racer has proved the ‘weapon of choice’ for the inaugural year of TCR Thailand (just as it is winning in international series) and to provide maximum support Racing Spirit has also made a commitment become the official distributor of cars and spare parts for TCR in Thailand for the Spanish brand.
While Racing Spirit has facilitated the arrival of the actual cars and certainly they are the high profile standard bearers of the new series, the much less glamorous side of the package, replacement components, has also been fully addressed. In order to attain the low running costs and equality that has made TCR such a beacon in racing today, all parts are homologated and provided through the company that owns the rights to built the respective car.
That’s raised logical questions of cost and availability – and they have already been addressed by TCR, it’s a system that’s up and running and working. To provide support to the SEAT cars racing in TCR Thailand this year, Racing Spirit has made a major financial investment in a spare parts inventory to ensure that any issues can be addressed immediately at the racetrack. That – almost literal – ‘mountain’ of spare parts is a clear demonstration of Racing Spirit’s long-term commitment to TCR Thailand.
“TCR is a very big commitment for us,” says TSS Vice President Preeda Tantemsapya. “For SEAT we have invested quite a lot in spare parts, we have acquired new engines, gearboxes, body parts and many others, our commitment is 10 million baht in spares so we can put full support behind the programme.”
Thus in Buriram this week Racing Spirit will have an inventory for the SEAT Léon Cup Racer at the track the like of which has never been seen in Thai motorsport before. That starts with two complete new spare engines and four transmissions. All the consumable parts will be on hand (such as brake pads/discs and clutches as well as major and minor suspension components) and also body panels including all panel sections alongside, bumpers, spoilers, wings, tailgates, door mirrors and all other aero parts. With replacement cooling radiators, intercoolers, power steering racks, engine injectors, piping and other key engine bay items, as well as road wheels, glass, cabling and many other parts, we will be able to fully support the component requirement for any accidents or incidents.
While the TCR format is centered on long component lifespans, Racing Spirit will at the same time be optimally placed and prepared to respond to any eventualities and demands from competitors.
Khun Craig targets title bid in overhauled Holden
After two years racing his Holden Commodore (2013-2014) Khun Craig Corliss shipped the big day-glo orange machine back to its builder, Australia’s legendary Triple Eight Engineering, for a ground up rebuild. This car is a former test machine for six-time Australian V8 Supercar champion Khun Jamie Whincup and with Khun Craig known for giving his cars something of a hard life it really was high time it received thorough attention.
Back in time for the start of the 2015 season (and now in a bright green livery) the result, coupled with Khun Craig raising his driving game, was electrifying. The big New Zealander made light of the professional competitiveness that has swept over Class 2-GTM. He probably won’t mind it being said, but he’s the tallest and biggest frame driver on the grid – by quite some distance – so he’s the heavyweight in a series were racecars aren’t weighed with the driver included, he’s also probably the oldest too, but he swatted aside these shackles and the revitalised car kept him bang on the pace.
He dug in and battled for the lead of the championship all the way to the season’s end. Indeed he arrived in Bangsaen leading the points’ classification and despite these streets ill suiting the big V8 he dug in and came away with the championship runners up spot. For the driver, who would be the first to admit he’s a gentleman, that was nothing short of stunning and he showed up a few highly fancied names in fancied cars.
Khun Craig ended the year vindicated in his decision to overhaul the Holden and clearly, despite the continuing influx of new state-of-the-art racecars, the car is able to compete for the top spots at Buriram and Bira and so the it has been shipped back to Triple Eight Race Engineering for a second season for a total rebuild.
A series that takes in three totally different circuits – Buriram, Bira and Bangsaen – means that the positive and negative characteristics of any racecar stand out track by track and that’s certainly the case with the Holden. So the first task this closed-season has been to analyse the car’s deficiencies and set about improving them.
“Reflecting on last year we could have perhaps had more of chance at a real shot at the title if I could have improved our turning ability,” says Khun Craig. “With the locked diff it makes it extremely difficult in the infield and especially at Bangsaen which was very evident.” That gives the team its main key reference point, but Khun Craig is very pleased with how the season shook out. “We were extremely happy with second in the Drivers’ championship and third overall in the Teams’ championship with only one car,” he says. “A huge thanks to TSS and the team especially the marshals as without them there would be no racing.”
Khun Craig also says that the Yokohama tyres have helped him extract the best out of the car. “The tyre suits Thai conditions and it performs as required to the end of the race. As evident in most of our races we get faster in the later part of the races due to the tyre grip as well as naturally less fuel on board.”
Attention to every detail is going into getting even more out of the V8 package this year, but it’s not easy to go up against the sophisticated European breed of ‘Cup’ level cars. “We have studied how to improve our lap times as we are still off the pace compared to the Lamborghinis, Ferraris and the Audi,” he says. The car will be more sorted than was seen last year, Khun Craig reckons. “I have invested further to ensure we can compete in 2016 especially at Bangsaen,” he says. “We have removed every nut and bolt on the car and crack tested everything. The gearbox has been serviced. As we do not have paddle shift or ABS the only flexibility we have is the diff so we studied the best ratio combinations to maximise performance. We have not touched the engine since last year; in fact the TSS seal is still intact.
“We believe the improvements will result in getting power down earlier especially out of corners and better braking performance,” he continues. “The clash with V8 Supercars meetings will restrict some of my specialist team support from Australia in 2016 but I know the team combination at different meetings will ensure the car is 100% prepared for each race.”
If there’s one thing that Khun Craig isn’t short of it’s self-belief and he doesn’t turn up to finish second. “We are looking forward to 2016 and improving one on last year to Champion in 2016,” he says. The car has just returned from its second trip back to Australia and will be headed for Buriram in the next few days.