The most powerful and dynamic Lamborghini Gallardo racecar yet built has just touched down here just as the countdown to Race 1 & 2 of Thailand Super Series 2015 enters the final few days. That car is Reiter Engineering’s very latest version of its race-winning breed, the muscular Gallardo GT3 FL2 Extenso R-EX.
The new ‘R-EX’ is striking. With a widened track – as wide as the GT3 rules permit – coupled to engine and exhaust modifications, as well as a new rear wing and distinctive new light units, it’s going to raise the bar even further in Super Car Class 1-GT3.
Oozing aggression from its aerodynamically honed body sculpture, the new Gallardo is the perfect weapon for the reigning Class 1-GT3 champion Khun Chonsawat Asavahame to use to begin his title defence next weekend in Buriram. This dramatic ‘R-EX’ will bear his famous #28 on the doors and he will surely start as favourite to retain the most prestigious trophy in Thai motorsport.
It’s not the only car to touch down here this week though as yet another Porsche 997 GT3 Cup is joining the ranks of Super Car Class 2-GTM. Irishman Khun John Curran and New Zealander Khun Graeme Dowsett, both newcomers to TSS, will share this car.
The ‘New Era’ is all about fairness, creating a level playing field that gives everyone the chance to compete evenly. To that end, TSS has put a major focus on implementing and optimising ‘Balance of Performance’ (BoP) regulations.
That’s taken a big stride forward over the last couple of weeks in the run up to the first races of the year in Buriram as the Super Car machines have been individually performance assessed through a comprehensive dyno testing programme.
Toyota officially presented its contenders for TSS 2015 to the media during its glamorous annual ‘Toyota Motorsport’ Press Conference where Thailand’s best selling automotive brand outlined its racing programmes for the coming year. And as you would expect from this winning team, the lineup is ambitious and very much focused on reaping victories and titles.
The new season sees new drivers and new cars appearing of the entry list for Buriram and certainly one new driver to look out for is a very familiar name in Thai motorsport, Khun Ekprawat Petcharak, he’s joining the cut and thrust of Super 2000 in his Honda Civic FB, while a brand new car to keep an eye on this year will be the new-generation Mazda2 diesel which will be debuted by Innovation Motorsport in Super Production – and there are more than a few twists in that plot too.
Enter Tyrannosaurus ‘R-EX’
The reigning Super Car Class 1-GT3 champion, Khun Chonsawat Asavahame, will certainly have a very potent new ‘weapon’ at his disposal as he kicks off his title defence in Buriram in just a few days time.
That’s because Vattana Motorsport, the official Thai agent for Reiter Engineering, will have the latest version of the German company’s Lamborghini Gallardo racing ‘breed’ at its disposal, the dramatic new Gallardo FL2 GT3 Extenso R-EX.
Only officially announced in December and dubbed by Reiter as the ‘Extenso R-EX’, this latest evolution of one of the world’s most successful GT3 cars improves that winning package yet further in a number of key areas.
Reiter are building just 10 of these racecars – and one has now arrived in Thailand where it will carry Khun Chonsawat’s signature #28 on its doors. The ‘R-EX’ should be the perfect machine to keep the ‘champ’ fighting at the front of the pack.
Reiter’s test driver Khun Tomáš Enge, who last year raced in TSS for Vattana Motorsport, was entrusted to give the R-EX its shakedown run down late last year and he was immediately impressed after just a laps behind the wheel.
It was clear to the Czech driver that they had made a step forward in the development of the ‘R-EX’. “I was the lucky first one to drive the car,” Khun Tomáš explained. “On the first run out it was pretty impressive without any setup and adjustments changes, the car was fast straight from the box.”
The biggest physical change comes at the rear end where the track has been widened by a hefty 13 cm, now it’s 205 cm, thanks to new carbon fibre three-quarter panels and extended wishbones. “The rear body plus the rear axle is bigger by about 7 cm on each side so that’s quite a lot and is to the maximum width of the rules,” notes Khun Tomáš. There is also a slightly lower downforce rear wing.
“Then we have some changes to the engine, which brings up a little more power and torque all the way through the rpm,” the double Super Car Class 1-GT3 winner in Bangsaen last December continues. “Plus slight modifications to the exhaust which together with the engine means more power and even more noise.” The improvements to the PU include new race cams and new pistons and, as well as the extra power on tap, fuel consumption is also improved.
It’s not just about more grunt though, Reiter Engineering wanted to give the long-running Gallardo a visual upgrade and striking new front and rear light units lead that makeover out. “There is a different design of the lights to make the looks more aggressive and to be more eye catching,” says Khun Tomáš.
The former F1 driver notes that responding to the demands of customer-drivers was foremost in their mind when developing the new upgrades – and that should benefit Khun Chonsawat as he battles for back-to-back crowns this year.
“The main view was having a car that customers can comply with and needs less downforce,” says Khun Tomáš. “Every customer is asking for more power, more top speed and we know this was an area we could improve the Gallardo in and so to achieve that we widened the rear body so we can theoretically run slightly less rear downforce.”
An even faster and more menacing version of the already successful Gallardo GT3, it’s going to reset the bar that everyone in Super Car Class 1-GT3 will need to reach above this season if they want to prize the crown out of Khun Chonsawat’s hands.
Level playing field
The new season is almost upon us and much of the attention is being focused on Super Car Class 2-GTM as the entry list keeps on growing, new drivers and cars and coming in to join and supplement the existing line up. With so many different brands of racecar involved it means that the category’s cornerstone ‘Balance of Performance’ (BoP), which brings parity to the cars, has to take another important step forward this year.
And it has. With TSS’s technical partner Motorsport Asia having just announced completely new BoP regulations for 2015, after a programme of evaluation, Class 2-GTM will further benefit from this data, explains TSS Vice President Preeda Tantemsapya. “This year we are following exactly what Motorsport Asia is doing for our GTM class in terms of their BoP and having their new figures should help keep everything even for everybody.”
In the run up to the first round of the year, TSS has rolled out a new programme to analyse all the racecars by initiating a comprehensive dyno testing schedule. “The dyno tests have been mainly to check the horsepower to see that all the cars are at their proper rating, for the Challenge cars, the Cup cars and all the others that are similar,” notes Khun Preeda.
With that acquired data, plus the new data from Motorsport Asia, the cars can be accurately crosschecked and season weights have now been decided. This year quite a few of the cars should positively benefit from this approach.
“After the dyno tests we have looked at the weights accordingly, and since the BoP by Motorsport Asia has just come out, it all means we will reduce the weight of many of the cars according to the new BoP standards,” Khun Preeda says.
The sheer diversity on offer in Super Car Class 2-GTM means that a few of the racing machines aren’t covered by Motorsport Asia’s own data and TSS has been able to address this through the dyno testing programme. “Some of the cars, such as the Holden V8, the GT-Rs and the Toyotas, aren’t covered by Motorsport Asia’s BoP so we have to dyno them and then we will consult with the teams once we have the numbers, so this will be a level of BoP that we have to slot in ourselves,” he says.
Khun Preeda further reckons that a lot of the drivers will positively benefit from this very accurate methodology. “Many of the drivers will have a lower weight than last year and the new BoP will be right up to date as last year the BoP we used had been in circulation and updated for quite a few years,” he says. “That means the new BoP data will equalise the cars in a very fair manner and we will do our best to keep everyone competitive.”
With TSS’s technical staff now fully up to date with new data and a comprehensive knowledge of the individual cars following the dyno tests they will be in an optimum position to progressively make any changes that may be required on a race-by-race basis. “If we see any cars that are outperforming the others too much we can do something immediately,” Khun Preeda says.
He also notes that drivers and teams have a good understanding of the regulations that are being put in place and the level of support received means that everyone is satisfied that the organisers are working hard and fairly to create a ‘level playing field’ that will benefit everyone going forward.
“We’re very pleased that all the cars are in good shape, the drivers and teams are conforming to our regulations and the BoP so we all move forward together to make sure everyone can be competitive in the GTM class this year,” Khun Preeda adds.
Toyota officially presents its lineup
Toyota presented its contenders for Thailand Super Series to the media during its glamorous annual ‘Toyota Motorsport’ Press Conference where Thailand’s best selling automotive brand outlined its racing programmes for the coming year.
Held this year at Bangkok’s upscale Plaza Athenee Hotel, the two red-white-and-silver machines that Toyota hopes will bring title glory took pride of place in the halls, the 86 it will run in Super Car Class 2-GTM and the Altis it will campaign in Super 2000.
In Super Car Class 2-GTM Toyota will ambitiously expand the line up to three cars and a brand new 86 has just been built to supplement the current two machines. That means former Super 2000 champion Khun Manat Kulapalanont will step up to join 2014 Class 2-GTM vice-champion Khun Nattavude Charoensukhawatana and his regular team mate Khun Nattapong Horthongkum in a potent three-strong attack that will be targeting both Teams’ and Drivers’ silverware.
In Super 2000 meanwhile the team will run a brace of Altis models for Taiwanese regular Toyota Super 2000 driver Khun Chen Jian Hong, who will start his second year in the new generation sedan, and newcomer Khun Pure Hongsapan who gets the drive as a reward for winning Toyota’s ‘One Make’ race last year.
Toyota is one of Thailand’s most successful race teams and with a strong line up of no less than six cars across three classes (it will also run an 86 built to Super Car Class 3-GTC rules to be driven again by Team Manager Khun Suttipong Smittachartch) it will as usual be one to look out for and right in the hunt to win.
Toyota also confirmed to the media during the lavish press conference that this year’s final round of its popular ‘Toyota Motorsport’ festival, reserved for ‘one make’ racing categories, will, as usual, be a part of the hectic Bangsaen Thailand Speed Festival programme.
’Team NZ’ adds its name to Super Car Class 2-GTM
Another name has been announced to race Porsche’s numerically dominant 997 GT3 Cup in Super Car Class 2-GTM this year. In fact it will actually be two names, as ‘gentleman’ drivers, Irishman Khun John Curran and New Zealander Khun Graeme Dowsett will team up for a second year to share the ‘Team NZ’ entry, taking it in turns to contest one race apiece during each TSS weekend.
They’re both relatively new sportscar drivers but in a year of racing their Porsche they’ve already racked up plenty of experience that’s topped off by a sensational victory in the GTC class at last year’s Merdeka Sepang 12 Hours and even more sensationally that was their first ever race!
And ‘experience’ is really the keyword here, that’s what they want to gain, and that’s exactly why Team NZ is heading for Super Car Class 2-GTM – as Khun John explains. “The main driver to participate in TSS is the limited opportunities in GT racing in Malaysia this year,” he says. “We had participated in the 2014 season [in Malaysia] so that’s not going ahead for 2015 for GT cars and when we looked into TSS it seemed to be far more competitive in terms of GT cars and particularly cars that are the same as our own.”
Neither driver has previously taken part in circuit racing in Thailand, but they both have a strong connection and have kept one eye on the motorsport scene here over the last decade. “I used to live in Asia for about ten years,” notes Khun John. “I’ve been karting since 2003, starting in Vietnam and then when I moved to Thailand [between] 2005 and 2007 and secured the runner up for Clubman under 35 in 2005 and 2006. Then I moved to South America and was karting in 2009 and 2010 in the West Indies. In early 2014 we bought the Porsche. Graeme is the co-owner of the car and he also has a background in karting and in 2007 and 2008 did the Thai nationals as well. Graeme also owns his own Team NZ karting team based in Plentong, Malaysia, which also has drivers contesting in Singapore.”
Armed with the Porsche 997 GT3 Cup, Khun John and Khun Graeme kicked off their sportscar-racing career last year. For Khun John, having his racing license arriving later than planned placed him right in at the deep end as his first major event was the prestigious MMER Sepang 12 Hours.
For the long distance race experienced Singaporean driver Khun Yuey Tan and New Zealander Will Bamber, the younger brother of Porsche’s World Endurance Championship factory star driver Earl Bamber, joined them in the #777 car.
The result for the quartet was quite stunning, as Khun John admits. “The first race with the car was the Sepang 12 Hours back in 2014 and we believed we would be competitive but beyond our wildest expectations [we] secured the win,” says the Irishman. “A lot of preparation went into it but Lady Luck also played her part.”
It capped a very busy second half of the year – before it had really even got into gear. “That was my first ever race,” says Khun John, who is currently based in Africa. “We’ve did a couple of rounds of GT Asia [after MMER] and also the two remaining rounds of MSS in 2014 and we secured a third place in the fifth round of MSS.”
Why the name Team NZ? “The team is actually registered in Singapore,” says Khun John. “But it was started as a karting team, started by Graeme and Earl [Bamber], and we have kept the name going. The goal is to be able to take young drivers through karting and provide a platform onto the next stage and Team NZ is currently managing two drivers.”
This year they aim to return to the Sepang 12 Hours to defend their GTC crown as well as contesting the new race event this summer that’s set for the streets of Kuala Lumpur. As relatively new sportscar drivers they know they have a lot to learn and will need to raise their game, especially as their main target will be the longer distance racing challenges. “Graeme and I are probably more interested in endurance racing simply as we believe we can be competitive there,” says Khun John. “It’s not about being the fastest, it’s about being quick, consistent and staying out of trouble, and that’s probably more aligned to our abilities.”
Enter TSS. For Khun John and Khun Graeme Super Car looks like being an excellent platform from which to further learn their racecraft. “In terms of our objectives in TSS, one is to have incident free racing, but two [is] to improve as drivers where we can be quicker when we come to the Sepang 12 Hours at the end of this year,” says the former. “That’s the big differentiator because we already have accomplished drivers like Yuey [Tan] and Will Bamber. So we want to have incident free racing and to improve our race times and lap times, that’s our goal for the year in Thailand.”
To that end the pair will get a special dispensation from Racing Spirit to drive one race each per weekend. They won’t be eligible to score Drivers’ or Teams’ championship points in Super Car Class 2-GTM and will start both races at the back of the grid irrespective of their qualifying times.
Enter the Civic ‘FB’
A very familiar name in Thai racing circles, Khun Ekprawat Petcharak, will be joining TSS this year and racing in Super 2000. This highly experienced driver will be taking part in the full season at the wheel of his usual Honda Civic FB-09, a car that he’s successfully developed and raced for the last two years.
Khun Ekprawat was the first driver in Thailand to debut the latest-generation version of the poplar Civic sedan, officially dubbed the ‘FB’, for racing use and despite the four-door car’s broadly visual similarities with the previous FD model there were numerous major under-the-skin changes that required plenty time, effort and thought from his team in order to bring it up to being a fully competitive proposition.
He debuted the car in 2013 after a very fast build programme. Under the bonnet is Honda’s K20A2 engine with close to 280 hp and that’s mated to a 6-speed Hewland sequential transmission. The clutch is a Tilton multidisc, shocks are by Moton, it has an ATL fuel tank, AT Power ITB throttle body and rides on Team Dynamics 9×17 wheels while stopping power comes from Brembo mono-block light-alloy calipers. The aero package, meanwhile, has been custom made by Khun Ekprawat’s team. The car weighs it at around 1040 kg before any regulatory requirements.
This year a ‘unification’ process will see Super 2000 returning to its status as the official ‘Thailand Championship’ and that’s meant Khun Ekprawat will join TSS. Super 2000 has long been regarded as providing the closest door-to-door race action in Thailand, the TSS ‘era’ has continued to cement that reputation, and this year it’s likely to be an even stronger package and yet further enhance its massive popularity with the fans.
Khun Ekprawat has been competing in the Thailand Touring Car Championship for a number of years so he’s certainly an expert on ‘Tin Top’ racing and has already taken this Civic FB, as well as his previous Civic FD, onto the podium steps.
In fact Khun Ekprawat will lead out a two-car team in Super 2000 as he will be joined by Khun Munkong Sathienthirakul who will drive a Civic FD. The duo will be entered as team Sittipol-Lipo-K45.
The development phase of this latest car has mostly been completed, with just a few additional closed season upgrades to come. “For this year we upgrade to [a] new ECU and some [of the] air intake system,” notes Khun Ekprawat.
He’s also confident that the Civic FB, which has showed plenty of promise over the last two seasons, is well positioned to chase for the top positions in Super 2000 Class A. “We probably look good for a position on the podium,” he says. “After a year of development this FB should be ready for it.” So expect to see Khun Ekprawat, and his teammate Khun Munkong (who raced in Super 2000 last year and turned in many front running performances) battling for position at the business end of the action this year.
Mazda all set for diesel switch
We are in an era of change in Thai motorsport and the change is permeating through every aspect of TSS. That’s exactly the story for Innovation Motorsport, the team that develops and runs the official Mazda racecars in Super Production.
Mazda Sales Thailand has recently introduced the latest, fifth-generation Mazda2 model into its showrooms and in the drive for maximum marketing impact Innovation Motorsport is having to swiftly swap to the new version. After developing the outgoing Mazda2 from scratch into a race winner over the last couple of seasons this represents a total U-turn in a new direction and there are major development hurdles that will have to be overcome before the new car can be honed into a podium regular.
That starts with the highly efficient diesel engine under the bonnet and continues with Mazda’s signature Skyactiv technology that is thoroughly embedded into the makeup of the little car.
The ‘new chapter’ doesn’t stop there either; this is the first fourth-generation Mazda2 to appear as a pure racecar so there aren’t any established benchmarks to draw upon, no knowledge base – or indeed ‘ready to race’ components are available. It really is a case of into the dark for Innovation Motorsport.
But taking on the toughest challenges is exactly what this team thrives off. So 2015 is being regarded as a development year – the opportunity of four ‘tests’ in the heat of the competitive weekend race action. It’s certainly the best way to hone a new racecar, albeit if you are prepared to stand the heat as any mistakes – and any lack of pace – are going to be exposed the full public glare.
So, for the other teams in Super Production they have a real ‘race’ in Buriram coming up, while for Innovation Motorsport its going to be a case of a ‘shakedown’ test as the first of the two new Mazda2 diesels it’s building to run this year is now taking final shape in its Laem Chabang workshops with the technicians working round the clock.
After winning the Super Pickup title for three years on the row and bagging the runners up spot in Super Production Teams’ championship last year the team is now facing a year of transition. “Innovation Motorsport has gone through a few changes over the break since 2014 and for 2015 will be racing with a more flexible format,” explains Team Owner Khun Michael Freeman. “We will be rotating drivers between the last generation Mazda2 gasoline cars and the two new Mazda2 SkyActiv diesels.”
The sweeping changes embedded into the new-generation Mazda2’s underlying platform means that it doesn’t comply with the present Super Production regulations so it will be effectively competing this year in ‘demonstration’ running mode. The diesel-powered cars won’t be eligible to score Drivers’ or Teams’ points, (although last year’s gasoline model of course will continue to comply with the rules).
After a real battle against time to build the first new Mazda2 the team will debut that example, in hatchback format, in Buriram next week with Khun Michael assuming his usual responsibility as test driver. “The car will be running a 100% stock engine and automatic transmission with a FIA approved 23.50mm restrictor for the debut,” the Australian driver explains. “The four days in Buriram will be basically an extended test session.”
They will have an extra day of data though as the car will enjoy its shakedown at Bira Circuit today following a successful systems check yesterday in the workshop that’s given the team the green light to finally get onto the track.
While the team has put all its focus into preparing one car, the second – which will instead be run in ‘sedan’ format – so far remains untouched in the workshops, and that means new team signing, Khun Tachapan Vijittranon, will drive one of last year’s gasoline cars. “We’ve dusted off the car as it finished in Bangsaen [last December] and just changed the springs and seat position, but we are sure we will see a strong performance from her on her debut for the team.”
Once Innovation Motorsport returns from Buriram, the technical staff, which are led by Chief Engineer Khun Ross Holder, will evaluate all the data and, as well as starting the long development phase of the first car, will also push to build and prepare the second one just in time for the return trip by TSS to Buriram.
“We plan have the second diesel car finished for July and then we will make the decision as we move forward on whether we continue with one gasoline car alongside the two diesel cars from round two onwards,” Khun Michael explains.
He’s all to well aware of the challenge that faces the team in turning the raw new Mazda2 into a prospective future winner. “This is huge step forward into the future for Innovation Motorsport in taking on the development of the Mazda 2 diesel project,” Khun Michael says. “The base car is incredibly high tech with its integrated electrical system and Skyactiv technology and even removing the safety belts puts the car into limp home mode.
“We will probably be even running with the air conditioning working this coming weekend as it’s so complex to remove,” he adds with a laugh. With the weather expected to be hot in Buriram over the next seven days, this could be quite a benefit to the driver, even if it’s not exactly what his engineers want.
The new #55 Mazda2 will be running the production automatic transmission too as there simply isn’t hasn’t been the timeframe available to develop a manual unit to replace it in time for the opening round. However Khun Michael expects that this key issue to be resolved in time for the return visit in July. A manual gearbox will also help the team start to address another big headache, as the new car will be around 150 kg above the category’s minimum weight limit this week.
Just completing as many laps as possible and collecting vital data this weekend is going to be the main target. In realising this major project the team will also have some valuable extra help as Shell and Enkei have joined the programme alongside existing partners Parker, Laminar and Cusco.