The event allows enthusiasts unparalleled access to the infamous 20.8km Nordschleife circuit, over two days of ‘closed session’ action. Not only can guests enjoy unfettered laps without barriers, tolls or limits, the very nature of the two closed days means that there is also a complete lack of bikes, buses and tourists to hold you up. The VLN Sprintstecke circuit configuration will be running – the Nürburgring Nordschleife and GP Circuit combined as one circuit, making this a genuinely unique trackday opportunity.

The two days will both run as Open Pit Lance (OPL) format, meaning that the number of laps available will only be limited by guests fuel, tyres or bravery! Guest can also take advantage of fast passenger laps in Bilstein-equipped cars to really show what can be achieved.

Free driving tuition is available over both days, with Bilstein representatives and technical experts on hand to advise on set-up and product choice, to ensure that guests get the very best from their cars. All types of car are welcome, whether high performance road machinery or full-on race cars.

For those that book early, the price for both days is just £649 and includes the use of the F1 paddock, garages and pitlane. Both days run from 08.00 – 17.00.

For more details on the event, please click to www.destination-nurburgring.com.

For more details on Bilstein, please visit www.bilstein.de or call the UK office on 01455 283 407.

USC 2011 boasts the biggest ever music line-up to grace the stage, with the kind of acts that might think you turned into the O2 by mistake.  DJ set from Chase and Status with MC Rage, live performance from Skepta and even full-length set from The Wideboys with Ministry of Sound and BCM World Tour means that the evenings off the strip promise to be as exciting as the days on it!

Talking of which, expect blistering drag demo runs from the fastest modified cars in Europe, as well as the Euro Sports Compact racers. Not forgetting the most important drivers of all, of course! You!!!.. the enthusiasts, with three whole days of RWYB sessions to allow you to settle scores and enjoy yourself on a fully FIA sanctioned strip.

Team Maximum Lock will be demonstrating the true art of drifting, alongside Europe’s leading stunt drivers and riders, making for one of the most eye-popping displays of car and bike control on the planet.

If you’re more about the ‘show’ than the go, the UK’s largest Show and Shine contest on the Sunday usually finds the UK’s hottest rides, and for those that like to be ‘shown’ a little more than that, a trip to the legendary adult shows certainly raises the pulse..

With free camping all weekend, and several licensed bars on site, you can stay sober and sharp for the strip in the day and then enjoy a sherbet or two for larging it in the evening – safe in the knowledge you can sleep off your hangover until the sound of tortured rubber serves as your alarm call the next morning.

Sounds like you? Hit the website at www.ultimatestreetcar.com for more details and ticket prices. Or call the USC team on 01234 782828 to book yours now!

Despite the team having to burn several gallons of midnight oil to make the event, thanks to a full engine rebuild being required after ECU problems during testing, driver Jon Mathers found instant form to blitz to the top spot in Club class on day one, and second on day two of the meeting. With 16,000 Time Attack fans to cheers him on, it was the best showing yet for the Cross Roads garage prepared machine and a superb example of how the new Pro-R range of tuning components can perform under pressure.The car was sporting some exciting new enhancements for Brands, including a lightweight, bespoke Scorpion Exhausts extraction system, which managed to net the team more power, despite being under the series’ strict noise regulations as well as improved cooling and lightweight body panels by the team’s technical partners at ABW.

Saturday started with damp conditions, but the Cross Roads team quickly found the ideal set-up and a confident Mathers simply went out and posted ONE hot lap in a move that saw him go straight to the top of the leader board, a full second ahead of the opposition. A position that would remain unchallenged for the rest of the race.

On a high, the team ran a similar set up for the Sunday race, setting fastest sector times throughout warm-up and qualifying. During the session, Mathers was flying, but suffered bad luck when a combination of traffic and a series of red flags saw him only able to post second, despite showing the fastest 1^st sector time of the Club AWD class. With track temperatures spiking and the tyres dropping off, the talented wheelman had to settle for the second step on day two.

As well as taking a couple of well-earned trophies back to Cross Roads’ burgeoning trophy cabinet, Mather’s textbook drive also netted a new Pirelli lap record of 53.505 seconds.

On accepting his accolades, Mathers was quick to thank those who got him there. ‘This one is for everyone who worked so hard for Brands,’ he beamed, ‘RCM, who stayed up until 6am on the Friday prior to the race, dynoing the car, Joe and Lee from Cross Roads, Mark at TDR and of course, Subaru UK for their assistance with parts. A massive thanks to you all!’

The next Time Attack round will be at Cadwell Park on the 31^st of July. With Mathers clearly on sparkling form – and the car seemingly bomb-proof, bank on more silverware heading back to Warwickshire soon!

For more details on the Pro-R range, please click to www.pro-r.co.uk

For more details on the Cross Roads team, please click to www.subaruvehicles.co.uk

Aimed at both enthusiasts and corporate guests, the QMC offers quarter mile fans the chance to enjoy the Pod’s new startline VIP suite for a whole day, refreshments, a buffet lunch and privilege parking and facilities – all for just £89 per person. Under 16s are just half that! With a standing spectator platform just yards away from the most dramatic startline in motorsport, it’s hard to miss the action!

The new hospitality package is one of many offered by Santa Pod for its Blue Riband events. Those looking to spend a little more can enjoy private balcony suites, full seating, breakfast, full hot fork buffet lunch, souvenirs, complimentary earplugs, programmes and paddock tours on top of the already generous QMC package for just £1690 + Vat (for up to 12 people including weekend admission).

If you’re the kind of enthusiast that likes to get right into the heart of the action, Grandstand packages are also available, with all of the same perks as the balcony packages, but enjoying reserved, allocated open air seating for the entire day. This is just £119 + Vat per person and includes weekend admission.

Commenting on this new hospitality packages, Santa Pod’s general manager, David Lloyd Jones commented, ‘We believe these packages are the best value in motorsport, particularly for such a high profile FIA/UEM event. Although we offer the highest levels of corporate hospitality, we have deliberately priced the Quarter Mile Club package well within the reach of the true enthusiasts. After all, even if you’re a die-hard quarter mile fan, there’s nothing like enjoying your favourite sport in comfortable surroundings, just yards from the start. Why not make your next race meeting extra special?’

For more information on Santa Pod events, please click to www.santapod.com or call the team on 01234 782828.

The move sees the experienced Mathers taking to the track in Time attack’s ‘Club Pro’ class, in a fully road-legal Subaru WRX Sti Hatchback which has been constructed using many of the high-performance upgrades available from the forthcoming Pro-R High Performance range, which will be rolled out to selected Subaru franchised dealers throughout the season. The range includes suspension, braking, induction and exhaust upgrades, all of which can be fitted by end-users, allowing them to improve and enhance their car using manufacturer-approved parts.

‘I can’t think of a better way to show what the car and these Pro-R parts are capable of.’ explained Mathers at the car’s launch. ‘They have been through extensive pre-range testing already, but real enthusiasts know that the track is the only place to prove that something really works. It’s our first season, and the car has been built to a ‘realistic’ spec for our inaugural outings, so we’re not looking to take any scalps in our first few meetings, simply get our head around the format, do some testing, develop the car and showcase the new Pro-R range.’

As one of the leading lights in Subaru tuning, Crossroads Garage have forged a unique position within the Subaru dealer network, by creating numerous dealer ‘specials’ and many bespoke customer cars. With this extensive knowledge of the Subaru tuning market, Jon Mather’s capable wheelmanship and the support of the Pro-R range, it looks like Subaru enthusiasts finally have an officially backed car to cheer on at the track once again.

For more details on the Pro-R range please click to www.pro-r.co.uk

For more details on Crossroads Garage, please click to www.subaruvehicles.co.uk

The inaugural event, to be held on Sunday the 6th of March, offers car clubs the unique chance of experiencing an EXCLUSIVE track hire session, but without the cost!  This new initiative to a RWYB day will allocate attending car clubs exclusive sessions on track, so for the first time, they can run as a collective group and can race in dedicated sessions.  This will ensure  that friends and ‘bar-room rivals’ get the chance to race side by side and settle old scores on the FIA-approved track, under fully timed conditions.

The more cars that each club pre-books, the more track time will be allocated to them. Spilt into sessions 10 to 20 cars will get a total of 40 minutes of track time, 30-40 cars will get 80 minutes. And so on and so on – meaning that every car in each club can expect a minimum of 4 runs each, conditions permitting.

Then as an extra twist to the event the fastest runners in each club will be run wheel to wheel at the end of the day in a competition style elimination ladder, to reveal an overall champion for the day… ‘The King (or Queen) Of Clubs’!

When not on the hallowed quarter mile, guests can avail themselves of the handling circuit or drift course at no extra cost, making the day exceptional value for money. Clubs are also invited to have free stand space to socialise and recruit and of course, passengers and guests are all very welcome to join in the days activities. With full catering facilities and the ‘Pod Shop’ open all day, you don’t even need to bring any sandwiches!

Upon announcing the event, General Manager, David Lloyd-Jones said, ‘We’ve aimed this day squarely at the true enthusiasts that make the scene what it is – the Clubs. Many have wanted to hold their own exclusive event but in most cases, the cost of hiring the whole venue prohibits single clubs being able to.  With our new Club RWYB event we have been able to offer exclusivity while spreading the cost amongst a number of clubs.  Sunday 6th is our first but we have more planned and expect to make it a monthly fixture. We hope Club RWYB will make a dynamic change to static monthly club meets, and with the handling track and drift arena there to fill in any down time, it means there will be loads to do all day.’

The track opens at 9.30am and closes at 5.30pm, but in case of track down time can run under floodlights all the way through until 9pm, with a short lunch break. As the perfect way to blow out the cobwebs for the season opener at The Marangoni Fast Show, this is the ideal event to get you, your club and your cars ready for the 2011 race and show season!

The cost for a Club RWYB ticket is only £50 if brought in advance before Friday 18th February.  This includes general admission, track sign-on and drift and handling track admission.
For non drivers and spectators general admission £10 on the gate and passengers wishing to ride in a car on track is £10. For more information visit www.santapod.co.uk

Sumo Power GT did all they could to score a top-three position in the FIA GT1 World Championship Teams’ standings in this weekend’s two races at the unique Potrero de los Funes circuit near San Luis in Argentina. Although both Nissan GT-Rs performed well in the near 30-degrees of sunshine, it was not the end to the season the team were hoping for, as both its cars retired in the final Championship Race.

Michael Krumm and Peter Dumbreck in car 23 were battling for a top-five place in both this morning’s Qualifying Race and the afternoon’s Championship Race, until accident damage after contact with another car caused their car’s power steering to stop working. Warren Hughes and Jamie Campbell-Walter had overcome a frustrating start to the weekend and were looking good for a top-ten place in the main Championship Race, until a gearbox problem intervened in the latter stages.

This morning’s Qualifying Race saw both Sumo Power GT Nissan GT-Rs make good starts; Krumm in car 23 from 7th on the grid and Hughes in car 22 from 18th. Both drivers headed to the outside of the track to keep out of trouble, as one false move was likely to end in one of the walls that line almost all of the 3.9-mile (6.3 km) circuit that encircles a volcanic lake.

As it transpired, their caution was justified, as the Aston Martins that occupied the front row came together at the first corner and the remainder of the grid all had to take evasive action. This played into the hands of the two Sumo Power GT drivers and they crossed the line after the first lap in 5th and 13th places respectively.

With other incidents occurring in front of him, Hughes moved up a further two places on the second lap and another one on lap three, before the Safety Car was deployed after a Lamborghini had struck one of the walls in a narrow part of the circuit. After three laps behind the Safety Car, there were then just three laps before the mandatory pit stops.

First to pit was Krumm, and, after a blisteringly quick wheel-change by the crew, Dumbreck emerged on the track in third. However, for car 22 the stop took a little longer, as the sand and dust on the surface of the pit lane caused Hughes to overshoot his mark and more than 10-seconds were lost during the change-over of driver and wheels.

Campbell-Walter did all he could to recover the situation, but the grip levels on the track coupled with the closeness of the walls meant his usual spree of overtaking was not forthcoming. He therefore crossed the line in 13th place.

Meanwhile, Dumbreck was holding his own at the front, until an overtaking move meant he had to come off the racing line and picked up sand on the sticky tyres. With reduced grip, he found he could not get the power down a few corners later and suddenly found himself being passed by three other cars. Although doing what he could to claw back the positions, it was over a lap before the tyres worked effectively again and he ended the race in sixth place.

With a car ahead of him receiving a penalty, Dumbreck in car 23 started from fifth on the grid in the Championship Race, with Campbell-Walter in car 22 13th. This time, a clean start by all saw no incidents in the first few corners and Dumbreck was able to hitch up with the leading group of five cars battling for the lead.

Keeping out of trouble, Campbell-Walter had dropped a place but was happy with the way his Nissan was handling and therefore aimed to move up the order as the race went on. Positions throughout the field remained constant for the next seven laps. But then, on lap eight, Dumbreck spun on the tight hairpin at the bottom of the circuit, a combination of sand blown onto the track and hot temperatures doing their worst as far as grip was concerned.

Thankfully keeping his car away from the walls and other cars, he got going again – albeit in 17th place. Now up to 12th, Campbell-Walter was the first of the two Sumo Power GT Nissans to stop for the compulsory mid-race visit to the pits, with Hughes re-joining the race in 10th.

Dumbreck came in to swap with Krumm a lap later, who set about making up as many places as he could. Battling hard, he managed to climb to 13th, but damaged the front of his Nissan after coming into contact with another car –the subsequent impact causing the power steering to stop working.

With the car becoming more and more difficult to manoeuvre, Krumm had little choice but to retire after lap 18. Little did Hughes know that just four laps later he too would be ending his race in the pits, when noises started coming from his car’s gearbox on lap 24, which then quickly turned into a mechanical problem.

For Sumo Power GT, who have been challenging for a top three position in the Teams’ Championship since the middle of the year, not scoring points in the final round meant they ended the season fifth, with Krumm and Dumbreck ninth and Hughes and Campbell-Walter 13th in the drivers’ standings. However, the whole team is delighted with the outcome of its first ever season, the highlights of which were two race wins, nine podium finishes and the awarding of the Tourist Trophy.

Both of the races were won by Fredric Makowiecki and Yann Clairay in the Hexis AMR Aston Martin. Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini were crowned the Drivers’ Champions, with Vitaphone Maserati claiming Teams’ Championship honours.

For more information on Sumo Power GT, visit www.sumopowergt.com

With the circuit normally a public road, it was officially closed to traffic for the first time for two years yesterday (Friday), with the GT1 cars making their debut on this unique track today (Saturday). This morning’s Free Practice session saw the Sumo Power GT drivers – and its two Nissan GT-Rs – experience the circuit for the first time: Michael Krumm and Peter Dumbreck in car 23 and Jamie Campbell-Walter and Warren Hughes in car 22 – all four of them commenting how exciting the track was to drive, but potentially very dangerous.

Both cars ran well, with the drivers ensuring they got to know the idiosyncrasies of the track before pushing for a good lap time. Krumm and Dumbreck were pleased to be sixth-fastest on very worn tyres, whilst Campbell-Walter and Hughes were not quite so pleased with 12th, with their grip issues from Brazil seeming to reappear.

With day-time temperatures reaching 30 degrees centigrade, what happened next was a surprise to all when, just before the afternoon’s Pre-Qualifying session, the wind picked up and the heavens opened. For nearly an hour, the area within the bowl of the extinct volcano was subjected to rain and hail storms, leaving the track waterlogged, and consequently proceedings were temporarily brought to a halt.

Almost as quickly as it arrived, the storm passed and, as soon as the track was dry enough, the action recommenced with a shortened Pre-Qualifying session. Seeing little point in using the dry weather tyres that form part of the weekend’s restricted allocation, Krumm and Hughes only did a three laps each on wet-pattern rubber.

Taking place in the evening, qualifying – to determine the grid position for tomorrow morning’s Qualifying Race – followed its usual format, where the fastest 16 cars progress from Q3 to Q2, from which the fastest eight go on to Q3. Campbell-Walter was first to drive in car 22, but after only a few laps a gear selection issue prevented him from posting a time any quicker than 18th and therefore, Hughes did not get the opportunity to drive in Q2.

However, Dumbreck in car 23 was experiencing no such issues and was able to post the fifth fastest time. Krumm then took the wheel of the Nissan for Q2 and, even after spinning to avoid a stray dog, went on to set the fourth fastest time. Dumbreck then drove in Q3 and, whilst on a flying lap, had to slow when a car spun in front of him.

Poised to rectify the situation on the next lap, he then found his tyres had peaked and therefore the chances of setting a time higher than eighth were out of the question. As it turned out, with a penalty applied to a competitor ahead of them after the session, he and Krumm will start from P7 tomorrow.

Sumo Power GT are currently fourth in the Teams’ standings with 130 points, behind Young Driver AMR on 137 and second-placed Reiter Lamborghini, who have 142. Therefore, with 57 points still up for grabs from tomorrow’s two races, five teams are still in with a chance of claiming second place – including Sumo Power GT.

You can catch up with all the latest Sumo Power GT news and view live videos at www.sumopower.com

The deal sees the tyre firm taking title sponsorship of two of Santa Pod’s key events; The Marangoni Fast Show on Sunday 27^th March and Marangoni USC on the weekend of the 5^th to the 7^th of August, in addition to branding around the FIA sanctioned venue. The package also includes significant coverage of the two television shows that are created around each event and will be aired on Motors TV and Eurosport throughout the year.

Commenting for Santa Pod, Caroline Day, Marketing Manager said, ‘We are delighted to welcome Marangoni back for another year with us. It’s always very gratifying when we can see that previous sponsorship placement has worked and the client has clearly derived value from it. Next year, both shows look set to draw even bigger crowds, thanks to greater pre-publicity and an even better line up, plus our TV format is also drawing bigger viewing figures each year, meaning that Marangoni’s presence at ‘The Pod will be very hard to miss.’

For Marangoni, UK Brand Manager Greg Graham said, ‘Santa Pod is a fantastic fit for the Marangoni brand. Not only in terms of the sheer number of enthusiasts that pass through its gates each year, but also because both the show-goers and Santa pod staff are passionate about the tuning and motorsports scene. When we first took brand space and title sponsorship here two years ago, it helped us to quickly achieve a higher level of brand recognition in several key markets, and undoubtedly assisted us when we forged our exclusive supply arrangement with Kwik Fit. Our goal for 2011 is to further enhance the visibility of the Marangoni brand in the UK consumer marketplace, in turn assisting our partners at Kwik Fit to maximise the brand’s potential.  We can see already that our shows promise even more core content for true petrolheads this year, so I hope that you’ll all join us on Europe’s most famous drag strip!’

For more details please click to www.santapod.com or call the team on 01234 782828.

The qualifying race at Interlagos in Brazil secured the Sumo Power GT team’s ninth podium finish of the season out of the 17 races so far. After starting from fifth on the grid, Michael Krumm and Peter Dumbreck brought their no. 23 Nissan GT-R home in a very impressive second in today’s Qualifying Race for round nine of the FIA GT1 World Championship.

Team mates Warren Hughes and Jamie Campbell Walter in car 22 experienced a difficult race. Firstly, contact with a Ford GT on lap two and the resulting spin, dropped Hughes from 12th to 19th place. And then Campbell-Walter suffered from a lack of grip as his tyres succumbed to the aggressive nature of the circuit, but battled on to cross the line in 14th place.

Earlier in the week, before the track action began, Dumbreck and Campbell-Walter, together with Fellow Nissan drivers Karl Wendlinger and Henry Moser from the Swiss Racing Team, attended an event at the world-famous Corinthian’s football team’s training ground in Sao Paulo. They met up with a group of children from the Time do Povo charity that provides sports facilities for disadvantaged kids in the area. After displaying their ball-skills on the pitch, the drivers presented a cheque for $10,000 donated by Nissan, to patron of the organisation and Brazilian football legend Roberto Carlos.

Friday was to be the first time the team’s two Nissan GT-Rs took to the iconic Brazilian track, with the morning’s Free Practice session seeing all four Sumo Power GT drivers take turns behind the wheel, it being the first ever laps of the track for Krumm and Dumbreck. Having to run tyres that were used for the previous race in Spain, Hughes and Campbell-Walter’s impressive third place in Navarra meant they had 20 kilos of success ballast and a set of very worn tyres. In contrast, the set on car 23 were in much better order and third fastest time was a satisfying start to the driver’s Interlagos debut.

With regulations requiring teams to use tyres from their weekend’s allocation for Pre-Qualifying in the afternoon, even after making changes to car 22’s set-up the team opted for just a handful of laps with each car. A sixth-fastest time for car 23 followed by 17th for car 22 was regarded as a satisfactory outcome, bearing in mind that the first 17 cars were separated by less than a second. It was also interesting to note that the top-four cars were all piloted by Brazilian drivers.

Bright sunshine welcomed the teams to the track for this morning’s Qualifying session, where Dumbreck and Campbell-Walter drove Q1. Ninth and 13th respectively was just what was needed for both Sumo Power GT cars to go through to the second session with the fastest 16.

A storming lap by Krumm saw car 23 second and through to Q1, whereas Hughes could not find enough grip and ended the session 12th – the issue later being traced to a faulty front damper. Dumbreck then went on to set a time good enough to see him and Krumm start the first race of the weekend in P6. However, due to an infringement in Spain, Ford GT no. 5 was relegated three places, which meant that car 23 moved up to P5.

With turn one a notorious corner, starting drivers Krumm and Hughes both elected to stay out of trouble, which meant that Krumm conceded two places at turn five. His caution was then rewarded when two laps later two cars ahead of him tangled and he moved back up to fifth.

Behind him, Hughes was holding station, but on lap two a Ford GT turned in on him at turn five and, with contact to car 22’s front left corner, the two cars span to a halt. Thankfully, no mechanical damage was done and Hughes got going again, albeit now in 19th place.

With others around them fighting between themselves, there were more spins and incidents, which allowed Krumm to rise to fourth on lap five and Hughes up to 18th on lap six before overtaking to gain 17th a lap later and then 16th on lap 14. The compulsory pit stops half-way through the race were made by car 23 on lap 16 and car 22 on lap 17.

Once back on the track, Dumbreck, now behind the wheel of 23, set about catching the car ahead of him and, over the course of the next ten laps he reeled him in and, with a masterly move at turn one, drove around the outside of the Lamborghini to claim third place on the entrance to turn two. With only a few laps left to go, Dumbreck had settled for third, until officials announced that a pit-stop infringement meant that the Maserati in second place had been allocated a drive through penalty.

With over 30 seconds dropped during the enforced visit to the pits, Dumbreck grasped second place on lap 30 and, following a faultless final eight laps, the team was delighted to collect its ninth podium finish of the season. It was also pleased that the second place finish will see car 23 start from the first row of the grid for tomorrow’s Championship Race.

For Campbell-Walter, his afternoon was a frustrating one. The extra 20 kilos of weight, added to a loss of grip during his stint as his tyres appeared to wear rapidly, meant he was relieved to cross the line in 14th place. He and Hughes also look forward to tomorrow’s race, where they are confident that with a few changes they can claim a top-ten finish and score all important points towards the Teams’ Championship, Sumo Power GT currently holding third place and still with a mathematical chance of winning the title.

Follow the team’s progress with its latest news stories and blogs – plus watch live races on: www.sumopowergt.com