#GSTMotorsports

GST Motorsports and their venerable 1996 Subaru Impreza “L” had a perfect weekend at Round 6 of the Redline Time Attack Championship at Willow Springs Raceway (Rosamond, CA), claiming the Super Modified AWD class and Overall victories with a blisteringly fast lap of 1:20.759 (just 0.3-seconds off the AWD track record set by the Sierra Sierra Mitsubishi Evolution last year).

Mystery driver G-Stig then went on to win the Super Session, where the top cars from the event participate in a 5-lap sprint race for bonus points in the championship. This put an exclamation point on the weekend for the GST crew, completing their clean sweep at Willow Springs and solidifying their lead in the Super Modified AWD class.

“The entire crew has worked very hard on the back of the engine issues we encountered during the previous round”, said G-Stig, driver of the GST Time Attack Subaru L. “With the motor working flawlessly all weekend it allowed us to start concentrating on the handling aspect of the car. We’re getting close and I look forward to testing the changes the team is making to the chassis and aero for the next event.”

Mike Warfield, owner and engine tuner of GST Motorsports, added, “The new engine internals from Brian Crower really did the trick for us this past weekend. The motor ran strongly all weekend and we’re confident we have the powerplant in place now to start pushing things that much harder. We have always had fantastic grip from the Hankook Ventus 214 C91’s and now we’re going to start pushing the chassis and aero that much harder. The win this weekend was attributed to the reliability of the engine in the extreme heat coupled with the tires’ ability to maintain constant grip levels throughout our sessions.”

For in-car evidence of GST’s amazing 1-minute 20-second lap around Willow Springs, check out the video after the jump.

[Source: GST Motorsports]

Redline Time Attack isn’t just the premier Time Attack racing series in the United States, it’s also a great place for novice track drivers to get their feet wet and receive some top notch instruction.

As if to emphasize this point, Redline’s latest video from Las Vegas Motor Speedway showcases the full gambit of competitors, from a total novice in his completely unmodified Volkswagen Golf GTI who took advantage of the in-car instruction available at these events, to a seasoned racing veteran like Dave Lemon in his newly developed Street Tire class Mazda RX-8, to one of the fastest Unlimited class Time Attack machines in the world, the FX Motorsports Development Acura NSX.

The cool part about participating in a series like Redline’s is that you don’t have to be a pro driver with a big budget and a fancy race car, but you still get to hang out with and learn from some of the fastest drivers and best prepared teams in the country. It may not be a free education since it costs a bit to register for these events (typically in the $350/weekend range if you pay in advance), but it’s still the cheapest way to rub elbows with pro drivers like FXMD’s Billy Johnson and GST Motorsports’ Gary Sheehan (both very approachable guys who’ll give you some free tips on the fast line around the track if you ask nicely).

So if you’ve been thinking about taking your car to the track but aren’t too sure where to start, check out the video after the jump and take a look at Redline Time Attack’s website.

[Source: Redline Time Attack]

As we reported two weeks ago, GST Motorsports set a new Super Lap Battle record around Firebird’s main racing circuit. Well, the boys from Hayward, California have done it again, this time setting a new Redline Time Attack lap record at Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s outside road course, posting a best time of 1-minute 39.657 seconds.

“The entire GST Motorsports crew worked very hard to provide me with a capable car,” said The G-STig, the mysterious and anonymous driver of GST’s famous Time Attack Subaru Impreza L, rumored to be famed Japanese Time Attack driver Tarzan Yamada. “The car ran very well for me all weekend and all the changes we have been working on are keeping us moving in the right direct. I only wish we were able to run the car on a clean track at full power to show everyone just how well it’s coming together”

Mike Warfield, owner and engine tuner of GST Motorsports, had this to say about their accomplishment in Vegas. “Given the limited seat time we have been able to give our driver to date and some of the major changes we have made to the chassis I am extremely happy with the teams progress thus far and really look forward to the next event where we hope to be able to turn up the wick considerably. To take the win here this weekend with so much more left on the table really gives us something to look forward to.”

In fact, GST’s amazing Impreza ran a 1:38.1 during qualifying earlier in the day, and in-car data suggests a 1:36.8 was well within grasp had track conditions not deteriorated during the final so-called Super Session.

For in-car video evidence of GST’s flying 1:38.1 qualifying lap, check out the video after the jump.

[Source: GST Motorsports]

At this year’s Modified Magazine Tuner Shootout, the Super Lap Battle track record set by Crawford Performance last year was broken by driver Gary Sheehan in the GST Motorsports  Subaru Impreza L. With famed Japanese Time Attack driver Tarzan Yamada behind the wheel, the Crawford Performance 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI set a lap record of 1:02.1 in 2009, but that record was reset by a half second after Sheehan posted an impressive 1:01.6 in GST’s ’98 GC Impreza L.

According to GST owner and ECU tuner Mike Warfield, “We had the car running on our low boost [24 psi] setting because we wanted the engine to survive the weekend. Had we unleashed Sheehan with our high boost (32 psi] setting I’m confident the car could run sub 1-minute.” In fact, GST’s in-car data acquisition system revealed a hypothetic 59.8-second lap based on Sheehan’s best segment times around the circuit using their low boost settings, so Warfield’s prediction of a possible sub 1-minute lap seems entirely realistic. Regardless, with an official time of 1:01.6 GST Motorsports is now the current Super Lap Battle track record holder at Firebird’s main circuit.

Below is in-car video of Sheehan setting this new mark: