Crawford Performance Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 Team Crawford Scores Two Podium Finishes at VIR Time Attack Finale (October, 13 2008) The Crawford Performance Orange 2008 WRX STI, piloted by professional driver Eiji “Tarzan” Yamada, placed 2nd in Unlimited AWD at GT Live’s Redline Time Attack Season Finale held at Virginia International Raceway (VIR), Oct 3-5. What made this finale more impressive was that Team Crawford was in the position to help Dave Mirra, BMX legend and Monster Energy rally driver, with his new 2008 STI and two Time Attack competitors, James Elterman of Team Takata and Luke Russell of Top Speed. Both of which took first place in their class. Ultimately it was a fantastic way to way to end the 2008 Red Line Time Attack Series for Crawford Performance and for Subaru. http://www.crawfordperformance.com/news/images/_MG_826617.jpg The journey began six days prior to the event when Owner, Quirt Crawford, decided to make the 2600 mile trip from Oceanside California to Alton, Virginia. The Team decided to get to the track early in the week, not just for set-up purposes but to meet up with Dave Mirra, BMX guru and Monster Energy rally driver. Dave made the 3 hour drive from Greenville North Carolina just to have Crawford personally install a Crawford Stage Two power package to his new 2008 STI. Once up and running Dave had to head back home. It wasn’t long afterwards before he rang up the team, using his hands-free device of course, and raved about the STI’s new unleashed power, “I’m so stoked! This Subie has power everywhere! And it’s so smooth and still street-able. Thanks for helping me out.” No problem Dave, we were glad we could help. And that sentiment set the mantra for the weekend, helping other Subaru owners & competitors. The Crawford support rolled right into Friday. Thirty-nine Time Attack competitors coupled with the Grand-Am KONI Challenge cars and the Skip Barber cars were all vying for track time. Most teams including Crawford Performance were trying to gather as much info as possible for chassis and engine management set-up. This was especially difficult for Team Crawford as this was the team’s first time to VIR and it was the inaugural run for their new plug-n-play MoTeC engine management system and center differential controller. As luck would have it, Phoenix ICY (Subaru Road Race team) was competing in the Grand-Am KONI Challenge, and they shared few VIR chassis pointers with Team Crawford. This freed up time for Crawford to focus on the new MoTeC ECU and SDC. http://www.crawfordperformance.com/news/images/_MG_842944.jpg While Crawford focused on the Orange 2008 STI, other teams were doing the same; making their laps and pitting, playing with tire pressures, tweaking motors and suspension. Team Crawford wasn’t the only team making adjustments. One of the Time Attack competitors, Top Speed, seemed to be having issues with their oil catch can system. Their current set-up had them worried about staying competitive throughout the weekend. Luckily Team Crawford had an extra Crawford Air/Oil Separator on hand. In the spirit of sportsmanship we donated the Separator to the Top Speed team http://www.crawfordperformance.com/news/images/untitled.bmp ***Before*** http://www.crawfordperformance.com/news/images/_MG_8878111.jpg . ***After*** During Fridays practice, Crawford’s unlimited car was the fastest car on the track, including all the Grand-Am KONI Challenge cars as well as the Skip Barber cars. After the time attack on Saturday, we found ourselves in second place behind the Top Speed car. We knew it would be hard to out perform the Top Speed car because of the 400 pound deficit between our cars, so Sunday morning the team decided to add another 100WHP along with a new set of Hoosier tires for a shot at the overall win. Spirits were high as the Orange Crawford STI clocked its fastest time of the weekend on the first of three timed laps. Things were certainly looking good. However, during the second lap, just after the tires were up to their optimal temperature, there was a gear box issue that resulted in the engine over revving to 9826 RPM. Tarzan said the second lap was bound to be at least one second quicker than the first lap. Alas, the over rev bent most of the intake valves which slowed the car down considerably. Eventually, Top Speed ended up edging (1:58.540) out the Orange Crawford 2008 STI (1:58.929) in the final round to take 1st place in Unlimited AWD. Congratulations are in order to the Top Speed team for a great 2008 season. http://www.crawfordperformance.com/news/images/_MG_838836.jpg * 1st place Unlimited AWD, 1:58.540, Driver Luke Russell Speaking of finishing first, on the final day James Elterman, Team Takata, was looking to solidify himself and his Subaru as the Modified AWD series champion. All looked well, until an unfortunate brake failure forced James off course an into a tire wall. Fortunately James was not hurt, and the Takata Subaru suffered only minor damage, but it was clear that the Subaru was no longer race worthy. http://www.crawfordperformance.com/news/images/takata.bmp Keeping with the weekend’s mantra, Crawford discussed the details with the Red Line Organizers and offered the Blue Stage 2 Crawford 2008 STI so that James could finish the event and hopefully win the 2008 Modified AWD Championship. The only question was if the Blue Stage 2 Crawford STI was good enough to help James do the job at hand. In the end James ran a 2:23.930 and his nearest competitor ran a 2:30.942. That 1st place victory (second 1st place win for the Crawford Blue 2008 STI) was enough to secure the points James needed to become the seasons’ Modified AWD Champion. http://www.crawfordperformance.com/news/images/james.bmp * 1st place Modified AWD Champion, 2:23.930, Driver James Elterman Ultimately, the inaugural trip to Virginia was a success. Yes the 5750 mile round trip was a long haul and yes the Orange 2008 Crawford STI did not win the Championship, and yes there was a lot of sweat, frustration, bruises, and long hours put into our fledgling program. But, when we stand back we notice the real reason why we do this to ourselves. It’s not just the thrill of completion, the nice little trophy’s you can take home to shelve, the magazines or the TV spots. Rather it’s the camaraderie & sharing a passion with other people while all the while knowing that your efforts helped other’s to be either happy , successful, or both. There is that intrinsic value that some trophies just can’t capture. http://www.crawfordperformance.com/news/images/_MG_8906117.jpg *2nd Place Unlimited AWD, 1:58.929, Driver Tarzan Yamada Long live the Fraternity of STI! Images: http://www.crawfordperformance.com/news/db_imgview.cgi?linkID=62 HD Video: http://www.crawfordperformance.com/videos/browse?movieid=100 Special Thanks - Kumho and Hoosier tires for allowing us to do back-to-back tire testing at VIR. Both tires worked extremely well. - Kumho and ENKEI for providing support on the Blue STI. The Subaru has won two TA events with these tires and wheels. Crawford Skunk Works Partners Subaru of America, Inc. TEIN USA NGK Spark Plugs Crawford Skunk Works Supporters Brembo ENKEI JE Pistons MoTeC MOTUL Garrett Turbos RECARO The DriveShaft Shop VP FUEL Crawford Performance 4168 Avenida De La Plata Ste 116 Oceanside, CA 92056 760-631-2927 More about GT Live GT Live Described as an "interactive motorsports festival," GT LIVE, is an event designed for the young enthusiast of Japanese "tuner cars" that combines drifting, racing, karting, car shows and music. What makes it most unique is that fans not only spectate, they can actually participate in much of the action. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urs1ne Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 Pictures no worko Go Crawford!!! You guys rock!!! http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v87/ursine/rally.gif ^ n00bs below this line Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crawford Performance Posted October 23, 2008 Author Share Posted October 23, 2008 Thanks for the props. Pictures are fixed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urs1ne Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 Wha?!?! No pics of your Legacy?! lol ^ n00bs below this line Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnSoPA Posted October 30, 2008 Share Posted October 30, 2008 Holy smoke. Are those lap times for the VIR full course? I used to race SCCA down there and instruct at club events and if those are for full-course, they are amazing. I remember Porsche Cup cars and race Vipers were running right around 2:00. Turbo power + AWD + good driver + good setup = amazing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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