Four-time Pikes Peak Champion Robin Shute set a blistering 1m10.92s lap at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca to top the rankings at last weekend’s GRIDLIFE NOS Energy TrackBattle Championship competition but fell short of his goal to topple the track record.
Driving his Pikes Peak winning TSC-FS prototype dubbed “The Wolf,” Shute entered the Super Unlimited class with his eye on the 1m06.461s track record, set by Christian Lundgaard at last month’s IndyCar stop. But a series of modifications intended to boost speeds, including a revised aerodynamic package, weren’t enough to get him there.
“It was a very steep learning curve. We started at 1m17 sand kept chipping away at it, but the track was getting slower all weekend and we weren’t able to get the stars to align on the day,” said Shute. “This was our first time running at sea level and we’re still learning how much downforce and drag the car has; we will need to make more changes to get to the record.”
Weeks earlier, Shute obliterated the standing track record at Streets of Willow in Rosamond, California, during a GRIDLIFE track weekend. “We’ve had huge fun with GRIDLIFE and we look forward to setting more lap records with them in the future,” said Shute.
Jason Chin set the second-fastest time of 1m24.417s in the Super Unlimited class in his Ginetta LMP3-classed racing car. Production record hopeful Eric ‘Dewey’ DeWitt suffered a mechanical failure in his Subaru Impreza that ended his weekend early and well short of the 1m27.62s time set by Randy Pobst in a McLaren Senna.
NOS EnergyTrackBattle joined freestyle drift and GRIDLIFE Touring Cup sessions on the track this weekend. GRIDLIFE Laguna Festival also hosted the Model 3 Challenge and, for the first time, RUSH SR series racing.
Pro drift driver Matt Coffman was among the 25 drift drivers to join the first-ever open freestyle sessions at the 2.24-mile, 11-turn road course. The circuit’s historic significance and high-speed, roller-coaster layout marked it as a much-anticipated destination for the discipline and Coffman’s full-send into the Andretti Hairpin has become one of the most popular social media clips to emerge from the weekend.
In GRIDLIFE Touring Cup, series regular Matan Rosenberg took his first weekend win at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, finishing all four of the single-class sprint races in the Top 3 in his 1999 Chevrolet Corvette.
Meanwhile, Jeremy Swenson became the first-ever repeat champion in GRIDLIFE Touring Cup history – despite his 2001 Chevrolet Corvette being a no-show after the transport hauler broke down en route. Swensen himself arrived to support the rest of the GLTC paddock, but was unable to take the victory lap he had hoped. With eight sprint race wins and only one finish outside the top 10, consistency and speed vaulted Swenson clear of any other points attack in the final round. He also won the title in his rookie 2021 GLTC season.
GLTC is a single-class road racing series that sees drivers compete each weekend in four, 12-15 minute sprint races, with points allocated for each. The driver with the best cumulative score at the end of all four sprints takes the win. After five successful seasons, the series is recognized for its exciting racing and stacked fields: GLTC races regularly have 50 cars racing wheel-to-wheel at the same time.
The NOS Energy TrackBattle is an inclusive time attack format that allows virtually any level of vehicle preparation, from popular, near-stock Honda Fits through to 1,000 hp supercars. Racers can choose to run in one of eight classes: Falken Sundae Cup, Falken Club TR, Street, Street GT, Street Modified, Track Modern, Unlimited, and Super Unlimited. Each driver gets two practice sessions and three qualifying runs. The top five from each class advance to a two-lap podium sprint, with the fastest lap determining the NOS Energy TrackBattle Championship weekend podium. Some 111 drivers took the start this past weekend.
With origins in Japan, drifting is a high-skill, high-powered motorsport with an emphasis on car control. GRIDLIFE drift sessions are freestyle, with no judging or timing and drivers are free to push the limits of speed and style.
The 2023 GRIDLIFE Festival tour concluded October 20-22 with strong crowds throughout Friday and Saturday action, as well as the debut of “Baby Got Brap,” a new song by concert headliner T-Pain. The unique youth-oriented music and motorsport tour also included a show car Concours and a retro arcade to keep fans entertained long after dark. GRIDLIFE is expected to announce its 2023 tour dates in the coming months.