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Mark Jager was pretty excited for his new Yimi Sport Tuning Subaru STi; it was planned to be faster and more reliable. However, that new car would not make its debut on Saturday. The engine block did not make it back in enough time to allow for an install. So, instead, Paul Leung brought out his own car for Mark to drive in Street AWD. Paul, if you don’t know, is one of the two Pauls at Yimi Sport Tuning with the other being Paul Yim.
Not only did Paul have to bring his own car, but he would also have to work as Chief Technical Director for Redline in 2014. That meant he had to work both Tech and tuner for the customer cars that Yimi Sport worked on.
One driver missing from the Yimi Sport Tuning roster was Craig Peyron of Outlaw Motorsports. Instead, for 2014 he has decided to work with Robispec with his Subaru STi. However, Craig would not escape troubles in his car and its debut was short lived. The clutch decided to let go during Sunday practice and required him to be towed in.
Not to worry, the car he ended 2013 in would end up being the Street AWD he would start in; his wife’s Subaru XV Crosstrek. He certainly has a very understanding partner in this marriage. It’s also a great testament to the XV Crosstrek as this would be its second track outing. It does have one disadvantage, though. After a few laps, the CVT transmission begins to get too hot and gets left in a single ratio until it has cooled sufficiently.
Another driver with a huge change from 2013 is Adam Knapik. Last year he ran his FRSport S14 in both the Top Drift Formula Drift ProAm series and in Redline Time Attack. After looking at his own performance, he felt like he needed some changes. Now, he returns with Massimo Power and their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution for Redline Time Attack and the FRSport S14 will continue on as a drift car. Adam also has a website for all of his racing: KnapikRacing.com.
Roy Narvaez is normally seen in his Nissan GT_R built by RD Engineering and Road Race Engineering in Modified AWD. However for Round 1 he would also be in his new toy, an Ariel Atom powered by a Honda K24 and supercharged! This would put him in Unlimited RWD and considering how this amazing car handles, it shouldn’t surprise you. If you haven’t sat in one driven in anger, do it! It’s an experience you’ll never believe until you ride in one.
Finally, Jeff Jordan of Jordan Innovations brought out his supercharged LS-powered, FD-chassis RX7 named JefeFD. After testing at Willow Springs, Conrad Grunewald came back for its competition debut. However, things would go awry after the supercharger belt broke and rather than taking the risk, both Jeff and Conrad felt it would be safer to go ahead and call it a day on Sunday. Speaking to Conrad before the supercharger belt let go, he felt that JefeFD had more in it than the 1:55.xx it showed during Sunday practice.
