After scoring a remarkable championship in their rookie season of KONI Challenge competition in 2007, Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood returned to the category with an entirely different challenge in 2008.

While most drivers would be recalcitrant to eschew what they were familiar with in order to try something completely different, Burrows and Hopwood instead pounced on the opportunity after being invited to drive for Compass360 Racing, the same team that chased them to the championship in 2007.

Even though that move meant moving from rear-wheel drive to the Acura TSX’s front wheel drive platform, it was a change that the two took in stride as Burrows and Hopwood showed their championship mettle in 2008 by coming through for a pair of big wins and another strong championship showing while keeping a positive focus after setbacks not of their own making prevented a return to the top of the championship rostrum.

"I'd just like to thank Karl and Ray from Compass360 for giving us this opportunity this year, Fischer Skis for hopping on board and making it happen,” said Hopwood. “I also want to thank Adam for being the best co-driver anyone would want. It was an interesting year going to the front wheel drive, having to throw out basically everything we knew was a difficult challenge but I believe we showed everyone in this business that we can drive any kind of car and be fast, smart, consistent and successful. I wish there was another race this weekend!"

The duo formed a fast friendship in SpecRacer competition, and proved to be a potent 1-2 combination the moment they moved to the KONI Challenge ranks.

"I am tremendously proud of our accomplishments this season,” said Burrows. “Admittedly, there was a sense of uncertainty after Trevor and I got our first taste of a front wheel drive racecar at Daytona last January. But, as the season moved forward, we began to get cozy with our Acura. And, as our wins at the Glen and Three Rivers showed, I think we got the hang of it pretty quickly.

“The competition in ST was tremendous this year, and I can't thank everyone from Compass360R enough for giving us everything we needed to get the job done this season . . . all of those guys are simply a massive part of the successes that we had this year,” continued Burrows. “A big thanks also goes to Dave Auer from Fischer Skis for helping us come back to KONI competition for another year and to Acura for giving us a great car to drive all season. Their support was really important. And, of course, a big thanks to my co-driver, Trevor Hopwood . . . for being a bad-ass on-track and a great guy off track."

The season-opening Daytona event was a combined class affair, and that spelled trouble as two GS cars made contact with one another on a restart during the three-hour race, forcing Hopwood to move out of line before the start finish line. That netted a drive-through penalty, but the New Hampshire resident drove his way back through the field to finish 9th to open up the year.

After a four-month layoff, it was back to racing action in May at the defending Champs home track and Lime Rock Park. Burrows sat on the pole in 2007, but an electrical problem in qualifying prevented Hopwood from being able to get a qualifying time in. That set the stage for a huge rally, as the two moved from 46th to 7th at the end of the race without a scratch on the car.

The two got a second race at LRP when Kinetic and Shock Doctor put the Champs in the BMW M3 in GS competition. Burrows qualified 15th, and had moved up into the top ten with ease only to be hit during his stint, spoiling what had otherwise been an impressive weekend in the GS class for the two their first time out.

Then it was up to Mosport, the first of two home races for the Toronto based Compass360R. Unfortunately, this was once again a race determined by the variety of rulings coming from the tower, as a mid-race rule change forced the two to alter their pit timing. So after running in podium position, the two ended the battle up North with a 5th-place result.

Looking to Mid-Ohio, the numerologists were counting on a podium, as the 9th, 7th, and then 5th place finishes begged for a 3rd to keep the succession going. And, for other stats fans, given that the duo who had scored a record number of KONI podiums in 2007, it was surprising not to have seen the two spraying the champagne yet. A strong front row qualifying from Burrows gave good reason to expect a strong finish come race time.

That podium would have to wait, though, as a hub failure and ensuing wheel separation at full speed on the back straight at Mid-Ohio saw Hopwood put on a demonstration of what his co-driver calls “…God’s gift to car control…” as he kept that full-speed problem from being a high-speed crash, collecting the now three-wheeled car and returning it safely to pits. Compass360R’s Ivan Ceccato did an amazing job to replace the full left rear assembly quickly enough that the car was able to return to duty and gather two potentially precious points.

Despite the rally, there was still that ugly “29th” on the results sheet. And while the two refused to rule out anything on the championship front, it was clear that a new approach was needed. So on a track where Burrows had previous GTU experience and Hopwood had scorched the pavement in a GT-1 Corvette, the defending champs added one important element to their racing resume’s with a win at Watkins Glen as
Burrows qualified third with Hopwood bringing it home for their first race win together in KONI competition.

In the Iowa round, it was looking like the two would be making serious ground back in the championship fight, running second with just over 20 minutes remaining on the oval-based circuit. But alas, a half shaft gave out, succumbing to repeated abuse from the small, high-banked oval, and the car stopped. Likely the lowest point of the year for the effort as the sure podium was eliminated, not to mention any hope of championship recovery.

But the up and down season continued its form, as a change of strategy saw Hopwood in the seat for qualifying at Trois Rivieres, taking the front row and then the lead before pitting to turn over to Burrows. On a track that’s notoriously viscous on brakes, the two conserved their equipment so thoroughly and so smoothly, that their enormous gap over the entire field seemed to grow without effort right to the checkered flag.

Motor problems in practice at the new New Jersey Motorsports facility meant that the first laps that Hopwood ever got were in qualifying, and with a huge field on the track, he scored 25th after never getting a clean lap in. So it was Lime Rock Park all over again, as another fight through the field saw the two scored 7th at the checkered flag.

Miller was a fight for best in class, as the 4400-foot altitude meant that the Acura was short of breath when compared to the forced induction machines. Still, Hopwood scored a strong third on the grid before the turbo cars came to the fore and the two came home sixth in the final “short-format” race of the year.

At Virginia International Raceway in 2007, Burrows and Hopwood kept the race pace until they knew they had the championship locked, then motored up onto the podium to close out a strong rookie campaign. Without the championship in play, it was all out as the defending champs were strong to the end, leading 23 of the final laps before the turbos once again came to the fore, with Hopwood and Burrows once again stepping up on the VIR Podium with their second place finish going one better than they had in 2007.

Post script…For those wondering why Burrows was listed as second in the championship, and Hopwood 7th…

That Trois Rivieres pit stop proved to have championship ramifications, as Hopwood crossed the start/finish line at 29 minutes, 40 seconds in the two-hour race before bringing the car in for the pit stop. Alas, Grand Am, which had called the 30 minute rule two different ways in two consecutive Rolex Sports Car Series events, subsequently ruled that the car must be on the track for 30 minutes for the starting driver to get the points. So even though Hopwood had been on the track for that long, he hadn’t crossed the finish line post-30:00, and was thusly not credited points for the win.

So while Burrows finished second in the points, Hopwood did not, even though the duo had obviously the exact same results all year long.

(PR Courtesy Sunday Group Management.)

Labels: reports

SECOND PLACE AT VIR NETS SECOND PLACE IN DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

Alton, VA (4 October, 2008) -— After a full six hours of racing at Virginia International Raceway in the season-ending Bosch Engineering 6-Hour, Adam Burrows came up just 1.436-seconds short in his quest for a third Grand-Am KONI Challenge race victory of the season with co-driver Trevor Hopwood in the No. 76 Fischer Skis Compass360 Racing Acura TSX on Saturday.

Burrows started the race from sixth on the grid, moving up to race as high as third position as he kept the Acura in the lead pack through the opening two hours of the race. Hopwood, who had some field-scything drives through the pack during the 2008 season, was in strong form once again as he moved from 17th after a pit stop to run as high as second on the 3.27-mile natural terrain road course.

A timely yellow flag saw Burrows return to the track after a fleet pit stop for the Compass360 Racing crew as they changed brake pads and got the defending champ back out on course still in top ten position. Several laps after going back to green flag action, Compass360 Racing’s Ray Lee crew called Burrows back in for one final dash of Sunoco fuel to enable him to race to the checkered flag without needing to hold back and save fuel.

That strategic play moved Burrows back up front after as a final yellow flag set the stage for a dramatic final hour of racing to close out the 2008 KONI Challenge season. Holding the point at the restart with nearly 40 other ST entries looking to find a way to fight by, Burrows firmly held on to the point for lap after lap.

With two wins under his belt so far in 2008, he was recalcitrant to give up the race lead as he chased a third trip to the top of the podium with co-driver and friend Hopwood. But the turbo-powered cars proved to be too much and he was forced to relinquish the point in the closing stages of the race, crossing the line just behind the race winner as the third-place finisher secured the KONI Challenge championship.

The result saw Burrows close the year out second in the championship standings, although due to inconsistent on-track officiating, the points reflect Hopwood as sixth in the championship despite the duo’s identical race results.



"Compass360 had an awesome strategy once again -- Ray Lee has done an amazing job calling our races all year long," said Burrows. "Congratulations to Jamie on winning the championship --it’s a great feeling to win a championship, and I know he’s going to be celebrating tonight. You hate to give up the crown, but to hand it over to a driver like Jamie makes it a lot easier. It was tough to lose the lead to Lawson, but getting to second in the championship is great. The reality was that there wasn’t anything I could do to hold him off, he was just too fast in a straight line and even though I was getting everything possible out of the car, he just motored on by me for the lead. Thanks to the Compass360 Racing guys for the job they’ve done all year long, working their butts off for us."

"Congratulations to Jamie -- it’s good to pass the championship on to a friend and fierce competitor like him," said Hopwood. "I was trying to save the brakes as much as I could, but I still made the call for the team to change pads so Adam could fight at the end and that turned out to be the right one. The team had a great strategy once again, especially with that last splash of fuel. Thanks to the boys for all their hard work all year -- we were fast everywhere we went this season."

Labels: reports

Compass360 Racing once again delivered Acura's best result in a KONI Challenge Street Tuner (ST) race, this time at Miller Motorsports Park outside Salt Lake City, Utah. It was the team's fifth time in succession as the top Acura (going back to Watkins Glen (1st) and including Iowa (3rd), Trois Rivieres (1st) and New Jersey (7th), keeping the manufacturer in a tight battle with Chevrolet for top honors in Grand-Am's Street Tuner class.

Unsurprisingly, a podium was never on the cards for any of the normally-aspirated cars. "At this altitude, the turbocharged cars make a lot more power than those without forced-induction," explained Team Principal Karl Thomson. "Their computers compensate for the thinner atmosphere up here and simply push more air in to the motor. Unfortunately, the non-boosted cars can't do that."

Indeed, C360R's #76 TSX was the only non-forced-induction (which includes turbo- and super-charged motors) to qualify in the top seven. 2007 Street Tuner co-champion Trevor Hopwood put the Fischer Skis / Sunday Group Management car in an astonishing third place during Saturday qualifying. "I’m not sure everyone showed their full hand here in qualifying," noted Hopwood. "(Technical Director) Ray Lee and the Compass360 guys did a great job once again and I was happy to bring Fischer Skis a good qualifying result out here in ski country. To be up here in a normally-aspirated car shows how hard these guys work when at a disadvantage."

As expected, Hopwood faced the daunting challenge of keeping ahead of the forced-induction cars that qualified behind him, but did a spectacular job of keeping his #76 car in the top five during the first half of the two-and-a-half-hour race.

Meanwhile, the other C360R cars made significant improvements on their qualifying positions. SPEED World Challenge ace Robb Holland started the #74 Honda Civic Si just outside the top-ten in 11th, and took advantage of an early yellow flag to try an aggressive strategy that saw co-driver Christian Miller get in just after the thirty-minute mark. "We decided to throw the dice when Robb came in early on," noted Miller. "The car was great and we expected a late-race yellow that would allow the race to come to us."

Indeed, Miller ran a solid third-place for much of his lengthy stint, giving the team's 2009 platform (the Civic Si) some valuable television time.



Jeremy Willard, in the #75 Pure Shampoo and Body Wash TSX started 27th. He relentlessly picked off the cars ahead until he was up into seventh before handing over to co-driver Kenny Wilden on lap 17. Wilden continued Willard's progress and moved back into the top ten after a late-race caution bunched the field.

Newcomer James Rowen, paired with Speed Secrets coach Kevin York, made great strides during the course of the weekend, notching his best time of the weekend during the race in the #73 GoEnzo.com Acura RSX-S. "I had a great time and learned a lot," remarked Rowen of his first pro event. Rowen's sponsors were impressed with the Miller facility, the level of competition in Grand-Am's KONI series, and the professionalism of the Compass360 Racing team. "We'll be back for more races next year," promised Rowen.

With the race winding down, the #73 car ultimately finished 23rd, just behind Miller's #74 car, which fell victim not only to the aggressive fuel strategy but to being punted off the track by one of the Cobalts on the penultimate lap. "We played it tight on fuel," admitted Miller, "but I got hit from behind while running third which dropped me down the order a couple of laps from the end."

Wilden brought the #75 home in ninth for it's second top-ten of the year, with Adam Burrows pulling out all the stops to finish a respectable sixth. "We hope Grand-Am will look at applying a performance-balancing formula next year," said Burrows. "At a track like this, the cars that aren't turbo- or super-charged just don't stand a chance."

"We'll take two top-ten as a great success here," remarked Lee. "The points keep us in the championship hunt."



The season-ending race is at Virginia International Raceway in two weeks. And although the Driver's Championship appears to be all but decided, the Team and Manufacturer's titles are up for grabs, and C360R is right in the thick of the battle. Watch http://grand-am.com and http://C360R.com for details.

The Grand-Am KONI Street Tuner race from Miller will air on SPEED Channel on Sep 27 at 3:00 PM ET.

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Compass360 Racing (C360R) is the motorsports division of Compass360 Design + Advertising, a firm offering branding expertise to clients in diverse industries across North America and the UAE. For details visit http://www.C360R.com or email karlt at compass360 dot com.

Labels: reports

TV: Sep 27, 3:00 PM ET--SPEED

Tooele, UT — After taking third on the ST class grid in qualifying on Saturday morning, Trevor Hopwood wondered aloud if the rest of the turbocharged entries hadn’t made full use of their advantage in qualifying.

As the field charged into turn one on lap one of Sunday’s Grand-Am KONI Challenge race at Miller Motorsports Park, he got his answer as a flock of forced-induction machines took advantage of the 4400 foot altitude to swarm the defending KONI Challenge Champions’ No. 76 Fischer Skis Compass360 Racing Acura TSX. But Hopwood fought back and kept the car in the top five through the first half of the two hour and thirty-minute race before turning the car over to fellow Champion Adam Burrows.

Burrows retook to the field on the 4.468-mile track 45th in the overall order and proceeded to make his way back towards the front, closing out the race sixth in the ST class results as the two scored the highest finish of all six Acura entries in the Utah event. But the high altitude setting proved to be too much to overcome as the KONI entries that enjoyed supercharged and turbo charged motors ruled the day out West.

"It was difficult because you would hustle the car and catch up to them, but you get to the last corner right on their bumper and get to throttle before they would, and you could only just watch as they pulled 10 car lengths on you down the front stretch, so you’d have to do it all over again the next lap," said Burrows. "Ray Lee called a perfect strategy, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the turbos. The Compass360 guys did another great job this weekend and now we’re looking forward to closing out the year with another podium at VIR."

"That was one of the most frustrating races I’ve ever had," said Hopwood. "To have to fight so hard but then just completely lose the advantage on the straights and not be able to do anything about it wasn’t that much fun. But, I did have a lot of fun racing with Cunningham. We were both in Acuras and did several laps basically side by side, so that was a highlight for me to come out as the top Acura today. I think we got everything we could out of the Fischer Skis car all weekend and this was a solid finish for the team championship points, so now it’s on to VIR."

Labels: reports

Millville, NJ -- Trevor Hopwood and Adam Burrows scored the best finish of all Acura runners in the Grand-Am KONI Challenge Supercar Life 150 at New Jersey Motorsports Park on Sunday with a run to seventh place after starting the race from 25th on the starting grid in the #76 Fischer Skis Compass360 Racing Acura TSX.

The outcome was disappointing for the duo, as they were looking to build on a hot streak of races that has seen them win two of the last three KONI events. But some setbacks beyond their control stacked the deck against them before they made a real rally to score their 7th finishing position despite a penalty.

As expected, the combination of a huge field and some facility short-comings inherent for a newly built track conspired to create over an hour and a half of yellow-flag running for the two and a half hour race.

Hopwood started the race from deep in the pack, and had made strong progress in the opening laps, only to be set back on a restart when he was penalized for being out of line on the restart. The perceived infraction cost Hopwood a stop-and-go penalty, which he served with annoyance before charging back on track.

“That’s the exact same call they made on us at Daytona and its insanely frustrating because if someone ahead backs off or checks up, you have the choice of hitting them, or moving to the side. That’s what happened again today and we got the penalty. It’s a stupid ruling. We saw with Shane’s (Lewis) accident that drivers need to have the choice of where to go on restarts, so this was really frustrating because we obviously had a very fast car today.”

Burrows faced a similar challenge when he took over the Acura from his fellow KONI Challenge Champion on the second yellow flag period of the race, lacking laps on the track as he headed directly into the heat of battle.

“I was actually happy to have the yellow flag laps initially because it was a good chance for me to get a look a the track,” said Burrows. “So all things considered, 7th from 25th isn’t a bad run. This is a tight track with a lot of dust and gravel off-line which makes passing very difficult. The last twenty minutes were a real battle. I was pleased to move ahead of Kuno and a couple other guys. Pierre snuck by me when I backed off for an incident ahead that made a wall of dust that you couldn’t see through. But otherwise I was pretty happy with the way we finished off this race.”

Labels: reports

Trois Rivieres, Quebec -- Trevor Hopwood and Adam Burrows combined for their second Grand-Am KONI Challenge victory in three races after making an impressive run to the checkered flag at the Grand Prix de Trois Rivieres in Compass360 Racing's No. 76 Fischer Skis Acura TSX on Saturday.

Hopwood qualified on the outside pole on Saturday morning and then moved to the lead once the race started before turning the Acura over to Burrows, who made several strong moves to the front before establishing a nearly ten-second lead on the field.

A late-race caution erased his advantage, but the defending KONI Champ had no problem fending off the advances of Pierre Kleinubing in the final moments of the race, setting the fastest lap of the race after taking the white flag to charge to the checker.

"This is just perfect, to dominate and win a race like this," said Burrows. "We switched roles to have Trevor qualify and me finish the race today, and it worked out perfectly. You have to be conservative with the brakes here, but we were still able to get up front and build a good lead without using up the car at all. The Cobalt Brakes were perfect all the way through and held up exactly as you would hope. I’m really happy to be a winner on this track because this event has so much history, and I’m excited that we are part of it. This feels great, and I can’t thank all the guys at Compass360 enough, they did a great job once again."



Trois Rivieres, set on an unforgiving, concrete-lined and tight street course layout, has seen names like Villeneuve, Tagliani, and Empringham grace the top step of the podium in the over thirty years of the annual August race weekend. Long a student of the sport, Hopwood was happy to add his name to that list of winners at Trois Rivieres.

"I had a lot of fun qualifying this morning and the car was just perfect, the Compass360 guys did a great job," said Hopwood. "I was able to just set a pace and was still just saving the car for Adam. Ray Lee called a great race for us and the car was perfect. It felt great to win at Watkins Glen and this is even better to do it again. We were disappointed with what happened at Iowa, but we just shook it off and now we're back on top of the podium, so it feels fantastic. This is such a great event, that to be a winner here is a special thing, and that we can do that for a Canadian team is awesome. They are going to need a merchandise trailer here for these guys next year!"

Labels: reports

Newton, Iowa -- Compass360 Racing (C360R), fresh off their win at Watkins Glen, brought three cars to Iowa in hopes of scoring their second win in a row.

Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood, who notched their first-ever KONI Challenge win at the hands of their C360R TSX a few weeks earlier, took to the track in their #76 Skunk2 / Fischer Skis / Sunday Management Group TSX, while rookie Jeremy Willard was joined by season-long team-mate Kenny Wilden in the #75 Pure Body Care / Skunk2 TSX. Christian Miller and Benoit Theege, both long-time Grand-Am competitors and Compass360 drivers, piloted the team's new #74 C360R / King Motorsports Honda Civic Si.

All three cars were strong in each session, with the crew working through some early teething troubles with the #74 Civic. Come the end of qualifying, Burrows put the #76 TSX in a strong fourth position, with Willard notching the first top-ten qualifying of his career.

The team knew that this race would be one of attrition. For the front-wheel drive cars, the combination of the tight oval and the tight infield means it's very hard on the drivetrain, which is entirely in the front end. For the rear-drive cars, it's easy to over-drive the car on corner exit, which means you've no tire left to put down the power at race end (resulting in some rather spectacular power slides). And that transition from infield to banking is hard on all of the cars!

Burrows did what the team has come to expect from him: move towards the front. Within a few laps he was second, a position he held until handing over to Hopwood under a mid-race yellow. Although Willard had fallen back a few places from his ninth-place starting position, he was still on the lead lap and handed Wilden a car with lots of brakes and tires, and with nary a nick on the bodywork. After the damage he'd taken in the few races prior, this was the kind of great driving the team knew he'd deliver. Theege and Miller had some troubles during their driver change, which (due to the very short Iowa track), put them a two laps down.



With twenty minutes to go, Burrows was comfortably in second, with Wilden power-sliding his way through the oval banking into the top seven. Miller, though, was on fire in the new Civic, managing to make up a lap and find himself knocking on the door of the top ten.

Iowa is the embodiment of "it ain't over 'till it's over", and so with just a few minutes to go, heartbreak ensued with Trevor's #76 losing a drive shaft going into the infield section, putting an end to their day. "It would have been real scary if that'd happened on the oval," remarked Hopwood. The #76 TSX ended the day in 17th place.

Christian, meanwhile, was turning times lap after lap that were better than the front-runners, finishing a strong eighth. If the race had been longer (or their driver change been flawless), there's no question that the new Civic could have been on the podium. A good event for the new car, then! "I love the new Civic," exclaimed Miller. "It's such a great platform, it's wonderful to give it a top-ten in this car's very first race."

But the glory has to be reserved for Jeremy Willard and Kenny Wilden, who take their first podium for Compass360 Racing, snagging third. It's one of many for Wilden, but it's the very first for Willard, and it's richly deserved. The team cheered the duo as they took to the stage and sprayed the champagne, for what the team is sure will be the first of many. "We knew Jeremy and Kenny were two great drivers," noted Team Principal Karl Thomson. "It's wonderful to see them deliver on the promise we knew they have. I think we'll see more solid results for the rest of this season!"

The C360R team has just a few short days to repair and freshen the cars for their race in Trois Rivieres, Quebec, an event that promises to be at least as exciting as Iowa.

Labels: reports

Two weeks ago I was celebrating Compass360's first win of the season at Watkins Glen. It was fabulous to see Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood take their first KONI win after battling with them, right down to the wire, in 2007. As we all know, they won the championship last year, but my co-driver Billy Johnson and I took the most wins, including one at the Glen. Which means we've won this race two years in a row.

It was a great battle, which interestingly enough came down to a late-race duel with our friends at HART, with Shane Lewis driving their Accord for (what rumor has as) the very last time. It mirrored 2007, when Billy passed Shane on the last lap, managing to hold on to the win. This year, our Acura TSX was out in front, with Trevor holding off Shane as the race drew to a close.

So the roles were reversed: we were leading and HART behind. On a late-race restart, Shane got a massive run going, and tried a move very similar to the one Billy pulled on him the year before. But although the Accord has absolutely astonishing power, it also weighs a lot more and Shane ended up in the gravel trap. I think any driver would have tried the same thing because Shane was not just going for the lead of the race, but was hoping to give the Accord a great send-off after a remarkably successful career in KONI Challenge.

The Accord got going again many places back, which left the race to be decided between our proven TSX and the relatively new Civic Si of Bill Fenton Motorsports, at the hands of the experienced and talented Bob Endicott. At the end it was our Acura on top, and a Honda second, so I know the folks at Honda of America were pretty happy with the result (we'd spent time talking racing and business with them during the weekend since the Indy Racing League (IRL) was on the ticket at the Glen and Honda supplies all the engines for those cars).

Standing in Victory Circle at the Glen, I was absolutely gleeful. I was thrilled for Adam and Trevor, but even more so for our crew, who have persevered through some tough challenges we've presented to them this year, and who always give their all.

We'd started the year well, with Travis Walker and I taking third at Daytona, and being first in the points going in to Lime Rock after some technical problems bumped the top two cars out. But then I got taken out at Lime Rock, barrel-rolling five times in the process and destroying our brand new Civic Si that seemed set for a top-five result. The next weekend one of our TSXs was destroyed in practice, which set us back even further.

But our crew soldiered on. At Mid-Ohio, we gave them clutches to fix and engines to swap. During the race, Ivan went back to the trailer to repair a broken hub on Adam and Trevor's car to get them back out to take a few valuable points (great TV coverage of that, I will admit!). And our crew showed up at Watkins, ready to do what was necessary to win, as they always do.

So as the champagne sprayed, I thought, that this win belongs to the team and our amazing crew. To Adam and Trevor who brought the car home without a mark on it (while our other two cars suffered rather serious damage that kept them from being in the top ten where they belong). To Ray, our Team Manager and my business partner, who brings these guys together and has everything mapped out to the tiniest detail. To Petr, who (like Ivan the race prior) repaired the 73 car after a massive shunt to get it back out to try and get some points. To Turtle, who managed the 76 RSX to a good result, on the lead lap, despite the fact it hit the wall and suffered substantial damage. To Ivan and the 74 team, who finally got the win they deserve! To my father, and all of our team. You guys made this happen, and you do it every weekend. Congratulations, and thank you!

That was brought home to me because, for the first time in the history of Compass360 Racing, I was not one of the winning drivers. While we worked to rebuild the two cars that were destroyed at Lime Rock and Mosport, I'd elected to sit out these mid-season events to ensure that the drivers that signed with us at the beginning of the season continue to get the very best we can give them. I've been calling strategy and doing my part in the pit, which is also good fun, although I'll admit it's not quite the same as being behind the wheel!

Watkins marks our team's sixth KONI Challenge win. I've been driving for five of those, and I'm looking forward to being back in a car soon to challenge Adam and Trevor for the top spot on the podium before the year is out!

Iowa promises to be an interesting race...

Labels: gablog, reports

Mansfield, OH -- Christian Miller scored his fourth consecutive sixth-place finish at Mid-Ohio, keeping his championship hopes alive amid a rather forgettable weekend for the Compass360 Racing team.

With two cars having been written off at the last two race meetings (the #76 Honda Civic Si at Lime Rock and the #75 Acura TSX at Mosport), the team brought last year's Acura RSX-S out of retirement for Miller and co-driver Travis Walker, and arranged for Kevin York to drive in a BMW with Fountain Motorsports (numbered 75 to try and keep some team points) alongside Marko Radisic.

The team's #73 Pure Hair and Body Care TSX promised to improve with the efforts of Jeremy Willard and Kenny Wilden at the helm, while last-year's ST champs Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood were very strong in the #74 Fischer Skis / Sunday Group TSX. As at Mosport, Team Principal Karl Thomson sat the event out, waiting for the return of the team's new Civic.

Practice and qualifying proved all four cars to be strong, the highlight being Adam Burrows' stellar job of claiming the outside pole for the race against very strong competition from the forced induction cars (Burrows TSX was the only normally-aspirated car in the top six).

Meanwhile, Walker had to return to Toronto for a family matter, and the team drafted Thomson's 2007 co-driver Billy Johnson to take the second stint in the #76 Compass360 Advertising / Skunk2 RSX-S.

"It's been a remarkable month," noted Thomson. "I keep looking at (Daytona Prototype team) Wayne Taylor Racing and thinking, 'wow they have rotten luck,' but I don't think ours has been much better! But like Wayne's crew, our guys just keep digging deeper and deeper and giving us the best equipment come race day."

At the start, the team had cars at the beginning and end of the field, Burrows taking the flag and pressuring Owen Trinkler in his pole-sitting Mini for much of his stint. At the back of the pack, York's time in the BMW was short-lived, with the u-joint giving out on the opening lap in spectacular style, blowing a huge hole in the transmission tube and ending the day's race early for #75.

"I have to thank Karl and the Compass360 crew for doing their best to get me into another car after the wreck at Mosport," said York. "We didn't have a great race, but we did do a great job for our sponsor Harper Collins, getting the fans excited about the book 'The Art of Racing in the Rain', which was appropriately titled for today's event!"

On track, while Burrows kept after the first-place Mini, Christian Miller and Jeremy Willard moved up through the field during the first hour, which was remarkably caution-free. Half-way into his stint, Willard was hit from behind by one of the Mazda RX-8s, which compromised the handling of his #73 TSX. Regardless, he soldiered on, while the car that hit him retired with massive front end damage.

At the one-hour mark, Burrows reported trouble in the left rear of the #74 car, and the team called him to the pits. They did a driver change, putting Hopwood in the car, and changed the left rear tire. Hopwood knew there might still be an issue, and was able to keep the car on track when the left rear hub finally sheared off, sending the rim and tire sailing off into the forest. "When Trevor went out, the entire hub assembly came apart," remarked Burrows. "Trevor did an excellent job to keep it on the track and and get the car back in to the pits for repairs. I have to thank (Car Chief) Ivan Ceccato for the job he did getting the entire left rear fixed and getting us out in time to get some points."

And then the rain came. With the track becoming slicker by the minute, Miller in the #76 was called in to change drivers and switch to wet tires. Johnson was in and away, with Willard pitting for tires but electing to stay out to gain some valuable on-track experience in the rain at Mid-Ohio.

Johnson worked to stay with the leaders, and did a fine job to bring the RSX-S home in sixth place. It's the fourth sixth-place in succession for Christian, and keeps him in the Championship hunt, in fifth, just a few points behind Peter Cunningham. Adam and Trevor drop to tenth place, but they are still within fighting distance considering that we've only completed four of ten races this year. Jeremy and Kenny finished 25th, which wasn't really indicative of their pace all weekend. Jeremy, especially, is impressing in his first year of pro racing, and we're looking forward to seeing them in the top-ten soon, as long as they don't get wrecked from behind!

The KONI Mid-Ohio race will be televised on SPEED at 2pm on Saturday June 28th. It should make for some very, very interesting viewing.

Labels: reports

ANOTHER TOP-FIVE FOR COMPASS360 RACING AT MOSPORT
Fifth and Sixth-Place Finishes for Team Despite Challenges at Home Race

BOWMANVILLE, ON -- Compass360 Racing brought four Acuras to do battle at Mosport. The team's bright orange RSX-S, which was taken out of retirement to stand-in for the new C360R Honda Civic that debuted -- and was destroyed -- at Lime Rock, joined the three matte-black TSXs for an all-out assault on the top spots.

Practice went well until the #75 GoEnzo.com / 034 Motorsport TSX was involved in a massive shunt in corner one. The damage was sufficient to render the car unrepairable, while driver Kevin York was fortunately uninjured.

With Kevin and his co-driver Christian Miller sitting second in the Driver's Championship going into the weekend, Team Owner Karl Thomson elected to have Miller drive in his place in the RSX, alongside hot-shoe Travis Walker.

Three Compass360 cars took to the grid on Saturday, Adam Burrows having qualified the #74 Fischer Skis / Sunday Group TSX in a solid eighth place. Miller put the unfamiliar #76 RSX 23rd and Jeremy Willard started the #73 Pure Hair + Body Care TSX close behind in 26th.

Surprisingly, the field managed to run without a caution period until near the one-hour mark of the two-and-a-half hour race. Pandemonium ensued, with cars pitting out of sequence, even before the pace car had picked up the field. Under Grand-Am rules, the pace car will pick up the leader of the race, after which time the faster class (Grand Sport at Mosport) is allowed to pit, with the slower class (Street Tuner) allowed to pit on the second time by. Apparently, a corner worker outside Grand-Am's control was holding a sign that said "Pits Closed" during the first part of the GS window, which threw everything into disarray.

The end result was that no one received any penalties, and the Compass360 Racing cars, which all pitted on the lap they were supposed to (and would not have incurred penalties) lost significant track position.

Prior to the yellow, the #73 TSX of Willard had been hit by a GS car, which threw Jeremy off-track, damaging a rim. He soldiered on and was able to pit during the yellow flag, handing the car to Kenny Wilden, but down a lap.

The second half of the race was marred by a number of caution periods, which meant that the team's two front-running cars weren't able to move through the field with any momentum. At the checkered flag, Trevor Hopwood in the #74 car was narrowly ahead of Travis Walker in the #76, both holding station to garner valuable points.

"The pit stop situation really screwed us today," fumed Crew Chief Ray Lee. "We had a real shot at second and third place, but that one lap pit difference made sure that didn't happen."

"We should have been a couple of places higher," remarked Walker. "But we had nothing, I mean nothing, for the Cobalts." Agreed Hopwood, "Those turbo-charged and super-charged cars are wicked fast! There's no way we can catch them on the straights."

The team is already building a new Civic to replace the one demolished at Lime Rock, but it won't be ready until the Iowa event in early August. Which means that Christian Miller will take Thomson's seat in the RSX for the Mid-Ohio and Watkins Glen events. "It was a tough decision to sit these races out, as I love Mosport, Mid-O and Waktins, and I've had good results at those tracks," said Thomson. "But Christian's doing well in the points and I think we owe it to him to give him the opportunity to stay up there. The fact that he and Travis finished sixth (the third sixth for Chris in three races) proves that I made the right call."

Kevin York, meanwhile, will run with Marko Radisic in the #75 BMW 330i, which is entered as a C360R car but will be run by Jeffery Bock and his Fountain Motorsports team. "Jeff was the first guy to offer assistance when my Civic was wrecked at Lime Rock," noted Thomson. "It made sense to run a joint effort for Kevin in one of Jeff's BMWs for the next two races, flying our joint colors along with GoEnzo.com."

Labels: reports

LAKEVILLE, CT -- After a four-month hiatus, Grand-Am's KONI Challenge series returned to action with a busy Memorial Day weekend at the tight confines of legendary Lime Rock Park. Compass360 Racing brought its four-car team with high hopes of continuing its front-running effort led by Travis Walker and Karl Thomson, who sat atop the Driver's Championship after the season-opening race in Daytona.

Team-mates Christian Miller and Kevin York in the #75 Acura TSX came into Lime Rock sixth, with 2007 Champions Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood (TSX #74) also inside the top-ten in ninth. New to the team were Kenny Wilden and Jeremy Willard in the Pure Hair and Body Care #73 TSX, hoping to notch a good finish to kick-start their year.

The Lime Rock event marked the inaugural event for the new Compass360 #76 Honda Civic Si. The car had shown promise in testing during the weeks leading up to Memorial Day, and would be driven by Thomson and Walker. "The Civic is clearly a car we're in the process of developing," noted Thomson prior to the race, "but the guys built a car that's really good right out of the box, and we think it'll be ready to get into the top-ten."

With 48 cars on track in the Street Tuner class, qualifying was a crap shoot as expected. The session was cut short with a car off-track, which meant none of the C360R cars had the opportunity to set a fast lap. York had the best qualifying, in 18th, with Thomson in 27th and Willard in 36th. Hopwood's #74 car had an electrical glitch that surfaced during morning practice, which the crew had repaired by mid-session, but the early end to qualifying meant that he would start from the very back of the pack.

All of which promised to offer the large number of fans in attendance a very exciting race!

At the fall of the green flag, the C360R cars started moving up the leader board. Most impressive was the #74 TSX of Hopwood, who carved through the traffic into the top 20, after starting 42nd. Thomson also made progress, up to 19th, with York close behind in 22nd. Willard was also making progress, which was hampered by contact with another car which necessitated a lengthy pit stop to remove some damaged body work. He continued on and made up places throughout his stint.

On lap 43, Thomson was tagged by a back-marker while battling for position going into corner one, Big Bend. The contact resulted in a spectacular five-barrel-roll crash, bringing out the second caution of the day. While Karl was getting out of the upside-down Civic, the team pulled their TSXs in for pit stops, the #74 and #75 taking the opportunity to change drivers.



Those team cars had a great battle throughout the remainder of the race, with the Miller/York car coming home sixth at the checkered flag, with the #74 car of Burrows and Hopwood in seventh. "Today we had a great battle between team-mates," remarked Miller. "Adam and I gave each other room to race, and it was really good fun!"

It was an amazing result for both cars, especially considering Hopwood started the race nearly dead last. "We started back in the pack because of the electronics glitch, but Trevor and I couldn't be more pleased with the results considering our starting position," said Burrows. "We're quite energized to be back in the swing of things and overcoming the adversity really sweetened the pot." They're now in third position in the Street Tuner Driver's Championship.

Miller and York are one spot ahead, having finished in sixth place two times in a row. "We all want to win races, but this series is about consistency," explained Miller. "We're going for top-tens every race, and I know we'll be on the podium soon."

The early contact put Willard two laps down, and he handed the #73 TSX to Wilden mid-way through the race, with Wilden battling traffic and crossing the finish line in 22nd position.

The wreck of the Civic move first-place duo Thomson and Walker just outside of the top-ten in the Driver's Championship. "The combination of shortened qualifying and back-markers really screwed up our race," said Walker. "This puts Karl and I back in points, but we'll bring back our Acura RSX for the next few races and hopefully we can win a few so we can get back on top." Indeed, while the crew build a new Civic Si, the #76 duo will return to their front-running RSX-S campaigned by the team in 2006 and 2007.

"While I'm frustrated by my result, I'm thankful to the guys for building such a strong car," exclaimed Thomson. "Big kudos to King Motorsports who built the cage -- it was amazing to walk away from a violent crash like that!" He continued, "I'm really thrilled for Christian and Kevin, and Adam and Trevor, who are now at the front of the stick in points. An amazing job by the team and our drivers!"

The KONI Challenge heads north of the border to Mosport International Raceway for the next round, on the Father's Day weekend. For details, visit Mosport.

Photo credit: Wes Duenkel.

Labels: reports

The Compass360 Racing team made Acura proud at Grand-Am's Fresh From Florida 200, the opening round of the 2008 KONI Challenge schedule at Daytona's famed high-banked track. When the checked flag fell, all three of the team's Acura TSXs were in the top ten, with Compass360 leading the Team Championship, and two of its pilots tied for first in the Driver's Championship.

Having signed talent from the top two Street Tuner cars in the 2007 season, Compass360 Racing certainly did their best to stack the odds in their favor. Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood, the ST-class champions, moved from a rear-drive BMW to the team's front-wheel-drive Acura, joining team principal Karl Thomson, who finished a close second to the duo last year. Travis Walker, co-driving with Thomson, welcomed team-mates Christian Miller (recent Time Attack race winner who also drove a rival TSX for much of 2007) and Kevin York (an ex-Speed Secrets driver coach). To be sure, a very stout driver line up!

Qualifying results saw the team's TSXs spread throughout the field, with Thomson placing his #76 car in a solid sixth position. Burrows, unfortunately, was hung up in traffic, and managed 16th in #74, while York put #75 in 25th.

The team, and drivers, know that qualifying is but one component of a successful race, and that car conservation, pit strategy and racecraft are important to ensure a good finish. And so, the race started very well indeed.

Thomson took advantage of a first-lap bunch-up just after the green flag flew, with a dramatic move from sixth to second by the third corner. He settled into the first part of his stint behind the first-place BMW of Toby Grahovec, with third-place Kuno Wittmer close behind. The three jostled for position throughout the first hour, and when a full-course yellow flag flew within their strategy, all three teams pitted, with the order being Kuno, Karl, and Toby.

Adam Burrows, in the #74 TSX, and Kevin York in the #75, both had made their way up through the field before the race's second yellow flag period, handing their cars off to their co-drivers during flawless pit stops from the capable Compass360 Racing crew.

As the race wore on, Walker held a solid third place in #76, Hopwood was close behind in fifth, and Miller held sixth. With half an our to go, it looked very good indeed for the team.

But as always in Grand-Am's KONI Challenge, the last thirty minutes of any race hold many surprises. On a restart after a yellow flag, Hopwood moved around two slow-moving GS cars at start finish to avoid causing a three-car wreck. Despite the fact that he let both cars back ahead of him before the first corner, Grand-Am officials deemed that he'd "jumped the start" contrary to the rules and was given a stop-and-go penalty. "What's most disappointing about the penalty," remarked Hopwood, "is that not only did I let the two GS guys by, but I lost so much momentum that I also let Peter Cunningham (a SPEED World Challenge champion) by as well, and that was for position." It was something that would not only affect Hopwood's race, but Walker's as well.

With the #74 car of Burrows and Hopwood back in 14th place after the stop-and-go, Miller in the #75 car moved up to fifth. Walker was still third with Cunningham closing. With the end of the race looming, the HART Accord needed fuel, promoting Walker to second and Cunningham close behind. With a few laps to go, the two TSXs battled fiercely for position, coming upon a slower GS-class Porsche. The Porsche held up Walker at a critical point on the infield, which allowed Cunningham by; a full-course caution was called a few corners later, robbing Walker of his chance to get back around his rival.

Miller, meanwhile, was occupied in a battle of his own, a long brake pedal making it harder to fend off the hard-charging Eric Curran in his newly-turbocharged Cobalt SS. Hopwood, too, was battling through the field, bringing his car into the top ten.



With the white flag waving under yellow, the Compass360 Racing team celebrated its first three-car top-ten finish. Thomson (who won the event in 2007) and Walker took the final podium position; Miller and York notched a very strong first event together, with Burrows and Hopwood coming home ninth (a strong result but disappointing because they would have been top-five if not for the stop-and-go penalty).

It's never over until you get through technical inspection though, and with the top two cars being penalized for having too much fuel capacity, the C360R drivers all moved up: Walker and Thomson are now tied for first place in the Driver's Championship, and Compass360 Racing is leading the Team Championship. Miller and York are fifth, with Burrows and Hopwood eighth in the the Driver's points.

"This is an amazing result for our team," exclaimed Thomson. "It's a testament to the hard work by Ray, Petr and the rest of our crew. They've spent a lot of time working on our Acuras in the off-season, and this just proves it was worthwhile."

With a long wait until the next KONI race at Lime Rock in May, the team plans some new driver signings and sponsorship agreements in the next few months. Check http://www.C360R.com for details.


Grand Am celebrates with Compass360...

Labels: reports

Starting from deep in the 97-car field of the Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series' season-opening race, Kevin York of Compass360Racing (C360R) knew he'd have lots of work to do in order to move to the front.

Without any hesitation, his first moves were made on the opening lap with York passing several competitors' cars. York advanced into the top 15 of cars in the Street Tuner (ST) class when, near the mid-point of the three-hour race, a fortuitous caution period occurred on track.

The C360R team took the opportunity to provide service pit stops and driver changes to all three of their Acura TSXs.



York handed an unscathed car over to co-driver Christian Miller -- who continued the charge forward during his stint. Miller drove smartly to fifth place until a long brake pedal on the #75 GoEnzo.com, 034 Motorsport, C360R TSX did not allow him the normally-present great braking of the car. As a consequence, a competitor slipped by, placing Miller in sixth position at the race's end -- which occurred under yellow flag conditions.

All of the Compass360 Racing's team cars finished in the top ten. This was a remarkably strong showing at the season's first race. Karl Thomson and Travis Walker finished third, York and Miller in sixth and Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood, 2007 ST champions, finished ninth.

Labels: reports

2007 Grand-Am KONI Challenge Champions Adam Burrows of Canaan, CT and Trevor Hopwood of Lee, NH, didn’t get their championship defense started they way they were hoping. At the opening round of the 2008 KONI Challenge season at Daytona International Speedway on Friday after an impressive debut with new team Compass360 Racing, their race was spoiled by a costly penalty. The two still rallied to bring the Fischer Skis Acura TSX a 9th place finish in the three-hour event to open the 2008 KONI season.

After Burrows started from deep on the grid for the nearly 100-car field, he quickly found a rhythm and moved up the order before turning the car over to Hopwood in a well-timed yellow pit stop from Compass360 Racing.

After taking a cautious approach to the opening laps on the restart, Hopwood started to emulate Burrows’ progress through the order up into top-five contention before another caution period regrouped the field. On the restart, two GS-class cars had a problem right at the start finish line just as Hopwood was making his way for the green flag, so he was forced to make a quick evasive maneuver to avoid making contact. That caught the eye of Grand-Am officials, eliciting a penalty for passing before the start/finish line, which is not legal in KONI competition.

“It’s disappointing that they called the race differently than the way they said they were going to in the drivers meeting,” said Hopwood. “I know we can’t pass before the start finish line but when those guys made contact and checked up, I had nowhere to go but right by them. We asked this morning, ‘what if the guys ahead of us have a problem?’ and they said ‘no penalty,’ but when it happened in the race, I even let them go back by me again, but I still had to do the drive through so its really frustrating.”



The end result was even more dispiriting given the strong performance of the Acura TSX as the Compass360 Racing team enjoyed a remarkable race outing, as teammates Karl Thompson and Travis Walker took a third place finish with Kevin York and Christian Miller finishing in sixth.

“I’m really happy for the guys today but obviously we were hoping to be up there with them at the end,” said Burrows. “But to come out of here with a top ten, a car that doesn’t have a scratch on it, and a lot of confidence looking at the season ahead makes this result a little less difficult to take. The Compass360 guys did a great job this weekend and Trevor drove his butt off to get us in the top ten after that penalty. We have a lot of racing ahead of us so while today didn’t go our way, we are looking forward to the rest of the season after this long break.”

The KONI Challenge will reconvene in four months time at Lime Rock Park. Burrows sat on the pole in his KONI Lime Rock Park debut last season, so is understandably looking forward to racing on home soil.

“It is quite a while until Lime Rock, but it’s going to be a great event and a good way to get the summer kicked off,” said Burrows, who has a long record of success in a variety of categories on the one and half mile road racing bullring. “Trevor is really quick there and we’ll both have a ton of friends and family there for the weekend so it’s a good weekend to look forward to. Until then, Trevor and I will just keep up on our training regimens and be ready to go again in May”

Labels: reports

Daytona, FL -- After a short off-season the Compass360 Racing team returned to Daytona with plans for another great KONI Challenge season and the hopes of more race wins in their three Acura TSXs.

The team started its 2007 Championship run in fine style, winning the first race of the season with a dramatic run from the back of the pack, and hopes to duplicate that result in 2008.

The Daytona win was the beginning of an exciting year for the team, who's #76 TSX won more races (four) than any other Grand Am KONI ST team in 2007. Two races where contact sidelined #76 -- Lime Rock and Mid-Ohio -- defined the season however, with Compass360 co-drivers Karl Thomson and BIlly Johnson finishing just a few points behind their season-long nemesis in the Turner 330i BMW in the final Driver and Team Championship tally.

This year, Compass360 has tapped the driving talents of 2007's number one car, having signed Turner co-drivers Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood, surprising many in the paddock. "I was excited when we announced that Adam and Trevor would be driving for us in 2008," noted Team Principal Karl Thomson, "But I'm even more excited now that we've had the opportunity to test together."

Indeed, both Hopwood and Burrows demonstrated their impressive skill by adapting quickly to the front-drive Acura TSX platform. "I'm really happy with the team and the car," enthused Hopwood. "(Crew Chief) Ray really impressed me with his knowledge -- he really knows his stuff."

Thomson and 2008 co-driver Travis Walker were quick during Grand Am's Friday practice, posting the fifth fastest time of the day in the team's new #74 TSX. "We were just breaking in the new car for Adam and Trevor," explained Walker. "We worked on set-up and got the package sorted out."

This set-up obviously worked well, as Burrows set the fastest time in ST class on Sunday morning, just a few one-hundredths ahead of a Subaru Legacy and a Chevy Cobalt. Christian Miller, in the team's #75 car, was seventh-quickest, just eight-tenths behind Burrows.

"We are all aware that the competition in ST is going to be very tough this year," remarked Burrows. "I'm really looking forward to taking on that challenge with Compass360. The team and drivers have great chemistry, and the test was very productive."

The team returns to Florida on January 24th and 25th for the opening KONI event of 2008, the Fresh From Florida 200 at Daytona International Speedway. Currently 95 cars are registered for the event, 51 of them in ST class, certainly one of the largest class fields in recent memory. The event will be televised tape-delayed on SPEED Channel.

Labels: reports

While many folks were still shaking off the results of New Year's celebrations, the Compass360 Racing crew was busy at the dyno tuning their TSXs in preparation for next weekend's test days at Daytona, Florida.

Here's a shot of 75 on its way back to the trailer. Both cars will be sporting very stealthy paint schemes for the test day. 75 in its new matte black and florescent yellow, and 74 in all-silver.

Labels: reports