Gates311 / AMS Sponsored Evo X – CMP Race Report
On August 8th, 2009, Ryan Gates won his 3rd consecutive Redline Time Attack! race, this time at Round Five at Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, SC. Ryan won the Modified AWD Class, the Overall Modified Class Championship and also set the track record in Modified Class. Ryan is now 4 out of 4 in Modified Class for 2009.
Coming off his dominating win in Nashville just two weeks ago, Ryan and the team at AMS Performance went to work on the car, fixing a few issues while also improving the car. The car was tuned by Chris@AMS on E85, making more power than ever while costing 75% less than the race gas that was previously used. Evasive Motorsports sent a new Voltex front lip and a 1700mm Voltex Type 5 wing. Time didnt allow for the new wing to be installed, but for Round 6 in New Jersey the car will have a a significant aero package for the first time.
Ryan and the AMS Performance Time Attack Race Team arrived in Kershaw, SC early Friday morning. After a few adjustments to the car, Justin@AMS had the car properly aligned in time for Ryan to get a few test laps in before the weekend. CMP was a new track for Ryan, but within just a few laps he felt comfortable with the track and began pushing the car on the new setup. Everything ran smoothly with the new E85 tune, and with the improved low-end torque associated with E85 the car was very fast.
For Saturday practice, Ryan focused on the chassis setup with Bryan from JRZ Suspension. Together, they had the car dialed in very quickly and Ryan was confident that the setup would lead to fast lap times, and it did. Once again using in-car timing, Ryan ran a 1:36.5 lap. With other Modified Class competitors running in the low 1:40s, Ryan didnt make any further adjustments before Sundays Time Attack sessions.
In Sundays second qualifying practice session, Ryan recorded a laptime of 1:38.1, fast enough for 1st place on the grid by more than three seconds. Heading out for the first Time Attack session, Ryan planned to run a conservative time in hopes to secure the lead in Modified Class and prepare for a faster laptime in the second Time Attack session. Ryan ran a 1:38.1 in the first timed session, 2.8 seconds ahead of Sharif A. in the Forged Performance GT-R.
On track in the second Time Attack session Ryan was pushing the car much harder everywhere hoping to improve on his earlier 1:38.1. Unfortunately, Ryan made a few critical mistakes on track and couldnt improve his time. Fortunately, his earlier time was untouched by the other competitors in Modified Class leading to Ryans victory in the Modified AWD Class, the Overall Modified Class Championship and the new lap record at Carolina Motorsports Park for Modified Class.
Looking forward to Round 6 of the Redline Time Attack! series, Ryan, the team at AMS Performance and Bryan from JRZ will focus on chassis setup with the upcoming aero package. At Round 6 of the Redline Time Attack! series at Englishtown in New Jersey, look for another exciting performance from Ryan in Modified Class.
Ryan Gates would like to thank the following sponsors for their incredible support in 2009:
AMS Performance
Nitto Tires
K&N Filters
JRZ Suspension
etnies
Carbonetic
Girodisc
Seibon Carbon
Forced Performance
Double Down Motorsports
Evasive Motorsports
Voltex
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