Hi everyone, we are back in town and all caught up from a very successful weekend at Sebring. Redline Time Attack finished off their east coast swing with a stop at the historic Sebring International Raceway, which is one of my favorite tracks. As expected in central Florida ambient temps approached 100F, and 70%+ humidity coupled with 125F track surface temps made for a very tough day for competitors. Based on previous experiences at the track, the general consensus was the track was 3-4 seconds slower than a “typical” day at Sebring while many competitors were unable to complete even one flying lap due to the temps, and the amount of wide open throttle usef on this very long 3.7 mile 17 turn circuit.

On Saturday, my objective was to get comfortable with the completely new wheel and tire package we’re running in Modified Class. We switched to 18 inch R888’s in size 305/35/18 up front and 335/30/18 out back mounted on those beautiful HRE C90’s 18X10.5 and 18X12 wheels. With Alex, our crew chief, and Bryan Hise from JRZ waiting in the hot pits, I made 2 complete laps around the circuit and brought the tires up to full competition temp. Sebring’s bumpy surface, and liberal use of concrete tends to make the GT-R push on corner entry. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case even with the wider tire out back. Only in the slowest of right turns, did I feel a bit of understeer, followed by neutral/slight oversteer bias from apex to track out. Although I could live with that, I knew we had to dial most of the understeer out to set the fastest laps around this course. So I dove into the hot pits and we made tire pressure changes up front, and one click softer in the front to help gain some compliance on turn in. The adjustments helped a lot, and were inspiring a lot of confidence. Throughout the day, we got faster and faster, and ended up setting the fastest practice time overall with a 2:18.7. Back in January, I went even faster, with worn out R888’s so it gives you a reference point as to how bad the track conditions were. By the end of Sat, things were looking really good for the Forged Performance GT-R, as well as the two other GT-R’s that pitted with us. Catseby Jones, who’s GT-R we prepared for the 2010 One Lap of America race was right behind me, followed by Will Taylor (GoTurnStop/Underpressure). The rest of the field stacked up behind us.

Sunday was the big day, where the real competition starts and ends. Two of my biggest competitors, Ryan Gates EvoX, and Turn In Concepts Subaru Imprezza Sti where having major issues with their cars, and we were unsure if they would make the race. Ryan Gates ended up calling it a day, as his car would not cooperate this time, while the guys at TIC completely rebuilt their engine the night before using the concrete paddock is their work space…ouch! We pushed as hard as we could throughout the day, and ending up finishing in 2nd place with a time of 2.17.9. I was very surprised we didn’t beat the TIC car, as I had previously bested him a few weeks back at VIR. This was when I noticed he was running full racing slicks in the class which we all know are prohibited. He was 1.5 seconds faster than me on those tires. The official word from RTA, is that the Continental/Hoosier Grand Am GS Spec racing slick was issued a waiver to compete in the modified class as they feel that the Conti/Hoosier Slick is a slower tire than the NT-01/R888. Although I disagree strongly with this assessment, it’s not my series, and I don’t make the rules or make the waivers. I hold nothing against the guys at TIC, as they were allowed to run the tire, so they did just that. Ok, enough of my crying about the tires. I know we have a faster car on comparable tires, and that’s good enough for me.

I wanted to thank all of our sponsors, especially Nissan Motorsports, JRZ (Bryan Hise), HRE Wheels, Cobb Tuning, AMS Performance, and the entire crew at Forged Performance. You won’t meet a more dedicated and passionate group of individuals in this business, and it’s always a pleasure partnering with you all. These guys keep our GT-R running as flawlessly as it runs today and are always available to share technology and R&D. And I wanted to recognize all our friends, clients, and fans for coming out and watching and supporting us through the long hot weekend. You guys are great!

As a side note, I also entered the Forged Performance Porsche 996 GT3 in the Super Modified RWD class, and finished in 2nd place with a 2:24, and just a few hundredths of a second away from first! Not bad for a mostly stock car, and stock drivetrain.

Thanks, and we look forward to seeing you all on track in the near future!

Sharif

Check out the video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcHRQvExh7w&feature=player_embedded

Hey guys,

Just wanted to share the news and coverage of the most recent NASA race at Road Atlanta. It was a hot weekend and the cars were fast out there! Sharif managed to pull off a 1:29 in the GT-R with old race tires, and track temps recorded at 115 degrees He got 2 first place finishes in TTU. Sharif even had some time out in the Forged Performance GT3 to play around in HPDE.

What a weekend!  Thank you everybody who came out and showed us support!

We also would like to congratulate some of our customers  who placed in their class as well.   In TTU Class Mark with his  GT-R came in 3rd place.  In TTS class Khoi  came in 1st Place with his Corvette, and Mark won 3rd place in the Viper.  Congrats guys!

Sharif and the rest of the Forged crew are heading to historic Road Atlanta to race in the NASA Regional Time Trials. The team’s goal is to challenge for the overall TTU class track record of 1:27. It’s very rare to see ANY cars at Road Atlanta dip into the low 30’s let alone the high 20 second range, so this promises to be a very exciting weekend for the entire team and all of our fans and customers. Look for our 48 foot rig in the main paddock area, just behind the hospitality chalet.

The Forged Performance Motorsports Team is pleased to report another podium finish at last weekends Redline Time Attack Event, at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Driver/GM Sharif Abdelbaset was able to close out the season in the Forged Performance GT-R with a 3rd place finish timed at 1:44.9, edging out Russ Warr in the LIC Motorsports Subaru who captured fourth place about 1 second behind. Competition out west was far greater than anything they had seen thus far , but were able to finish 2/10 seconds behind Mike Cronin Jr. in the Fontana Nissan GT-R. Once again the Forged Performance GT-R performed flawlessly and encountered no problems. What’s even more remarkable is this was Sharif’s first time laying eyes on Autoclub Speedway and the very intimidating Turn 1 and Turn 2 banked oval section where he saw speeds exceeding 170mph.

The car ran beautifully all weekend long with a Forged Spec Cobb AccessPORT calibration. The Willall transmission cooler and fluids, along with the JRZ triple coilovers allowed us to push harder than ever. The addition of the Aeromotions R2 Active rear wing helped shave nearly a second off Saturday’s practice times which were run without active aero. All of the fast track GT-Rs are running this type of wing, and it’s proven incredibly effective.

The team would like to thank our sponsors for 2009: JRZ Suspension, Toyo Tires, HKS,Willall Racing, Volk Racing, AP Racing, Cobb Tuning, CBRD, Aeromotions, and NAGTROC.ORG

After a well earned off-season, coming off our second place victory in the Unlimited RWD class, Forged Performance heads to the Autobahn Country Club, in Joliet, IL, for the 3rd Round of the Redline Time Attack Series on June 20-21, 2009.

This will be the first of 6 stops for the Forged Performance Motorsports Team, debuing their 2009 Nissan GT-R in competition.

The team has spent hundreds of hours of on track, and off track testing, while preparing the GT-R for competition. The team is extremely pleased with it’s performance so far.

As he did last year, NASA Pro Driver, and Time Attack veteran, Sharif Abdelbaset (Forged GM) will be piloting the GT-R around some of the best circuit courses in the country.

“This year’s Modified AWD stands to be the most competitive in the history of Time Attack. We’re prepared to goto battle with some of the finest drivers and teams, including the Takata STi of James Elterman, and the AMS Evo X driven by Ryan Gates”, proclaims Sharif Abdelbaset.

And with the Forged Performance GT-R in race trim, and perfectly dialed in, it’s sure to be a crowd favorite. See you all at Autobahn Country club on the June 20-21, 2009!

UMS Tuning with the dyno power test

Where do I begin!? We just returned from the Modified Magazine Tuner Shootout in Phoenix, AZ. This was truly a once in a lifetime experience for me. It’s not often, that we get the opportunity to compete against 12 of the top tuners in the country, across all of the major motorsports disciplines: Dyno, Autocross, 1/4 mile, and Time Attack.

Let me start by saying, that we’ve been asked to maintain an information blackout until the article is published. You will find a 10 page article in the August issue of Modified Magazine, which hits the stands in July. That said, lets get started with a quick recap, and my reflections on this terrific event.
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Loading up the GT-R

Forged Performance was fortunate enough, to be invited to this year’s Modified Magazine Tuner Shootout!

As David Pratte from from Modified Magazine writes, “Just like the previous two years, Modified Mag’s third annual Tuner Shootout event will be a no-holds-barred competition where the fastest tuner cars go head-to-head in the most popular and accessible forms of motorsport, namely 1/4-mile drag, autocross, and time attack, plus a power test on the dyno. The car that posts the highest score in these four events combined will be crowned as Modified’s Tuner Shootout overall Champion. We will also crown a winner in each of the three drivetrain configuration classes: FWD, AWD, and RWD.”
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