Summit Point , WV September 3

This past weekend’s annual SCCA Mid Atlantic Road Racing Series’ Labor Day Double Regional Race weekend at Summit Point Raceway Park capped off a stunning reversal of fortune for the Hankook Tires/Flatoutracing.net team which started the 2007 SCCA season with disastrous fortune.

After a very successful rookie season in SCCA’s competitive ITA division which saw the team finish second in the championship with four straight victories to end the season, the Hankook Tires/Flatoutracing.net team looked set to continue the same trend at the season opening 2007 MARRS 1 race with principle driver, Jon Kofod on pole for the first race and out to a commanding lead with only a few laps left. Then disaster struck when a terminal engine failure took the win away. The team then experienced a similar engine failure just two weeks later at the VIR Regional Double.  The team ended the first three races with no points in hand.

“We knew at that point we were out of the ITA title chase and started exploring our other options” stated the team’s crew chief Sean Banerjee. Literally the same day the second engine failure occurred the team came up with the plan to exploit an SCCA loop hole to switch over to the faster ITS class where the team would be battling BMW 3 series, Porsche 944’s, Mazda RX7’s, Datsun 240Z’s and other Acura Integra’s. This meant switching engines with very limited time to make Round 4 of the MARRS series.

“We had a lot of unknowns and not much time to develop the car,” stated Kofod. “We had no time to build a proper race motor and literally didn’t know if the engine we acquired would even last a race weekend but we had no choice but to chance it”.

The motor not only lasted that first weekend at MARRS 4 but then continued to power Kofod to five consecutive podiums, finishing either first or second in every race against much better prepped competition.

This past weekend Kofod took two podiums at the Labor Day Double  finishing 2nd on Sunday at Round 8 and a 3rd place finish on Monday at Round 9 to clinch the Mid Atlantic Road Racing Series ITS Championship.

“I have to thank both Hankook Tires and my crew, both at the track and at the shop (Curry’s Auto Service, Inc.). It would have been easy to pack it in after three straight DNF’s but my crew never let that thought set in and we were literally planning our next move within hours of our DNF at VIR.  We had so many unknowns entering a new class with little time to prep the motor but the one variable we never had to worry about was Bill Bainbridge, Jeffrey Kohler and Hankook Tires Motorsports crew’s support and the performance of their Ventus Z214’s. Within the first four races of entering ITS we had two poles, two wins and two second place finishes,” notes Kofod. We couldn’t have done it with Hankook’s support.

In addition to Kofod’s ITS success this past weekend, Hankook scored two additional victories in the MARRS ITA field when rookie Chris Perra, in his #1 1991 Acura Integra RS scored pole position, fastest laps and wins in both races. Kofod had just recently convinced Perra to switch over to the Hankook Ventus Z214’s for this past weekend’s races and Perra wasted no time in proving the speed of the Z214’s when he bested the current ITA track record by a blistering half second. He then went on to record the two fastest laps in both races and will likely win the MARRS ITA title on Hankook Tires at the next race.

With one race left on the MARRS calendar Kofod and Hankook will be looking to close this championship season out with another win to cap a tremendous turnaround to the 2007 SCCA MARRS season.

About Hankook Tire America Corp.
Headquartered in Wayne, N.J., Hankook Tire America Corp. is a technology-focused, market-driven company that supports motorsports enthusiasts and racers at all levels. Hankook is known and respected around the world for its superior competition tires that outlast the toughest opposition. Hankook remains at the forefront of performance tire development to achieve cutting-edge results. As Hankook expands its motorsports activities, the focus will remain on technology that will keep Hankook equipped vehicles in the winner’s circle. Hankook is one of the largest tire manufacturers in the world, manufacturing a wide range of tires for almost any vehicle. For more information please visit Hankook Tires on the web at www.hankooktireusa.com.