Hankook Levin Racing / Carl Rydquist: 24H of Nürburgring

City Tire’s Formula Drift and Porsche-racer Carl Rydquist is a regular in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring these days. Backed by Hankook Tire’s global motorsports office, he was sent to Germany to charge for a position in the top 10 together with professional Porsche team Hankook Levin Racing.

The team’s Porsche 911 GT3 RSR is a state of the art 996 model, with a Porsche Motorsport 3.9 liter engine and a specially developed suspension kit for the fierce and fast Nordschleife – “The Green Hell” as named by legend Jackie Stewart. However, against many of the worlds absolute top drivers from DTM, WTCC, F1, you name it, it would be a challenge, as always at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring.

It was clear that with the new Hankook rubber, the Hankook Levin Racing Porsche was even faster this year than before, although the race organizer had limited the performance for several front running cars with restrictors, choking the earlier 526 horsepower to a still impressive 455 horsepower. Rydquist worked hard with the team engineers and the Hankook tire engineers through practice sessions, to gradually improve the lap times, one sector at a time.  

Come qualifying, the car was getting up to par with the main competitors that were shooting for top 10 finish of the race. With a few unknowns and a car catching fire on track, some time was lost on the Friday, one-shot qualifying lap, but 32nd spot was successfully brought home.

   – “It was a good lap with the car as it was at that point, maybe there’s a second or two to cut down but you can’t really push all in every section on the Nordschleife with a bit of an unknown setup,” says Rydquist. “The main thing however was that car blowing an engine in front of me which made another car slide off the track and then come flying back onto the track, right in front of me. I saw it coming and could avoid an incident, but of course lost some time. However, it’s a 24 hour race and it is obviously a much tighter field this year which means a great race for everyone involved or watching. We have some more suspension changes coming for the race.”

The 37. ADAC 24 Hours of Nürburgring had two new classes invited this year, one with FIA GT3 regulations giving those cars a very competitive edge, as many as 19 cars squeezed in, from pole position ahead of 4 time winner Manthey Racing ‘s Porsche 997 RSR up till 30th position, in front of the Hankook Levin Racing team.

   – “It wasn’t a big surprise to see that there would be many fast qualifiers,” Carl tells. “These cars came in with virtually fully spec’d vehicles and in many cases different weight limits, however 24 hours is a different thing and tank capacity, weight, etc has a much greater bearing than during a qualifying lap, which the race would show once again. Surely though it is some type of benchmark, so we compared the times within the top three classes from the last three years and in that field we qualified on 13th.”

When the race started, it was obvious that the last minute changes decided by the engineers, based on Carl’s feedback, was a hit. The Hankook Levin 996 GT3 RSR with Rydquist behind the wheel started the first two hours by chasing down several 997’s and despite getting a front tire damaged by carbon fiber debris on the track, Carl handed the car over to his team-mate Martin Morin in 25th position.

   – “We made a big leap with the last few changes of the car”, Rydquist explains. “Much faster in every turn, it was great work and great decisions made by the Hankook Tire personnel. It was a thoroughly great experience to be racing around this track in such a tight field, and experience how the Hankook tires kept the grip throughout the stints, it was really a competitive advantage. I was a good bit down on power out of slow and medium turns, but could actually make it up going into turns and carrying speed through some combinations where it seemed my lines were simply faster.”

Disappointingly for the whole crew and all fans, from Sweden to California to Korea, following the race, the oil/water heat exchanger suddenly broke during Morin’s stint. Martin cool headedly saved the engine by keeping the temperatures down while returning to the pits, and the team changed the parts at super sonic speed, however, the whole engine needed to be dropped to access the exchanger, which is never a quick job.

– “It was an awful experience when this happened,” Carl reveals. “I’ve been mad sometimes after races when having been hit by some competitor on track and ended up in the dirt or had some mechanical failure, but those times were nothing compared to this disappointment. We were having a grip around the situation, with a great strategy and more to give as the race would unravel.”

The team decided to charge on, kept it going and picked up a lot of positions during the night.

   – “The car just got better and better. For the night we ran a softer tire and the harmony in the car was great. I handed it over with a feeling that we could make even better than calculated, the car was running very well on the softer tires.”

But again, mechanical problems arose. The clutch jammed in the night and with another engine drop necessary to solve the problem, there would be too much distance to make up, to try to get even close to top 20. The team decided to save the hours on the drivetrain and other components, and come back stronger in another race.

   – “There are no words really to describe it,” Carl tells. “We were just getting the hang of it, challenging some of the world’s best teams and drivers, factory backed teams from Audi, Porsche, Lexus, BMW, VW, numerous of professional FIA GT teams and tire manufacturers. It was a fantastic lineup and we were bit by bit getting the car to run really fast on the impressive Hankook tires. They were really great to race on and the competition was amazing. I loved it, that’s why it was also very hard to get over. We hadn’t actually started to push really hard, saving the car for the last 8 hours of sprint during Sunday. And the worst part of it; there’s no real reason. Both components that failed were new assemblies. It shouldn’t have happened.”

                                                                                                                Photo: Larry Chen / Driftfotos.com 

Leaving Germany, new missions were and are awaiting Rydquist. Formula Drift in Las Vegas is coming up, a true highlight of the Formula D season here. The City Tire / Kallusive Clothing 350Z Twin Turbo will sport new lightweight body parts from AIT, providing him with an even faster and more maneuverable car. Also, Carl is scheduled to help AE Performance to setup their Porsche 996 GT2 for upcoming time attack events. Expect to see some great lap times from this beautiful machine. In the meantime, Rydquist has been staying sharp by tracking a slightly improved Porsche 996 Turbo with Speed Ventures, blowing some fully built racecars on slicks out of the water.  Read more and see pictures and videos from the City Tire / Kallusive Clothing team on:
www.kallusive.com

http://blog.carlrydquist.com

www.citytireonline.com/news 

www.formulad.com

www.hankooktireusa.com 

Hankook Levin Racing & ADAC Zurich 24 Hours of Nürburgring Nordschleife:

www.24h-rennen.de 

www.global.hankooktire.com

www.levinracing.se 

CONTACT INFO:
John Shin, City Tire team owner
1-888-977-TIRE

At the airport.. To go where?, originally uploaded by john@citytire.

To visit our buddy Carl driving the 24 hours of Nurburgring in the Hankook Levin Porsche RSR.

This is how much we love Carl Rydquist., originally uploaded by john@citytire.

Long line to check into security.

Ritual CTO flight beer…., originally uploaded by john@citytire.

Paul from Hankook Tires doesn’t rest…. Always working.

Looks like we made it.., originally uploaded by john@citytire.

Landed in Frankfurt. Now onto customs then hit the Autobahn!

Look who we ran into…, originally uploaded by john@citytire.

Charles from Kallusive joined us

The rental, originally uploaded by john@citytire.

Audi A5 for autobahn

On the Bahn, originally uploaded by john@citytire.

Freeeeeeedom all the way to the “Ring”

Finally made it to Nurburgring., originally uploaded by john@citytire.

At last!

Found the car, originally uploaded by john@citytire.

Nice

And found Carl, originally uploaded by john@citytire.

Said the car is running great on Hankook tires.

Staple German food, originally uploaded by john@citytire.

Brat and beer

Pistenklause Restaurant, originally uploaded by john@citytire.

Famous race guys’ restaraunt near Nurburging track.

Dinner is served on stone., originally uploaded by john@citytire.

The steak is served raw to cook on this stone. Delicious!

Home sweet home., originally uploaded by john@citytire.

CTO headquarters for the next couple nights. I’ll take more pics tomorrow night. We had to search for over an hour, we are so tired. and its time to crash.

Good morning Germany, originally uploaded by john@citytire.

Our lovely accommodations.

Parking lot???????, originally uploaded by john@citytire.

Best looking view from any parking spot I’ve ever had.

Race had started. Carls clocked in 2 hours., originally uploaded by john@citytire.

Well deserved rest jumping from 32 to 26th so far with an emergency pit for a leaky tire.

Levin/Hankook Porsche RSR, originally uploaded by john@citytire.

The car we hope wins!

Uh oh!, originally uploaded by john@citytire.

Broke a pipe for heat exchanger. Fixing now.

Ready to rock n Roll again., originally uploaded by john@citytire.

This team is so dialed in.. It’s amazing.

Carl’s out doing his thing., originally uploaded by john@citytire.

He progressively getting faster to make up some time from a long pit earlier.
The crew as shown here… Is getting a well deserved rest.
It’s going to be a long night still…
16 hours left.

Carl pulled in from his stint., originally uploaded by john@citytire.

Running really fast.. Gained 19 spots!

More brats., originally uploaded by john@citytire.

Street vendor style.

Half past 2AM the car retires., originally uploaded by john@citytire.

Loss in clutch pressure. Could be repaired in about 30 minutes.. But that would calculate to a finish after the top 20. So the team has called it. Thank you Levin Racing and Hankook tires for a once in a lifetime race to remember. Better luck in 2010.

Wrap party, originally uploaded by john@citytire.

Open bar trouble!

After party gathering., originally uploaded by john@citytire.

All the teams here for a post wrapup dinner and party.

I can’t believe its over…, originally uploaded by john@citytire.

And we are heading back to the house. Great times!

On the Bahn.., originally uploaded by john@citytire.

Back to the airport.. Paul’s driving and we just hit 240 kmh.. Weeeeeeeeeee!!!

Traffic on the Bahn, originally uploaded by john@citytire.

If this is traffic… Man being back in L.A. is gonna suck.

Road scenery is beautiful everywhere., originally uploaded by john@citytire.

Its pretty much like this the entire way.

Pauls so focused, originally uploaded by john@citytire.

He’s turning into Ze German

Stopped by a small shopping center., originally uploaded by john@citytire.

Checked it out.

Found a chair for Carl., originally uploaded by john@citytire.

A good chair to fit our giant Swedish driver.

Bye bye Kallusive Charlie., originally uploaded by john@citytire.

Poor guy is on a different flight with a 6 hour layover in San Francisco. See ya back at home.

See ya guys back at home., originally uploaded by john@citytire.

Thanks to all for helping us travel to 24 hours of Nurburgring 2009. The most memorable race I’ve ever been.

Stopped by HKS, originally uploaded by john@citytire.

So many goodies.
A great company that has always built and developed quality tested aftermarket parts.
Please inquire about HKS parts via email to sales@citytireonline.com

CTO/Kallusive 350Z and Carl made it out to San Bernardino for a little Demo at the NOS Center after the BBQ. Car was looking beautiful!

A briefing by Naoki to all the drivers on a little competition format they laid out to finish in 15-20 minutes time for all the 909 Fans!

Carl’s Lead lap was laying down the rubber for the NOS Fans, they loved it!

After about 1 run and a half the Tires were gone from the huge plume of smoke Carl was laying around the oval.

Came back from Atlanta today, eventful Formula D competition for us this time with a Fri night gearbox change, but also a lot of positives such as a super great Georgia crowd and me getting a OMT in top 32 tandem by outrunning McNamara’s 6,7 litre V8 Saturn Sky.

It was very close this time that I moved up to top 16. Even though the City Tire / Kallusive Clothing 350Z is still a little bit the heavy side, it is very competitive thanks to the impressive Hankook tires and our superfast Carbonetic diff. Here is a video just to show how good these products are.

Formula D – Atlanta Carl Vs DMac Run2 from John on Vimeo.

I love the Carbonetic diff btw, I can’t hear it, at low speeds it never makes any fuzz or puts any noticeable strain on bushings and suspension components, I can’t feel any sort of snap when it engages or disengages. It is almost funny, like I can’t feel it is there. But when I go for it, it just does what it is supposed to. I’d say this was the biggest performance boost we added during the winter.

Rundown of our event:

Thu:
Had some struggling with the setup during Thursday practice, car was sort of snappy. Lowered the rear end a bit, it got better but the car was still not responding well to aggressive driving. I was feeling calm for qualifying anyway.

Fri:
During Fri pre-qualifying practice I had a couple decent runs but the gearbox started to give me a hard time going from 2nd to 3rd gear. This was becoming a big problem as it is much needed at this track.

During my first qualifying run I was both conservative and wanted to make a line that would allow using only 3rd gear around the horseshoe, in order to keep some momentum and drive around the gearbox issue. It wasn’t very great but I just had to get a score to get into top 32 and I did. The 2nd run I wanted to try a normal run and bump up a good bit of points, went in with a good entry, hit the clipping points, better line around the horseshoe… But at the upshift 2nd to 3rd the gearbox completely refused and my run was lost.

The team started the hunt for a new gearbox and in the meantime I went to night practice (for top 32 only) to try and make something useful of using only 3rd gear around the horseshoe, I had time to make it work. However, in my second practice run, 3rd gear completely broke though, it was just like neutral.

Sat:
At 5 am Saturday morning, the car had a new gearbox, with the help from a lot of parties, most of all Carey from Team Dynamics for taking the lion part changing the box for us, and Drift Emporium for helping us out with a gearbox. There are not enough ways to say thank you for the help through the blog, but it is being taken care of elsewhere, however huge props for those guys. Also huge props for Michael Essa Tech Trix and Taka Aono for having all tools and lights necessary, so we could do the job. Obvisouly also major props to City Tire John for working it all out with everyone and both him and Charlie Kallusive Clothing for staying as we all worked with Carey on through the night.

We got a few hours of sleep from 6am-10am and just after noon we arrived to the track to fill up gearbox oil. This box felt soooo much better right away.

A side note to the tranny swap, while working on that I also found something that was really off with the rear suspension, compared to how I set the car up during pre-season testing and how I had it for Long Beach. This was not how I wanted it for Road Atlanta. I fixed it and after this, the car was back to Long Beach performance again with much more grip, more smoke, more everything. Here’s a vid from Saturday warm-up.

Formula D – Atlanta Carl’s Practice Run from John on Vimeo.

Did some good practice runs and some crazy ones to see just how far I could push the car, and some different things to vary the entry. I upped the boost in the Technoasquare VQ35 a bit to match the increased grip, Road Atlanta is tough, one needs a lot of power there, and it was hot and humid like crazy thoughout the whole weekend.

TOP32:
Started top 32 against 3rd qualifier McNamara, he wasn’t running at all as fast as rumors were saying. The weight difference between our cars was very obvious though coming into the first turn, man he slows down fast. But my Endless stoppers are wicked and his long e-brake ride only got me closer; knowing the sector times around the track I was feeling very confident. My only miss came later, I was getting too much on the inside around the horseshoe and I had to correct my line, this was completely my own fault.

Leading I created a gap early and I never really felt any presence of another car on the track. Later seeing the video I have no idea what he was doing. The judges voted one more time. Time to go again.

This time my tandem was closer at entry. I had a little wide first turn (I was just pushing it to – and a little past – the limit) but again with my Hankook rubber and the Cabonetic diff I had zero trouble to catch up without sacrificing too much angle.
Coming out of the horseshoe, I was getting closer but unfortunately the transition down at the final turn didn’t work out for me and I spun, which sucked big time (!). I felt I was getting a grip around this match, so this spin-out was a big disappointment.

My next lead run I just ran my line again but since I had spun he really just had to make sure to not get a zero. On the good side, this guy went on to win 2nd overall, losing only to Forsberg, after a One More Time there too.

Overall I am very happy about the outcome of the event. With several problems, we worked around it all and gave a podium winner a good challenge. We have learned a lot and we are making big progress each event. We are also seeing that the small improvements we make on our Hankook-shod City Tire / Kallusive Clothing 350Z each time is moving us forward step by step. And to be honest, in the tandem, there was nothing failing in the car, I was my error. I can make it a little easier for myself now by reducing the weight of the car, to at least be within a couple of hundred pounds to the competitors, but I will also make sure to get more seat time in the car before next event.

Now we are taking a short break to go to the 24 Hours of Nurburgring, where I will be racing the Hankook Levin Racing 996 GT3 RSR. During this break, the City Tire / Kallusive Clothing 350Z will be cleaned up, and as we come back there will be an intense, major weight reduction campaign and we will add some minor aero work. We also have some general stuff to do to tighten the car up. Preparation is everything.

Thanks to all who support the City Tire / Kallusive Clothing team; Hankook, Technosquare, Carbonetic, APR, Zeal, Endless, South Gate Collision, Everitt Boles Motorsports Insurance, all the awesome Georgia fans that came out and the FD and Road Atlanta organisation for another well run event. Congrats also to podium winners Forsberg, McNamara, Tuerck.