Brad has been a busy racer this year. He’s breaking serious ground in his all new TORC Pro 2  short course racer, and despite his insane racing schedule (and as such, his insane on-road driving schedule) he found some time to talk with Charlene Bower on the Bower Power Hour. From why he considers himself a professional cleaning team & how many spare body panels you’ll need per season (answer is a good one), to what’s changed the most for Brad since he started, it’s a fantastic show with deep insight to all things racing.

Brad’s interview kicks off at 6:57, but best to let this one play start to finish.

Spidertrax | Thom Kingston | CC BY 3.0

We’re just a few days away from the 2nd installment of this year’s Ultra4 European Tour. King of Wales, formally King of the Valleys, is set for this Friday in its familiar Walters Arena home. For those heading out, or thinking of heading out, below is a ton of information that will be helpful in making the most out of your trip, courtesy of Ultra4 Europe.  Be sure to subscribe to our blog, we’ll be posting race recaps and videos of this race as the action unfolds later this week. Read more…

DsquaredRacing |© All Rights Reserved

This year’s Glen Helen was one hot race. Not weather wise, temperatures were quite forgiving for a change, rather the racing was as intense as one could hope for. While I love reading editorial race recaps from photographers and promoters, nothing beats a recap straight from the racer themself.

Enter DsquaredRacing, the race team makings of husband & wife Darren and Darlene Henke. With their Spider 9 IFS powered Ultra4 racer, they dish it out every race, and as racing goes some races are better than others. They had a commanding position for most of their Glen Helen weekend, until a jump decided it wanted the best of their front chassis (bulk-head). As such, their finish wasn’t quite where they wanted it to be, but their story is still one worth listening to.

You can read their entire race recap BY CLICKING HERE. Also a fun mention, Darren & Darlene are running Spidertrax 40 splined IFS front diff shafts, they are the first team to install and test these. A bit untraditional as it requires a spool, but for those IFS racers looking for a similar setup you can purchase these shafts by calling an order in. They are not a standard stocking item (which is the reason why it’s not on the website), but they are certainly available for purchase.

Spidertrax | Thom Kingston | CC BY 3.0

Just received a 2015 Glen Helen race recap from Derek West, and wanted to share that with you here. It’s well worth the read, especially given just how consistent Derek has been this year. He’s almost always consistent, he’s the guy you bet on in Vegas if you want good odds, but with his new Spider 9 powered Jimmy’s 4×4 Ultra4, he’s 100% in the game this year. With that, enter Derek West’s race recap from Glen Helen.

Consistency is key
Top 5 finishes in every race so far this year

The Jimmy’s racing team had a rough start when the front drive shaft flew out at a speed close to 100 mph on the back stretch. The damage included a crushed exhaust system which would have to be fixed. The team rushed to replace the drive shaft and fix the exhaust to get on the track for qualifying. With just a few minutes to spare the team had the car fixed and Derek was on the track and qualified in the fifth spot. In the first heat Derek started 3rd and was looking great until a sensor wire came loose from the engine, which then wrapped around the drive shaft and took the lower engine harness wiring with it. Again, the #20 car was towed back into the pits to be repaired. This put the team in the last chance qualifier race (LCQ) fighting for a chance to make the main race. Starting 3rd in this heat as well Derek quickly made it to the front only to have some more problems forcing him to make a quick pit stop. Once the issue was addressed Derek was back on track and pushing hard to catch up as the entire field had passed by. Derek managed his way back up to the front of the pack to finish 3rd which would advance him to the main race.

The Nitto Tire/ NorthStar Battery car was in the 39th position, the second to last spot. The race leader was starting three and a half minutes in front of Derek with the staggered start. “I was just determined to catch as many of the racers in front of me as I could and still keep the car together so I could get a decent finish. During the last hour of the race, the track conditions were brutal!”, said Derek. The race lasted for a little over 2.5hrs and at the end Derek and team had secured a 5th place finish. This would be enough to increase their 1st place lead in the Nitto national points championship as well as the move into 2nd in the western division.

www.yanastancheva.com | Yana Stancheva | © 2015 All Rights Reserved

Jim Marsden was already a household name in Europe, his versatility as a driver and relentless push for 1st makes him a force to be reckoned with. Throw some Spider 9s underneath his signature Land Rover… and he’s simply unstoppable. Jim has done what was previously considered the impossible this year. He has taken 1st place in all the big 3 European endurance races, the French Xtreme, Croatia Trophy, and now just recently the Breslau Rally. It’s a story that will go down in history, we can still hear the team celebrating all the way from across the ocean.

Jim put together a race report from Breslau, it’s well worth the read. You can download that PDF here. Congrats Jim and the entire Gigglepin Team, it’s an absolute blast working together!