NEWS: Conrad Grunewald Drift Update: 2013 Camaro Project

Our sideways star from the states, Conrad Grunewald, driver of the Hankook/Top 1 Oil Chevrolet Camaro in the USA Formula DRIFT Championships has just sent us this exciting update on his 2013 new car build. Bring it on! 

Conrad says: "Hi drift fans! I'm currently in North Carolina where my team is getting a new car built for the 2013 Formula DRIFT season. Working with B.R.E. Motorsports last year at Road Atlanta gave me an opportunity to see first-hand how much capability, knowledge and experience they have. From fabrication to engine building to paint and body, B.R.E. is one of very few independent tuning shops in the US that can build a competitive car from the ground up. Beyond the cars they build, their professional track support was also a huge help. So they were the obvious choice to build my new Camaro for 2013.

"We started off by having the stock chassis acid- dipped. This eliminated about 60 hours of tear-down time. It also reduced the weight of the car by 30 pounds before we started cutting out non-essential steel from the body. From there, we tig-welded a chromoly roll-cage, and the quality of the fabrication is the best I've ever seen. Next steps are adding the carbon fiber body panels, measuring the OMP seat and steering wheel for fitment, and getting the engine bay ready for placement of a Chevrolet Performance engine. I'm extremely pleased with B.R.E. Motorsports and their work on the car so far. Looking forward to planning some testing days with Ashley van Dyke once it's ready!"

And you will be able to read all about Conrad's new project here on the daily updated FREE Road blog (where we publish a FREE monthly magazine) and also with images and video on our Facebook page – why not LIKE us there? And follow us on Twitter too here. Thanks and seasons greeting everyone.

PS: If you like reading about Conrad and his drifting, why not check him out in our Road magazine FREE here too?

VIDEO: Pirelli World Challenge - Mid-Ohio 2012 Round 10 Highlights

Bit of video to bring to life the story of the incredible K-Pax Volvo S60's featured by www.ashleyvandyke.com in the latest issue of www.roadmagazine.co.uk. Great racing in the Pirelli World Challenge at Mid-Ohio. Read all about it here: http://www.issuu.com/roadonlinemagazine/docs/road_28/1

BLOG FEATURE: Pirelli World Challenge by Ashley Van Dyke

Here's another fabulous blog feature by our talented USA correspondent Ashley Van Dyke () – coming from the awesome Pirelli World Challenge at the Mid-Ohio circuit. Ashley says: "Hey Roadies! I've just returned home from a long trip over to the Mid Ohio Sports Car Course for the Cadillac Grand Prix Presented by StopTech. It was an eventful weekend with 100 plus degree temps and then thunderstorms. Crazy to imagine going from being too hot to needing a jacket and experiencing rain the very next next day! (Try any meet in European motorsport AVD, Ed). It was sure a lot for the teams and drivers to manage and try to call the right race strategy.
The double-header weekend saw no shortage of excitement. The fans were out in full force and the venue was jam-packed... just like the Pirelli World Challenge paddock. Randy Pobst stole the show winning the race on Saturday and Sunday in the ace K-Pax Racing Volvo S60 (pictured). He was so fast and the car was hooked up really well. Behind Posbt the action was hot battling it out on track for position. The series only has one more event now leading into the final championship round and will head to Sonoma August 24th. Congrats to Cadillac for sealing up the manufactures championship win! More to come on that... 

Meantime, you can watch the fabulous races from Mid Ohio on www.world-challengetv.com and follow them on Facebook and Twitter (@WCRacing) to stay updated and in the loop! There will be a juicy article on the recap of the entire weekend coming out in the next issue of www.roadmagazine.co.uk. Stay tuned!" Thanks AVD! 

Oh, and if you can't wait to see more of Ashley in action on our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/roadmagblog. Please like & share us... and follow us on Twitter @roadmagazine.

NEWS: Ashley Van Dyke's New Website

Our talented, glamourous USA correspondent, Ashley Van Dyke has launched a new AVD Motorsports website – check it out here: http://www.avdmotorsports.com. She says: "The first step in any client engagement is to lay out the objectives, scope and measureable business results of the project. These goals are defined through an intensive, cross-functional, cross-hierarchical process that AVD Motorsports calls 'fusion.' We go beyond the initial scope to forecast and look out for the long-term interests of our partners and clients. AVD Motorsports is consistent with client-focused delivery; we amaze our clients with the business value we deliver and their positive experience working with us. We create maximum value by deploying innovative ideas and approaches. We inspire exceptional results from every member of the team and maintain an open and honest work space between employee and client relationships." Ashley and team offer:
• Motorsports Marketing
• Brand Management
• Public Relations
• Event Planning
• Viral Advertising
• Social Engineering
• Mobile Applications
• Digital Communications
• Multimedia Production
• Experiencial Marketing

We recommend her work highly at Road HQ. Get involved... 

NEWS: Road Works!

Road Magazine & blog is having a bloody well-earned rest folks... sorry! We'll be back in action in July, with lots more great news, videos and more here on the daily-updated blog. And, of course, in our ace FREE monthly magazine, read by over 900,000 people in 30 countries. Meantime, there's almost 1000 posts on here to amuse or bemuse you and more than 30 FREE magazines to enjoy here: http://www.issuu.com/roadonlinemagazine (or click on the 'Read Road Magazine FREE Here: Back Issues' link above). And there's plenty to see on our Facebook pages too: http://www.facebook.com/teamroad and http://www.facebook.com/roadmagblog. Thanks for all your kind comments, likes, shares, tweets (@roadmagazine) etc. folks. We really appreciate the loving, positive feedback and support for our efforts producing a free blog and magazine for you, day in day out. Meanwhile, if you are after a decent motoring hit in our absence, see our good pals at http://skiddmark.com/. "Love you, byeeeeeeeeeeeeee....!"

BLOG: Ashley Van Dyke: Long Beach Toyota GP Fun In Sun

Thanks to our lovely, glam Road Magazine USA correspondent www.ashleyvandyke.com for this ace blog report from Long Beach. Enjoy! Ashley (pictured, by John Grafman) says: "What started as your usual festivities for the Toyota Grand Prix at Long Beach was a beautiful morning at the street circuit and shiny race cars ready to play for the press. The teams loaded in and were set-up to give media ride-alongs and the Toyota Celebrities were on hand to get practice laps in their Scions before next weekend’s big race. I was onsite supporting Conrad Grunewald, Formula D driver and Road Magazine star (see: http://issuu.com/roadonlinemagazine/docs/road_15/1). The bionic Camaro looked fabulous and Conrad was laying down some of the best drift runs of the day, getting closer to the first turn wall than anyone else. In drifting, it’s big bragging rights if you can kiss the wall, leaving only the smallest evidence on the paint. Job done Conrad! Awesome!
"About midway through the morning, I began to wonder why a gorgeous exotic sports car was just sitting in the paddock, untouched!? A 2012 Lotus Evora S was parked directly next to Conrad’s Hankook pit trailer. I had to get the skinny on this… so I called up Lotus Cars USA and it turns out the car was at the track just begging for someone to take it for a few hot laps! Done...
"It was the best media day in the history of my Toyota Long Beach events. I honestly couldn’t have planned this to go any better. I had an amazing time putting the power down in the Lotus, on a street course that is one of the most desirable circuits to drive in North America. The car was wicked fun to handle and I was passing Camry pace cars left and right during the session! Had to watch out for ALMS GT traffic, which was interesting! I’ve always wondered what it would be like to have a World Challenge Porsche chasing me down!!...don’t worry, I moved over and pointed them by. ;)
"It was even more good fun as Conrad Grunewald took the wheel in the Lotus Evora S and gave some media hot laps for our friends Ann Profit, Rutledge Wood and the crew from Motorator. It was a crazy afternoon and I kept busy running around coordinating all of the exciting PR opportunities that were unfolding.
"The Hankook Chevrolet Camaro was a big hit with the Formula D experience and Conrad had a chance to get some of the kinks worked out in the race car. Big racing weekend ahead as Conrad Grunewald Racing heads to round one on the 2012 Formula Drift schedule."
More from our Ashley Van Dyke Formula D next week... have fun in the sun Ashley. Thank you from Team Road and Road readers.
IMAGE: John Grafman