CLOSE CALL FOR HOLLAND & MILLER AT MMP

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 22:02:32 -0600

Compass360 Racing (CR360R) once again delivered Acura's best result in the Grand-Am KONI Challenge Street Tuner (ST) class race at Miller Motorsports Park outside Salt Lake City, Utah. It was the team's fifth time in succession as the top-finishing Acura, keeping the manufacturer in a tight battle with Chevrolet for top honors in the ST class.

Unsurprisingly, a podium was never on the cards for any of the normally-aspirated cars. "At this altitude, the turbocharged cars make a lot more power than those without forced-induction," explained Team Principal Karl Thomson. "Their computers compensate for the thinner atmosphere up here and simply push more air in to the motor. Unfortunately, the non-boosted cars can't do that."

Indeed, the No. 76 Compass360 Racing Fischer Skis/Sunday Group Management Acura TSX was the only non-forced-induction (which includes turbo- and super-charged motors) to qualify in the top seven.   2007 Street Tuner co-champion Trevor Hopwood put the No. 76 Acura TSX in an astonishing third place during Saturday qualifying. "I'm not sure everyone showed their full hand here in qualifying," said Hopwood. "(Technical Director) Ray Lee and the Compass360 guys did a great job once again and I was happy to bring Fischer Skis a good qualifying result out here in ski country. To be up here in a normally-aspirated car shows how hard these guys work when at a disadvantage."

As expected, Hopwood faced the daunting challenge of keeping ahead of the forced-induction cars that qualified behind him, but did a spectacular job of keeping his No. 76 car in the top five during the first half of the two-and-a-half-hour race.
Meanwhile, the other C360R cars made significant improvements on their qualifying positions. SPEED World Challenge ace Robb Holland started the No. 74 Compass360 Racing Honda Civic Si just outside the top 10 in 11th, and took advantage of an early yellow flag to try an aggressive strategy that saw co-driver Christian Miller get in just after the 30-minute mark. "We decided to throw the dice when Robb came in early on," noted Miller. "The car was great and we expected a late-race yellow that would allow the race to come to us."

Indeed, Miller ran a solid third-place for much of his lengthy stint, giving the team's 2009 platform (the Civic Si) some valuable television time.

Jeremy Willard, in the No. 75 Compass360 Racing Pure Shampoo and Body Wash TSX started 27th. He relentlessly picked off the cars ahead until he was up into seventh before handing over to co-driver Kenny Wilden on Lap 17. Wilden continued Willard's progress and moved back into the top 10 after a late-race caution bunched the field.

Newcomer James Rowen, paired with Speed Secrets coach Kevin York, made great strides during the course of the weekend, notching his best time of the weekend during the race in the No. 73 Compass360 Racing GoEnzo.com Acura RSX-S. "I had a great time and learned a lot," remarked Rowen of his first professional event. Rowen's sponsors were impressed with the Miller facility, the level of competition in Grand-Am's KONI Challenge, and the professionalism of the Compass360 Racing team. "We'll be back for more races next year," promised Rowen.

With the race winding down, the No. 73 ultimately finished 23rd, just behind Miller's No. 74 car. "We played it tight on fuel," admitted Miller, "and I got hit from behind while running third which dropped me down the order a couple of laps from the end."

Wilden brought the No. 75 home in ninth for it's second top-10 finish of the year, with Adam Burrows pulling out all the stops to finish a respectable sixth.

"We'll take two top 10s as a great success here," remarked Lee. "The points keep us in the championship hunt."
The season-ending race is at Virginia International Raceway in two weeks. And although the Driver's Championship appears to be all but decided, the Team and Manufacturer's titles are up for grabs, and C360R is right in the thick of the battle. Watch www.grand-am.com and www.C360R.com for details.

SPEED will broadcast this event on Sept. 27 at 3 p.m. ET.
Compass360 Racing (C360R) is the motorsports division of Compass360 Design + Advertising, a firm offering branding expertise to clients in diverse industries across North America and the UAE. For details visit http://www.C360R.com.

Robb Holland Named Head Pro Driver For Genoa Motorsports Country Club

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 23:34:02 -0700

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Holland signs with Lexus

Mon, 1 Oct 2007 20:58:59 -0600

World Challenge Touring and GT driver Robb Holland has signed with DRC Motorsports/ Lexus Racing to be the lead driver on their 3 car GT effort in 2008.