As some of you know we have been preparing our Forged Performance GT-R for the Pirelli Ultimate Track Car Challenge hosted by Grassroots Motorsports magazine. For those who do not know much about the UTCC event, its a group of highly modified race cars who duke it and find out who has Ultimate Track Car. The winner of the event has some nice prize money put on by the sponsors. Feature article by Grassroots Motorsports magazine with cover, and of course bragging rights for the year.

Sharif and crew took off late this afternoon from our shop in Marietta, GA to compete tomorrow at Virginia International Raceway. We look forward to pushing the envelope of the Forged Performance GT-R to represent and hope to pull off a win. Over the last week she has gotten a few goodies installed to pick up our game! New AMS Billet turbo's for a little more power, Willall Splitter for added downforce, Forged Performance secondary Oil Cooler system for better temps, And HRE track wheels 18 inch with race slicks!

Forged Performance would like to thank all of the Sponsors that have helped with the overall build process of our GT-R.

- HRE Performance Wheels
- Willall Racing
- Nissan Motorsports
- JRZ Suspension
- Aeromotions
- Nagtroc.org
- AMS Performance
- Carbotech Brakes
- Forge Motorsport
- Cobb Tuning
- HKS


Here are a few shots of the GT-R before she went on the trailer this afternoon.






If you are around Virginia International Raceway tomorrow come by and say hello!


Stay tuned for updates tomorrow!

 

Update!

Here was a quick update from Sharif:

Sharif had a minor off. Minor off slow speed no damage. We were just taking precautions and checking wheels and tires for rubbing.

2nd in class overall. One more session to go. Hot as ***** 103f so everyone is going slower.

 

Just got word from Sharif that the car is running a 2:00 flat now. Unsure of his ranking. The Viper acr x did a 1:55. That car is smoking!

 

So I heard they got 2nd place in Shop Varsity Class. 4th Place overall!

Congrats guys! Looking forward to hearing from Sharif and crew!

 

From Sharif

UTCC Race Report!

Well, we made it back! I wanted to thank everyone for their support, especially our sponsors that helped supply many of the products that makes our GT-R among the fastest street legal GT-R in the country.

Track conditions at VIR were outrageous. I thought I had seen it all, but 100F+ ambient anf 87% humidity made for harsh racing conditions. Just about everyone was a couple seconds off their "normal" times, and our GT-R was no exception.

Friday started out very rushed and hurried, as we gridded late for the warm up. After spending 3 laps dicing through slower cars and traffic (66 cars on track simultaneously) I finally got some open track but blew an intake coupler off before completing a timed flyer. So with no real practice to speak of, we convinced the UTCC officials to allow us to start our timed session behind the Viper ACR X. In retrospect, this is precisely where we finished. When the green flag dropped, I found myself closing in on the bumper of the ACR X going into T2, but my cold slicks just didn't want to bite, and I gently spun off into the grass and managed to stay out of everyone's way. Since a four off at UTCC DQ's you for the session, I simple went back into the pits to check the car and regroup.

Now that we had that of the way, the pressure was really on. In the second timed session, I played it safe and wanted to get comfortable with the new slower spooling turbo, the slicks, and the track conditions. Setup on the car was perfect, and we made no changes at all to the shocks, bar, or tire pressure other than bleeding off a few psi all around. I managed a very safe 2:02.

The third session began at around 3pm, and track temps were much hotter than the earlier sessions. I knew that to get on the podium, I would need to shave another couple seconds off my time, while doing it in much worse and hotter track conditions. At the end of the day I did just that, and managed a 2:00.3 which was enough for 2nd in class, and 4th overall out of 66 drivers. As Peter mentioned, the 3 cars that finished with faster times in the 1:54 range were all full race cars with very high power levels, lightweight chassis, and pro drivers. The Forged GT-R weights 3650lbs w/o driver, and still retains much of it's interior, AC (which was really nice in the pits), power windows, and glass. Our car is still tagged, titled, and insured and can be enjoyed on public roads, and is driven by little ol'me. The car ran without a hiccup to speak of, and was very fun to drive. The Willall splitter added some much needed front end grip, and held up to 170mph+ speeds on the back straight, and took curbing like champ. The AMS billet turbo upgrade gave us sooooo much more top-end it was frightening. Bryan Hise from JRZ was on hand to help with setup and lend a helping hand, and of course, HRE with their gorgeous custom C90 18X10.5 and 18X12 wheels framed the Hoosier R100 slicks perfectly.

And in a refreshing change from the norm, this event had some awesome contingency prizes! We earned a $1000 AEM Gift Cert, and a $750 HRE Gift Cert. That's some icing on the cake!

It's good to be back, and thank you the kind words and support. I had a blast, and this event is something I will remember for many years to come. Special thanks to the entire Forged crew for building not only FAST, but very reliable cars that can perform flawlessly on track.

 

Congrat's...seems pretty cool. What cars where in this class?

 

Shop Varsity is the second "fastest" class. Uber Varsity is reserved for tube frame cars, and over the top GT1 type mods and factory backed efforts, open wheel track day cars..etc..etc.

Shop Varsity this year included:

Viper ACR X (factory backed and prepped race car)
997 GT2
Subaru WRX Sti Heavily Modded 500whp+
Ferrari F430 Challenge
Modded Z06's and Vipers

Sharif

 

Borrowed some of these pictures from Grassroots Motorsports website.


1st place overall.
Class: Uber Varsity
Vehicle: Hemi Challenger Race car. 800whp, Lightweight, Absolutely Insane!
Driven By: Phil Currin

(Right Corner)
2nd place overall. 1st in Shop Varsity.
Class: Shop Varsity
Vehicle: Dodge Viper ACR X. Factory prepared race car. 650whp, and light!
Drived By: Kuno Wittmer


3rd Place overall. 2nd in Uber Varsity.
Class: Uber Varsity
Vehicle: Porsche GT1R Racecar built by TPC Racing.
Driven By: Michael Levitas


4th Place overall. 2nd in Shop Varsity.
Class: Shop Varsity
Vehicle: Nissan GT-R
Driven By: Sharif Abdelbaset


Check out the video!