[Rich Sandor]

Here's a link to the video clip that Global aired tonight:

http://canwest.a.mms.mavenapps.net/mms/rt/1/site/canwest-globalbc-pub01-live/current/launch.html?maven_playerId=globalbcallvideo&maven_referralPlaylistId=24845d5c80768d2d50c292ff8 e60a971d5a69e38&maven_referralObject=3456042


No, it's NOT a NASCAR race! :)

January 22 - 25, 2009
http://www.grand-am.com/images/tracks/TRACKLOGO-Daytona11.jpg
http://www.grand-am.com/images/tracks/track_daytona.gif
3.56-mile, 12-turn speedway road course

http://members.shaw.ca/rsandor1/bulletgt3.jpg

The 24 hours of Daytona is the first big North American race of the year, and one of our local Vancouver racing teams is heading down to dominate the GT class in a 2008 997 GT3 Cup. We are aiming for a very feasible PODIUM finish. For such a small team, going up against the big guys like Fahrnbacher Lowes and TRG is going to be nothing short of EPIC.

Steve Paquette (team owner of Bullet Racing) has been racing locally for many years in his red twin turbo 993-look 911. This year, he's teamed up with some amazing local drivers, including Ross Bentley, Glenn Nixon, Keith Carter, Cindy Stevens and Carlos Tesler-Mabe.

Bullet Racing proved it belongs in the Rolex Series at the Rolex 24 at Daytona last January: Placing a priority on preparation the Bullet crew crafted a flawless performance in their 996 GT3, staying on track for the entire 24 hours, climbing 25 positions in the GT class and finishing an attention getting 14th in its first ever Rolex appearance. Their KONI performance entry was equally impressive as their 996 carved through the field from the 60th starting position to score 18th overall at the one hour marker.

And this year, Bullet Racing is partnered with BC Children's Hospital.

So NEXT weekend (Jan 22-26) tune into the 24 hours of Daytona and watch the car with the maple leaf SLICE through the field!

http://members.shaw.ca/rsandor1/bulletgt3a.jpg

[FeistyBearH22a]

interesting... Never heard of Bullet racing before. Good luck to them. =)

[91civicZC]

KICK ASS!

Will this be on "Speed"? Is there a time?

Very cool to see some local people out racing! Is there a place where we can go to get more info on the cars?

[Blinky]

Awesome!

Their 996 was gorgeous in the SCCBC booth last year. I'll have to keep an eye out for them on Speed's coverage.

http://www.speedtv.com/schedule/filter/program/800562/timezone/pt

[Rich Sandor]

I'll be keeping an eye on on TV coverages and giving updates too. I was going to fly down with the team, but our funding is super tight and I need the money for my own race car - so I'll be watching from home. That said, I'll have live updates on my cell phone from my buddy, the team manager. :D

It will be truely awesome to see an ALL-Canadian team, proudly sporting the big maple leaf paint scheme all the way down in Florida, and a podium would be the cherry on top.

[Mashimaro]

Best of luck!

Keep us updated on the results after the race! :thumbsup:

[Rich Sandor]

BTW, if you want more information on the team & cars, go to: http://www.bulletracing.ca/
(You can also donate to BC Children's wish if you want to)

Here are some Youtube clips from last year's Rolex24@Daytona and our new 997Cup Testing at Carolina. (If you've done any track days with ProFormance in Mission, you might recognise a few of the instructors!)

r25LLX5fpm0

EhZicjayydc

[Blinky]

Um, excuse me, but my pants are a bit messy after that second clip.

Thanks Rich.

[!Tigger]

is it goign to be on speed?

[Rich Sandor]

Yes. Jan 24th at 1:30pm PST (Part 1) and Jan 25th at 4:00am PST (Part 2)

Remember it's a 24 hour race in Florida, so there is some time zone delay..

TSN and other cable sports networks will probably have some coverage as well.

It is a huge race.

[jstn86]

good luck guys!! go kick some ass down there.
i'll try to contribute to BC Children's wish foundation as well.

[SkunkWorks]

An all-Canadian, "underdog" team that benefits the BC Childrens' Hospital, I don't think I could ever ask for more. :)

Best of luck guys!

[Vancouver240sx]

don't forget to support another local driver Michael Valiante:

Valiante Quickest in "Roar Before the Rolex 24" Opening Day

Valiante fastest driver in three practice sessions Saturday; Sunday's testing starts at 9 a.m.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 3, 2009) - Michael Valiante ran the fastest lap of the day in the No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley, leading the opening round of the "Roar Before the Rolex 24" at Daytona International Speedway.

Valiante ran a lap of 1:41.760 (125.943 mph) to lead the first day of the three-day session in preparation for the 47th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona Jan. 24-25, the opening round of the 2009 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16.

The "Road Before the Rolex 24" continues Sunday with practice for the Rolex Series and Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. The test concludes Monday, with practice from 9 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. Spectator admission is $10 both days, and includes access to the Sprint FANZONE and Grand-Am garage areas.

"The car is working real well, and the team has been phenomenal," said Valiante, who will be running his first race with Michael Shank Racing, co-driving with AJ Allmendinger, John Pew and Ian James. "The team is working well together in the short amount of time I've been here, and they've made it real easy for me to come in and drive the car. We've been working well since the first test here in October."

A total of 49 cars - 20 Daytona Prototypes and 29 GT - participated in the opening day's testing, with 52 teams filing entries for the event.

from: http://www.michaelvaliante.com/

rich

[Death2Theft]

I've always wondered how sponsorships from hospitals work? Is the team giving money to the childrens hospital? Cuz i certainly dont see why the hospital would be paying them..

[shenmecar]

Hospital pays them to advertise in turn people donate to the hospital i guess?

[Rich Sandor]

Children's hospital does not give the team any money. The main advantage is that any business has the opportunity to be advertised along side a charitable cause. We were trying to get some successful local businesses to hop on board, but I don't think anything materialised in time for Daytona. The economy certainly isn't helping either.

There are various ways to donate, here is a link to the BC Children's Hospital website:

http://www.bcchf.net/bulletracing/

[Rich Sandor]

There will be a six-minute interview on Global TV tonight at 6pm - watch for it! I will try to youtube it later, if I can.

[Rich Sandor]

Here's a link to the video clip that Global aired tonight:
(awesome GT3 audio!! :D )

http://canwest.a.mms.mavenapps.net/mms/rt/1/site/canwest-globalbc-pub01-live/current/launch.html?maven_playerId=globalbcallvideo&maven_referralPlaylistId=24845d5c80768d2d50c292ff8 e60a971d5a69e38&maven_referralObject=3456042

PS, that is last year's 996 GT3. This year we are running a new 997 GT3, which is currently garaged in Daytona.

Oh yeah, and it turns out I'M GOING TO BE THERE AFTERALL! :D I just got my tickets and I'll be crewing with the team for the race this weekend. Pics + more when I get back!

[Black SC2]

Here's a link to the video clip that Global aired tonight:
(awesome GT3 audio!! :D )

http://canwest.a.mms.mavenapps.net/mms/rt/1/site/canwest-globalbc-pub01-live/current/launch.html?maven_playerId=globalbcallvideo&maven_referralPlaylistId=24845d5c80768d2d50c292ff8 e60a971d5a69e38&maven_referralObject=3456042

PS, that is last year's 996 GT3. This year we are running a new 997 GT3, which is currently garaged in Daytona.

Oh yeah, and it turns out I'M GOING TO BE THERE AFTERALL! :D I just got my tickets and I'll be crewing with the team for the race this weekend. Pics + more when I get back!

Awesome opportunity man, good luck to you and the rest of your team.

[vo_hantu]

Good luck =)

[Vancouver240sx]

Awesome rich!!! Good LUCK!

[kc1337]

holy shit, vancouver is making its mark in the autosports world! best of luck to them!

[skyxx]

Best of luck to the team!!!! :)

[Black SC2]

Anyone watching this right now? Great racing in the Prototype class right now with an hour left. Better still, I've seen flashes of the Bullet Racing car across the screen a few times too. Looks like thay've made it a fair ways through the race, though down quite a few laps. I'm guessing they may have had some problems overnight, but got it rolling again and are still charging. Never say die, eh!


Edit: They brought home 19th in the GT class. Not bad at all, especially for a small team from Western Canada.

[Rich Sandor]

I think our car was jinxed. We broke a control arm & balljoint, and we broke FOUR half-shafts, and at some point kissed a tire wall. The car spent 3+ hours in the pits out of 24 hours. Our techs worked their hearts out to fix the car every time it came in, they were definately the stars of the show. If we hadn't have had any issues, we would have finished 3rd or 4th in class, based on the consistancy and time in pits of the other faster teams. The other teams, by the way - TRG and Farnbacher, were running multiple cars on retardedly large budget.

Despite all the problems, we NEVER gave up. We kept running the car right up until the last lap of the 24 hours, with some of us barely having slept at all, but for a 10 min nap here or there.

The last hour was very amusing to watch. I wanted Donohue to win, but I expected JPM to pull some aggressive stunt on the last lap. I guess he's getting older and more mature, although that didn't stop him from nearly mowing down in the pits in his golf cart on Saturday.

I have literally 1000's of pictures. I will post some of them when I get home in about 12-14 hours.

[Black SC2]

Well done! The last hour and a half were all I saw. Definitely some great racing though. Angelelli had a good push towards the end too, I thought he had a chance. I guess when the cars are that ragged, you can't count on them at that point in a race to be consistent.

[Rich Sandor]

Here are some behind-the-scenes pics from our team manager, Jeff. From pre-testing all the way to post race.

There was a HUGE crowd behind us at staging, when everyone discovered that Patrick Dempsey (Grey's Anatomy, Made of Honor) was behind us. Damn near had to fight people off! He was a great guy though! Max Papis was to our left in the Ferrari, also chatting everyone up!

http://pics.bulletracing.ca/main.php?g2_itemId=3255

[Vancouver240sx]

one of the drivers has the Blue version of my helmet... man it looks good!!!!!! maybe I should have waited... great post!!!! Thanks for all the pictures!!!

rich

[!Tigger]

^ what helmet is that?

[Blinky]

Way to go, local guys!

The Bullet Racing car got some screen time when being lapped by the Protos... and Bullet Racing was actually mentioned in name in the last few hours of the telecast.

Thanks for the photos Rich. It's especially funny to see the shots of the grocery run (contrast vs the custom catered stuff that the pro teams had, as shown on Speed on Saturday!). That broken control arm -- whoa. How was it discovered? I always thought that broken suspension bits were discovered in ... dramatic... fashion.

[Vancouver240sx]

his helmet:
http://pics.bulletracing.ca/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=3514&g2_serialNumber=2

mine:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a5/VanRich/oversteer.jpg

rich

[Rich Sandor]

Thanks for the photos Rich. It's especially funny to see the shots of the grocery run (contrast vs the custom catered stuff that the pro teams had, as shown on Speed on Saturday!).

Yeah, it was funny - we were all eyeing the neighbouring teams when they got their fancy take-out food brought into their pits. But you know what, the food that we got was free, and was plenty. In retrospect, it's good we didn't eat TOO much because it woulda made us feel bloated and more tired. (you don't normally consider these things, but it's true!)


That broken control arm -- whoa. How was it discovered? I always thought that broken suspension bits were discovered in ... dramatic... fashion.

It was dramatic!! It broke off, and the tie rod was the only thing holding the wheel straight. The arm was banging against the front wheel and totally dug into the wheel. We had to file it down, it was gouged real bad.

[seakrait]

the chinese in me would have blamed your woes on the car's number.

but good job nonetheless. it's always a treat to see canuck underdogs going up against the big boys....

ps: what kind of helmet is this? ----> http://pics.bulletracing.ca/main.php?g2_itemId=4462

[Mananetwork]

Unacceptable!

http://pics.bulletracing.ca/main.php?g2_itemId=3777
http://pics.bulletracing.ca/main.php?g2_itemId=3782