Hankook-sponsored driver David Empringham has set a Buttonwillow Raceway record in his Mitsubishi Evo 8 while riding on Ventus Z214 DOT R-compound tires.
“We wanted to break the record on DOT tires in order for the new record to be respected, and after looking at all the options it became obvious that the Hankooks were the only tire capable of providing the grip and speed in order to achieve our goal,” says Empringham.
“It has been a personal goal of Dennis Kottke, owner of Sierra Sierra, to build a car and team to beat the track record and it took countless hours for our team to get to this level,” he adds.
The previous top performance record was set more than three years ago, and many thought it was impossible to beat, according to Jason Kim, Hankook’s motorsports marketing manager.
“Confirmed by Redline Time Attack officials,” he reports, “the 1:43.436 laid down by Empringham busted the official track record by nearly 0.10 seconds.”
Empringham also won Overall and Super Modified AWD honors at the event.
Hankook racers claimed six class victories and eight overall podium finishes: Andrie Hartanto, using the Ventus Z214 tire, captured the win in the Super Modified RWD category. In the Drift class, Conrad Grunewald piloted his Hankook Chevrolet Camaro to first with Ken Xu placing second, with both drivers using the Ventus R-S3. Paul Dentice (Enthusiast RWD), Clint Boisdeau (Street FWD), Mike Bonnani (Street RWD) all took class wins, with Carl Rydquist (Modified RWD) taking second; “Fast and Furious” actor Paul Walker was in the mix as well – all were riding on the R-S3.
“It is a remarkable achievement,” says Kim of Empringham’s historic run. “Sierra Sierra Enterprises worked tremendously hard to get this victory and the coveted track record.”
Empringham is en route to Down Under for his next event as he competes in the May 22 World Superlap Battle in Australia.
For more information, visit www.hankooktireusa.com.
