The article that appeared in the July 27 Sunday Mail newspaper, distributed throughout South Australia.
Drewer has the need for speed. (Sunday Mail)
Drewer's droop. (Auto Action)
Article appearing in the July 27th edition of Australia's Auto Action magazine.
Brabs' ALMS Success. (Auto Action)
Article appearing on page 6 of Australia's Auto Action Magazine, July 16. Reports on the results of Aussie's overseas including yours truly.
Living in America. (Auto Action)
Article appearing in July 16 Auto Action detailing the story so far, half way through the year for myself and fellow Australian James Davison.
Drewer and West head for IMSA title. (Clubsport)
Three page article written by John Lemm appearing in the July edition of AMC Clubsport magazine detailing how I made the progression from the junior ranks in Australian motorsport to IMSA Lites.
Drewer wins before spins. (Motorsport eNews)
Article appearing in the July 14 edition of Australia's Motorsport News e-Edition reporting on rounds 5 and 6 at Lime Rock.
Drewer wins race 1 but off-track excursion costs him second race win at Lime Rock.
Tom Drewer has won race 1 at the Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park near Lakeville, Connecticut, extending his lead in the IMSA Lites L2 Championship.
This win takes Drewer’s IMSA Lites L2 championship run to five firsts in five starts.
The young Australian led the L2 class from start to finish after earning L2 pole in the previous days qualifying session.
Lime Rock’s schedule was intense, with two practice sessions and one qualifying session compressed into just the one day.
"Lime Rock was always going to be an interesting weekend for us. Like every track I visit this year it is my first time and what makes Lime Rock more challenging is that we only had two sessions before qualifying to get it right.
I made good progress in practice sessions one and two, and in qualifying reduced my time a further two seconds to finish 7th overall, and on pole for L2.
I would have liked to have been a little higher amongst the more powerful L1s especially after we finished second outright in Utah. I think we could have shown a little more pace in qualifying and in the end fell just short of our goal, due to session being stopped prematurely by a red flag.
It’s such a cliché to say ‘if I had another lap...’ but I think it was true, however, we still met our objective of an L2 pole.”
In race 1, Drewer showed his true pace, setting a new track L2 lap record of 56.145 seconds.
“The race was interesting. With everyone new to the re-configured track we knew there was the chance of carnage over the first few laps so I kept the championship in mind and took a slightly conservative approach.
Once the race had taken a set I knuckled down and set about refining my line and increasing the pace. I ended up taking a further 1.5 seconds off my qualifying performance which was good progress. We also reduced the gap to the fastest L1 driver, Jonathan Goring, from around 3 seconds to just 1.5 seconds. It was great to get another trifecta- the pole, win and track lap record”.
Drewer’s race one lap time qualified him 1st in class and 8th overall for race two and while it looked as if he was on track for a sixth win it didn’t happen.
“The start of race 2 was absolute mayhem. We all went into turn one carrying far too much speed. Everyone was locking brakes. There were cars going everywhere. I lost a few places in that shuffle before they brought out a safety car to clear the carnage.
On the restart I jostled with my team mate Eric Vassian and he took the L2 class lead from me going into turn 1.
From there it was just a case of waiting for a few laps. I could see where I was faster than him and I knew when I got past I would be able to pull away.
Heading up the hill out of the first of the new chicanes we both got stuck behind a back-marker and I pounced. Somehow I managed to thread the car through the gap. How I managed it I don’t quite know. It was awesome. Eric thought it was unbelievable too.
Now in the L2 lead, I immediately pulled a small gap and looking good for another win.
I came up to the back of Anthony Nicolosi’s L1. I knew that if I could get past him I’d have a car between myself and Eric and be able to get a good gap on him in the fresh air. It would have also put me into 6th place overall.
I was faster than Nicolosi but the extra torque of the L1 was making it difficult to pass. I decided that somewhere between turn 1 and turn three was where I had the best run on him.
I was going to take him coming into turn three, but as I set up my car to the outside of 2 he seemed to brake hard and I thought I could get him around the outside.
Instead this forced me onto the dirty part of the track and I had to straighten the wheel as the car tried to snap sideways on me. I aborted the corner and took to the grass.
Unfortunately the car’s front splitter dug into the infield, demolishing itself and my entire front bodywork in the process. Anywhere else and I probably would have got away with it but the undulation in the grass bit me. I tried to keep going but had no front down force and the engine started to overheat as the radiator ducts were compromised. I had to finish my race in the pits.
I was a little surprised that Nicolosi just didn’t let me through earlier; we’re in different classes and not racing for points. So it was odd that he was defending and fighting the position so much. But for the same reason I should have just been more patient. It was very out of character for me to make this kind of mistake. I shouldn’t have been out there- not at that part of the corner. It was low percentage and I take full responsibility. I only have myself to blame.
Fortunately we were classified as finishing fourth in class. So my lead in the Championship wasn’t knocked around too much.
It’s a real shame because up until that move we hadn’t put a foot wrong all weekend, taking class pole for the first race, the race 1 win, and fastest lap with a new Track Lap Record, which resulted in class pole for race 2.
Again this weekend I worked with Randy Aust, my new driver coach and I was extremely happy with the progress we made during the weekend.
Everything was going smoothly. The West Race Team and my engineer Jake prepared a perfect car. We hardly tweaked the set-up all weekend. It was basically perfect straight out of the box.
I felt extremely inspired this weekend after meeting fellow Australian David Brabham on Friday. He is one of my heroes and to talk to him and hear his advice was awesome.
I’m just disappointed because there are so many people who are supporting me back home and I just wanted to give them and the Daily Planet the best result possible. I also wanted to give my father two race wins this weekend- it was his birthday today.
Obviously the damage incurred will also put a dent in the budget for this year as well. But look, as I said, I only have my self to blame. This is my error for the year and it has cost me. I will put it behind me and look forward to the next race at Mosport in Canada."
Drewer's domination continues.
Tom Drewer has won race 1 at the Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park near Lakeville, Connecticut, extending his lead in the IMSA Lites L2 Championship.
This win takes Drewer’s IMSA Lites L2 championship run to five first in five starts.
The young Australian led the L2 class from start to finish after earning L2 pole in the previous days qualifying session.
Lime Rock’s schedule was intense, with two practise sessions and one qualifying session compressed into just the one day.
"Lime Rock was always going to be an interesting weekend for us. Like every track I visit this year it is my first time here and what makes Lime Rock more challenging is that we have only had two sessions before qualifying to get it right.
"I made good progress in practice sessions one and two, and in qualifying reduced my time a further two seconds to finish 7th overall, and on pole for L2.
"I would have liked to have been a little higher amongst the more powerful L1s especially after we finished second outright in Utah. I think we could have shown a little more pace in qualifying, and in the end fell just short of our goal, due to session being stopped prematurely by a red flag.
“It's such a cliché to say 'if I had another lap...' but I think today it was true, however, we still met our objective of an L2 pole.”
In the race Drewer showed his true pace, setting a new track L2 lap record of 56.145 seconds.
"The race was interesting. With everyone new to the re-configured track we knew there was the chance of carnage over the first few laps so I kept the championship in mind and took a slightly conservative approach.
"Once the race had taken a set I knuckled down and set about refining my line and increasing the pace. I ended up taking a further 1.5 seconds off my qualifying performance which was good progress. We also reduced the gap to the fastest L1 driver, Jonathan Goring, from around 3 seconds to just 1.5 seconds.
"It was great to get another trifecta- the pole, win and track lap record. But now we have to focus on the next one."
Drewer's race one lap time has qualified him 1st in class and 8th overall for race two to be held later today at the Lime Rock circuit.
Pair with plenty to offer. (The Advertiser)
Article that appeared in South Australia's The Advertiser newspaper on July 12 reporting on the 'escalating careers' of myself and a good friend of mine, Rhys Newman. Rhys' father Rob helped me during my Formula Vee days in Victoria and South Australia.
Great Start to Drewer's US Campaign. (Clubsport)
Article appearing in Issue 2 of the AMC's Clubsport magazine.
Drewer's new look for Lime Rock.
Tom Drewer heads to Lime Rock, July 11-12, 2008, and the halfway point of the 2008 IMSA Lites season, with a brand new look but the same old approach.
The young Australian driver, who is currently dominating the IMSA Lites L2 Championship, winning all of the first four rounds of the season at Sebring and Utah, has swapped from Australian sporting colours to the traditional racing colours of his sponsor, the Daily Planet, an icon of the city of Melbourne, Australia.
“I’ve replaced the green and gold with the red and black synonymous with previous Daily Planet racing cars in the Australian V8 Supercar and Two Litre Touring Cars categories. But I’m still very patriotic and now there are a number of kangaroos on the car.”
The iconic Daily Planet became Drewer’s major sponsor just prior to rounds 3 and 4 as part of the Utah Grand Prix, held at Miller Motorsports Park.
“We didn’t have time before the rounds at Utah to change the livery, but I guess we repaid the belief and support John Trimble and the Daily Planet have shown in the best way possible by winning both races at Utah with Daily Planet on the car.
“But it was very important to me to run the red and black. I can’t thank John enough for his support. It is fantastic to have support from Australian business. Racing internationally was a big goal of mine and I am very proud to be flying the Australian flag here in America. That was just step one. Now we’ve got to concentrate on working towards and achieving all the other goals I have.”
Drewer will go into rounds 5 and 6 in his Rookie year of IMSA Lites at The American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix, Lakeville, Connecticut on top of the L2 Championship, and after achieving a very impressive second outright at Utah.
Although he’s starting to earn the nickname ‘The Flying Kangaroo’, Drewer insists nothing has changed.
“I didn’t know what to expect when I came here. I approach every race the same- I always strive to win. But this year every race is a brand new track, a brand new experience.
“I have a lot to learn everywhere- that is my goal. Just to be down to earth and to learn how to race here in America, and to prove myself.
“We have won some races, yes, but there is a long way to go in the Championship and the points can easily get very close. I am ultra focussed about my car- ask the WEST guys!
“But they know I have faith in them- I just double-check everything because all the hard work can come unstuck as a result of some ten dollar part not doing its job. It’s part of the heartache of racing and you just have to minimise the risk.
“I heard a great statement in regards to Penske the other day. Apparently their motto is ‘Preparation is the key to success’. I totally believe that, and I’m constantly working hard to improve every aspect of my preparation towards racing, from fitness, to the car, to setup, mental approach, everything. I am looking for a big step up next year and I feel I’m more than ready.
“In Utah I started working with a driver coach, Randy Aust. It is fantastic to have someone with the same mind set, the same approach as me. I’m looking forward to building on this relationship at Lime Rock. He is an extremely valuable addition to my team.
“But it isn’t just Randy. My WEST Team, Eric, Jake, Kevin, Caesar, Cam and my team-mate Jim, my Australian manager, Terry Little, Vern Schuppan, my family and friends, Greg Steer, the individuals you can see on my car that are supporting me, my mother, and the person that I have most to thank, my father, Mike, are all so important. I couldn’t be doing this without any of them.
“It’s actually my father’s birthday this weekend. He has given up so much to get me to this point. Dad, I’ll be racing for you, mate, this weekend.”
This season is Drewer’s first racing in North America, after winning the 2007 Australian Thundersports Sportscar Championship in WEST Race Cars’ Australian factory car, and gaining one off drives in the Australian Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series and V8 Giants categories last year.
Sneak peek at new Daily Planet Livery for Lime Rock.
My Daily Planet WEST WR1000 has an awesome new look. For Lime Rock it will feature red as well as black, the traditional Daily Planet racing colours. The scheme is reminiscent of John Trimble's V8 Supercars and Two-Liter Touring Cars.
A few things to note are the inclusion of a Kangaroo or two on the paint job to make up for losing the Aussie sporting colours of green and gold. You'll notice some 'kills' marked on the rear wing. There's a bomb marked on the car for each win of the season so far and a 'skull and cross-bones' for my 2007 Australian Thundersports Sportscar Championship. I'm determined to have 12 'kills' on the car by the end of the year and another 'skull and cross-bones'.
Oh, and for the keen spotter you'll probably notice that the dive-planes and the front wheel arch vents haven't been installed yet.
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