World-renowned Australian motor sport cartoonist, John 'Stonie' Stoneham has pencilled in Tom Drewer as one of Australia’s future Le Mans winners.
In a cartoon published in this week’s Australian Auto Action magazine, 'Stonie' has put forward two possible successors for David Brabham who was only the fourth Australian outright winner of the famous French Le Mans 24 Hour race.
Joining the statues of Bernard Rubin, Vern Schuppan, Geoff and David Brabham in the cartoon are two names adorning unfinished plinths, that of current V8 Supercar champion Jamie Whincup and that of US-based Tom Drewer, an American Le Mans Series’ feeder category champion.
Drewer is attempting to follow in the footsteps of fellow South Australian Vern Schuppan, who won
Le Mans outright with Porsche in 1983, and 2009 Le Mans winner and American Le Mans Series regular, David Brabham.
“To be mentioned in the same sentence or in this case the same drawing as the likes of the Brabham brothers, Vern and Whincup is a huge honour.
Both David and Vern have been fantastic mentors to me in the last year and a half. Vern is also from Adelaide, South Australia. He helped advise me, and endorsed my decision to come to America last year. And ‘Brabs’ has been fantastic to talk to in the paddock during the season.
They have both achieved so much, both racing in Formula 1 and winning the 24 Hour. They are definitely people I look up to and I’m absolutely focused on one day matching their international motor racing success, especially Le Mans. Hopefully I can beat Whincup to becoming the next Australian!”
2009 is only Drewer’s second year competing in America and already he looks set to make the transition into the AMLS GT2 category after testing with Panoz Team PTG earlier this month.
The young up-and-coming Australian sold up everything to pursue an international sportscar career and last year, his first time racing in America, he won ten from twelve races including the opening two rounds at the Sebring 12 Hour event to claim the 2008 IMSA Lites 2 Championship.
This year Drewer has stepped up to the Lites 1 category driving for Daily Planet Racing/Comprent Motor Sports in an Élan DP-02 junior prototype and is again his talents are impressing. With the fastest lap of the weekend, Drewer qualified on pole position for the last race (Round 6) at New Jersey Motorsports Park and went on to dominate the first half of the race.
“I am determined to make the transition to the main-game (American Le Mans Series) by the end of the year. Make no mistake, I want to drive prototypes and that is why I chose IMSA Lites, but I think GT2 would be the next logical progression.
I nearly had a seat at Sebring for the 12 hour this year. It was really disappointing when that team decided to withdraw their entry, so it was fantastic to get a taste of a GT2 with Panoz the other day. Having that big rumbling Ford V8 up front reminded me of the V8 Supercars I drove back home.”
Asked if the Panoz drive is a sign of things to come, Drewer remained a little vague.
“Now that would be following in David’s footsteps! [Brabham drove both Panoz GT and Prototypes]. We’re currently investigating all sorts of avenues. But yes I certainly have my sights set on North American GT and Prototype drives.”
Drewer’s next IMSA Lites races, Rounds 7 & 8 are to be held at Lime Rock, Connecticut, on July 17 & 18 as part of the American Le Mans Series North East Grand Prix. The ALMS race will be David Brabham’s first event since winning Le Mans for Peugeot. He will be back driving in the Patron Highcroft Acura.
Drewer pencilled in as future Australian Le Mans winner.
Drewer tests for Panoz
Article appearing in the June 17 edition of Auto Action Magazine.
"Australian Prototype racer Tom Drewer had his first outing with Panoz Team PTG last week, testing the outfit's Esperante GT2 at Summit Point Raceway, West Virginia.
Drewer's test with the American Le Mans Series GT2 team was for experience at the wheel of a production-based sportscar..."
Click on image to read entire article.
Drewer tests GT2 Panoz. (Motorsport eNews)
Article appearing in the June 16 edition of Australia's Motorsport eNews publication.
"Aussie Sportscar hopeful Tom Drewer had his first taste of American Le Mans Series equipment recently, testing a Panoz Team PTG Esperante GT2 car at Summit Point Raceway in The States..."
"...Drewer is currently racing in the IMSA Lites 1 category in America, the feeder series for the ALMS. And he admits the GT2 test is a genuine indicator of where his career is heading..."
Click on the image to read entire article.
Drewer sets new Qualifying Lap Record, claims Pole and best results at New Jersey.
Young Australian Tom Drewer showed he has more than what it takes to run at the front of the premiere division of IMSA Lites at the Mazda Formula X weekend held at New Jersey’s Thunderbolt raceway near Millville, New Jersey USA.
Drewer, who won the 2008 IMSA Lites 2 Championship, proved he can match and beat the best of the Lites 1 category on Sunday as he set a new Qualifying Track Record around the 2.17 mile road course with the fastest Lites 1 lap of the weekend, 1 minute 15.327 seconds.
The nail biting half hour session saw drivers Lucas Downs, Kyle Marcelli, Joel Feinberg and Johnny Meriggi trade fastest times with Drewer until the Aussie nailed a blistering lap in his Daily Planet machine to take the coveted pole position by a mere .022 of a second, with the top seven cars all within less than .8 of a second apart.
“I knew we had found a much better setup in Saturday’s race but I just couldn’t utilise it, getting stuck behind Meriggi for most of the race.
So I just gave it everything today. I had the car on the edge for three laps in a row and dug ready deep. It was awesome to finally hear ‘P1’ on the radio in only my third race weekend of Lites 1.
The amazing thing was it wasn’t the perfect lap. I had a slight lock-up in turn 5 and that cost me a couple of tenths. I was likely on for a sub 1 minute 15 lap.”
After claiming pole Drewer, who finished 5th in Saturday’s Round 5 race, got off to a perfect start in Sunday’s Round 6 and dominated the first half of the race.
“Last year having class pole in Lites 2 usually meant starting mid-pack, so this was my first rolling start from the front of the grid since karting– we generally do standing starts in Australia.
It was a perfect start and although I had Lucas on the outside of turn 1 I controlled the corner and quickly found my rhythm.
It was fantastic to once again have nothing but clear track in front. The guys behind were pushing really hard but I just kept my head down and led, with a gap, right up to the full course yellow came out with around 20 minutes to go.
My car was starting to go off a little and I found it really difficult to keep the temperature in the tires with the pace car down to 35mph. Upon the restart I just couldn’t seem to find the same grip as in the first half of the race. It was a shame because I immediately slipped back to fourth. I continued to push hard to try and get back onto the podium but we just didn’t quite have the pace.
It was frustrating to finish lower than what we started but I’m really happy we led a lot of laps today. We are very close to podiums and wins now.”
It was the first time Drewer’s team, 2008 IMSA Lites 1 Championship winning Comprent Motor Sports, had led race laps since last year. Drewer’s fourth position is his best result so far in the 2009 IMSA Lites 1 season.
“I really must thank all the boys at Comprent Motor Sports, especially Kenny and Terry, for all their hard work this weekend. We are moving in the right direction and I can’t wait to further reward everyone who is allowing me to follow my dreams. A big thank you to John Trimble and the Daily Planet, Terry Little, all my supporters and friends back home, and my Mother and Father.”
Drewer and IMSA Lites presented by Frisby Performance Tire next head to Lime Rock, Connecticut for the North East Grand Prix, July 17-18, 2009.
Drewer gets Qualifying Record and Pole Position at New Jersey.
Tom Drewer has put his Daily Planet sponsored Comprent Motor Sports Elan DP-02 on pole position for this afternoon's race, Round 6 of the 2009 IMSA Lites Championship, at New Jersey Motorsport Park.
Drewer broke the circuit L1 qualifying lap record to take his first pole in the premiere division of IMSA Lites with a time of 1 minute 15.327 seconds.
The nail biting half hour session saw drivers Lucas Downs, Kyle Marcelli, Joel Feinberg and Johnny Meriggi trade fastest times with Drewer until the Aussie nailed a blistering lap to take the coveted pole position by a mere .022 of a second, with the top seven cars all within less than .8 of a second apart.
"This is fantastic. I just want to thank everyone who continues to make this possible- Daily Planet, John Trimble, my mother and father, all my friends and supporters back home who give up so much to make this possible. I'll be racing for you all this afternoon." This afternoon's race is 45 minutes long and begins at 12.05pm EST.
Drewer finishes 5th at New Jersey, in Round 5.
Australian Tom Drewer driving for Daily Planet has taken fifth place in Round 5 of the 2009 IMSA Lites Championship, at the “Mazda Formula X” weekend held at New Jersey Thunderbolt Motorsport Park, near Millville, New Jersey. Drewer started the race much lower on the grid than he expected after qualifying eighth. 
"We finished practice yesterday 4th in the timesheets, and therefore I was obviously a little disappointed with eighth in qualifying, although everyone is so close here. Another few hundreds of a second would have put me 5th on the grid."
Drewer started the race strongly, made up a couple of places off the start line and after passing his team-mate Jonathan Gore found himself behind Johnny Meriggi.
"It was an extremely tough race. We battled it out for around 30 minutes of the 45 minute race, probably a good 20 laps. I was faster than Johnny everywhere, turns 1, 2, 3, 7, 9, except for where it counted. I couldn't get the power down coming out of the last turn. I tried everything but I just couldn't feed in the throttle as quick as he could.
My car was much faster in a straight line, though and I would reel him in going into turn 1 but I was just never quite close enough to make the pass stick. I must have attempted to pass him a dozen times, but I just never had quite enough. So, I focused on pressuring him every lap, but to Johnny's credit he just didn't make a mistake. It was a great battle!"
Drewer will be back on track tomorrow at New Jersey for Round 6 of the 2009 IMSA Lites Championship presented by Frisby Performance Tire.
Drewer tests Panoz Team PTG American Le Mans Series GT2 car.
Young Australian driver, Tom Drewer, had his first taste of the American Le Mans Series GT2 category after being invited to test a Panoz Team PTG Esperante GT2 car at Summit Point raceway, located in West Virginia, USA.
The twenty four year old and 2008 Champion of IMSA Lites 2, the feeder category to the American Le Mans series, is committed to one day racing against the best in world sportscars at the famed annual Le Mans 24 Hour event, to be held in France this weekend, and feels GT2 is the next logical step in his career.
“2008 was my first year of motorsport in North America after winning the Australian Thundersports sportscar Championship and selling up everything to pursue my goals.
I had an amazing start to my international motor racing career, winning ten from twelve races in the Lites 2 junior prototype category and taking the 2008 Championship for Daily Planet and West Race Cars.
This year I have stepped up from Lites 2 to Lites 1 and am racing a Panoz build Elan DP-02 prototype for Comprent Motor Sports, but my main focus for 2009 is to make the transition from the feeder category to the main game.
I am so grateful to Tom Milner and Panoz Team PTG for giving me this opportunity.
I had driven a couple of V8 Supercar events in Australia prior to coming to America, so I am familiar with big horsepower tin-tops.
In fact the Panoz is pretty similar really. Both the V8 Supercars I drove and the Panoz have a high power Ford V8 in the front, with the Supercar having around a 100 more horses, however the Panoz is a little lighter and has more grip with the wider rubber and traction control. But I felt very at home once again inside a production-based sportscar, staring at a Motec dash (Australian Company) with a Ford V8 thumping away.
My main focus for the test was to get used to driving a production based sportscar again after driving high down-force junior prototypes. It was fantastic to be able to experience the team and level of their professional operation, and gain insight into GT2 from the likes of Dominik Farnbacher, Ian James, Tom Sutherland and Tommy Milner.
The guys were very encouraging and I was pleased they were impressed at my pace given the little time I spent in the seat. In a car and circuit I’d never seen before.
I nearly had a GT2 drive with another team at Sebring this year, but they ended up not entering. Now I’ve checked the first box, actually driving one. The next step is getting on the grid.”
Drewer is trying to follow in the footsteps of fellow South Australian Vern Schuppan, the only Australian ever to win Le Mans outright (Porsche, 1983), and the legendary David Brabham, who shared much success with Panoz in both the GT and Prototype categories and will attempt to win Le Mans outright this coming weekend with Peugeot.
Drewer will also be racing this weekend, in his Comprent Motor Sports, Daily Planet sponsored, Elan DP-02 prototype in two 45 minute sprint races for Rounds 5 and 6 of the 2009 IMSA Lites Championship to be held as part of the Mazda Formula X weekend at New Jersey Motorsport Park.
