American based Tom Drewer is to race for the R-Tek Formula 3 team in the Australian Drivers Championship at Phillip Island this weekend. (May 1-2).
It will be Drewer’s first race in a Formula 3 open-wheeler with the former Adelaide driver in his third year in the USA concentrating on driving prototype sports cars in the IMSA American Le Mans Series.
In his first season (2008) in the USA Drewer won the IMSA Lites 2 Championship with ten victories, eleven pole positions and five lap records.
Last year he competed in a Panoz Elan L1 sports prototype and finished seventh in the senior title chase with ten top 10 finishes, a pole position, and a podium finish in the last race of the series to his credit.
As a result of his successes Drewer has been rewarded with successful tests in an Oreca Courage Formula Le Mans LMPC prototype sports car and the Panoz Team PTG Esperante GT2 machine.
Two weeks ago he also successfully drove for the APR team in the world racing debut of the VW Golf Mk 6 GTI at Barber Motorsport Park in Birmingham, Alabama USA.
The event was a two and half hour endurance race as part of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge for production based cars.
Commenting from the USA today on his ‘Down Under drive’ Drewer said:
"It’s only a brief visit back to Australia, but its fantastic that Ian Richards from R-Tek has given me the opportunity to race a Formula 3 Dallara in the Australian Drivers Championship. The decision was only made today and I will barely make it to Phillip Island in time to jump in the car!
The drive has also come with support from Daily Planet and James Rosenberg from Gawler Farm Machinery, who of course supports another South Aussie driver Tim Slade in the V8 Supercar Championship.
Ian Richards is a great race engineer and a friend of my father Mike, and I am really thrilled to be driving one of his cars.
Not having driven a F3 car before, we will just see how it goes.
I have certainly raced plenty of high down force cars on the ultra fast North American circuits such as Road Atlanta, Miller Motorsport Park, Laguna Seca, and Mosport in Canada, so I guess that experience and the nature of the Phillip Island layout should help, but as with every new car it will be a steep learning curve particularly with no testing".
The Australian Drivers Championship is Australia’s premier open-wheel category and attracts a diverse group of competitors from around the world including the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and China.
Drewer flies in from USA to race in Australian Formula 3 Drivers Championship.
Drewer to work on Golf game. (Motorsport eNews)
Tom Drewer will make his debut in the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge this weekend... (Article appearing in the April 2 edition of Australian Motorsport eNews).
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Tom Drewer to make international racing debut of new Mk6 VW GTI with APR at Barber.
Australian racing star Tom Drewer, has been selected to drive in the historic international racing debut of the 6th generation Volkswagen GTI for the VW DriverGear supported APR Motorsport team.
Drewer will drive in Round 3 of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, a 2 hour 30 minute endurance race, at the Barber Motorsport Park, Alabama (April 8-10).
Held as part of the 2010 Indy Grand Prix of Alabama the weekend Drewer will join fellow Australian’s Ryan Briscoe and Will Power to be yet another Aussie competing.
"I feel very honored to be given the responsibility of the world racing debut of the new Mk6 Volkswagen Golf GTI,” he said.
The race will also be Drewer’s first in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge and his first for the Alabama based APR Motorsport, the competition arm of the highly regarded aftermarket performance product company APR.
“You could say I’ve been thrown into the deep end- there are many firsts this weekend. It will be the first race for the new VW Mk6 GTI, my first time with APR, my first race at Barber, and my first weekend in the
Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. Hopefully we can add another first to the list by the end of the weekend.”
But while a rookie to series, Tom has no shortage of experience behind the wheel, or that of a Volkswagen. Prior to heading to North America Drewer sampled the high horsepower of the Australian Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series while also competing in light-weight high down-force prototypes as the factory driver for West Race Cars Australia.
Drewer won the 2007 Thundersports Sports Car Championship and was offered a drive by West in the American IMSA Prototype Lites Series, where he dominated the Lites 2 category winning 10 from 12 races and the 2008 Championship. Last year, 2009, Drewer competed in the Prototype Lites 1 category and successfully tested both the American Le Mans Series Challenge car (LMPC) and a Panoz GT2 car. However, it was in the beginning of his career when Drewer found his love for VW’s.
“I’m an absolute Volkswagen junkie, so it is a dream come true to be able to represent VW and APR. I think it all started because my father’s Australian Formula 2 racecar used a Golf engine. Back in Australia I even used to proudly wear the VW logo on top of my go-kart helmet because I love the ‘dub’ that much.
For my first road car I bought a Golf - a 1976 Mk1 - which my father and I worked pretty heavily, installing a 16v engine out of a later model GTI. I hill-climbed that car, and when it was time for my first true racing car we bought a Super Vee (VW powered open-wheeler), so I’m really going back to my roots this weekend.”
And that he is. To support his early racing Drewer worked for an Australian APR agent, German Auto, in South Australia. For the record, Drewer won the Under 2000cc Road Registered category at the 2001 South Australian Hillclimb Championships in his 1976 VW Golf Mk1, was 2002 South Australian Super Vee Rookie of the Year and the 2003 FVASA Super Vee Drivers’ Champion.
“I enjoyed great success in Volkswagens so I’m hoping I can continue the trend for APR and VW DriverGear in the new Mk6 GTI.”
Jeff Mishtawy, Director of Motorsport for APR, shared his sentiments on having Tom join the team, “I’m really proud to have signed him. Tom has driven such a large variety of cars and has so much experience; I’m looking forward to working with him on the car. Having a driver of his calibre providing feedback to a brand new car is an absolutely ideal situation, and I’m sure we’ll show that with our pace in April.”
Drewer’s APR VW Golf will run in what is know as the ST (Street Tuner) category competing against a field including Honda Civic SI, BMW 328i, Mazda MX-5, Mazda Rx-8, Kia Forte Koup, Chevrolet Cobalt SS, and Mini Cooper S.
Sharing the car with Drewer is APR Motorsport team principal Stephen Hooks. With both Drewer and Hooks behind the wheel it will be a historic debut for the Mk6 GTI as it’s taken on track by two drivers with a deep history with Volkswagen products.
Drewer summed it up; “My fist car was Golf, and so is my next. I’m returning to where it all began, behind the wheel of a Volkswagen GTI. I can’t wait!”
New helmet design for 2010.
I decided it was time to get a little more patriotic with my helmet design for this year, but it still features some butterflies from last year.
The roundel is based on the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) roundel (My grandfather Jack Waye who built and raced his own racing cars, the Waye 500 and the Holway sportscar, few Catalinas in the war)...
However I've replaced the blue outer ring with two red rings. This pays homage to the double lined 'L' on Nikki Lauda's helmet, who sponsored my early Karting career via his airline Lauda Air.
The top and bottom bands with red stripes picks up on the Union Jack in the Australian flag and is suggestive of Nigel Mansell's helmet, who's fighting spirit and "always be good to your mum" advice I will always live by.
To go with the red and white of the Union Jack, on the back there is the Southern Cross star formation, also on the Australian flag, over my 'TD' logo.
Finally the top of my helmet is donned by swarming butterflies. This is a personal message of strength and transformation for a very good friend of mine, and it's the same design as the tattoo on her belly.
Drewer and Hooks to debut new MK6 VW GTi for VW DriverGear and APR. (APR Motorsport)
APR Motorsport Signs Australian Tom Drewer and Announces the Return of Stephen Hooks to Grand Am to Drive New MK6 VW GTi in its International Racing Debut at Barber Motorsports Park.
APR Motorsport presents Australian racing star Tom Drewer and the return of Stephen Hooks to Grand Am to drive in the historic international racing debut of the VW DriverGear MK6 Volkswagen GTi. Drewer and Hooks will drive in Round 3 of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, a 2 hour 30 minute endurance race, at Barber Motorsports Park, Alabama (April 8-10).
APR Motorsport returns to Barber, the team’s home track, after last year’s win in the #171 MK5 GTi driven by Ian Baas and MESCO Rookie of the Year Josh Hurley. Ian has moved up in class to pilot APR Motorsport’s Audi S4 in Grand Sport for the 2010 season. Josh Hurley returns with new co-driver Kevin Stadtlander, now in the VW DriverGear #181 MK5 GTi, to fight for the win alongside team mates Tom Drewer and Stephen Hooks in the new MK6 GTi and Mike Sweeney and Mike Halpin who return last year’s winning #171 GTi...
After a nearly 10 year hiatus from professional racing, Stephen Hooks, President and CEO of APR, LLC, returns to Grand Am for the unveiling of the new GTi. Stephen last appeared in 2001 in a now 3 generations old Audi S4 which he drove in the Grand Am Cup, the predecessor to the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. When asked about why he has been missing in action for so long, Stephen replied, “The last 10 years have been a time in my life where I have focused heavily on the restructuring and further development of APR, LLC. We have seen our staff grow tremendously, we’ve built a brand new purpose built engineering facility, rapidly expanded our road going car product line, increased our distribution to over 40 countries and 250 retailers and most recently, began 2 new race teams. I’ve never lost my passion for driving and I am thankful for the opportunity to return with more resources, more talent and more support.” Stephen has participated in several tests the last couple of years with APR Motorsport and is a primary provider of feedback to the technical staff regarding the cars’ performance. Stephen’s typical race day activities include team strategy however, the upcoming event at Barber finds him behind the wheel with a perfect opportunity to for a good showing with co-driver Tom Drewer. The entire APR Motorsport Team is excited for Stephen as it’s obvious from his testing laps he’s never lost his edge.
"I feel very honored to be given the responsibility of the world racing debut of the new MK6 Volkswagen GTi along with Stephen,” Tom Drewer said.
The race will also be Drewer’s first in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge and his first for the Alabama based APR Motorsport, the competition arm of the highly regarded aftermarket performance product company APR. “You could say I’ve been thrown into the deep end- there are many firsts this weekend. It will be the first race for the new VW MK6 GTi, my first time with APR, my first race at Barber, and my first weekend in the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. Hopefully we can add another first to the list by the end of the weekend.”
But while a rookie to the series, Tom has no shortage of experience behind the wheel, or that of a Volkswagen. Prior to heading to North America Drewer sampled the high horsepower of the Australian Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series while also competing in light-weight high down-force prototypes as the factory driver for West Race Cars Australia. Drewer won the 2007 Thundersports Sports Car Championship and was offered a drive by West in the American IMSA Prototype Lites Series, where he dominated the Lites 2 category winning 10 from 12 races and the 2008 Championship. Last year, 2009, Drewer competed in the Prototype Lites 1 category and successfully tested both the American Le Mans Series Challenge car (LMPC) and a Panoz GT2 car. However, it was in the beginning of his career when Drewer found his love for VW’s.
“I’m an absolute Volkswagen junkie, so it is a dream come true to be able to represent VW and APR. I think it all started because my father’s Australian Formula 2 racecar used a Golf engine. Back in Australia I even used to proudly wear the VW logo on top of my go-kart helmet because I love ‘dubs’ that much.
For my first road car I bought a GTi - a 1976 Mk1 - which my father and I modified pretty heavily, installing a 16v engine out of a later model GTi. I hill-climbed that car, and when it was time for my first true racing car we bought a Super Vee (VW powered open-wheeler), so I’m really going back to my roots this weekend.”
And that he is. To support his early racing Drewer worked for an Australian APR agent, German Auto, in South Australia. For the record, Drewer won the Under 2000cc Road Registered category at the 2001 South Australian Hillclimb Championships in his 1976 VW GTi Mk1, was 2002 South Australian Super Vee Rookie of the Year and the 2003 FVASA Super Vee Drivers’ Champion.
“I enjoyed great success in Volkswagens so I’m hoping I can continue the trend for APR and VW DriverGear in the new MK6 GTI.”
Jeff Mishtawy, Director of Motorsport for APR, shared his sentiments on having Tom join the team, “I’m really proud to have signed him. Tom has driven such a large variety of cars and has so much experience; I’m looking forward to working with him on the car. Having a driver of his calibre providing feedback to a brand new car is an absolutely ideal situation, and I’m sure we’ll show that with our pace in April.”
Drewer’s APR VW GTi will run in what is known as the ST (Street Tuner) category competing against a field including Honda Civic SI, BMW 328i, Mazda MX-5, Mazda Rx-8, Kia Forte Koup, Chevrolet Cobalt SS, and Mini Cooper S.
Sharing the car with Drewer is APR Motorsport team principal Stephen Hooks. With both Drewer and Hooks behind the wheel, it will be a historic debut for the MK6 GTi as it’s taken on track by two drivers with a deep history with Volkswagen products.
Drewer summed it up; “My fist car was GTi, and so is my next. I’m returning to where it all began, behind the wheel of a Volkswagen GTi. I can’t wait!”
