I'm one of eight Aussie's chasing their overseas dream. Here's what Auto Action Magazine had to say.
Article published March 11, 2008.
They Still Call Australia Home. (Auto Action)
2008 IMSA Lites Paintscheme
The Tom Drewer Motorsport/PVM Racing number 45 paintscheme featuring supporter messages and the Australian sporting colours of green and gold.
Drewer laps up the praise after US finish
Article published in Adelaide's Sunday Mail Newspaper March 9, 2008.
Details my shakedown SSCA event at Roebling Road.
Drewer's Delight. (The Advertiser)
Article in Adelaide's The Advertiser Newspaper, published March 6, 2008.
Post Roebling Road and pre Sebring.
Top ten for Drewer first time out.
Tom Drewer has finished 9th outright at the SCCA Tom Nehl Classic XXX at the 3.25 kilometre Roebling Road circuit near Savannah, Georgia in his debut race in the USA.
Drewer qualified 4th fastest in the DSR class with an IMSA Spec car, out qualifying his experienced team mate, Eric Vassian, and was the highest placed WEST.
The highly modified Stohrs of Jean-Luc Liverato, Dorian Foyil, and Ken Tyrrell set a blistering place all weekend and in the end proved too strong for the IMSA spec WEST, but never the less Drewer was pleased with the performance of the car and himself.
‘We really set out to use the Roebling Road race as a test session. It was fantastic to finally get a chance to push the new tunnelled floored WEST on a high down force circuit like Roebling Road. I thought Phillip Island and Eastern Creek (Australian circuits) had their moments but this place is unreal.
‘I was extremely happy with the performance of the car. It felt very balanced and the grip levels were maintained through out the race. We had a very neutral car.
‘The racing in the SCCA series is great. I didn’t know what to expect but these guys have some awesome machinery and race extremely hard. I didn’t think I would be able to catch or stay with a worked Stohr at the start of the weekend but we did pretty well considering we were about 40hp down on those cars and this is a really high speed circuit with my average race lap speed being around 180 kilometres per hour.
‘I took a fairly conservative approach on the start experiencing my first rolling start and found my self behind the Stohr of Garry Cook after pulling away from my team mate, Eric Vassian.
‘The Stohr would pull around fifteen metres on me down the main straight, but I was reeling him in under brakes at turn 1 and turn 2.
‘I spent a lot of time hustling him through the twisty back section because he was holding me up, and I was filling his mirrors for most of the race apart form a short stint in front when I passed out of the last corner.
‘I was just waiting to pounce again towards the end of the 23 lap race but got tagged on my right rear wheel which resulted in spin and a deflating tyre. It was just a racing incident but it was a shame as I think I was in line for a genuine fourth or fifth outright given that I was running sixth at the time.
‘But I come out of this event with a lot of positives. My car is performing extremely well and I feel comfortable and confident with both my machinery and my PVM team. To be so strong with the outright DSR cars is great. I think we will have a very competitive package at the Sebring IMSA event.
‘I take this opportunity to thank all my supporters back home in Australia’.
Drewer’s IMSA Lites race debut is at Sebring on March 13/14.
Drewer dials in.
Young Australian driver Tom Drewer heads to the famous Sebring circuit, Florida, this week in preparation for the 2008 IMSA Lites Championship.
Drewer is competing in Lites 2 this year in the latest generation IMSA spec WEST WR1000 ‘Tunnel car’ for Atlanta based PVM Racing after dominating and winning the 2007 Australian Thundersports Championship in a ‘flat bottomed’ factory backed WEST.
‘I am over in the USA to further my motor racing career. I believe that you have to test yourself in a new environment and I am looking forward to learning from the American drivers, from the crew at PVM and WEST, and of course to learn circuits that I have never raced on. This year is all about learning.’
The official Sebring test will only be Drewer’s second time in the brand new WEST, following a brief shake down at Little Talladega.
‘We turned only a couple of laps on Saturday to test a new dry sump system, that PVM has developed, and to bed in the brakes plus the engine. I had to take a conservative approach but the car felt fantastic. WEST and PVM have done a great job.’
‘Sebring will be my first real opportunity to test with the tunnel car and on Hankook radial tyres– we raced on cross-plies in Australia. Given that I’ll be taking the same conservative approach as I did at Little Talladega. It’s very much a matter of getting some laps in, bedding in the car and getting a little data as a starting point for the season.’
‘I am determined to reach the top levels of international motorsport and follow in the footsteps of a fellow South Australian, Le Mans winner Vern Schuppan, who has endorsed my decision to race in America, but for now this is a small step in a very big learning curve.’
Drewer’s USA race debut is at Sebring International Raceway, Florida on March 13/14.
Drewer on track in USA.
Upon arrival in America, Tom Drewer immediately headed to ‘Little Talladega’ raceway to be with his new team, Atlanta based PVM, as part of their pre-season testing program
before the official IMSA sanctioned test to be held later this month at Sebring International Raceway, Florida.
Greeting Tom at the raceway was Eric Vassian, co-owner of PVM Racing and fellow L2 IMSA lite driver.
‘It was great to finally meet Tom,’ Eric said. ‘We are delighted to have him on-board and are looking forward to helping him achieve back to back championships on either side of the Pacific.’
PVM tested a brand new WEST ‘tunnel floor’ chassis, the same spec as Tom will race in the 2008 IMSA Lites Championship at the Talledega circuit.
‘The added downforce of the tunnel floor gives the car a noticeable performance gain. It’s clear to me that I’ll be able to corner much faster in the new IMSA spec car than in the car I won the Australian Championship last year,’ said Drewer.
‘After 35 hours in transit I advised the team it wasn’t a great idea for me to jump in the car, but it was great to finally meet my team and to see the tunnel car in action.’
While not in a WEST, Tom did complete a couple of laps of Little Talladega in an Audi Quattro road car.
‘Even though I was extremely jet lagged, I was itching to get out on the track. It was good to get behind the wheel for the first time on an American circuit. Now I’m just really looking forward to taking delivery of my new WEST and rolling out of pit lane at Sebring for the first time.’
As part of Tom’s introduction to the ‘deep south’ PVM supplied a traditional ‘bbq smoked shredded pork sandwich’ for lunch.
‘Everyone at PVM has made me feel so welcome today, and it’s great to see that I get along well with my chief race engineer, Jake Randels, because apart from the fact he’s responsible for my car. I’ll also be living with him!’ said Drewer at the end of the day.
Drewer’s USA race debut is at Sebring on March 13/14.
In the fast lane. (The Advertiser)
Article in Adelaide's daily newspaper, The Advertiser.
Type rest of the post here
Schuppan farewells Drewer to USA.
Le Mans winner Vern Schuppan has farewelled Tom Drewer just prior to his departure to the USA where he will compete in the 2008 American LeMans Series’ IMSA Lites.
‘Having Vern (Schuppan) wish me the best and give me some advice on both racing and living in the USA was the best possible farewell I could have had’, Drewer said after the two came down to the Clipsal 500 Adelaide circuit and looked over the WEST race car that took the young South Australian driver to victory in the 2007 Australian Thundersports Championship.
‘Vern is an absolute hero of mine and given what he achieved in sports cars with his Le Mans victory, his third place at Indy and his Formula 1 drives I can’t think of a better guy to give me a few tips on what it takes to succeed at an international level’, Drewer added.
‘Vern talked about his karting days here in South Australia and what sort of attitude it takes to succeed in the American racing scene. His best pieces of advice were to work extremely hard, be totally focussed, and not to worry about the other drivers. He said “I never used to worry about them because I knew I would pass them”.
Drewer flew out of Adelaide heading for Atlanta, Georgia where he is making his American base to be near the PVM team that he is contracted to drive with for the entire IMSA Lites Championship that is run in conjunction with the American Le Mans Series.
‘My new WEST ‘tunnel’ car is due to be delivered from the factory in Portland to the team in Atlanta at about the same time as I arrive, so I will be off the ground and running as soon as I arrive. We have to do a seat fitting and also the team is installing a special dry sump system and an upgraded electronic paddle shift gear selector system that they tell me gives you a bit of an advantage.
The aim is to shake the car down in Atlanta prior to heading for the official IMSA test session to be held at Sebring in Florida at the end of January’.
Drewer said he would also have to “acclimatise” to the high down force aerodynamics of the new model WEST.
‘I have been told the aero package alone is worth a few seconds a lap as compared to the car I have been driving in Australia, and the tyres are also meant to provide more grip, so it should be quite a ride’.
Drewer’s USA race debut is at Sebring on March 13/14.
Drewer to race IMSA Lites in USA in 2008.
Newly crowned 2007 Australian Thundersports champion Tom Drewer has been signed to race for the PVM Team in the American LeMans Series’ IMSA Lites in the USA next year (2008).
‘Signing to drive in the USA has really capped off a stellar 2007 for me. I had my first Fujitsu V8 Supercar drive, I won first time out in the V8 Giants category in Garry Wilmington’s car, we won the Thundersports title and now I have a full season next year in IMSA Lites in America’, an elated Drewer said this week.
Drewer said his drive in the USA had come about as a result of driving the Australian factory entered WEST car owned by Greg Steer in the Thundersports category.
‘The guys in the American factory have been keeping an eye on the results and the data from our car in Australia and this is how the opportunity arose’.
Drewer will be racing a brand new tunnel version of the WEST in the L2 division of the IMSA Lites Series for the Atlanta based PVM Team that has direct links with the factory.
‘I leave for the USA early January and the team have found me a place to live, so it’s all great. I will be shaking down the new car soon after I get there in advance of a three day official test at Sebring, where my first race will be in March at the American LeMans 12-hour meeting’.
Drewer said the decision to take the drive in America had been an ‘easy one to make’.
‘I was in line for a test for a main game V8 Supercar team and would still like to take that opportunity, but
I think racing in the USA can only help my career. The opportunity to race at circuits like Sebring, Road Atlanta, Lime Rock, and Laguna Seca doesn’t come along every day of the week and I will be going all out
to perform well in a totally new environment’.
‘I guess I will have to spend plenty of time on the PlayStation learning the tracks, but at least I know the car pretty well, although the chassis I will be driving in the USA will be a lot quicker with its high down force tunnel floor and it will also have a upgraded electronic paddle shift as compared to the Australian car’.
‘I have resigned my job as an Art Director at an advertising agency and sold up everything to go and live in the USA and while I am looking for sponsors both in Australia and the USA the drive is secured, so now it’s up to me to prove I am worthy of some commercial backing’.
Drewer said he had already received some support from individuals who would have their name on the race car in the USA.
‘Its been great that people who have followed my racing have said they would like to help and so every
time I step into the car over there I know there are people back in Australia who are supporting me with their name on the car. I can guarantee I will give it my best shot and won’t leave anything in the garage in my quest to succeed’.
Prior to racing the WEST in the AMRS Thundersports Championship, Drewer raced in the National Saloon Car Series coming 9th in the title chase in 2005 and was also the SA Formula Vee Champion and came 5th in the Formula Vee nationals in his rookie year. He began karting at the age of 7 winning numerous titles.
Drewer said he was extremely grateful to Greg Steer from WEST Race Cars in Australia and Terry Little for giving him the opportunity to drive for WEST in Australia and now in America.
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