# APR Motorsport Wins the 200 Race at Homestead Miami Speedway!



## [email protected] (Jul 29, 2008)

*Ian Baas and Ryan Ellis in the #171 VW GTI MK6 Win 2 in a Row*







Ryan Ellis came to APR Motorsport this year as a rookie driver in the CTSCC of GRAND-AM
Road Racing with the hopes of a solid showing his first year out of the VW TDI Cup ladder
series. Little did he realize he would take pole and win his first race, but then also 
win his second race a few weeks after. Co-driver Ian Baas led an incredible charge 
during his driving stint of the race to move from 6th into 1st and win by 22/1000th’s of
a second. Ryan qualified 6th and expertly maintained the health of the GTI through one
of the tightest fields in CTSSC ST class history.







Less than 1/10th of a second separated the top 5 qualifiers and the top 15 cars were all 
within a second of each other. Ryan relayed, “Obviously we knew a repeat win was going to 
be a tough challenge. Competition adjustments after the win at Daytona had the team 
scrambling to find competitive speed over the break between races. A few setup changes 
during practice really helped Ian and I find some of that lost speed. I am so happy with 
the level of competition in the CTSCC. APR Motorsport keeps giving us an awesome weapon 
that Ian and I plan to keep firing at the bull’s eye. Go APR!”







Ian Baas has been with APR Motorsport since the team’s inception and has seen many tough 
races and stiff competition over the years. Ian had to say about this weekend’s race, 
“Without a doubt one of the most memorable races of my career. APR has worked long and 
hard with minor setbacks and bad luck keeping us from completing a brilliant season. This 
year though, we all feel great. This is actually our third win a row if you look at last 
season’s win in the final round at Miller. The new GTI MK6 is a great improvement over the
previous generation we’ve run in the past. I hope we can finally get our season together
and this is a great start for a championship run!”







Chris and Kevin Gleason were able to successfully pilot the 181 GTI MK6 into 4th place. 
After a stop and go penalty, Kevin took over for Chris about mid way through. Both 
brothers did an excellent job of overcoming the penalty and getting the car back up front.
As both GTI’s were charging for the podium late in the race, Chris cheered his brother 
Kevin on from the pits like only a brother can. “Go Kev! Get him Kev! Go, go, go!”, 
shouted Chris as Kevin attempted daring move after daring move to bring the 181 car to 
the podium. Miami was not the Gleason’s day for a podium but to be the only car in the 
field to stop twice and still achieve 4th is a true testament to the abilities of the 
Gleason brothers behind the wheel.







The PerfectPedal Audi S4 was in a great position during the first quarter of the race to 
vie for the podium but when two other GS competitors tangled up sending one of the cars 
into a spin, Gary Gibson was forced off track. While re-entering the track after 
successfully avoiding the incident, Gary was hit by another competitor who was caught up in
the mix as well. Unfortunately, a control arm was damaged in the accident and the S4 had 
to go behind the wall for repairs, losing our lead lap position. Once the APR Motorsport
team was able to make the repairs, the decision was made to put the S4 back on track so 
Gary could get some additional seat time.







Prior to the accident, Gary Gibson had moved the PerfectPedal Audi S4 just behind the group
of lead cars in 15th position. “I was watching all of the bumps and rubs occurring in the
lead group ahead of me and was biding my time, preparing for a top ten attack. I felt I
was in a very comfortable position to keep the tires fresh and save some fuel until I 
began picking up the pace but unfortunately, bad luck happens. I know there is a 
podium in the S4 this year and Josh and I are ready for it”, said Gary Gibson about the race.



Catch APR’s win on SpeedTV March 19th at 2PM EST.







APR Motorsport’s next race is their Home Race at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, AL.
The Barber 200 takes on place APRil 7-9 at one of the most beautiful road courses in the
world. APR Motorsport went 1,2 in 2009 and debuted the GTI MK6 there last year.







Full Photo Gallery Here



*About APR*: APR LLC is an automotive engineering firm operating a 36,000 sq. ft. 
performance campus in Opelika, Ala. APR was founded in 1997 with a corporate philosophy of
Integrity, Excellence and Innovation. APR's Sole Mission is to provide the highest quality
and most highly engineered aftermarket performance products available for Porsche, Audi 
and Volkswagen vehicles. Learn more at www.goAPR.com


----------



## RAD32 (Dec 21, 2004)

AWESOME!!!!! GREAT job guys. Keep it up.:thumbup:

What a min. does this mean VW makes
a car that we can race and win with in motosports events.


----------



## Snaeper (Jul 3, 2009)

Here's to hoping you guys go 1-2-3 in the first three races of the year! 

I hope VW uses a series championship in their marketing. 

"What car can beat the Mazdaspeed 3, Porsche Cayman and Boxster, BMW 328i and Honda Civic Si in one sitting?"


----------



## coneracer (Sep 11, 2002)

"What car can beat the Mazdaspeed 3, Porsche Cayman and Boxster, BMW 328i and Honda Civic Si in one sitting" 

A car with illegal boost levels.


----------



## jimmiejammiejam (Mar 4, 2008)

coneracer said:


> A car with illegal boost levels.


 :screwy:


----------



## ROH ECHT (Dec 9, 2010)

*ZOOM DIS!* 
Nicely done. And thanks to apr and others for promoting a good little car!


----------



## coneracer (Sep 11, 2002)

jimmiejammiejam said:


> :screwy:


 seriously son, check the grand am website these guys get caught cheating far to often. 
Myself and others in grand am work to hard and follow the rules only to keep getting burned by teams and their "random boost spikes" and to only loose 3 points is bs.:thumbdown:


----------



## [email protected] (Jul 29, 2008)

coneracer said:


> A car with illegal boost levels.


 Yes, we had some boost spike issues at Homestead. From the moment we unloaded at Homestead we had some serious issues with it. Don't forget that this is the first time the new Mk6 GTI has ever been to this track. Every single session multiple Grand-Am officials, my calibration staff, and myself go over the data from the Grand-Am spec boost recorder. During the race, both 171 and 181 had random, extremely short duration, overshoots. Some of these occurred on caution laps while others were found very early in the race. *No irregularities were found in the closing stages of the race.* Due to the extremely minor nature of the boost spikes (again, not duration of overboost) we were fined 3pts and $500 for each car. 

A team cannot run "illegal" boost levels. Each turbocharged vehicle is fitted with a boost pressure sensor issued by Grand-Am to monitor boost levels the entire race. If boost is above the limit, Grand-Am knows. If boost suddenly spikes above randomly, as seen with the GTI's during part throttle caution laps, throttle closures on lifting, etc, Grand-Am knows.


----------



## nAAArow 6 (Jul 20, 2010)

Congrats to APR and their drivers. 
I finally got to watch the race last night after putting the liitle one to sleep, gotta :heart: DVR!! 
What I finish for the 171 car, I rewinded the last 3 laps like five times... :laugh: 

Keep up the good work and good luck with the upcoming races, I will be wathing and cheering for ya. 

Oh and awesome write up and pics up top:thumbup:


----------



## [email protected] (Jul 29, 2008)

nAAArow 6 said:


> Congrats to APR and their drivers.
> I finally got to watch the race last night after putting the liitle one to sleep, gotta :heart: DVR!!
> What I finish for the 171 car, I rewinded the last 3 laps like five times... :laugh:
> 
> ...


 
Heck, I was there and it was still awesome watching the end on TV. Ian is a BEAST behind the wheel. You can clearly tell he's a 24 hours of Daytona Winner. :thumbup:


----------



## 04 Rabbit Man (May 24, 2004)

Great Job guys! 
I was there at daytona and had a blast watching APR kick but. I hope you have a great season.


----------



## Ryan Ellis (Feb 5, 2011)

Love how Arin is so good at shutting people up with factual evidence. Thanks for the support guys!


----------



## jaso028 (Aug 12, 2007)

The finish to this race was awesome... @ 1st I was like man that gap is too big coming on to the oval.. then he just powered it through, grabbed the draft and closed that gap up FAST!! 
last second pass, @ the line!! Who could ask for a better finish!! 

Good Job!! 
Glad to see you guys doing well to start this year!! last year was not such a bad year for you guys!


----------



## Ryan Ellis (Feb 5, 2011)

@Jaso, yeah thanks! Grand-Am has really set us back with the recent rules changes but it will be interesting to see how it all works out at Barber. Not sure if the recent rules changes will allow us to run up front but I know the guys at APR know how to make a car go fast so I'm not too worried about it!


----------



## jaso028 (Aug 12, 2007)

Grand-am and there rule changes! pretty much everyone in racing and there rule changes..
I mean I get it... I understand they want to make things competitive.. but sometimes they take it 2 far! 

But yeah Good Luck @ Barber!! love that track!!

but @ least you guys know even if you cant run up front, you have a good set up car that allows you to get up there in the end!!


----------

