An iconic racer revived: Randy Pobst’s World Cha...

Bringing a Sedan to a Sports activities Automobile Battle

Images by Audi Monterey

However first, let’s talk about Audi Sport’s–Audi’s manufacturing facility motorsports division–North American GT racing curriculum vitae within the early 2000s. Recent off a profitable run within the FIA’s Tremendous Touring (additionally generally known as Class II) class everywhere in the globe with its B5-generation A4, the model wished to boost its North American advertising and marketing efforts for the A4’s high-performance sibling, the S4. The strategy: competing in SCCA Professional Racing’s Pace World Problem GT Class.

Audi Sport went to work giving a handful of leftover Tremendous Touring chassis a brand new lease on life. It outfitted them with a large number of S4 elements and borrowed some bits from the extra highly effective B5 RS4, which the North American market sadly by no means bought. Legendary engine builder Cosworth produced the road-going, twin-turbo V6 underneath the RS4’s hood, so the agency was introduced in to therapeutic massage the 30-valve lump even additional for racing responsibility. 

The ensuing silver-and-red sedan tipped the scales at round 3000 kilos and put out about 400 horsepower to the wheels–spectacular, however to the informal observer, seemingly not a conventional GT racer that would sq. up with C5 Chevy Corvettes and 996-chassis Porsche 911 Cup vehicles.

However certain sufficient, it did so fairly properly with Champion Racing on the helm. Audi claimed the producer’s title in 2001, was runner-up in 2002, and crew driver Michael Galati grabbed the driving force’s championship each years.

Pobst Enters the Image

{Photograph} by Mikey Noga

Audi/Champion modified issues up for the 2003 season. The B5-chassis automotive was not in supplier showrooms, so the crew introduced within the more energizing, turbo-V8-powered, C5-generation Audi RS6 for responsibility–an excellent greater sedan however with greater energy to match. Randy Pobst joined on and claimed two victories on the finish of the 2003 season, adequate for the highest spot within the driver’s championship and yet one more producer’s title for the four-ringed agency.

Nevertheless, one thing neat went down later in 2004. “Audi was preventing for the championship, and the S4 bought pushed away as a result of that they had the RS6s,” longtime motorsports business skilled Fabryce Kutyba shared with us trackside finally yr’s Monterey Historics. He partnered with Maack for the weekend, as he owned the precise automotive a few years in the past–however extra on that in a bit. ​

The RS6 was nonetheless the chassis of selection for the 2004 season, and now with Peter Cunningham within the combine, one other prime spot within the championship was inside attain. To extend the automotive’s possibilities of getting there, Audi and Champion kicked it into excessive gear for Street Atlanta–the second-to-last occasion of the yr–and introduced the S4 again. The S4 acquired some freshening up and tweaking and thus was known as the S4 Competitors Evolution.

“They gave Peter Cunningham the RS6, and Randy selected the S4–however he really outqualified the RS6s. One thing occurred and he began within the again, however he caught as much as Galati and Cunningham by the top of the race,” Kutyba regaled with all the keenness. The sphere was packed, however Pobst nonetheless managed to sail as much as P13 from P31.

Based mostly on the Evolution’s specs, it’s no thriller why. “As a result of this automotive was introduced out of retirement for that one race, Audi and Champion rebuilt it,” Maack defined. “It bought upgraded turbos from the RS6, upgraded differentials, they usually took lots out of it to get it all the way down to 2900 kilos.” Extra energy, much less weight; it’s no shock that Pobst made fast work of a lot of the grid.

However Audi wasn’t within the clear simply but. As soon as the mud settled in Braselton, Cadillac tied them within the factors chase. On the season’s last cease in Monterey, Pobst and Cunningham completed fourth and fifth–each in RS6s this time–which was simply adequate to safe the title from the German producer as soon as extra.

Seeing the Checkered As soon as Once more

{Photograph} by Mikey Noga

“It’s sort of serendipitous in any case these years to have the ability to help and race this automotive,” Kutyba shared. He and Maack partnered in operating the Audi at RMMR underneath the crew title of Audi Elements UNLTD LLC, Maack’s Audi components firm, which all began with a easy cellphone name.

“Brandon reached out to me and was like, ‘Hey, this was your automotive. Do you bear in mind it?’ as a result of no person had any info on it.”

Kutyba certain did. Actually, he nonetheless had all the documentation on the chassis from each Audi Sport and Champion. Actually, he shared, not solely did Pobst grace its cockpit, however motorsports legend Derek Bell drove the automotive in its authentic, pre-Evolution type, too. Moreover, Michael Galati drove it as a backup automotive in 2003, and multi-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen drove it in a apply session at one level.

Reaching out to Kutyba proved to be fruitful in different methods, too, like getting the suitable driver to ship it by means of Laguna Seca’s illustrious 11-turn circuit.

“We had been speaking about who to get to drive it, and I stated, ‘Why not get Randy?’” Kutyba recalled. “Randy and I all the time had relationship within the paddock. We’d stayed in contact.” So he referred to as up the famed hotshoe, who gleefully signed on.

Moreover Kutyba’s stewardship whereas he was government vice chairman of World Motorsports Group in the course of the period, the automotive had modified fairly just a few palms through the years. It could want a bit of labor within the storage and trackside earlier than it might present up conventional GT fare on Laguna as soon as extra–prefer it did greater than 20 years in the past.

Pobst Reenters the Image

{Photograph} by Mikey Noga

“The shifter’s damaged. It broke whereas going underneath the checkered,” Pobst reported shortly after rolling into the paddock after Race 1, once we spoke with him and the others concerning the weekend’s effort.

“You had been driving it so arduous you snapped the welds!” Maack quipped from close by, wounded shifter in hand. “We’ll determine it out, don’t fear about it.” Moreover the lesson in 25-year-old German metallurgy, there have been just a few cobwebs to mud off throughout classes on Thursday and Friday.

They needed to regulate brake bias by hand as a result of the adjuster broke, sending an excessive amount of bias to the rear. This led to some entertaining corner-entry oversteer, which isn’t usually attribute of an all-wheel-drive automotive. Fortunately, after making changes each days, the automotive felt lots higher, though there have been nonetheless just a few issues to iron out.

“They needed to elevate the driving force entrance to clear the tire–it’s a taller tire than the automotive usually runs,” Pobst defined. “And the driver-rear wheel was lifting like a front-wheel-drive automotive.”

Pobst then defined that because of the automotive’s Quaife gear-type limited-slip differential, if a wheel was within the air, it wouldn’t do its slip-limiting job. Even so, he was nonetheless capable of put down some respectable occasions. “I had a 37.0 the final two days and a 36.7 immediately.”

The event, as standard, had a fast tempo. “For the primary half a yr I had it, I didn’t actually do something with it, it simply sat,” Maack admits. He’d purchased it from the parents at 2Bennett Audimotive in Davis, California, a specialty Audi store that he regularly works with, round two years in the past.

“However finally I bought round to taking it out on the monitor, and as soon as Fabryce put this occasion along with Randy, we figured, ‘Let’s redo the entire automotive.’”

He pulled the engine and transmission, modified the clutch, gave it recent paint, zinced the bolts–the works. This was the primary time it’d acquired a radical going-over in a protracted whereas.

The Studying Curve

Images by Audi Monterey

“I’ll be trustworthy with you: I’m utterly new to this entire racing scene,” Maack defined concerning the weekend’s effort. “I actually rebuilt this automotive in a storage in Roseville [California], and we actually didn’t know tips on how to set it up by way of brake bias, alignment and such. It was lifting the inner-driver rear wheel, and the sway bar was off, however we discovered a strategy to appropriate all that. We’re studying.”

He was glad to have Pobst there to assist get the automotive zeroed in. “It’s nice that Randy is driving it as a result of he’s giving me all of the enter I want.”

Maack had pushed the automotive on monitor just a few occasions, however not at this degree. “I used to be by no means driving it arduous sufficient to understand these had been points. He’s 5 or 6 seconds quicker right here than me on this monitor!”

Maack affirmed that he and the buddies crewing for him had by no means carried out something like this earlier than, and that Pobst had been very useful and sort all weekend lengthy.

The Audi Elements UNLTD LLC No. 141 Audi S4 Competitors Evolution (say that 5 occasions quick) went on to complete Race 2 the next day, which all the time counts as a win in any type of historic racing–particularly contemplating the shock metallurgy lesson the day prior.

So far as plans go, Maack’s unsure if he ever desires to race it himself. However he’s studying lots and wish to get Pobst again within the seat for a testing session at Thunderhill to proceed dialing it in. No occasions are deliberate for the instant future; as an alternative, he’s pondering extra long run: “We will probably be on the Rolex subsequent yr for certain.”