“Coming off of another strong showing at Gridlife Atlanta with a double podium in Streetmod for ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ, I was feeling all the momentum and all the confidence heading into my 10th Gridlife Midwest, the event that started it all for me! The energy at Gridlife Midwest is just unmatched in every way, from the massive crowds to the festival vibes throughout the weekend, it’s always been my favourite event making a podium here just that much more meaningful. This is Gridlife’s Indy 500.”

“This weekend proved to me more of a challenge that I could have ever expected though. Right at the first corner of the very first session, my ABS failed, making each braking zone incredibly challenging. While racing a car designed without ABS is relatively straightforward, racing one without it that’s designed to have it is nothing short of dangerous.”

“Because of this, I was far off of the pace I needed to be fighting at the front, and potentially too far off to even put it in the top-5 for the podium sprint. I knew that if I wanted a podium, I needed to give it my absolute everything to at the very least make it into the sprint in order to give us the chance to fix our ABS issues, and I was able to do just that! Modulating my SR-21 pads and focusing on perfecting each and every braking zone, I got us into the sprint by just over a second! This gave us a full day to chase whatever electrical issue was causing our problems. Thankfully, Gridlife is a paddock full of the most helpful people, and after getting help from a couple mechanics on a Rush SR team, we found the blown fuse, and the ABS was back to working as it should!Ìý

“Come Sunday, I knew what I had to do, and now that I could actually lean into the full potential of my ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ brakes, I knew I could give it my everything to go for my third podium in a row for the season! Although I missed out on second place due to fuel cuts from the car getting little too hot waiting in the pits from an incident on track, I was able to secure third, and with Eric Dewitt in first, this was yet another double podium for ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ! After such a challenging event, to be able to come home with a podium is something I’ll forever be grateful for. Next up we’ve got Watkins Glen, one of my favourite tracks and a place that the Mercedes really shines at! The last time we were there, not only did I set the Streetmod record, I was also able to get the overall record! I’m so hyped to see what we can do this time!â€�

“Autoworks Motorsport closes the first round of the Iberian Supercars at the Algarve International Circuit with a bittersweet taste. The weekend demonstrated the excellent technical level of the Madrid structure and the incredibly fast race pace of its driver duo, but the final results were overshadowed by the harshness on track.

“The weekend began with very positive feelings in the qualifying sessions, where the tremendous equality and great form of the drivers from the Madrid structure were evident.”

“Héctor Hernández and Borja Hormigos drove to the limit, stopping the clock with a minimal difference of just one tenth of a second in favour of Héctor. This consistency in times demonstrated the rapid adaptation of both to the latest evolution of the BMW M4 GT4 (G82) and gave the team excellent starting positions for the official races. In the first race of the weekend, the team started from fourth position in the GT4 Bronze category, while in the second race they managed to secure a stellar second position.

“However, luck did not accompany them in both races when they were running in podium positions. In the first race, a heavy hit delivered by the same rival relegated the team to fifth final position, a result that did not do justice to the real pace on track. The story repeated itself almost identically in the second leg. A new impact by the same opponent left the vehicle severely damaged, forcing a retirement and depriving the car of crossing the finish line.”

“Despite the double material blow, the balance of the structure is positive professionally. The pure performance of the car, the race pace, and the flawless work of the young technical specialists and technological partners (ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ racing and ELF Lubricants) proved that the project has plenty of speed to fight for the GT4 Bronze championship.”

“Qualifying showed that Borja and I are running the same times and that the car is fast,” says Héctor Hernández. “The race pace was spectacular and that is the positive takeaway. We know we have the speed and that the team worked at two hundred percent, but it is a shame that external factors leave us without the points we deserved.”

“It makes us very angry to finish like this because starting second in race two, the podium was within our reach,” declares Borja Hormigos. “In the second leg, the hit forced us to retire. Now it is time to change the mindset immediately; we had to experience the bitter side of racing and now we have to pull together to leave the car perfect.”

“The logistics team is already on its way back to the Autoworks Motorsport facilities. The technical staff will focus all their efforts starting today on evaluating the structural damage and proceeding with the urgent repair of the BMW M4 GT4, with the aim of arriving in full condition for the most important event of the year in front of their fans.

“The second round of the Supercars Endurance season will be held at the Circuito de Madrid Jarama-RACE. The event will score points solely for the Spanish Supercars Championship and promises to bring together a high-level grid once again on a circuit with a unique history in Iberian motorsport.”

“With the season nearing the half-way point, we headed toÌýthe home of the British GP for Round 3 at Silverstone. With the forecast looking to be red hot, and the entry list showing 62 cars, it was going to be a challenging weekend!

“Qualifying with a two-driver team is always going to be difficult, especially on the longer circuits as we effectively lose 7-8 mins of the 25-min session with an in-lap, driver change and out lap et cetera – let alone getting your eye in quickly to put in fast laps with 61 other cars contesting the same piece of tarmac! With that said, we managed to hustle the car to P7 in class which with no testing and a few new chassis updates we were happy it was a good place to start the race!”

“Having sat for 20 mins in full race gear in the baking heat in the holding area, the race rolling start was a bit of an odd event, as when starting 27th in a packed grid with a lot of TCR cars and higher horsepower Class A cars, you can’t actually see the starting lights due to the nature of the curved start/finish straight. So, the first lap was a case of consolidating position, staying out of trouble and picking a few slow starting cars off. The temperature in the cockpit by this point was already getting to uncomfortable with the ambient temp being nearly 30°C. Whilst the first half of the race continued, Henry managed to pass a couple fellow Class B runners and continue the slow but steady climb up the standings, helped by a few runners having heat related, and other issues. As it neared the end of the pitstop window, Henry managed to pick off the current class leader whilst battling through traffic heading down the Wellington straight promoting us to 4th in class. The next lap, Kev took the reins and set about consolidating the position with some high pressure from fellow Mk5 GTI driver, Josh Johnson. However, managing to complete the job allowing us to cross the line in 4th in class, just shy of the podium. A solid effort to make up 3 places from our qualifying position.”

“The post-race checks on 2 of the podium-finishing cars found them to be the wrong side of the regulations, one for weight infringement, one for ride height, thus promoting us to 2ndÌýin class! A welcome result with all the hard work going on in the background on performance a reliability. Needless to say, the 355mm 6-pot Apollo big brake kit equipped with RP-X compound pads didn’t miss a beat, dealing with the hot temperatures, and giving high confidence from start to finish. We are also seeing impressive wear rates for both disc and pads given the harsh environment and relative heavy weight of the car. It’s nice to be able to largely forget about that factor as we know it ‘just works’! The rear setup utilising OEM equivalent Ultimax discs and pads is also surpassing expectations given the beating they receive!

“With our (so far) consistent results this year, and constant development with the car, we currently head into Round 4 at Anglesey at the end of June heading the Class leaderboard – a genuinely amazing place to be with it being our first campaign in the 750mc Roadsports formula. Hopefully the second half of the seasons continues in the same way!�

“Going into this weekend, fresh off of a strong result at Gridlife Carolina coming in P2, I had so much confidence to give it my everything one of my all-time favourite tracks: Road Atlanta. To start out the weekend, I was met with some traffic during my flyers, so initially I wasn’t able to show what the true pace was. With this being a two-day, traditional time attack weekend with a limited schedule, the pressure was on to put together a perfect lap. On top of that, we had rain in the forecast for Sunday, potentially limiting us to only 3 dry sessions.”

“Road Atlanta is a very high-speed track, with the car hitting speeds of over 165 mph, putting the braking performance on centre stage. My SR-21s performed at their best, giving me the confidence to carry as much speed as possible into even the heaviest of braking zones, without a single ounce of hesitation, just full confidence. Ending the day on Saturday, I still never got a truly clean lap catching traffic on a track that is incredibly difficult to pass at, but even with this, I was able to put us into P3 going into Sunday.”

“Come Sunday morning, to my surprise, we had no rain! I knew exactly where I needed to find the time, and I did just that. Battling back and forth up until the last session, I ended the weekend in P2, with Eric Dewitt in P1, also on ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵs! Just like Carolina, this was an ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ StreetmodÌý1-2, and on top of that, in ClubTR, the entire podium was swept by ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ equipped cars! I couldn’t be prouder to show represent ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ in such a strong showing against such a strong field at one of the most difficult tracks in the world.â€�

“We ended up scoring P2 at Gridlife Carolina, and Dewey got P1 so we’re looking at an ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ front-row lockout!

“The first day, we battled the heat since temps were in the 90s, but on Sunday after putting in some sticker tires I was able to go 5 tenths faster than my previous personal best!”

“The SR-21s felt incredible all weekend and I really had the confidence to push into the braking zones and trust the ABS when needed.

“Next up is Atlanta and I really think we’ve got a good shot at getting P1 there, it’s a track that really suits the Mercedes and personally a track that I’m very comfortable at.�

“With the success of 2025 behind us, winning the MSVR Trackday Championship overall, we set our sights on a different goal for 2026: the Roadsports Championship hosted by 750MC would be where we plan to do battle. With a very similar format, but slightly higher power categories and faster pit stops, it sets a very different challenge.Ìý

“Over the winter, the car has received a slight power hike with a bigger turbo and supporting mods, along with some other minor upgrades. Rear brakes have been upgraded to factory Mk5 Golf R32 vented ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ plain discs, and Ultimax2 pads with slightly larger diameter; not necessarily for more brake force, but a more consistent temperature window, as the rears are worked quite hard with the OEM ABS system. This, matched with the now tried-and-tested ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ Apollo 6 pot 355x32mm front big brake kit, and our ‘go-to’ RP-X compound pads.”

“Round 1 was held at the Croft circuit near Darlington, with the weather looking to be mixed to say the least. Qualifying started in wet conditions. We readied the car with a known good wet setup and Kev rolled out to see where we were pace wise.

“Having no previous running against the new field of competitors (26 in our Class B!), it was a complete unknown at this stage. As Kev pulled in after his stint, we were sat in P2 initially – a great start! Henry jumped in for the final few laps with the track conditions improving quickly, but unfortunately a combination of traffic, an odd red flag due to a circuit electrical glitch, and various other racing driver excuses!, we ended the session in P5.

“Still a very respectable start to the campaign. It’s always been a bit of a disadvantage having 2 drivers in a sprint enduro format, as you lose half the session changing drivers and getting back up to speed, whilst single driver entrants keep lapping. Especially in changeable conditions.

Ìý“The new brake setup was proving a vast improvement in terms of feel and temperature consistency, so we were very happy with the confidence that was giving us in the bumpy braking zones.”

“The race was full of excitement, the weather constantly changing throughout. The rolling start went without issue and first five cars including us started to pull away from the remaining pack. With contact up ahead from a bold move into the Complex saw us take advantage and up to P3, using our normal measured approach. A lap later the leader went off going into the Complex too! P2.

“A few laps went by before the previous leading car of Packer was back on our rear bumper, he went through on the inside into the Complex, allowing all 3 leading cars to bunch up nicely heading down into Tower corner the following lap, where Packer re-took the lead. I ceased the opportunity to follow him through with a late brake manoeuvre both going past the leading Mk7 Golf back into P2.”

“On the way into the pits, a lapped Porsche Boxster held us up for half a lap, unfortunately meaning Kev came out the pits now in P4. Soon after Kev’s pit exit, there was a safety car due to a crashed Vauxhall Corsa, meaning it would be a 3-lap sprint to the end. The 3^rdÌýplaced BMW Z4 seemed a long way ahead on the penultimate lap, with the added hassle of a lapped VW Scirocco in-between Kev and his target. A very committed move past the backmarker through the left hander of the Esses, subsequently forcing the BMW to out brake himself into Sunny-in. Kev lined up the move into the harpin after getting right up under the bumper through the Complex. taking the P3 spot!

“A podium first time out! Couldn’t be happier with that, especially with the quality of the machinery we were up against. The car was faultless through all the different conditions. Ultimate confidence on the middle pedal making the difference for us once again.ÌýÌý

“Next round – Brands Hatch GPÌýon May 3^rd! Bring it on…â€�

Photo credits: Jonathan Elsey

“Our car is a 1991 Chevrolet Corvette, running under the team name ‘Eddie Vetter’. This car is the successor to our previous car, ‘Freddie Mercury’; a 1986 Mercury Capri. This car is raced by myself, Dan Tiley, and teammate David Pesce. David and I are both race car vehicle dynamics simulation engineers, primarily supporting our NASCAR efforts. David works for GM in their racing division, and, ironically, I work for Ford Racing.”

“Eddie Vetter is big, heavy and bleeds American muscle, so it needs all the help it can get in the braking department. We’ve a rival brake pad for years but can no longer get them. After watching Roy Dietsch’s videos highlighting SR-21 and SR-11s, we revamped our system solely for the purpose of using those pads. We had to change our calipers in order to accommodate them. The end result was a huge gain for us! We now get excellent modulation (better than the previous pads we used), the pads are easy on the rotors and we had very little pad wear after 12 hours of racing! We are not a professional racing team with a full pit crew, and simply aren’t able to change brake pads mid-race without losing significant time on track.”

“The first seven years of my career with Ford I was a Vehicle Dynamics Engineer working on future products like the Mustang and Lincoln LS.ÌýBrake development and brake feel ‘DNA’ was a key part of my job as part of that group, so I like to think that I have some reasonable background in the area of automotive brake feel and performance.

“Our first race with ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ pads was the Championship race recently. We knew it was a risk going to the Nationals with an untested brake system, AND test day was cancelled due to weather, but it paid off in spades! We won the overall race, and ultimately the 2025 National Championship on ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ brake pads!”

“The previous pad manufacturer has left a huge hole in the endurance racing market with the lack of their components, which were unanimously accepted as the gold standard for performance and wear. ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ has set a new bar with their SR series of brake pads!Ìý

“Thanks again for producing a great product that we’ve so dearly needed!â€�

“We managed to get the Civic back together after the crash and made the last two races of the year!Ìý

“After a mid-season crash at a wet Donington Park, the Semprini Racing Civic underwent an unscheduled rebuild!Ìý

“Joining up with the Club Racing UK team for the famous Birkett Relay, the ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ SR-11/Bluestuff-equipped Civic made its return to action on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit.Ìý

“Pressed into action for two stints rather than the planned one due to an issue with another car in the team, Jeremy quickly got himself and the car back up to speed and posted a best lap time two seconds quicker than when they had raced at the circuit earlier in the season.”

“The final race of the season was in the Trackday Trophy at Brands Hatch and was a unique experience as qualifying had to take place behind the safety car because of fog. This meant grid positions were drawn out of a cup with Jeremy drawing P30 out of the 34 cars!Ìý

“Come race time and the fog had lifted but the rain had started. A very busy start at the Brands Hatch Indy circuit from P30 saw Jeremy stay out of trouble and then set about some overtaking… and some more overtaking!

“In tricky wet conditions, Jeremy relied on the excellent feel from the ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ setup and made up an incredible 25 places to finish 5th overall and 4th in class at the flag. In fact, Jeremy made up more places than any other driver!

“On to 2026 now and plans are already taking shape for another season with the Civic.”

Oulton Park International – Round 4

“Weather looked warm for the weekend – a nice change from the monsoon conditions of Donington where we scored the car’s maiden victory! We readied the car for qualifying. With very little changed from the last round apart from basic setup changes to adapt to the dry conditions, the ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ RP-X front pads combined with the Apollo 6 pot brake kit barely showing any signs of wear from the last round up front. The Ultimax 2 pads in the rear also showing signs of fantastic durability after 2 rounds in the rear. Again, we didn’t test prior to round so we had to make sure everything was on point prior so we could hit the ground running in Qualifying.

“The car instantly felt good, with a nice balance. This was the first proper use of the 6 pots in the dry. With some big braking zones at Oulton, it was clear good stopping capability would be essential as well as consistent feel for optimum performance. Managing to put the car right in the mix at the front was going to be critical to ensure we could capitalise. With 3^rd place secured we did exactly that.”

“A quick bleed of the brakes to ensure fresh fluid was in the system, Henry lined up for the race start. With an aim of consolidating a podium finish, he set about the race start. Managing to defend some early attacks round the first corner he settled into the rhythm of the first lap. A committed move from fellow ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ-backed stablemate, Nicole Drought, into cascades saw us momentarily drop down to 4^th place. The first 4 cars pulling away from the pack it was clear this was going to be a race of 2 halves! With a safety car intervention, the cars streamed into the pits bumper to bumper. A mis-judged stop by the Civic of Nicole would leave them unfortunately out of contention from that point onwards. Leaving the top 3 cars battling for the top step after Kev had taken over from the pit stop. With an impressive move on the Mk6 Golf of Jack and George Wright into Lodge Corner on the brakes early in his stint Kev set about chasing the super consistent Matt Swaffer in his 130i BMW. His pace was to be rewarded with the victory having defended a late charge from Kev finishing a mere 2 seconds behind. 2^ndÌýplace! A great result. Making it 3 podiums finishes in row from the newly acquired Golf.

“The back-to-back podiums feeling very rewarding after all the hard work and early development with the car. – There’s still so much more to come too! Safe to say we’re very much in the right ballpark in the braking department though. The ability to drive hard all race long with such consistent pedal feel, and wear characteristics that are extremely impressive given their use and weight of the car. Next round Cadwell Park!�

Cadwell Park – Round 5

“Cadwell Park: not a firm favourite of Henry’s. However, Kev seems to enjoy it! You can guess who will be starting the race here for us… Despite not having a bad record here and generally going well, it’s not been a place I’ve ever really gelled with. This all changed a little bit when we rolled the car out for qualifying. Again, with no testing prior, we bolted a set of new tyres (the first new set since we started testing in April) and set about trying to get ourselves in contention with the host of front running cars that had tested the previous day. The car felt absolutely superb, With Henry and Kev both managing to lap within 2 tenths, albeit making time in totally different ways and sections of the track having looked at the data! The session finished with us 4^thÌýoverall. Knowing that there was plenty left on the plate performance wise. The car’s brake balance with multitude of different corners and elevations was confidence inspiring to say the least.

“Kev started the race with it being one of his preferred tracks, and immediately got off to a good start making short work of 3^rd place round the outside into turn 1. Immediately setting his sights on the BMW of Matt Swaffers who appeared to be struggling to get up to speed straight away. A challenge that lasted another 4 corners before Kev committed an excellent move down the inside into the downhill left hander at Mansfield, finishing the move into the entry of the mountain section. Up to second place on lap 1.”

“This set the tone for the whole first half of the race. With Kev and the Mk6 Golf of Jack and George Wright pulling clear of the rest of the pack. With the pit stops completed, Henry jumped in hoping to consolidate to great work Kev had started. After a couple of laps of adjustment to how the car was handling, and the gap to 1^stÌýstable, Henry set about narrowing the gap to the Golf. Keeping an eye on the hard charging Civic of Nicole behind. With 1 lap to go, Henry was right on the bumper of the Golf having stabilised the gap to 3^rd. A back marker decided to place himself right in the wrong place into turn one defusing any chance of lining up a pass at the end of the Park Straight frustratingly! With the narrowness and twistiness of the Cadwell Park Circuit, another passing opportunity wasn’t to present itself. Crossing the line a mere 0.2 seconds off the winning Golf. Ìý

“Another fantastic result in the bank. With the championship starting to take place, this leaves us leading Class B and 2^ndÌýoverall. With 2 rounds to go, it’s going to be important to maintain the momentum! It’s all to play for! Next round Croft Circuit!â€�