Well I’m back and awake after a gnarly long travel day full of airplane maintenance delays and layovers, but since none of you guys want to hear about that boring commodity these days, I will start with the race report.

I was slated to qualify our #19 BMW M3 after a short few practice sessions, but coming off of a test here prior to the race, I was confident that we would be able to make a good chassis balance for a long race. I was able to find some space, and put down 2 laps at full tilt recoding a 1.37.550, good enough for 7th of 78 cars. I was fairly confident of a good start due to the position on the grid concerning the large number of entrants and the high amount of yellows in the past.

At the drop of the green flag, I passed one of the two BMW’s directly in front from Fall Line motor sports. Around the outside of Turn 2 and exiting 3/4 complex I passed the only other BMW ahead (the 48 Fall Line M3) before entering turn 5 on the brakes, only to have the yellow flag come out from a turn one wreck that left 4-5 cars stranded. I was WELL ahead of the two Fall Line boys, now in 5th place and under full course yellow a few corners later they both decided to pass me back at the exit of the Museum corner after we all had shut down. I immediately called into pit lane to have the team bring this to Grand Am’s attention. I have learned that rules are enforced when it’s suitable for the responsible party, so I wasn’t going to take things into my own hands and then get dinged for something that was correct by taking the positions back on my own, but subject to their approval. That said, Grand Am responded to our request and did nothing which I felt was unfair, but i’m not one to dwell on things so I was just going to be a little less polite on my next run at them

After a lengthy clean up, we lined up for a restart. As we rounded the last corner, i was on the bumper of the 45 M3 looking up at the flagger stand when someone in the front 5 did a really good job of a brake check, stacking up the now 70+ car field behind. I mean a really good job, I was quite impressed as I had to hammer the brakes quickly. I had some light contact to the back of the 45, nothing to write home about, but the Stevenson Camaro behind me was not so fortunate and trunked us quite hard. Then the CKS Camaro behind the Stevenson car hit him, so on and so forth until it was bad enough that 4 more cars were totaled on the front straight, bringing out another full course yellow by the time i turned into turn one. Naturally I was watching the vitals of the car to make sure we didn’t damage the radiator and or ducting, but it was relatively light so our car was okay. However when I came back around start finish behind the safety car, I saw the armageddon like damage that was strewn all over the pavement. This time i think it was a Turner M3, A Fall Line M3, and a Mustang of two. 20 long minutes later, before the next green came out when the pit lane opened after all the glass had been cleaned up that flew over the wall, I swallowed my pride and brought the car in for a driver change. Strategically, getting the driver change done earlier than later benefits by track position as other cars pull in to do the same, and with this event being strewn by yellows all last year, we thought we would benefit from being upfront and out of the mess.

I hopped out, helped martin in the car and belts and out we went. We fought back and ran as high as 3rd position, came in for a splash and go to get us to the end on fuel, and began sprinting to the finish. Long story short, Martin and I finished 6th of 78 cars, securing one of Insight Racing’s best finishes in their GS M3.

The weekend was pretty successful overall, yet as with anything competitive, left me with the desire to get more out of it. After all, I compete to win, and my team does the same. Positive progress is a good thing, and we will continue to make more. I am very proud of the Insight Racing boys and girl, and can’t wait for Miami!

Recently I’ve been asked to co-host Formula1Blog.com’s weekly podcast regarding the recent series opener for the 2012 Formula 1 season. I give my insight to the driver’s perspective concerning the events at Albert Park, Australia.

The podcast can be subscribed to on iTunes, or you can download it directly via the website. Copy/paste the link below:

www.formula1blog.com/2012/03/20/formula1blog-com-podcast-255-australian-gp-review/

for immediate release -

January 27th was the start of the Grand Am Continental Sports Car Challenge season, the Daytona 200 at Daytona International speedway. This was also the start of Jeff’s full time season with Insight Racing in their GS class BMW M3. “I am ecstatic about working with Insight racing for a full season, they are the class act of the Continental paddock and have a very talented group of people working within the organization which make them a force to be reckoned with on, and off the track.” said Westphal

Team Principal Gil Lynagh asked the Californian to be apart of his 2012 squad after Westphal substituted for friend and co-worker Tyler Mcquarrie in 2011 and delivered the team’s first pole position in qualifying during one of Tyler’s schedule conflicts with Insight and Formula D.

Insight’s M3 started P15 and finished 15th in a race of high’s and lows by the hand of Westphal and Martin Jensen. Jeff piloted the BMW to the front of the field within the first 10 laps of the tricky, rainy conditions at the start of the 2.5 hour event. “It was a good start to the season for the team in that it validated our progress since this race last season when the team was one year young. I feel we’ll be quickly challenging for podiums in the remaining events this season” explained Jeff

Watch the telecast and see Jeff challenging the 40+ car GS field of the BMW Performance 200 at Daytona on February 4th, 12pm EST on Speed channel.

For Immediate Release-

An exciting new partnership has been brewing in late 2011 and we are happy to announce that in 2012, Jeff Westphal Racing and Tactical Night Vision Company will be working together during Jeff’s Grand Am Continental Sports Car campaign with Insight Racing in the #19 BMW M3.

Jeff Westphal was introduced to TNVC CEO, Victor Di Cosola at Infineon Raceway where the two had a significant amount of business similarities, making it a wise choice for a technical partnership. “TNVC and Victor operate with a high level of precision, which helps give our military and law enforcement customers an advantage over the opposition, the same type of attention to detail and precision that I look for in a race team. I have been working with Insight Racing since mid 2011, and they are the perfect ally to have with the JWR and TNVC partnership as their endurance racing background is so detail dependent and oriented.” Explained Jeff “TNVC and I will be working together with Insight Racing to help bring awareness of tactical equipment for consumers around the globe, as well as expand business opportunities for industry related companies.”

TNVC is a California based company with operations based in Wisconsin and California.. They supply many branches of the US Government, and U.S. Law Enforcement with Night Vision products and training. Victor Di Cosola, The President/CEO was and is adamant about creating a knowledgeable company for people to learn about and purchase proper night vision equipment, the type and quality resource he would have loved during his early years. “I take much pride in being able to help save the lives of our boys overseas, anything I can do to give them a leg up on the opposition, TNVC is ready to support them. I have a great respect for what our troops go through, as well as any professional in their industry. To be at the top of your craft in anything it takes much dedication and skill, so I am confident TNVC has partnered with the right people in motorsports to help elevate the image of all the parties involved.” Said Victor.

You will be able to catch Jeff Westphal and TNVC in the 2012 Continental Tire Sports Car Series races with the Insight Racing #19 BMW M3, broadcast on Speed channel.

Come meet Jeff in person at the TNVC Booth at the 2012 SHOT Show: Booth # 6502

www.tnvc.com/

- For Immediate Release

San Carlos native, Jeff Westphal just signed a deal with Ohio based Insight Racing to drive their #19 BMW M3 GS car for the entire 2012 Grand Am Continental Tire Schedule. The Californian was introduced to the new team in 2011 by filling in for friend and local instructor Tyler Mcquarrie whom was set to drive the #18 Bmw 328i for Insight, but had a couple schedule conflicts through out the season. By virtue of Westphal’s pole position in qualifying (the first for Insight Racing), team principal Gil Lynagh gave Jeff the call to move forward with 2012.

“I’m elated that I earned the seat with Insight Racing, they are an extremely professional group that has a demeanor of a well seasoned team, to have that being just the first year has me quietly confident about our potential in the 2012 campaign. That said, my team mate Martin Jensen and I will work well together as our driving styles are well matched which will make setting up the car for the both of us less of a challenge that others might deal with.” explained Jeff

All 10 races nationwide will be televised on Speed Channel. You can check here for air times: Grand Am Schedule

Until then, listen to Tyler and Martin give you an inside look at Insight Racing in 2011!

November 13-

Jeff and the local Hayward based, GST Motorsports finished off the Global Time Attack season in spectacular fashion going 4 for 4 in breaking records. Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Ca was the setting for the GTA finale, where fans and live stream viewers saw Westphal break his own record set in 2010 at Redline Time Attack for an AWD car around the 2.2 mile natural terrain road course. 1.37.0 was the official time at the stripe, breaking the previous 1.57 set in a torrential down pour in 2010.

“Honestly, this last event is a bitter sweet venue for us. The car has a new gear box and center differential, and from what we can conclude at the moment, the electronics had an issue causing different voltages sent to the solenoids in the center diff. What that means is the car was moving power and resistance to all four wheels independently and at random depending on what voltage was present, which explains the unpredictable issues in the braking zones I was feeling. Though the 1.37 is a good time for a car around this course, I am not satisfied with good, I want great. In all honesty I think the car should be good for a few more seconds.” explained Jeff

Team principal Mike Warfield shares the same feeling as Jeff, though they are both satisfied with the highly successful season and look forward to 2012. “After the event Jeff had sent the usual ‘List’ of things to be changed, but being as we head into the winter, this was a pretty inclusive set of tasks. I’m confident we can make the changes which will help out in all areas of the lap.”

Here’s an in-car video of the GST L doing a 1.37.0 around Infineon:

Jeff and GST would like to thank all of their sponsors in the 2011 season, and look forward to keeping great people involved with the program for the future. Thanks to:

Kicker
Hankook
World Racing
Kognition Design
WheelDude.com
BC cams
Cosworth
Garrett
Whiteline
Full Race
FX Carbon Fiber
Braile Battery
Kona Red
Gopro Cameras
Alpinestars

-Sept 19

Global Time Attack visited Chicago’s Autobahn Country Club in Joilet, Il in the third stop of their record shattering season. Series favorites GST Motorsports with their Subaru Impreza L was hot off a scorching new record at New Jersey Motorsports Park, and ready to continue their momentum at this bumpy, 15 turn circuit.

GST driver Jeff Westphal was given with the task of learning yet another new track in Time Attack format, which in an Unlimited class car, usually consists of 2-3 laps per session. Having said that, Jeff ran a 1.23.594 smashing the previous record set by Tarzan Yamada in the Crawford Subaru STi by over 3 seconds on just his 5th revolution around the narrow road course. “The situation was less than ideal, driving wise I felt like I left some on the table compared to how I drove in the afternoon achieving a 1.23.9 from having a handful more laps under my belt, but the track surface degrades very abruptly here at 10am, from what I’m told to the effect of nearly 2 seconds. That said I wanted to give it a go Sunday morning to try and set the bar even lower, but our efforts were thwarted by rain all day.” Explained Jeff.

Team GST owner Mike Warfield said, “I’m ecstatic with Jeff and his performances so far this year. Every track we’ve been to we break a record, and I know he wasn’t completely happy with the overall performance at Autobahn, but we achieved what we wanted and loaded a perfectly running car on the trailer for the next test and the event.”

Jeff and the GST team are planning to test at Buttonwillow motorsports park before Superlap Battle to have a crack at the overall record held by Sierra Sierra motorsports in their Mitsubishi Evo 8 with a 1.41.0 around the 13cw configuration, beating the infamous HKS Evo by over 2 seconds.

August 6, 2011

Jeff Westphal and GST Motorsports, made the trek cross country from the bay area with the help of World Racing and Global Time Attack to compete in the second round of GTA’s series. The venue was New Jersey Motorsports Park’s Lightning Circuit, with a record of 1.06.7 from any closed wheel racecar which was set by Brian Lock in his COBB tuned Nissan GTR on racing slicks.

“The closed wheel record was interesting to me heading into this event, the COBB GTR is a car we’ve competed against last year when we won the Redline Championship and back then we seemed to have it’s number, so I was excited to turn my first laps here at NJMP to see how much faster we could go as well as test out our front end aero revisions.” Explained Jeff

The California pairing of GST and Jeff went out on the track a total of 5 times in 2 days, and ran no more than two hot laps each time keeping the total revolutions around the circuit under 20, which is impressive since the team had never been to this track. Every time the Subaru hit the track, the record went lower. First time out Westphal was over 1 second under the previous record, and went faster from there ultimately dropping the time to an incredible 1.02.4. Now this may just sound like numbers, but to put it in to perspective, the overall fastest vehicle around the track was an open wheeled Formula Atlantic car with a 58.6. Le Mans and Grand Am spec GT cars were good for a 1.07.0. The open wheel car’s advantage is it’s weight and down force, weighing in at less than 1700 lbs and making over 2000lbs in down force. To have a sedan style car that is still a unitized chassis like all road cars get so close to that time, it’s understandable why the locals said anything under a 1.05 was impossible for a non open wheeled car.

“I honestly didn’t think we bettered out 1.03.2, the track was hot and greasy, the car was sliding around a lot and we weren’t on new tires, so considering the environment at the time I would’ve guessed our lap was in the high 1.03 range. I almost jumped out of the car with the belts on when I heard we went 1.02!” said Jeff. “I can’t thank the Chris Rado at World Electronics for helping to make this event a reality, he is a world class competitor and that Scion he drives is one fast FWD car! John Naderi and Jason Dienhart put on a great event with 4 Records being broken by the quickest time attack cars in the US currently, and I had a blast competing out here on the East coast.” Elated the Californian.

GST and Westphal have already begun revising some points on their 96’ Subaru L to make the car even faster for their next record shattering attempt which looks like it’s possibly going to be Chicago in a few weeks with the Global Time Attack Series. Stay tuned to Jeff Westphal’s fan page for more info, and check out more press from the recent record breaking runs in New Jersey!

Fan Page: www.facebook.com/pages/Jeff-Westphal/100131770073119

Urban Racer: urbanracer.com/articles /anmviewer.asp?a=4944&z=1

Speed Hunters: speedhunters.com/archiv e/2011/08/11/event-gt-gt-globa l-time-attack-new-jersey.aspx

New team Insight Racing from Columbus, OH has won the pole position at the hands of Jeff Westphal in their Continental Tire #18 BMW 328i ST car for the Watkins Glen 150. This is Insight Racing and Jeff Westphal’s first pole position in the Grand Am Continental Tire Series. “Considering it’s my second time in the car with both instances being on new tracks to me, I am quite pleased to be able to give Insight the pole position for the race this weekend. The team did a phenomenal job prepping the car, and the crew is really starting to gel so I’m glad we could have a return on the intangible investment so quickly” said Jeff. The team went on to score good points in the championship after finishing the race in 7th. “We knew a win would be tough to convert as our car can do the lap time in a much different way than our competition, and once the straight line dominant turbo cars got in front they would be very tough to pass. Watkins has such long straights it was inevitable the running order would shuffle around with so many powerful turbo cars behind us, but I did hand the car over to my team mate in 2nd so we did the best we could.” explained the Californian.

Though Westphal has competed in Grand Am’s Rolex series, this is his first pole position in the Continental Tire class in just 2 races. He is scheduled to make his return to Continental ST competition in a few weeks at New Jersey Motorsports Park with coverage of all Continental Tire races on Speed.

For more pictures check out insightracing.com

Or join my fan page: www.facebook.com/pages/Jeff-Westphal/100131770073119

It was the inaugural Global Time Attack event May 21 & 22 and it was the first outing for the 2010 Championship winning GST Impreza L to be tested this year. Mike Warfield (team owner) and Jeff Westphal (driver) planned to use this event to help sort out the car after a winter long rebuild before it hops on a boat abroad to Australia for the World Time Attack at Eastern Creek to battle for international time attack supremacy.

“Saturday was simply a day of putting laps under our belt and sorting out keeping the motor happy (and oiled) with our new Cosworth dry sump oiling system. We had a crank case breather issue that needed some ingenuity to keep everything clean and happy” relayed Westphal. The team completed a handful of laps in the two sessions through out the day in preparation for Sunday.

Sunday GST and Westphal decided to see what the car was capable of. “Neither Mike or I had any expectation for breaking a record since this was our shakedown, so it was quite the suprise.” said Jeff. The GST Impreza lapped the track at 1.19.9 breaking the record by half a second with a top speed just shy of 170mph. “I knew we could go faster, at this point Jeff had 8 laps in the car and he usually gets quicker as the day progresses” explained Warfield. “So we gave it another shot after he requested a set up change.” It’s too bad Warfield isn’t a gambling man, because he was right. Westphal piloted the L to a 1.19.31, resetting the track record 1.1 seconds under the previous time by Sierra Sierra’s Enterprise’s “Christine” (Evo 8).

“I was pleasantly suprised with the weekend, and I can’t thank the Team and Global Time Attack enough for the well run event with awesome coverage. The ALM Live stream was a hit!” said Jeff.

GST and Westphal plan to test a handful of times with marked improvements to the car prior to loading up the container down under bound in a few weeks.