The 2008 season marked another successful year of motorsports competition for Hankook Tire, as the tire maker helped its drivers and teams secure multiple race wins and championships.
Season highlights include:
* Tyler McQuarrie earned Hankook its first-ever
Redline Time Attack Grand Championship in the tire maker's third year of Time
Attack competition.
* Tarzan Yamada and Tyler McQuarrie captured the top two spots of the Super Lap Battle finale for Hankook, with a third team securing fourth place.
* Three class wins and six podiums in the Rally America Professional series secured the 2008 Production GT Class Championship for PMR Motorsports' Pat Moro.
* Team Sticker Dude Motorsports captured two wins and 12 podium finishes this season, Hankook's second year of PRO-Light off-road truck competition in World Series of Off-Road Racing.
* Two podium showings in Formula Drift competition with Tyler McQuarrie and Robbie Nishida.
* First season of ALMS competition with Primetime Race Group.
Hankook continues to supply and sponsor a broad range of motorsports teams and series across the country, including American Le Mans Series, IMSA Lites (official tire supplier), Formula Drift, Redline Time Attack, Super Lap Battle, World Series of Off-Road Racing, Rally America, Pacific F2000 Championship (official tire supplier) and national/regional club road racing and autocross competition.
The company remains at the forefront of cutting-edge
racing tire development in worldwide markets, combining state-of-the-art
computer design with the latest materials and manufacturing processes to
achieve optimum performance -- performance that is proven each weekend when
Hankook-equipped and sponsored racing cars compete at race venues across North
America.
Time Attack Competition: Redline Time Attack 2008 Grand Champion, Super Lap Battle Champions
Hankook-sponsored Tyler McQuarrie captured the 2008 Redline Time Attack Grand championship title, marking Hankook's first series championship in just its third year of competition. Hankook topped off the time attack racing season with two Hankook-sponsored teams finishing one-two in the Super Lap Battle Finals at Buttonwillow Raceway, with a third Hankook team finishing fourth, giving the tire maker three of the top-four spots in the highly competitive finale.
Between the two time attack series, Hankook Tire teams, aided by the Ventus Z214 tire, won in all six races entered including four overall wins, seven class wins, three track records as well as two GT Live Super Session victories.
Rally America: 2008 Production GT Class Champion
Matt Johnson and co-pilot Jeremy Wimpey earned four top-five finishes this season, piloting a Driving Subaru Imprezza WRX STI in Rally America's Open Class.
PMR Motorsports' Pat Moro and co-driver/navigator Mike Rossey won the 2008 Production GT Class Championship with three class wins and six top-three finishes driving a Subaru WRX.
Hankook Tire provided
Johnson and Moro a range of race-proven rally tires -- Ventus R201, Ventus R202, Ventus R203 and Ventus
R204 -- needed to successfully overcome the varying terrain and extreme climate
conditions racers face.
World Series Off-Road Racing
Hankook Tire enjoyed an impressive sophomore season in off-road truck racing as the exclusive tire supplier for Sticker Dude Motorsports. With drivers Steven Federico and Lee O’Donnell piloting Hankook Dynapro MT RT03-shod machines in the PRO-Light class, Hankook earned its first-ever series win, 12 podium finishes (including two wins) and top-three rankings in the PRO-Light championship final standings for Federico and O’Donnell.
Federico and O'Donnell’s one-two finish in Oshkosh, Wis., not only earned Hankook its first WSORR win, but made series history as the first time teammates in the same division finished in the top two spots. Federico finished the season second in the PRO-Light championship points with two race wins and six podium finishes. Teammate Lee O'Donnell ranked third thanks to six podium finishes over the season.
Formula Drift
Hankook drivers Tyler McQuarrie and Robbie Nishida each steered their respective machines to podium finishes this season. McQuarrie finished second at Englishtown Raceway in his Hankook Tire/JIC Magic USA Porsche 993. Nishida made his way into the prestigious "Great 8" round three times this season en route to a third place finish at Evergreen Speedway in his Dynamic Autosports Nissan 350Z.
Both drivers competed using Hankook's Ventus Z212 drifting tire, designed to provide drivers the needed speed through the corners to get the tires to spin and drift, balanced by the need for grip to precisely place the car.
American Le Mans Series
Hankook Tire proudly entered its first season of American Le Mans Series competition in 2008, supporting Primetime Race Group's Dodge Viper with Hankook Ventus F200 racing tires. Joel Feinberg and co-driver Chris Hall earned a season-best fifth place finish at the 12 hours of Sebring and a seventh place finish in the GT2 Class at the Detroit Sports Car Challenge.
