The echoes from the ’06 victory can still be heard when the European tuning community embarrassed the import infidels at their own sport. This was accomplished with GMG Racing’s Porsche Cup car and 034Motorsport’s World Challenge Mk4 Jetta. Both cars took home wins in the unlimited class and GMG won the overall event. But after much protest by the import guys, the cars were outlawed due to the teams’ participation in World Challenge.

Last year, the Euros made a noble effort at Buttonwillow Raceway. Our highest finisher was 034 Motorsport and its Audi A4. It finished 16th with a 1:57.216 but had higher hopes this year after adding more horsepower and traction for etGP. The dyno champion of etGP arrived with high hopes Wednesday morning but blew a rod on its first practice run forcing it to retire early.

The rest of the field this year was quite beaten by the Japanese imports which seem to be improving every year. We paid close attention to WRD which had hoped to win the Limited FF class but its Mk5 GTI had problems with boost hoses popping off and the car’s new tires. The car finished 42nd with a 2:03.652. At least it was an improvement from last year’s time of 2:04.561, but far behind the competition brought by Honda tuners.
An interesting race between Euros kept us excited as Evolution Racewerks and Berk Technology squared off against each other with identical 1-Series. The ER car ousted Berk by .571sec. This could be credited to ER’s addition of widebody front fenders, water/meth kit and its own performance modifications.
Stay tuned for a full feature in eurotuner.