Press Release
Hilton Head, SC., September 22, 2004 – GSC Motorsports, Inc., a retailer and distributor of high performance automotive aftermarket equipment, today announced that they will be running a 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution with the SCCA for 2005. The Evo, as it’s popularly known, will compete in class Touring 1 against cars such as the Chevrolet Corvette Z06, the Porsche 911 GT3, the Dodge Viper, and the rival rally-car inspired import the Subaru Impreza WRX STi.

Along with GSC Motorsports, the Evo will be sponsored by Stoptech, a manufacturer of high performance braking systems, and Evolutionm.net, a forum based on and around the Mitsubishi Lancer.

Asked about the program, Mr. Greg Caloudas, the owner of GSC Motorsports responded, “We are very excited to get this program off the ground and prove what this car is truly capable of. The competition will not be easy but we feel that the car once prepared will be very competitive.”

Driving the Evo will be Josh Gelle, a former SCCA Solo2 driver who ran an Evo in class Stock Tire 1 against some of the same cars (Z06, STi, etc). “This car has the potential to surprise a lot of people. Who would think a 2.0 Liter 4-Cylinder Turbo could be as quick as a 5.7 Liter V8? We took this car out and won several races on a solo course, we’re hoping to do the same on a full track.”

About GSC Motorsports, Inc.
GSC Motorsports, Inc. is a retailer and distributor of high performance automotive aftermarket equipment. The company focuses its efforts on high performance imports such as the Nissan 350Z, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, the Subaru Impreza WRX and STi, and the Toyota Supra. GSC Motorsports, Inc. is owned and operated by Greg Caloudas.

For more information on GSC Motorsports, Inc., visit the company’s website at http://www.gscmotorsports.com

 

GSC Motorsports is proud to announce the formation of its first west coast track racing team. GSC will be campaigning a 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution (car number 50) with the SCCA. The #50 GSC Evo will compete in class Touring 1 against such cars as the Chevrolet Corvette Z06, the Dodge Viper GTS, and the Porsche 911 GT2.

Driving the #50 GSC Evo will be Josh Gelle, a former SCCA Solo2 driver making his first appearance in SCCA Club Racing. Josh will be campaigning the #50 GSC Evo in the CalClub region of the SCCA in Southern California at such tracks as Buttonwillow, Willow Springs, and famous California Speedway.

Also sponsoring the #50 GSC Evo will be Indigital Inc. a web design/development company in Southern California that built and maintains the GSCMotorsports.com website.

 

The GSC Motorsports EVO is now being fit with a welded-in rollcage. Here are a couple pics of the interior of the car without the passenger seat, rear seats or center console. Keep in mind that the class the GSC Evo will be running in the class Touring 1 which requires that the interior remain intact, so we're going to have to put it all back in once the cage is done.

 

The cage is now in. We're going to weld a few extra bars and a NASCAR-style side impact bar for driver's protection. A big thanks to JP Fabrications in San Marcos, CA for the fantastic work on the cage. Just look at the main bars where they connect to the chassis, the carpet wraps perfectly around the bar, you can't even see the plates!

 

Good luck in T1, I really like the EVO but unfortunately it is not competitive in T1 at least in its current form. If they had classified the EVO in T2 I would have bought one to run in T2, but instead bought the 350Z. Unfortunately it is one of those cars that is in-between classes, too fast for T2 but too slow for T1......

If you can figure out how to get 450hp and a weight of aprx 3230 with driver then it would be competitive with the Corvette's.

 

The weight is going to be close to that number with driver. We are shooting for around 300whp. I know we can play with the ECU so we should be able to wake the car up quite a bit as Mitsubishi set them very rich from the factory at 10.1 af.

 

The horsepower is the major problem, the Z06s' would still be putting out over 400hp at the wheels and the same ammount of torque.

You can always pray for rain

 

Good luck with the EVO. I'll be picking up an RS from Mitsu tomorrow, with an eye towards road racing some time in 2005. I don't believe that the RS is yet legal for T1, but I'm planning to focus more on endurance races if the program moves along well enough.

As I mentioned in another post, an STi has been running all year in T1 here in Cal Club, but it can't keep up with the Vettes.

Please keep me informed of your progress - scott@webbracing.com.

 

We'll give it our best! and everyone loves an under dawg.

ALONG
With the alounce for mods in T1 the vettes are not making 400 to the wheels. They are more like 360ish and even tho the EVO will not have close to that we are excited to see some turbo cars out there.

Scott
I'll add your email addy to the Email List. if your in the area and feel like coming out come on!

 

I have several friends running Z06's and they are putting out around 450hp+ at the crank, use whatever formula you want for wheel hp...and they can achieve 450hp+ with the allowable T1 modifications.

The problem with being competitive in T1 with anything other than a Corvette, you have to have the same power to weight ratio, and that just cant be achieved with the EVO or the STI currently. The STI that ran at the Runoffs was built by a very well known showroom stock race shop (which also built the winning T1 Z06) and had a very good driver and was still 6 seconds off the pole time of their winning Z06. In order for the EVO and STI to be competitive SCCA needs to allow some major drivetrain changes (ie: bigger turbo/intercooler etc) which they probably wont do because "it is against the philosophy of the class" or the weight of the car needs to be reduced signifigantly to get the power to weight ratio up, which they probably wont due either since that would require modifications that are "against the philosophy of the class."

I feel like I am raining on your parade and that is not my intention at all, just want to talk about the realities of the class. Personally I really like the fact that SCCA has allowed turbo cars back in, but to make them competitive SCCA needs to have a major re-think in what they will and wont allow as far as modifications go. The EVO is a great car and if it was competitive right out of the box I would have bought one to run instead of the T2 350Z I am building.

I dont envy your position, it is no fun to run 5-6 seconds off the pace and it is no fun developing a car that ultimately may never be competitive. If I were you I would get together with the two teams that are running STI's and start petitioning SCCA for more engine modifications for the car and other modifications (ie: full suspension kit). Good Luck.

Scott,
where are you going to run the EVO? Maybe you should wait for the MR

 

thats the plan Scott. petitioning for some turbo and IC mods are first on the list but we will see what happeneds.

 

Alex - I'm not sure where it'll end up. The plan is to turn it into an endurance racer of some type. T1 could be one prep level we'll pursue just to have it in a real class. I'm not sure that the MR is really the ticket. That electronic center diff (tarmac/gravel/snow) would concern me from a service/reliability standpoint. I just picked up our car a couple of hours ago - no air, no wing, no power windows or locks and no radio. The RS will do just fine for me!

 

Scott, I like the RS but it is missing one important thing, no ABS! What was Mitsubishi thinking? I think the MR may end up being the car to have, has the front ltd slip but also ABS, supposedly that center diff makes a huge difference on corner turn-in, helps dial out the understeer.

Let me know where you land with the car, if you need a co-driver let me know, I'll PM you my phone#.

Greg, good luck! I may see you at some Nationals or at the Runoffs. If you are looking at expanding sponsorship into T2 let me know

 

Actually the '05 RS may be the way to go seeing as it has all the new MR bits (acd, viscous frt dif, aluminum door bars and roof, six speed, bilsteins). It might also be getting ABS and the BBS wheels but I'll have to check with my company.
Good luck Greg! It'll be nice to see a Mitsu out there. Keep us informed...

 

Here are some pictures from the CalClub SCCA Super School. The school was from Oct. 1st to Oct. 3rd.

We had a great time and really learned a lot from the instructor. The car performed perfectly, not a single problem with it. We ran Pirelli pZero Corsas for the school event. They are good tires and we got about 4 hours out of them, 3 of which were good, the last hour was a little tough because the front tires were losing grip.



Picture 1 is the car in the pits getting ready to be tech'd. We passed tech without incident.



Picture 2 is the driver Josh Gelle getting ready. This was the first call to pre-grid for the school.




Picture 3 is Josh getting into the car, boy is that a tight fit. Can't wait for that removable steering wheel, should make things much easier.





Picture 4 is the car on pre-grid. Next to the EVO is a T2 Camaro Z28 that won at the runoffs.



Picture 5 is a look inside the cockpit once the gear is on and the driver is strapped down.



Picture 6 (below) shows the GSC EVO and other cars coming around the last turn into the long front straightaway.

 

hey we know Josh Good luck to you guys! Let us know if you need any help...we have quite a few customers road racing their Evo's

 

I just added a few photos of the new Evo to my web site at: http://www.webbracing.com/aftermarket_projects.htm

It's going to start out as a street project car, appearing at the SEMA Show next week in Las Vegas and later at the LA Auto Show.

 

Hey Greg - did you see the latest SCCA Fasttrack? Looks like the EVO is moving from T1 to T2 along with the E46M3 and WRX STI. I have an EVO street car and that thing is a rocket. It will be a very competitive car in T2.

Good luck to you guys and see ya at the Runoffs next September!

Regards,
J

 

This is great news for Gregg but sucks for us! Oh well, both turbo cars will be getting a throttle restrictor to slow them down and hopefully some weight.

SCCA pisses me off sometimes, I am a BMW man but decided to go to the 350Z because my E36 M3 was starting to show its age and there were no competitive BMW's for T2, then they move the E46 M3 back a class.....

Oh well, if you guys head north for any Nationals next year, I guess I'll be racing against your EVO. Tell Josh I'm going to smoke him

 

i didn't see it in the fast tracks but your the second person who told me about. looks like we will have to change the graphics on the car. T2 is going to be much better than T1, bu my only concern is the throtle resriction what does that mean only 90% throutle will be allowed this would really suck!