After a list of impressive runs and successful events in the States, the Ekanoo Racing’s Pro Import GT86 is heading back home just in time to begin the Bahrain National Drag Racing Championship. The team began the shipping process the very next day after running in the PDRA Bradenton event but not before confirming some interesting news. The Ekanoo Racing GT86 will be shipped back over and will run the full PDRA race schedule in 2017. It is unconfirmed but expected that the car will also race some of the best import races during the year as well. The success of the team began as soon as they began testing at Orlando.
Their first test session at Orlando Speed World set the precedent for the rest of the GT86’s time in the US. In the midst of a typical hot, humid summer day in Florida, the team managed to break the US import drag record running a 5.89 @ 245 MPH. A few weeks later, the team would make their way up to Michigan to compete in a PDRA event which would serve as the cars official USA racing debut.
Although it was a competitive field, the Pro Import GT86 muscled a second place finish and managed to improve their US record by one thousandths of a second. The final race was not meant to be as the car suffered a battery failure which left it unable to start at the line. The Ekanoo Racing GT86 was a force to be reckoned with.
The GT86’s final appearance in the States would be at a PDRA race hosted by Bradenton Motorsports Park in Florida. The team descended into Palm Beach International Raceway to test a few new engine combinations before arriving at Bradenton to try and have a repeat performance of Michigan. They had the intention of competing at the top of the class and their qualifying efforts would support that.
Before the rain came in to shorten qualifying on Friday, the GT86 made a pass ending in a 4.00 @ 188 MPH. Not satisfied with that, the team went back out and blistered down the track in a full ¼ mile pass. The car crossed the beams at 5.85 @ 235.47 MPH, thus resetting the US import record once more. Looking at the time slip for the pass, at the 1/8 mile they were going 202 MPH, a record for an import car. With that pass they managed a 5th place qualifying spot in the ultra-competitive pro boost class. Saturday, the rain came early so the team only managed one pass, a 4.02 @ 179 MPH. The event was called after the rain delay.
The Ekanoo Racing team will be back next year to run the full PDRA schedule. They have won back to back championships in their home country of Bahrain. They are shipping the car over to the United States as a new challenge for the car and team. The PDRA schedule will bring them all across the US, exposing them not only to new tracks but also new fans that have yet to see an all-out import hang with the V8 race cars. The imports are coming!
