Stephen Chue, president and technical director of Katech, as well as key members of the company were present at the awards ceremony in Lansing. It was a great team effort to come this far, and we will continue to strive toward being a more efficient and effective company. Governer Rick Snyder stated, ”It was good to pause and reflect on our success, but today we need to keep pushing towards our next goal”.

ALMS-PC

 
In the ALMS PC-class, Katech-powered Core Autosport machines continued their winning streak with a decisive win on the streets of Long Beach. Katech’s Rich Priester stated, “Qualifying was cancelled because of the rain, the cars were lined up based on their team points. The teams did not get a lot of track time, it all came down to the best chassis set-up.”
 
The #06 Core ORECA FLM09 of Alex Popow and Ryan Dalziel finished first in the PC-class and third overall. Their sister car; the #05, driven by team founder Jon Bennett and Colin Braun finished third and fifth overall. It was also the second year in a row that the team took the pole and the race at Long Beach. Colin Braun stated, “I knew I was going to have to fight from the beginning, even though I was starting on the pole, so I was confident and aggressive.  In the first turn of the first lap I got caught between two LMP2 cars and they made me a sandwich – one hit me on one side and the other hit me on the other side, but I was able to pass both.”
 

 
The Muscle Milk #5, Katech-powered Oreca FLM-09 piloted by Mike Guasch and Memo Gidley also had a great race. They moved up from fourth in class on the grid to finish second in class and fourth overall. “It was just a lot of emotions and for it to come together in the race and finish on the podium is fantastic. Mike did an unbelievable stint and got the car into the lead. Unfortunately we lost a little bit of time in the pits but we went back out and just ran a smart race and finished second. It’s awesome to get back on the podium again. I’ve had a lot of success in the past at Long Beach and saw a lot of friends and fans. It’s been a great weekend.”
 

SCCA-World Challenge

 
Katech powered Cadillac CTS-V.R’s dominate the streets of Long Beach! The two Pratt & Miller prepared Silver Bullets finished 1^st and 3^rd after starting 2^nd and 3^rd behind the All Wheel Drive K-Pax Volvo of Randy Pobst. Andy Pilgrim in the #8 CTSV.R had an awesome launch against the AWD Volvo and was able to tuck in and stay behind Pobst for the first part of the race. As the race progressed, the tires on the 2WD Cadillac seam to hold up better and allowed Andy make his pass for the lead.
 

 
Pobst placed 2^nd and was sandwiched between the two Cadillacs as Johnny O’Connell, grabbed the final spot on the GT podium with a third-place finish in his # 3 Cadillac Racing Cadillac CTS-V.R. Johnny O’Connell, who started third, leaves Long Beach atop the GT point standings by 13 points, 374-361, over Pilgrim thanks to three straight podium results – including a season-opening victory in St. Pete.

Saturday March 17th marks the 60th running of the historic 12 hours of Sebring live from sunny Florida. It is also the opening round of the new-for-2012 FIA World Endurance Championship. The PC class race cars feature a full carbon fiber chassis and body work, carbon brakes and an Xtrac sequential gearbox with paddle shifting. Katech is the official engine supplier for the nine-car PC field. These cars are lightweight and can reach speeds of 170 mph. Qualifying will take place on Friday March 16, 3:20 PM – 4:25 PM. The race will kick off Saturday March 17, 10:30
 
Follow the race with live timing: http://www.imsaracing.net/2003/lt/ltc.html
 

Dempsey/Silicon Tech Racing #25

Henri Richard, Duncan Ende, Ryan Lewis, Dane Cameron

Core Autosport #05 & #06

#05 Colin Braun, David Martinez, Jon Bennet

#06 Alex Popow, E.J. Viso, Burt Frisselle

PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports #52

Butch Leitzinger, Rudy Junco

Performance Tech #18

Anthony Nicolisi, Jarrett Boon

Rocket Sports Racing #9

Bruno Junqueria, Tomy Drissi

Merchant Services Racing #7 & #8

Chapman Ducote, Javier Acheverria, Pablo Sanchez #7

Kyle Marcelli, Lucas Downs,Dean Stirling #8

 Muscle Milk Pickett Racing #5

Memo Gidley, Mike Guasch

The new Katech-powered Sareni United Camaro GT3 debuted at the GT Open at the Paul Ricard HTTT in the south of France last weekend. In the free practice sessions the US GT racing car demonstrated that it will be a strong competitor in future GT3 series races. The Camaro was driven by Albert von Thurn und Taxis (DEU), Stefan Rosina (SLK) and Peter Kox (NLD). Thurn und Taxis and Rosina are going to share a Reiter Engineering Lamborghini Gallardo LP600+ in the 2012 ADAC GT Masters season.

Hans Reiter who developed the new Camaro GT is pleased with its performance: “Everybody did a good job. However, there is a lot of work to do until the start of the season. We still need to fine-tune the Camaro.” The GT car was transported to the BoP (Balance of Performance) for tuning  after the free practice sessions. Therefore it was missing in the starting grid of the actual race.

The Yaco Racing team (DEU) will use the car for a race for the first time when they compete in the ADCA GT Masters series and the FIA GT3 European Championship with two Camaros GTs. The first race of the new ADAC GT Masters season will take place at the Motorsport arena in Oschersleben on March 31 and April 1, 2012.

Benton and his father are long time gear-heads and have been restoring and racing cars for years.  This has been Benton’s brain child and it began with a Riggins tubular chassis for superior handling and weight savings as well as fiberglass Derhaag C5 body work. Benton Bryan reached out to Katech Performance in order to power this race car. Katech Engineering came up with an engine package that provides high horsepower as well as durability for endurance racing. They started with a C5-R block, which was used in the Le Mans 24 hour  C5-R Corvettes, and is intended for endurance racing engines. The primary difference between this block and the Gen 4 production blocks is the 356-T6 aluminum used to increase stiffness. A Callies crankshaft and Compstar connecting rods were used to ensure a strong bottom end. A GM Stage-3 camshaft was employed to make excellent power and maintain stable valvetrain. Katech used LS7 cylinder heads that flow upwards of 370 cfm. In order to supply the maximum amount of air and fuel to the heads a GM single plane manifold is fed by a Kinsler throttle body with Katech billet fuel rails. This combination produced a staggering 661 hp and 561 ft-lbs and has already set a GT car track record at the Paul Ricard track in Southern France.

 Katech Torquer LS3 engine

• CNC-ported heads
• Katech Torquer LS3 camshaft
• PSI springs
• Katech titanium retainers
• C5-R timing chain
• Trend pushrods
• Katech ported oil pump
• Katech aluminum valve covers, powdercoated bright red
• Katech coil relocation kit
• Katech spark plug wires
• Camaro oil pan
• Camaro damper
• Camaro water pump
• 58x/4x triggers
• 530hp/470ft-lbs

$9,000 plus shipping

It was a near-perfect run for Tomy Drissi and Kyle Marcelli in the No. 37 Intersport Racing Alvin and the Chipmumks: Chipwrecked / Muscle Milk / Lafarge / DynaPep LMPC car as they dominated their class taking the top spot on the podium and third overall at the American Le Mans Series Inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix.

The LMPC race started with a three-way battle with the No. 06, No. 63 and the No. 37 car of Tomy Drissi. Drissi turned in a picture perfect start falling into lock step with the leaders, staying out of the turn one melee and holding firm ground through another charge of traffic into turn two. On lap 14 Tomy grabbed the lead with the No. 06 car falling by the way side. Ultimately the No. 6 went in for a lengthy pit stop dropping the car well down the order and out of contention.

From that point on Tomy Drissi navigated the streets of Baltimore with ease. At 57 minutes and according to schedule, Tomy brought the car in for  a driver change and fuel only. The decision to double stint the tires would widen the lead for the team and prove to be unsurmountable for any of their LMPC challengers. Tomy and Kyle, who were winners in round five at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, ran the rest of the race unchallenged for their second win of the season and fourth podium for the year. The win was truly a near perfect team effort.

“The track was really, really difficult,” Drissi said of the 2.1-mile street circuit along Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. “With the risk you take for a second here, tenth there, another tenth there, you have to keep your ego in check. I got it [lap time] down to race pace during my stint after settling in. So then it was about delivering a good car to Kyle to let him drive it in.”

“I think going into a temporary circuit on a weekend like this, you have to come in with a well-prepared car,” added Kyle Marcelli. “We unloaded off the trailer with a baseline. We sat in the board room and picked what we wanted to do. I knew my job was to bring the car home and maintain the lead that I knew Tomy would bring us…. I kept my nose clean and did what I could to get by trying to be as clean and lean as possible. Our pace was really close for overall finish, but we had our own issues getting out of the pits, it took me three times to get the starter working, otherwise we might have been able to get out in front of the Dysons.”

“You can’t say enough about Brian [Alder] and the Intersport crew,” added Tomy. “I always refer to Intersport as the little giant slayers. Both Jon and Clint Field drive all out and the team works the same way. This is just so much fun being with people that are all working together for the same goal. And I can’t say enough about Kyle… he’s so fast and so consistent. Everyone here makes me want to bring my best… you just don’t want to be the guy that lets the team down. This was a great weekend for us.”

Rich Priester – Program Manager, LMPC

The LS9.R features an LS9 block that is equipped with billet main caps and already machined for piston squirters. The block alloy is 317. LS9 cylinder heads are rotocast, have a more robust casting design, thicker deck surfaces, and 356-T6 aluminum alloy – same as the C5-R. Head studs are 12mm vs the standard LS’s 11mm. The valves are titanium 2.16 intake and hollow stainless steel sodium filled 1.59″ exhaust. The cylinder heads also feature bronze valve guides and proprietary processes in assembly that reduce valve guide wear. Cylinder heads are CNC ported in the intake and exhaust runner. The swirl-inducing fin in the intake port is eliminated for use in this naturally aspirated application.

The rotating assembly is equipped with a forged 4340 steel crank, steel H-beam connecting rods, and 13.0:1 compression ratio 2618 alloy hardcoat anodized pistons with DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon)-coated pins. The valvetrain is equipped with high speed lifters, an LS9.R-specfic camshaft, C5-R timing chain, Trend pushrods, and stock LS9 rocker arms.

The induction system is a FAST LSXR 102mm LS3 intake with Katech billet fuel rails (not pictured). The throttle body can be anything from a stock LS7, to a FAST 102mm.

The dry sump system is a Dailey 5 stage (4 scavenge, 1 pressure). The system uses a billet aluminum oil pan with four individual passages to the integrated dry sump oil pump located where the AC compressor once was. The pressure pump feeds the block via AN fitting on the side. The front cover, damper hub, sprocket, and dry sump pump gear is all manufactured by Katech to integrated the dry sump system on to the block. The front cover is anodized black. An ATI damper is used to dampen crankshaft vibrations and protect the timing chain from heavy duty road race use.

The first engine is 12.5:1 compression, but 13.0:1 compression is standard. With 12.5:1 compression we made 628hp and 551 ft-lbs. See below for a power graph.

1. Mechanical Engineer Level 1 click for details
2. Parts driver (part time)

Please send your resumes to resumes@katechengines.com