Compass360 Racing driver Andrew Novich was at University Honda in Davis, CA this past Saturday, April 2nd, making a guest appearance as part of their “Really Big Thing” sales event. He signed autographs and the dealership had created special give-away t-shirts specifically for the sale. The local Davis newspaper also has featured an article on Novich in a recent edition.

Noted the article: “Novich now races a Honda Civic on the Grand Am circuit; at 18 years old, he’s the youngest driver on his team. He manages to balance 30 to 40 hours a week of racing practice, and trips across the country for actual races, with his college studies. ‘Most people think that drivers in races are crazy and are living on the edge, but it’s very calming,’ he said. ‘When you’re in the zone, time slows down and you have to go with the flow and be smooth.’”

University Honda is located at 3434 Chiles Road, in Davis, CA.

Grand-Am Newcomers Excited to Fight for Podiums and Rookie-of-the-Year Title

Photo Credit: Sideline Sports Photography

(Toronto, Canada) — Grand-Am’s Continental Tire Street Tuner Champions, Compass360 Racing, added two talented rookies to their four-car program for 2011, today announcing the signing of Andrew Novich and Dan Rogers. The duo will share the team’s #77 Honda Civic Si, starting at Daytona Test Days next week.

Californian Novich is no stranger to the team, having driven with C360R in the last year’s season finale at Miller Motorsports Park in September. “Andrew had very little time in our car at Miller,” noted Team Principal Karl Thomson. “He was on the pace immediately, and he really impressed us with his feedback and relaxed attitude. We’ve been watching him progress through TDI Cup and are excited to be working with Andrew as he moves into the role of a pro driver over the coming seasons.”

Rogers, who hails from Anchorage, Alaska, has raced primarily in the Pacific Northwest and is keen to move up to Grand-Am. “I’ve raced a few BMWs in Pro-3 and GT2 and am really looking forward to learning the Honda. I’ve raced against previous C360R drivers (Kevin York and Ted Anthony Jr.) and know the team will give me a great car.”

Driver development specialists Speed Secrets will be supporting the car along with returning sponsors Skunk2, Honda Performance Development, Powerslot Rotors and Cobalt Brakes. “All of the pieces are coming together for another great season for Compass360 Racing,” remarked Technical Director Ray Lee. “We’ve got some really strong drivers signed up to help us try and get another Manufacturer’s Championship for Honda and go for our third straight Driver’s and Team’s title. The competition’s always tough in this series, but we’re ready.”

Test Days at Daytona, or the “Roar Before the 24″, take place at the famed track on January 7-9th, in advance of the first Continental Tire race of the season on January 27-28, 2011. Tickets for Test Days and the Race are available at the Daytona International Speedway website.

September 24-26 marked the final two rounds in the 2010 Jetta TDI Cup at Autodromo Miguel E. Abed in Puebla, Mexico.

Photos courtesy of Racer Art Photographic

This was Andrew’s first race  in Mexico and he was very excited in the lead up to his first ever race in Puebla. He described the weekend in this way, “Puebla was simply amazing, the atmosphere surrounding the race, the autograph session, the passion of the fans, it was completely unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in the US with respect to motorsports. Volkswagen de Mexico orchestrated a fantastic event and I was very happy to be a part of it.”

The topic of the weekend from the second session on was engines, specifically whose were strong in the altitude and how it was all going to be handled by the series officials. Novich and team felt that after the second session that his car just didn’t have what it took to get up to the front end of the field. Despite this, Novich steadily got faster as the weekend progressed, moving forward each successive session starting with a 21st position after first practice, to a 19th in first qualifying, to a 14th in second qualifying.

Knowing that he was down on power compared to some of the other drivers at the front of the field Andrew and his coach knew he had to do everything within his control to try to make up for his lack of power with his driving. Andrew focused on making the most of his braking zones and getting off of the corners and it paid off in the second qualifying session by improving over Friday’s qualifying by 5 positions. “We looked at the data and Andrew did a fantastic job in the infield compared to the fastest driver data but once he got onto the straightaway he lost too much time. You can’t win races if you are not getting down the straight-aways as fast as others” noted his coach Gord Bentley “it was really hard to take but we focused on the next sessions and kept our heads high”.

In the first race, Andrew made a great start, picking up several positions, moving from 19^th to 14^th by the end of the third lap. From then on, he was embroiled in a battle among several cars, from 12^th to 17^th position, and ultimately Novich finished in the 15^th position. Andrew summarized in this way. “I drove well, it was a very challenging race as my oil temperature was very high from the first lap on. I had to keep pulling out of the draft in order to keep the engine cool enough to get off of the corner well. It was a great lesson in how to nurse a car along through a race.”

In the second and final race of the weekend and season, Andrew started in the 15^th spot, and immediately slotted into the 13^th spot by the first corner. From then on, Andrew began working his way forward eventually making it into the top ten by making opportunistic moves as they presented themselves. A mid-race caution allowed the pack to bunch up however; Novich couldn’t make anymore moves happen and had to settle for 11^th.

“I felt that this was one of Andrew’s best races in the 2 seasons that I have been coaching him” said Bentley. “He had every opportunity to let emotions take over after all the disappointments with his car and being his last Jetta Cup race but he showed his true colors and raced  hard and clean. I can’t be any prouder of his driving this weekend”

Be sure to look for an upcoming announcement for 2011 season with Andrew Novich, as it will be posted soon to andrewnovich.com.

August 20-22 saw the VW Jetta TDI Cup at Road America for their double header, rounds seven and eight of the 2010 championship. The weekend was filled with adverse conditions for all drivers, including San Francisco Bay Area driver Andrew Novich.

First practice was scheduled for very early Friday morning. A damp track, thick fog and a new compound of Pirelli slick tire proved to be challenging conditions for the drivers trying to learn a new track and tire. Andrew commented on the session, “To say that morning practice was an interesting session would be an understatement. There was definitely a lot of slipping and sliding going on throughout the session; the damp, cold conditions were not conducive to getting adequate heat in the tires to really be able to use them at their full potential. Also a fairly long caution period in the session, gave us only a few laps to get a fast time in.” Novich would post the 8^th quickest time of the session.

First qualifying was held Friday afternoon with the sun shining and twenty-seven drivers eager to prove themselves. Novich, among several other drivers, had the strategy of working together with other drivers, drafting on the long straights at Road America to achieve a fast lap. Unfortunately, the drivers Andrew was working with did not help him improve on his time he set by himself early on in the session. When asked why the draft wasn’t the answer he was looking for, Andrew responded, “The group I was in was more interested in racing each other than putting a lap together. At each braking zone, a different driver took the lead, which wasn’t favorable to our attempts to put in a fast lap. I should have focused more on running by myself rather than trying to make the draft work, it probably would have put me farther up the grid.” Novich would grid in the 22^nd position for race one, one of several veterans toward the rear of the grid.

Second qualifying proved how quickly things can change. From qualifying one’s sunny weather, dark skies greeted the Jetta Cup drivers as they rolled out on track to put a lap down for the starting order for race two. On most drivers’ second flying lap, the sky opened up and unleashed a deluge on the track, ending the session effectively, as no driver was able to improve upon their first lap. Luckily, Andrew was able to make his one lap count and put him 11^th on the grid, one of his better qualifying results of the year. “Something Andrew has picked up the last few weekends was getting out and putting fast laps down in the first few laps of every session and today it paid off.” Commented Andrew’s Speed Secrets coach Gord Bentley.

Race one on Saturday proved to be a difficult race for all involved, not only Andrew. On the first lap, after making up four positions at the start, another driver hit him in the rear bumper, sending him off the track and into the wall in corner five. Returning back on track Andrew trailed the 27 car field by 10 seconds and although the car suffered some damage Andrew was able to continue and made it back up to his starting position of 22^nd place.

Race two began Sunday morning and was quite exciting. Starting in the 11^th spot Andrew was shuffled back to 17^th on the first few laps, avoiding several potential incidents. Andrew fought back through the immediate group and was working on the next pack of cars but at Road America however it is not easy to be by oneself. Andrew was slowly catching the next pack of cars but ran out of time in the race and had to settle for 14^th. Bentley had this to say about Novich’s race, “We have worked hard on having Andrew drive emotionless and not get caught up with frustration and this race was a good example of what can happen when you focus on the right things. He drove a fantastic race and defiantly one where we need to focus on his performance and not his result”.

The final race weekend of the 2010 VW Jetta TDI Cup will be held in Puebla, Mexico September 24-26, be sure to watch it on live timing and scoring available here.

Tough Result for Novich on the Autobahn

Chicagoland VW TDI Cup Round # 6 July 31-August 1, 2010

It was off to Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, IL for Round #6 for Andrew Novich and the rest of the VW TDI Cup drivers this past weekend. The weekend had highs and lows throughout for Novich.

Andrew woke up Saturday morning to raindrops on the hotel room window and for the San Francisco Bay Area driver it was music to his ears. “I love driving in the rain. It relaxes me, and I love to play with the slip angle of the car. In karting, I spent a great deal of time driving in the rain with slick tires, and it has given me a feel for wet conditions that I wouldn’t have otherwise.” added Novich, when asked about driving in the wet. After the drivers did their early morning track walk it was down to business for Novich.

Andrew and his coach went over some objectives for the first session and it paid off. “Andrew was very focused and very well prepared for this weekend more than I have seen in the past season and a half, he did a great job out there” said his Speed Secrets coach Gord Bentley. After the first session where Novich bounced around in the top four for most of the session on a drying track he ended up 8^th. “We were out on rain tires and the track was drying up towards the end and I didn’t want to destroy my tires in case in needed them for the afternoon so I backed off giving the tires a chance to cool off, but still staying out for the whole session as to not lose out on our limited track time.” commented Novich.

Next up late in the afternoon was qualifying and Andrew just couldn’t get a lucky break with finding that all-important drafting partner out there. “Due to the equality of the Jetta TDI’s and the competitiveness of the field the draft is important to laying down a competitive time in qualifying. At a long three and a half mile track like the Autobahn Country Club with long straights, it is crucial to a fast lap. With the lap times being close to three minutes long, I thought it wiser to try to put a lap together rather than waste half the session waiting for a drafting partner that may or may not have come up behind me. Unfortunately, my strategy didn’t work out the way I would have liked and we ended up in the middle of the field.” Novich added. Andrew ended up qualifying in the 16^th position which was disappointing after having done a great job in the first session but knew he could race with the best of them and was up for the fight.

Sunday quickly came around and it was a morning race for the VW drivers and Novich was excited to make up for his tough qualifying result. Andrew didn’t have the joy of waking up to the raindrops but all the same was ready for a great day, unfortunately for Andrew his race came to an early close. On the second lap contact from another driver on his right rear wheel caused Novich to retire in the early stages. “This race result was very disappointing for all of us in Andrew’s camp as he worked so hard in preparing for this weekend and was in a great frame of mind before the race and to have his result dictated to him this way makes it tough.” added Bentley. “My race ended prematurely with a hit to my right rear, damaging my suspension. It was especially unfortunate considering I was already up three spots and moving forward through the field. At any rate, my focus is now shifted forward to Road America. Last year I was able to grab fast lap, and I will be training hard on the simulator during the short break in order to ensure I am performing well at the next event.”

Next up for Novich are Rounds #7 and #8 of the VW TDI Cup series at the Road America race track in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin August 21-22.  

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