SCCA U.S. Majors: Limitless Racing 2013 season review

By Johan Laubscher

Limitless Racing and Dr Jason Lee took part in the 2013 SCCA U.S. Majors Tour with the #08 Audi R8 GRAND-AM.

It was a successful year for the team, who competed in the Majors to gain an entry for the 2013 SCCA National Runoffs Championship at Road America in September. They competed well during the Majors races and successfully qualified and competed at the Runnoffs.

The season review has been compiled from the 2013 Audi Motorsport Blog Weekend Round Up posts. Each round has been added as was seen in the individual Weekend Round Up posts during 2013, which can be accessed via the links throughout the review below:

Round 1: Sebring

The SCCA U.S. Majors Tour held its opening round at Sebring this weekend. Limitless Racing are continuing their SCCA participation this year by participating in the Majors as well as other SCCA events, aiming to compete at the 2013 SCCA National Runoffs later in the season. Dr Jason Lee, car owner and driver, did very well this weekend. He showed good pace and carried it over to qualifying by claiming second place in class for race one, followed by class pole for race two. During race one Dr Lee set the second fastest lap time on his way to fifth place in class. Race two saw the team loose a few positions during the beginning stages but a late yellow flag looked to close the gaps until the race finished under yellow resulting in sixth place in class.

Taken from Weekend Round Up - Audi Motorsport Blog (5-6/01/2013)

Round 2: Road Atlanta

The SCCA U.S. Majors were at Road Atlanta this weekend. The Limitless Racing Audi R8 GRAND-AM of Dr Jason Lee was at the event. They qualified third for race three and held fourth during the race, until a last lap pass saw the Limitless Racing team take their first SCCA U.S. Majors podium finish.

Taken from Weekend Round Up - Audi Motorsport Blog (16-17/03/2013)

Round 5: NJMP

New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP) hosted the Eastern Conference of the SCCA U.S. Majors this weekend. The Limitless Racing Audi R8 GRAND-AM, owned and driven by Jason Lee, was entered in the event. Dr Lee qualified fourth in class for both races. They were up to second in class during the first race and came home in a well deserved third place, eighth overall.

Taken from Weekend Round Up - Audi Motorsport Blog (1-2/06/2013)

Round 6: Watkins Glen

The final round of the SCCA U.S. Majors Eastern Conference was at Watkins Glen. Limitless Racing has competed in the series all year long with Dr Jason Lee driving his Audi R8 GRAND-AM. Dr Lee qualified fourth in class for race one and third for race two.

Taken from Weekend Round Up - Audi Motorsport Blog (6-7/07/2013)

SCCA National Runnoffs

The SCCA National Championship Runnoffs took place at Road America this week. The Runoffs is the annual highlight in the SCCA National and Regional calendars. Originally three Audis had been entered for the Runoffs, including two Audi R8 GRAND-AM entries. The first Audi R8 GRAND-AM was that of Limitless Racing and Dr Jason Lee, who had qualified for the Runoffs GT2 class by competing in the 2013 SCCA U.S. Majors this year. The second R8 GRAND-AM was originally entered by Fall-Line Motorsports for Mark Boden, however the team switched to a Porsche 911 GT3 for the weekend, thus dropping the Audi R8 GRAND-AM count to only one car. The third Audi car was entered in the STU class, discussed in point 2.8 below.  It was a steep learning curve for Limitless Racing as their driver, Dr Jason Lee, had never competed at Road America before. Despite this, Dr Lee was able to put in respectable lap times and continued to improve with each session. He ultimately qualified eighteenth within GT2 during the first dry session, behind the wheel of his #08 Audi R8 GRAND-AM. The race took place on a drying track. Dr Lee was able to progress very well and got up to eleventh overall on the first lap, but he would suffer on his wet tires later during the race. He was involved in a number of battles, trying to defend his position. Ultimately he lost places and dropped to twenty-fifth overall after the full-course yellow, finishing twelfth in class.

Taken from Weekend Round Up - Audi Motorsport Blog (21-22/09/2013)

Photo credit: Limitless Racing

SCCA National Runoffs: Limitless Racing Audi R8 GRAND-AM performed well at Road America

By Johan Laubscher

The 2013 SCCA National Championship Runoffs took place at Road America this week. It was the fiftieth anniversary of this prestigious event and two Audis were entered in two different classes. The second Audi entered race was held on Friday morning and Limitless Racing showed good form with their Audi R8 GRAND-AM.

Originally three Audis had been entered for the Runoffs, including two Audi R8 GRAND-AM entries. The first Audi R8 GRAND-AM was that of Limitless Racing and Dr Jason Lee, who had qualified for the Runoffs GT2 class (SCCA GT2 class, not related to ACO GTE/GT2) by competing in the 2013 SCCA U.S. Majors this year. The second R8 GRAND-AM was originally entered by Fall-Line Motorsports for Mark Boden, however the team switched to a Porsche 911 GT3 for the weekend, thus dropping the Audi R8 GRAND-AM count to only one car. The next and final Audi car was entered in the STU class, the Continental Racing Audi A4 of Joel Weinberger. His B7 A4 is one of the ex-Stasis SCCA World Challenge touring cars. 

The event normally takes place with an all-week format, as practice and testing begins on Monday, followed by the racing taking place from Friday to Sunday. Each of the various SCCA categories has one race with a duration of thirteen laps or forty minutes, whichever comes first.

Qualifying was held over two days, with two sessions for each of the classes. It was a steep learning curve for Limitless Racing, as their driver, Dr Jason Lee, had never competed at Road America before. Despite this, Dr Lee was able to put in respectable lap times and continued to improve with each session. He ultimately qualified eighteenth within GT2 during the first dry session, behind the wheel of his #08 Audi R8 GRAND-AM. It was wet during the second session, so the overall fastest times remained stagnant, but he was able to post the second fastest time of that session among the competitors that took part, despite the weather conditions. 

It so happened that both of the Audi entered races took place on Friday, with the STU race being the very first race to kick off proceedings at the Runoffs, followed by the GT2/GT3 race two hours later. 

The STU race was held earlier in very wet conditions. At 8:45 am local time it was a case of quattro weather and Joel Weinberger achieved a podium result in his Audi A4.

A few hours later, at 10:45 am local time, the SCCA GT2/GT3 race got underway. This race took place on a drying track. Dr Lee was able to progress very well and got up to eleventh overall on the first lap, but he would suffer on his wet tires later during the race. He was involved in a number of battles, trying to defend his position. Ultimately he lost places and dropped to twenty-fifth overall after the full-course yellow, finishing twelfth in class.

It was a good weekend for the Audi teams at the 2013 SCCA National Championship Runoffs. Hopefully the number of Audis will increase at this prestigious event in the years to come.

Photo credit: 

Limitless Racing / Chris Rallo

John Mills

SCCA National Runoffs: quattro weather and STU podium for Joel Weinberger Audi A4

By Johan Laubscher

The 2013 SCCA National Championship Runoffs took place at Road America this week. It was the fiftieth anniversary of this prestigious event and two Audis were entered in two different classes. The first Audi entered race was held early on Friday morning and Joel Weinberger performed very well in his Audi A4. 

The event normally takes place with an all-week format, as practice and testing begins on Monday, followed by the racing taking place from Friday to Sunday. Each of the various SCCA categories has one race with a duration of thirteen laps or forty minutes, whichever comes first.

Two Audis had been entered in two different classes at the Runoffs this year. The first entry was that of Limitless Racing, with their Audi R8 GRAND-AM entered in the SCCA GT2 class. The second Audi car was entered in the STU class, the Continental Racing Audi A4 of Joel Weinberger. His B7 A4 is one of the ex-Stasis SCCA World Challenge touring cars. Weinberger is a strong and regular Runoffs competitor. He has previously won the STU class at the 2011 Runoffs and he again performed well last year by finishing runner-up.

Qualifying was held over two days, with two sessions for each of the classes. Qualifying for STU saw Weinberger suffering a brakes issue which dropped him back, this after he had been running at the front during practice. The team managed to fix the issues for qualifying on day two, but with unfavourable weather conditions the times were not bettered from day one and he would line up ninth for the STU race.

It so happened that both of the Audi entered races took place on Friday morning, with the STU race being the very first race to kick off proceedings at the Runoffs. At 8:45 am local time the STU grid got underway in very wet conditions. Weinberger, armed with quattro, was able to progress well through the field. He steadily moved up to third, his eventual finishing position.

After a tremendous lead battle the STU race was won by Elivan Goulart in his #72 Lotus ahead of the #98 Mazda of Marc Hoover.

This finish marked Joel Weinberger's fourth consecutive STU podium finish with his Audi: 2010 - 2nd, 2011 - 1st, 2012 - 2nd and 2013 - third.

Update: The final STU results were released on Saturday, revealing that Marc Hoover's Mazda was disqualified after the post-race technical inspection, thus promoting Weinberger to second place overall in STU.

Joel Weinberger mentioned the disqualification on his Continental Racing Facebook page:

"Update Official results released for STU Class. Marc Hoover's Miata was DQ'd in post-race tech, so I officially came in P2. Sad for Marc in a way - he's the epitome of the SCCA racer."

Photo credit: 

Continental Racing

SpeedCast TV screenshot

SCCA U.S. Majors: Limitless Racing scored best 2013 result at NJMP

By Johan Laubscher

Limitless Racing scored their best SCCA U.S. Majors results at New Jersey Motorsports Park this weekend. Dr Jason Lee, driving his Audi R8 GRAND-AM, got onto the podium twice during the event.

The team has been competing in the SCCA U.S. Majors Tour this year, aiming to compete at the SCCA National Championship Runnoffs. Limitless had competed in various regional and national SCCA events during 2012 and they made the step up to the Majors this year. Their Audi R8 GRAND-AM is currently one of the last R8 GRAND-AM cars that is still actively competing in the USA.

New Jersey Motorsports Park hosted the fifth round of the SCCA U.S. Majors (Eastern Conference) this weekend. NJMP is effectively Limitless Racing’s home track and one where car owner, Dr Jason Lee, has most of his experience. The Audi R8 GRAND-AM competes in the SCCA GT2 class (SCCA specific class structure, unrelated to the international GT2/E/GT3 classes).

Dr Lee qualified fourth for both of the weekend’s races. The first race got underway on Saturday and Dr Lee moved up to second on the opening lap. He ultimately lost the place but maintained third position to the finish, third in class eighth overall. The second race took place in sweltering heat on Sunday. The Audi’s reliability paid dividends as many of the competitors’ cars suffered in the heat. By race end Dr Lee had moved up to second in class and maintained that positions to better his result from the previous day, second in class and seventh overall.

It was a great drive from Dr Lee and very good preparation done by his team, lead by Chris Rallo. The results from this weekend has also elevated the team into the lead of their class points in this SCCA U.S Majors Tour, hopefully getting them one step closer to competing at the Runnoffs. 

The results can be seen HERE.

Photo credit and more information:
Limitless Racing on Facebook

Limitless Racing bringing new Audi to Rolex Series

Limitless Racing Press Release

DOVER, N.J. - Newly formed Limitless Racing is campaigning a new Audi R8 GRAND-AM in the highly competitive Rolex GT series and has added rising star Elivan Goulart to pilot and manage their efforts. The team, founded by Dr. Jason Lee of New Jersey, is scheduled to run in at least four GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series GT class events in 2012 with plans to run a full season in 2013.

Goulart is making quite a name for himself, most recently claiming SCCA 2011 Spec Miata National Champion honors, NASA 25 hours of Thunderhill Champion, 2011 SCCA President's Cup award recipient and North East Division Driver of the Year.

"It's an amazing opportunity to be a part of a new team and start on the ground floor of building something that is literally limitless," Goulart said. "I look forward to the challenge of building a new team from the ground floor to eventually top of the podium. Jason is a huge fan of racing and the driving force behind the team. He is providing us the tools to build a great team with amazing potential."

Goulart's father, Ademir Fedumenti, will handle technical and engineering duties for the team. Fedumenti has been around racing as driver and engineer for more than 40 years. He brings a wealth of knowledge with results to back up his credentials.

"My father and engineer has been by my side throughout my entire racing career, and to have him here brings me great confidence in the success of the team," Goulart said.

Goulart's feelings are echoed by Lee.

"The crew we've gathered have shown great attention to detail during the long hours they've spent preparing the car, and I feel strongly that their focus will be a competitive advantage to deliver results," Lee said. "Elivan is a great mentor, team manager and a talented driver. He does a great job at managing the team efficiently and smoothly.

"I would like to thank Ademir, Sascha Pilz, [Engineer for Audi Sport Customer Racing] Brad Kettler [Kettler Motor Werks], and Andrea [Santilli, Audi Marketing Specialist]. I also want to thank Audi Sport for their technical and organizational support," Lee said.

The team plans to compete in at least four Rolex Series races, including New Jersey Motorsports Park, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Watkins Glen International and Lime Rock Park.

More Informations:
Limitless Racing official Facebok
Limitless Racing team launch on Flickr 
Grand-American Road Racing official website