Feb262020February 26, 2020December 14, 20220 Commentby Brian DeFrees

GLTC 2020 (First Wheel to Wheel Race: GLTC at COTA in a Rallycar) and caging the Civic!

“You brought a knife to a gunfight” – is what the rookie coach told me after my first Wheel-to-wheel race. “You are officially a Gridlife Touring Cup Driver, you passed!” is what he said before that.

Almost a week later, I’m still buzzing from how exciting the entire weekend was, it almost felt like a dream in a lot of ways since a real W2W race is something I’ve wanted to do since I was very young.

How did I end up bringing a rally car to road race?

I had been following the GLTC for a while and had taken a particular interest in it since my OLOA Scott Robertson of Robertson Racing told me he was encouraged to race wheel to wheel with gridlife even though he had never done it before. I had been waiting to find the right group to go W2W with and because of this and the proximity to my home I decided it was time to pull the trigger and finally go racing for real for the first time.

So once it was decided I was going to do it, the focus was entirely on turning my Acura RSX Rallycar into a legal road race car for the race. If you’re not familiar with the questionable past of this car, you can read more about it here: Bringing an RSX back from the dead to a Rally Sprint win!

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and back south to warmer temps and switching back to FWD this weekend in the #RSXZombie – the first time I’ve ever tracked this old rally car on pavement. It’s a little wild compared to the Civic but a heck of a lot of fun to drive. Planning on bringing it to @gridlifecup at @superlapbattle next month!

A post shared by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on Jan 25, 2020 at 8:17pm PST

Even though I didn’t have the right car for this event to be competitive, I had a car with a cage that should pass tech and allow me to go racing. I started parallel prepping the RSX with my DRZ while I was getting ready to go on this trip: Marfa by Motorcycle : 2019 into 2020 (and preparation for the journey beyond) but the RSX spent most of its time in the shop getting various parts fixed and also getting modifications and safety measures installed like the seat and harnesses so I would be safe on the track.

A few months went by and multiple trips to the shop to get things fixed and I finally had the car back in my garage a couple weeks before the race. I fixed a few last things, including securing the battery properly, swapping in race brake fluid/pads and tightening down loose bolts and parts that were missing until like it seemed like it was good to go. For the next weeks, I experimented with freshening the look including apply colored duct tape, appliance paint, and a quick and dirt wrap job to the trunk to make it (almost) match. While I spent a lot more than I planned to prep the car… I was glad to be worrying about looks and not mechanical things leading up to the days before the race.

Race Weekend

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I am so pumped to be posting this video of my very first green flag into turn 1 in a Wheel-to-Wheel race…it’s been on my bucket list as long as I can remember to go W2W racing and I finally checked it off this weekend @cota_official with @gridlifeofficial the perfect place, organization and group of racers to make this happen

A post shared by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on Feb 18, 2020 at 7:18pm PST

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In-Car video of my very first turn in a real race… I’ve only driven this car a handful of times and am either not used to it or got a little ahead of myself and shifted into 4th instead of 2nd at a critical moment 😂

A post shared by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on Feb 18, 2020 at 7:24pm PST

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Some amazing captures of Round 1 of the @gridlifeofficial touring cup by @blkflagmedia. Love these shots because fellow rally driver @jdm_panda88 and I spent a lot of time bringing up the rear of the pack over the weekend but the crowd was the loudest every time Mike passed the start/finish line. Love the support!!!

A post shared by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on Feb 18, 2020 at 7:54pm PST

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Thanks to Diego, Cory and my other friends who took the time to come out to watch the races and stop by the pits to say hi! It was great running into old faces and meeting new ones all weekend. Also big thanks to: Seth, @spacecadet.tx @robertsonracing @longfellahh @windingroadracing and @derekyarbrough857 @gridlifeofficial for help in prepping the car and supporting me through the weekend on my journey to put an old rally car through an intense weekend of road racing.

A post shared by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on Feb 18, 2020 at 8:16pm PST

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So glad @mdotmurphy got his alternator fixed so I had someone to battle with on Day 2! I did change the tires as they mentioned from rally gravel tires to my 2018 @one_lap_of_america tires from my Civic!

A post shared by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on Feb 19, 2020 at 7:49pm PST

Post-Race Thoughts

In the last race, I had a few money-shifts that I’m afraid caused some damage. I was able to finish the race and drive the car home but it sounded like the timing chain had jumped a few teeth.

The weekend after the race I finally acquired the logbook required to rally this car with the American Rally Association. It got me thinking that instead of sinking a lot more money in to make the RSX a contender in GLTC and on track, to turn it back to a rally car instead with a wheel to wheel race under its belt. This would mean the Civic would be upgraded from the daily driver it’s been for the last two years and would get a cage in it. I just feel like despite the upfront cost of a cage and losing the last of the street luxuries it still has to go full race car.. it makes more sense to go this route and use the RSX for endurance racing and/or rally. I’m going to do my first Champ Car race next month in a Miata so that should provide further clarity.

No matter what the vehicle.. I am hooked and totally want to do this every opportunity I get!

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One of my favorite shots of last weekend by @tententhspodcast …wish I was doing it again this weekend – “Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting.”

A post shared by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on Feb 21, 2020 at 6:56am PST

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So since I enjoyed all of the above so much, I tore my Civic apart while stuck at home in covid quarantine, got it caged, and went racing for the rest of the 2020 season: