Ran Maclurkin has recently added another achievement to his list. In the 2023 Victorian Sports Sedan Series, Maclurkin qualified 13th out of a 31-car field, an impressive feat in and of itself.
Throughout the event, Maclurkin’s skill and determination were on full display. He secured 10th place in Race 1, 9th in Race 2, and 8th in Race 3, competing against some of the toughest racers on the track. These results are even more remarkable considering Maclurkin was driving a “little 180.”
Maclurkin’s Dedication to Racing
Despite some setbacks in the second race, Maclurkin remained focused on learning and improving. He noted that he “learnt more today” and was pleased with the experience of racing against some of the top drivers in the field. Maclurkin’s commitment to constantly improving his race craft and pushing himself to be the best he can be is a testament to his dedication to racing and engineering.
Thanks to his impressive results, Maclurkin ended up 4th outright in the club championship and 8th in the state series, a remarkable achievement given the field of 31 starters. Maclurkin’s perseverance and dedication to his passions have paid off, and his success inspires aspiring racers alike.
Maclurkin Reflects on his Performance
As Maclurkin reflects on his performance at the 2023 Victorian Sports Sedan Series, he is grateful for the support he received from friends and fans. He noted that it was “super cool” to see so many people getting excited about his success and that their support had helped him stay focused and motivated throughout the event.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Ran Maclurkin is a racer who has accomplished impressive feats. His recent success in at the Victorian Sports Sedan Series, where he qualified 13th and finished 4th in the club championship and 8th in the state series, is a testament to his skill, determination, and commitment to excellence. Maclurkin’s accomplishments inspire anyone passionate about pursuing their dreams and working hard to achieve their goals.
Shoutout to Ran Macklurkin and Team: Thank You for Being an Awesome Partner of Turbosmart!
We just wanted to give Ran Macklurkin and his team a quick shoutout to say thanks for being a kick-ass partner of Turbosmart! Your support and enthusiasm for our products mean the world to us, and we’re stoked to see you rocking them on your rides.
We love your dedication to performance and pushing the limits, and it’s an honour to be a part of your journey. Your feedback and input help us to continue improving and delivering the best products to our community.
Keep being awesome, and keep killing it with your projects. We can’t wait to see what you and your team have in store next!
Nearly 30 years ago, I embarked on this incredible journey of founding Turbosmart, and as we step into 2025, I've never been more proud of the Turbosmart team. We are on the verge of our most exciting chapter yet, as we unveil a monumental achievement—our new line of cutting-edge Turbochargers. Turbosmart is more than just a business; it's a community of enthusiasts dedicated to constant innovation in our products, support, and service.
Thank you for being so supportive, and here's to another year of innovation and achievement with Turbosmart! #Engineered to Win!
If our brand ambassadors inspire you, it’s a great sign that you share our passion for performance and commitment to excellence. We encourage you to join the Turbosmart community, share your experiences with our products, and actively engage with like-minded enthusiasts to help spread the word about our brand.
Nikki Hepburn pilots the world’s fastest drag radial import. Nikki and the team have shipped the infamous Boosted86 to compete at the World Sports Compact Challenge at Orlando Speed World Dragway. We caught up with Nikki ahead of her assault on the world to defend her title.
Q&A with Nikki Hepburn
How long have you been involved in motorsports for?
I started racing about six years ago in my dad’s twin-turbo big-block Gemini- I competed in Super sedan and then Outlaw 10.5 and managed a best of 6.88 at 208mph. We then began building the 86 just over four years ago and have been running it as a radial car the entire time whilst still competing against the slick cars.
Where does your love of the motorsport come from?
Since I was young, I’ve always been interested in drag cars and street racing, and the bonus that my fiancé Luke is also into the same things means I am constantly surrounded by it.
What has been the most memorable moment of your motorsports career Running the first ever 6-second pass on radials in the world!!!
Favourite car movie of all time?
Fast n Furious!
First car you ever wanted verses what you actually got?
I always loved the 34GTR but ended up with a Barina, hahaha!
If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
Being able to fly anywhere, anytime.
What do you get up to while you’re not on the track?
Going to the beach, shopping, finishing off our house, dinner with friends.
Matchbox or Hot Wheels?
Hot Wheels!
What is your favourite thing about Turbosmart?
Aussie home-grown brand, the quality of the products and the support available.
If you had to give advice for someone looking to get into the motorsport, what would you say to them?
Be prepared to spend the money to get things done right the first time and do it because you love it!
If you could go back 5 years in time, what advice would you give yourself?
Don’t be afraid to try new things.
Any projects/goals that you are working on that you would like to talk about/share?
Our goal is to run mid to low 6 sec passes on radials while on our USA tour and then back it up on our Australian tracks.
Custom setup and need advice?
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Here is a handyself-help guide to helping you with your Turbosmart install and answers to some of the most frequently asked questions we get here. Turbosmart recommends that you get your products fitted and tuned by a qualified technician. If you choose to install the product yourself, ensure you have all the necessary tools and technical knowledge to perform this task.
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Please contact us hereand fill out a quick form so that our team can efficiently help you!
Nearly 30 years ago, I embarked on this incredible journey of founding Turbosmart, and as we step into 2025, I've never been more proud of the Turbosmart team. We are on the verge of our most exciting chapter yet, as we unveil a monumental achievement—our new line of cutting-edge Turbochargers. Turbosmart is more than just a business; it's a community of enthusiasts dedicated to constant innovation in our products, support, and service.
Thank you for being so supportive, and here's to another year of innovation and achievement with Turbosmart! #Engineered to Win!
The Global Time Attack is comprised of a team of leaders in the tuner, time attack and traditional motorsports fields. There is no doubt that the dawn of time attack, in its purest form can be traced back to the Ibaraki Prefecture in the northeastern part of Japan’s Kanto region; more specifically the rather non-descript 1.27-mile Tsukuba circuit. Read more about the History of Global Time Attack.
BREAKING NEWS – Turbosmart partners with D1NZ and NZXMS
Some big news over here at Turbosmart as we jump on board to partner once again with D1NZ 2018 Series.
“Turbosmart is very excited to align themselves with D1NZ,” Turbosmart General Manager Stewart Mahony said.
“It’s a growing competition with massive exposure not only in New Zealand, but across the globe. The driver profiles are growing and what these guys are doing in their field is getting recognition all over the world.
“The pressure that these guys place on themselves and their cars is extreme and they are constantly pushing the boundaries every single round. That’s the type of class that Turbosmart wants to align itself with.”
Global Marketing Manager James Maclean-Horton said they’re keen supporters of New Zealand’s best drifters.
“Serious competitors that want to push the limits of themselves and their vehicles. When you see it in that light, it just makes sense for us to align ourselves with D1NZ. We see it as the perfect place for Turbosmart to show the world the extreme conditions that our products function under.
“We already support a number of drivers across the tournament with reigning champion Cole Armstrong Drift and the Team Jenkins Motorsport brothers, Troy and Ben. So to come on board and partner with the whole tournament is something we believe is a great step forward in our growing commitment to the New Zealand market and the drift scene as a whole.”
The second round of the New Zealand Xtreme Motorsport Series takes place at ASB Baypark Stadium in Tauranga February 16-17.
Jyrki Repo has brought the infamous Audi R8 1:1 to compete at World Time Attack Challenge in Sydney Australia. We caught up with Jyrki ahead of his assault on the Sydney Motorsport Park circuit.
How long have you been involved in motorsports for? Since mid 90’s. My first assignment was to be a spanner man in a rally team. Quite quick they promoted me to be a crew chief. I did that for a bit over a season, until I got drafted as a crew chief into a circuit racing team.
We had a Toyota Corolla E11 with 515hp silver top 4A-GE. Live rear axle. Slow as molasses but made awesome noise at 9500rpm. Broke down constantly. Oh, those were the days. I knew nothing of nothing but thought I had it all. Typical 25 y.o. arrogance, after the experience of doing three projects.
Where does your love of the motorsport come from? Might be hard to believe, but I have never been into cars or car culture. I do not care about car models, classics or newest supercars. I do not follow the scene and I could not care less of car shows with wildest tuning cars. I have no passion for cars in general.
But I have a massive passion for motorsport. There are a couple of things that give me the drive. Most of all it is the thrill of the race day. When You wake up and know today is the day. It’s the tingle in the guts and the raised heart rate. It’s my drug. It is the life between the races and the seasons. I could not imagine living without having an event, meeting or a test day to focus on.
What has been the most memorable moment of your motorsports career? I think it is the first circuit race we went with the Corolla 17 or 18 years ago in Botniaring. Or then when I think again it might have been the first international drag race we went in Estonia in 2004. Or could it be the first national drag race win in 2008? No, got to be Tuner GP win in Hockenheim 2012. Or Daytona24 as a support for APR Motorsport with Emmanuele Pirro, Dion von Moltke and others.
Think again, perhaps my first race in BTCC, Oulton Park in 2012 as a data engineer. Must be that one. 60 000 spectators on site. It was awesome. No, it’s got to be the Euro Time Attack Masters win in Zandvoort with Sami. Actually, to name any moment on top of another would be unfair to others. There are so many memories, at that time unique and the most memorable until the next one.
What do you get up to while you’re not on the track? Work wise I am primarily a journalist. I write to Finnish tuning Magazine GTI and Finnish Autobild. While not at work, I am renovating a big 1930’s house in a little village in Eastern Finland very close to Russian border.
If I have spare time I go fishing to the nearby lake with my tiny boat. Or drive with RC cars with my kid. Or race with our Afghan hound and my lovely fiancé Suvi. A real man is said to forge his own weapons, so I also do some crafts.
Matchbox or Hot Wheels? I’m a bit of a rebel, and like rock, so got to say Matchbox (pun intended)
What is your favourite thing about Turbosmart? Had 100% success rate with the products so far. We had uncontrollable boost levels with a competing brand product in our previous setup. Swapping to Turbosmart immediately solved my problem, and now we have perfect control of boost.
If you had to give advice for someone looking to get into the motorsports industry, what would you say to them? Work hard. It will be a long a rocky road. First few years you will not only be forced to be able to do 30-hour work shifts without complaining but worst of all without much pay. While on that, prove yourself to be good in what you do. Be a bit better than the others. But try not to brown nose anyone. It is a fine line, when older, it is easier to know where it goes.
Use Your head. Understand what’s going on, what they ask You to do and why, but most of all, understand You will never know it all. No one does, although there are many that think so. The ones that do, never get very far and leave behind a lot of sore people. Meet all this, and all of a sudden, after a few seasons, You find someone paying You to do Your thing. But it won’t happen immediately. And it won’t be easy. But at the end, it is worth it.
1:1? What does that mean and where did the concept come from? It was autumn 2015, Sami had just bought the R8, and I presented it in a closed facebook group for Finnish time attack drivers. Guys asked about power and weight goals, and Miika Toivonen responded “1000/1000?”. I thought that would be cool, just removed the zeros and it turned in to 1:1. So yes, it means one kg per one hp.
More precise model at this point would be 0.9:1 though, but we’ll stick with the 1:1 for convenience, for now, or until Christian calls from Koenigsegg and asks me not to use the 1:1 anymore.
What made you decide to go with the Audi R8? Believe it or not, it was cheap. This was unregistered and molested track toy, so it indeed was cheap. Also, making proper aerodynamics is expensive and difficult. So it makes sense to start with a car that they have already made an aero kit for. It limits selection to models that have been doing DTM or GT. Also, I’ve been with VAG cars since early 2000’s. Made it easier.
Who was involved in the build? Sami obviously. He owns the whole car and we built it in his shed. His fiancé Mervi was also heavily involved with plenty of things, making carbon fibre bits and also otherwise, as a technician and such. Kalle Tyrkkö is our trusted first technician. He was heavily involved with the build. When building the car we also had Pauli Manninen to Work with us, mostly doing CAD and FEM stuff. And lately, we drafted Mikko Ahola, as a second tech, and CAD designer. We have been working closely with plenty of specialists, naming Toby Phillips from Barwell Motorsport, Juha Kivekäs, Senior Aerodynamicist from Helsinki University (some know him as one of the authors of Mulsanne’s Corner), Phil Keen as driving coach, and many many others. Like said, You never know it all, so I have consulted a lot of people. And like a late friend of mine used to say, “It is not important what you know, important is to know who knows. “
Tell us a bit about the 1:1 setup.
Well, it is an R8 coupe, streetcar to start with. Used to be 4.2l V8 with 6spd s#@tronic robot gearbox. Now it has a 5.2l home built V10 twin turbo, Hollinger paddle shift gearbox, enhanced GT3 aero, and around 1400hp. It does Botniaring 2.5 seconds faster than any other motor vehicle, and in Alastaro is pretty much fastest tintop ever, although running on WTAC semi-slicks. It does 200-300kph in neighbourhoods of 5 seconds.
Are there any future plans on the horizon for the build?
I think someone has mentioned five letters in some talks over a beer, one late night a year or so ago, and they are a couple of P’s, an I, an H and a C.
Australia is a long way to travel from Finland for a Time Attack. Why is World Time Attack Challenge in Sydney so important for you to attend? It is by far the biggest and most respected time attack race in the world. Nothing compares.
Any special surprises or modifications we should be expecting for the Australian audiences? If we suck in Time Attack we will take part in the Flying 500.
We hear you are bringing a possible second build to Australia. Do you want to fill us in a little bit on that build and what classes it will be competing in at WTAC? As it is not my project, I leave Terho from Terhon Paja and/or Miika, the owner/driver to tell more, but indeed I got involved into a Lotus build, where I had to step out from my comfortable VAG zone. It is a Lexus LMP-engined Lotus Exige, and it is one of a kind. They will be doing Pro-Am just as we will, with the R8. I modified the LMP engine to suit higher HP and made the turbo package into it, using Turbosmart products and a pair of Garrett GTX 3071 gen 2 turbos.
You are well known for some interesting builds. Is there projects that you are working on that you would like to talk about/share? I am working with Welch Motorsport for a car to do Silverstone 24 next spring, but I cannot reveal much more of that one yet. It is nothing super fancy though, but new stuff for me, as I have not done much endurance lately.
I also work as a race engineer in a team from Serbia. They have an RS4 we built for drag racing here with IMSA Sipoo people back in 2008. It has an Audi 2.2l 5-pot engine and approximately 1400hp. It runs flat 8 sec and 275 kph passes, which is current European record for its class. It also has a unique 4wd system, we built and designed with Liberty’s Gears and Jaffu Holm, using parts I think from four different car makes.
