GRIDLIFE x Formula Drift Put on Show on Day 1 at Road Atlanta
Matan Rosenberg (#484) leads Christian Aranha (#57) through the esses at Road Atlanta.
Braselton, GA - GRIDLIFE’s collaborative event weekend with Formula Drift at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta entertained fans with action from Eibach GRIDLIFE Touring Cup, the GRIDLIFE RUSH Series, TrackBattle Time Attack, and full course drift - all returning for the first time since 2019.
TrackBattle Drivers Set Pace at Road Atlanta
Over eighty drivers across seven classes took to the twists and turns of Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in GRIDLIFE’s TrackBattle Championship in the first three heats of six. The first session of the day set the stage for the rest of the weekend, with cool temperatures and ideal track conditions. After the third heat of the day, Feras Qartoumy topped the charts overall and in Unlimited with a 1:20.223, 3.5 seconds clear of Eric Fleming’s #830 Corvette. Qartoumy’s car still has time on the table, and after running into traffic in the optimal conditions of Heat 2, is set to go even quicker tomorrow. Allen Patten ran a 1:24.655, topping the Track Mod leaderboard in Heat 3 after having a mechanical issue in the prior session. He leads Jackie Ding’s BMW M2 by seven tenths of a second.
Feras Qartoumy set the quickest time of the GRIDLIFE TrackBattle group on Friday.
The Street Mod category is hotly contested this weekend, with many of the same players from the season opening round at Carolina Motorsports Park. Ryan Mathews leads Dewey Dewitt, Jaime Santos, Kal Fortner and Jonathan Wheeler. Mathew’s time of a 1:29.183 resets the Street Mod record in the RWD category, while Dewey’s 1:30.107 becomes the new benchmark for the AWD subcategory. Ryan Mathews is also currently leading the Street GT class in his other Corvette, with a time of 1:32.771. If he holds on to the lead, Mathews will earn himself a track record point in both Street Mod and Street GT. Mark Kilgore’s BMW M4 is just 0.1 seconds behind after the conclusion of Heat 3, with a time of 1:32.822. Luke McGrew’s 1:34.299 puts his new C6 Z06 build third in class.
Josh Halka’s #777 Subaru Impreza is in the mix in a fiercely contested Street class battle.
The Street class battle is fierce already at the conclusion of day 1 at Road Atlanta, with Josh Halka’s #777 Subaru Impreza leading Luca Barberis by just a tenth of a second. Halka set a 1:33.963 to Barberis’ 1:34.069. Both times easily eclipse the standing class records held by Ron Spear (RWD) and Charles Miller (AWD) set in 2018 and 2019 respectively. A competitive field of Falken Club TR cars features a new contender at the pointy end of the field, the #204 Honda S2000 driven by Chris Heideman. While Heideman has competed before, his 1:36.942 turned heads as an impressive benchmark for Mike Bryant, Mario Mirone, Ian Flavin, and others to chase. He leads second place Bryant by 0.9 seconds. Peter Granberg suffered a mechanical or electrical issue and limped back to the pit lane in Heat 3, and currently sits fifth in class. In Club SC, Matt Williams decimated his previously standing track record by six seconds, setting a 1:49.526 in his #129 Honda Fit. Reigning champion Chris Rice sits second in class, about a second behind, with James Smith, Sam Deuling, Mike Janssen, and Ryan Mukherjee rounding out the top 5. Lennon Radcliffe, whose #116 Toyota Corolla was a fierce competitor at Carolina Motorsports Park, sits P6 in class after Heat 3.
GRIDLIFE RUSH Series Sees Debut of SRX in Wild Opening Two Races
RUSH Auto Works debuted the new SRX model in competition this morning, with five drivers contending in the faster, higher downforce RUSH sports racer. At the green flag, Andy Voelkel took the RUSH SR field three wide across the start finish line, sneaking away the lead briefly while the five SRX cars sliced and diced in the first half of the lap. Rob Radmann and Blair Hosie fought for the top spot in SRX while Ryan Leach snuck around Leach later in the lap to take the lead back in the SR category. At the exit of turn 7, the #46 RUSH SRXof John Ulmer and the #7 RUSH SR of Nico Bratz collided, causing both cars to impact the tire barriers on driver’s right. The safety car was deployed and the race finished under yellow, handing a victory to Rob Radmann over Blair Hosie and Cheddar O’Brien in SRX, and Ryan Leach over Andy Voelkel and Hasan Ahmed in SR.
John Ulmer (#46) in the RUSH SRX leads the field of RUSH SRs through the esses.
Race 2 later in the early afternoon brought a return of the green flag, with an early battle between Radmann and Hosie in the SRX field. Meanwhile, in the SR field, James French charged from the rear of the field, passing stars TJ Hunt, Evan Shanks, Nate Hamilton, and more, within the first three laps. Blair Hosie’s SRX slowed leaving turn 10B, leaving him vulnerable to the charge of the RUSH SR field. Ryan Leach used the opportunity to grow a 3-second lead over Andy Voelkel, who was unable to reel in Leach. A brawl for fourth place broke out between Hasan Ahmed, Ethan Alexander, John Robinson, and Jason Oehler in RUSH SR. The quartet battled hard, with Ethan Alexander tossing his SR sideways in turn 5 in pursuit of Ahmed. All drivers kept it straight in a fierce top five fight, but ultimately, Leach claimed his sixth victory of 2025 and second of the weekend in RUSH SR, over Voelkel, James French, and Ahmed and Alexander. Despite some challenges, Rob Radmann won his second race of the weekend over Cheddar O’Brien and Michael Schneider, who passed Blair Hosie’s #8 SRX later in the race.
Eibach GRIDLIFE Touring Cup Features Corvette Duel, Intense Battle for 4th
Eibach GRIDLIFE Touring Cup returned to Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta for the first time since 2019, when the series was in it’s freshman year in the GRIDLIFE lineup. Only one driver, 2020 series champion Eric Kutil, remains in the field from the last race held here. Kutil qualified on the second row, behind reigning champion Matan Rosenberg’s #484 Falken sponsored Corvette, and the #57 of Christian Aranha, who is just in his second weekend of GRIDLIFE wheel-to-wheel competition.
At the green flag, Matan Rosenberg surged ahead, but he and Aranha remained side-by-side through the opening sector. At the blind turn-in for turn 3, Aranha conceded his position, dropping behind the white and blue Corvette. James Houghton slid wildly across the curb at the exit of turn 5, and lost time to the two race leaders. The #330 of Eric Magnussen passed Eric Kutil for fourth, and remained there for much of the race, while Kutil tried desperately to poke holes in his defense. Late in the race, Kutil was able to sneak up the inside at turn 7 and win the drag race down the backstretch in his #82 Honda Civic, but it was too little, too late to do much more damage with a climb through the field. His battle with Magnussen allowed Tony Marchev to claw his way up into the top 5 as well, with Matt Waldbaum’s Honda S2000 just behind the slipping BMW M3. On the final lap of the race, Christian Aranha pulled alongside Rosenberg into turn 10A, but was unable to complete the pass, allowing Matan Rosenberg to cling to victory despite having a small disadvantage to Aranha on the back straight. James Houghton finished third over Eric Kutil and Tony Marchev.
The #2 Mazda MX-5 of Aryton Grim drove from the rear of the field after an issue in qualifying to finish 18th, a 20-position gain for the CRP Racing car. Ryan Kristoff’s L15 powered Honda CRX finished 9th, followed by a top 10 for the #34 of Austin Hertel, who heroically rebuilt his Nissan 370Z in just 10 days after some social media motivation. He arrived at the track at 4:00 in the morning, and got some rest before earning himself a top 10. Eibach GLTC races three times tomorrow in its second round of the 2025 season. Race results remain provisional until any incident investigations are complete.
GRIDLIFE Special Stage marks the return of full course drift to Road Atlanta for the first time since 2019.
