The Quest - Felipe Gonzales

Words by Enrique McLeggon, Images by Rob Wilkinson, Justin Gora, Felipe Gonzales and Ben.

Felipe Gonzales and His Quest to Become a Racing Driver! Felipe is originally a Brazilian National who grew up watching the great Ayrton Senna racing in Formula One. He always had a thing for cars and racing and back when he was still living in Brazil, he occasionally competed in kart racing but not at the professional level. Felipe then emigrated to the US in 2018 as an adult and moved to North Dakota. He later met Jake Joraanstad, the founder of Myriad Motorsports in January of 2020. Jake also competes in the Gridlife Touring Cup (GLTC). Felipe then moved to Fargo in 2020 and started his racing career by driving one of Jake’s Integras at a HPDE event and about a month later, he bought his own S2000. He progressed to getting his GLTC license and got his own car ready for competition. His first ever HPDE event was at Autobahn Country Club last year where he participated in Jake’s Integra. Started out in Beginner’s group he impressed as the weekend progressed and he was bumped up through the run groups because of how fast he was and finished the weekend in the advanced group. It was a great experience for him, but it also felt weird because he wasn’t using his own car. The S2000 was basically stock when he purchased it, with the plan of sending it to PRD Racing for Dean Palmer and Justin Kelly to build it to GLTC specifications. He then focused on learning about the car as he was going to be competing in GLTC with it and went to HR Motorsports Racing School where he refined his skills alongside Justin Kelly, Tiffany Kelly and Dean Palmer. His first actual GLTC race was last year at Road America which he also competed in using Jake’s Integra. He was always a wheel to wheel racer and never really liked Time Attack, so it all felt natural to him at the time to be running with others in close proximity. The risks were quite high since he wasn’t driving his own car and as a result, he didn’t push as hard as he could have but he didn’t finish in the back either. He then raced again at Gingerman Raceway at night in the

rain, which was terrifying because he had poor visibility but he still had a lot of fun. It was at that race that Adam Jabaay and Scott Giles gave him his license. Earlier this year at Gridlife Spring Kickoff was the first time Felipe had competed with his own GLTC prepped S2000 and the car has been evolving every day ever since. Racing in GLTC was scary in the beginning, especially starting at Gingerman with a 55-car field but he knew that he had a good car and had the skill required to run mid-pack so he trusted his instincts while trying his best to minimize his mistakes and most of all being patient. “finish the race with a clean nose, that was my goal. I never got on track thinking that I would be fighting the top 5 guys immediately. I just wanted to know the tracks better and finish races” As the race progressed, he kept gaining positions slowly and he felt good about his evolution as a driver.

About the car: At the time, there were only four persons in the Myriad Motorsports team (currently there are six) and currently, four of the six cars are S2000s. The members always liked Hondas and as Jorge always wanted a RWD car it was a perfect fit. Since almost everyone on the team had a S2000, it made sense to go with what everyone had because the development process would be shorter, plus they had spare parts for everyone, reducing costs in the process. They didn’t face a lot of issues with the car, in fact, the engine hasn’t even come close to overheating. The first mechanical issue they’ve encountered however was last weekend when a rock cracked his radiator and he had to buy a new one. They also had a few small issues with tuning. They had a lot of issues with the AEM ECU they were using but for next season they’ll be using a Fueltech ECU as Fueltech is now one of their sponsors. There isn’t much done to the car in terms of modifications and the car still retains the F20C for the time being with plans to potentially swap another engine into the car to make it a tad more competitive. He also plans to finish off the season by competing at Road America with the car in one piece. He wants to have a solid qualifying time so that he can play around in the top 15s-20s, even though he’s never driven there in the S2000 before, which means it’ll be quite a learning curve and he’ll have to get up to speed quickly but he’s confident and hopeful. They are also going to swap out the F20C for a J35A and also make a few small adjustments to the car. Other than that, he intends to start the next season a bit stronger.

The Build List

2000 Honda S2000 AP1 built by PRD Racing Engine: - Stock F20C long block w/ ITBs - Mishimoto aluminum radiator - Stock headers

Electronics: - AEM Infinity ECU

Drivetrain: - Stock drivetrain

Suspension: - KW Clubsport v2 coilovers

Brakes: - OEM braking system w/ Hawk Performance pads; DTC70 front, DTC30 rear

Interior/Safety: - Custom full cage built by PRD Racing - Kerkey racing seats - OMP harness - Momo removable steering wheel

Wheels / Tires: - Konig Ampliform and Freeform R18 wheels - Hoosier R7 245/40/18