Not every HyperFest is blessed with clear skies and dry surfaces, but this year’s was. As previous years’ events have demonstrated, the right atmosphere helps a lot when it comes to filling grandstands and the drivers’ fields. “The seats were packed this year. It’s always cool to have a crowd watching you,” said Jack Cobetto, HFGT and SE30 driver.
For the 23,717 people in attendance this year, there was a wide array of events to keep everyone immersed. On the MA Performance Skidpad, RTR brought Vaughn Gittin Jr. and their drift-spec Mustangs to share the space with big names like drift specialist Chris Forsberg and off-roader Blake Wilkey, who coordinated his Beetle-bodied trophy truck with the pony cars’ demonstration by launching it off a kicker ramp as the others produced huge plumes of tire smoke. A mechanical ballet done with exacting precision and the sort of flair to keep the audience giddy for bigger and greater demonstrations.
“When it comes to the spectator side of things, there were so many activities for the spectators to take part in. You’re actually immersed in the event as a spectator,” Cobetto added.
On VIR’s road course, BFGoodrich Tires helped provide pace and lead-car rides in a Porsche 911 and a Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing. They also featured Warriors in Motion, a program aiding veterans, who provided race track rides in race prepared BMW E46s to over a hundred riders. In addition to the conventional race events, HyperFest featured a blind driver golf cart races, a hot pepper eating contest, and a Paul Reed Smith Guitars-sponsored air guitar competition.
Not all ridealongs were performed on pavement. On the offroad side of things, BFGoodrich Tires and Sarek Autowerks provided 4×4 rides. Alongside them, Monster Energy’s motocross team hurled themselves over a series of inflatable jumps and dirt motocross courses. RTR brought their Raptors to churn up earth and hurl pebbles.
The sideways, tire-spinning stuff continued off the unpaved parts of HyperFest. US Drift brought 125 drifters to the Monster Energy Drift Games, which featured a “backie” competition, in which drifters would try to attack their corner entry with the most drift angle without spinning.
The Drift Games challenged drivers to be showmen and strong drivers. “They’d open a can of Monster, hop in their car, hang the can out the window, and run the drift course as well as they could without spilling anything. It’s one of the best ways to entertain the fans,” said Chris Cobetto, NASA Mid-Atlantic Regional Director and HyperFest event organizer. The winner of this went home with a brand new Exedy Clutch, a longtime sponsor of the event.
“The beautiful thing about HyperFest is that enthusiasts from the grip world, drift world, and dirt world all find a place to play and in many instances rotate between the disciplines during the weekend,” said Chris Cobetto.
This multicultural event featured a few notable names. Renowned drifter competing in the HFGT race, too. Chelsea Denofa, a Ford favorite and Formula D star, ran a 2008 Mustang FR500S alongside Jeremiah Burton of Big Time and Donut Media fame. Burton jumped in that same race in an ex-SRO TCA Honda Civic, once driven by the Skip Barber team.
Burton went on to run an ST4 event and even the Koni Downhill Attack, which puts drivers in motor-less Mattel-style kids’ cars in a gravity race. Burton managed to make it into the semi-finals.
Interestingly, it was a big, powerful car which claimed the victory in this year’s HFGT event. Evan Levine in his BMW 435i surprised quite a few people when this no-aero heavyweight managed to hit 153 mph down VIR’s back straight.
The range of paint-trading bimmers made the show worth watching. For the BMW Spec classes, Bimmerparts awarded the podium finishers in each class with real cash prizes: $500, $300, and $200 for first, second, and third, respectively.
Jack Cobetto, unable to compete in HFGT due to a blown engine, was able to salvage his weekend with a win in Spec E30 on Friday. “The racing that day was as clean and close as it gets, and still easy. On top of the competition, I was able to have a few beers with my competitors that night at Club Hyperfest,” he said.
“Considering we’re enduring a bad economy right now, the fact that our turnout was better than last year definitely established the event as a must-go. We saw lots of repeat customers return this year,” said Chris Cobetto.
“I’ve been around so long, it’s not like it changes much, but it’s nice to see how quickly things evolve,” said Jack.
Over the last few years, HyperFest has grown into the widely appealing party that it is now. Fun — the main aim for all — has brought in a broader audience that most motorsports-oriented weekends cannot. Even the motorsport-averse observer can find something worth studying.
As Chris Cobetto likes to reiterate, “It’s all about fun.”
