News

FAST FACTS:

The Roar: The three BHA Hyundai Elantra N TCR cars completed a total of 960 trouble-free miles testing at The Roar last weekend.

New Combos: Two of the three BHA driver pairings are new for 2023. Mark Wilkins and Mason Filippi are co-driving the #98 Elantra N TCR, with Chris Finch engineering their entry. Robert Wickens and Harry Gottsacker are teammates in the #33 entry with Kyle Compton engineering.

Familiar Faces: Continuity is the name of the game for defending back-to-back Champions Taylor Hagler and Michael Lewis. They return for their third season co-driving, Stefano Galante is back as their engineer.

Hyundai Journeys: Taylor Hagler was recently featured in the “Journey of Breaking Barriers | Hyundai x Annie Leibovitz” a national campaign, where she was photographed by the legendary photographer Annie Leibovitz. The photo (below) was captured at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. The video portion of the campaign highlights Taylor’s journey to becoming the first female IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Champion:

Camp: The North American Hyundai drivers completed the 4th annual “Hyundai Drivers’ Camp” this week. Usually in Indianapolis in March, the camp produced by PitFit and BHA moved to Daytona Beach for this year’s program. With the intention of keeping the Hyundai drivers’ mentally, cognitively and physically focused in a race setting. The camp included a ropes course challenge more than 50 ft in the air, gym workouts, karting and circuit training relays, kayak and bike team relays, trust and communication challenges and more. The 2023 camp wrapped Wednesday morning with a yoga session prior to the first offical practice of the season a few hours later.

Challenge Champion: Jordan Wisely, a 3x Champion of the hit reality show “The Challenge” joined the Hyundai Drivers’ Camp. Jordan will handle the “lollypop” duties for the #33 Elantra N TCR of Harry Gottsacker IV and Robert Wickens. “Drivers’ Camp has been an awesome experience for the team! The activities and workouts all had great team building aspects with functional training that can be applied in actual race situations. Perfect for team building!” – Jordan Wisely

Taylor Hagler: “I love the Roar because it’s an opportunity to really put in a bunch of laps in different conditions and work out the kinks in a low stress environment. It’s also really need to see everyone’s new livery designs on track and I think our Hyundai Elantra N TCR is one of the best looking out there. We finished with two cars on the podium here last year and will be looking to put the #1 in victory lane on Friday.”

Michael Lewis: “A lot of good things happening for Taylor and I coming off of our second championship together and even more importantly Hyundai’s third straight manufacturers title. BHA and Hyundai are becoming synonymous with winning and it’s an honor to be part of that. Tom Brady said: “what’s your favorite championship? The next one,” and that’s where my head is going into the 2023 season.” It’s all about survival, these races are never easy, you’ve got to be there at the end.”