Published by SetStraight Motoring Magazine
Cross-posted by Fortune-Racing
Novamari is ready for battle in the Camsol GT Challenge, with Fortune Racing taking the helm for the manufacturer's racing efforts. We caught up with Fortune Racing driver Rachel Woycick to talk about her tumultuous debut in the AT&T Champcar World Series, and the new chapter in her legacy on the horizon with Novamari's CGTC entry.
SSMM: Before we get started, I don't think we can properly discuss your future in CGTC without talking about the situation in Champcar. What exactly happened between you and the team?
Woycick: Ha, I could've made a safe bet you'd ask that. I needed the radio silence, though. I put a lot of pressure on myself to perform for my team in Champcar. It's a top-tier motorsport that requires a lot of concentration and precision, and there are quite a few young guns in the series. I mean, just look at how well Rex [Riley] has done in the car in my place. She's still very young, but she can handle pressure so much better than I can. I needed the break from racing to take the pressure off myself and just recenter. I spent some time with my wife, traveled down to Lakeshore for a few days of vacation, and during my time in Lakeshore I got a call from Novamari about potentially driving their new GT car in the CGTC series. I talked to [Fortune Racing team owner] Maxine [Fortune], and she was on board with it. So, here we are now.
SSMM: We were wondering what you were doing in Lakeshore! It's good to see a driver as competitive as yourself take time for your mental health, it's such an underrepresented issue in motorsports that we at SSM see the negative effects of so often behind the scenes. Moving on to your future though, you're working with Fortune Racing and Novamari to bring the brand-new V10 Kachow to the track. Tell us what that experience has been like.
Woycick: Yeah, mental health is always so easily overlooked. Sometimes you just gotta take a break and get away from it all. As for Novamari, they've been incredibly kind and understanding. A number of their crew know exactly how difficult it is dealing with high pressure environments as they prepare their first motorsports entry, so they were all very patient as I took my time with the car, coming to grips with its behaviors. As for the car itself, it's a dream to drive. It has some weight over the front axle which I'm pretty used to, but it's very nimble despite its somewhat beefy looking stature. The car gets a little bit skittish through fast corners, but its the kind of skittish I tend to enjoy as a racing driver. Feeling the car dance on the ragged edge of grip is a feeling i'm obsessed with, and this car provides in droves.
SSMM: So would you say the car is fairly difficult to drive, in that sense?
Woycick: It can be, yeah! But any car has its own quirks that make it hard to drive at a reasonably quick pace. A car can feel easy to drive, but that won't necessarily make it fast. The Kachow feels like a fast car.
SSMM: Can you tell us more about the car? We'd love to hear more about it.
Woycick: Novamari are a pretty open book on the Kachow. If you really wanted to get down to the nitty-gritty, you could just ask them and they'll spill all their guts. But what I know is it's a V10 engine with good power all around the RPM gauge, with double wishbone suspension all around and CGTC-compliant aerodynamics front and back. It's a deceptively light car too, it weighs less than 2300 pounds. It's also naturally aspirated, which makes me very happy. I don't like it when the power comes on unpredictably.
SSMM: What expectations do you have for CGTC this year?
Woycick: Eh, I guess we'll see. I had pretty high expectations for Champcar and it bit me in the ass, so I'll just take things a day at a time and go from there.
SSMM: Any last words for our readers?
Woycick: TALK. Just talk to people. Reach out when you're going through something. There are so many people out there who love you and want to help you get through whatever's weighing you down, so just talk. You'd be surprised how empowering a good listener can be.
Rachel Woycick will make her first CGTC start at Laguna Seca on September 4th, 2023 with the all-new Novamari Kachow V10, which is expected to be available to the public in the first quarter of next year.