Mike Talks Performance Friction Brakes Biography MFest 5

My name is Mike Bonanni and I am a charismatic, motivated, up and coming race car driver with a burning passion for the thrill of motorsports.  Since a young age, I have been involved with non-traditional “extreme” sports where I gained a lot of the skills, both physically and mentally that I use today in auto racing.  Like normal kids growing up, I cycled through baseball, karate, and other traditional sports, but it wasn’t until the age of 11 when my dad brought home a mountain bike that he won in a raffle that I realized that I was much better suited for other types of sports.  I quickly found myself competing in cross-country mountain bike races where I became addicted to the thrill, excitement, and competition that comes with extreme sports.  At the age of 13, my family and I re-located to Las Vegas, NV, where mountain biking at the time was almost non existent.  After moving to Las Vegas I tried skateboarding, snowboarding, and dirt bikes, before finally settling on BMX racing at the age of 15.  BMX racing became a huge passion of mine and I gave the sport everything I had taking three West Coast NBL Regional Championships, three Nevada State NBL Championships, and ranking as high as #19 in the nation before the age of 18, when I stopped competing to focus on college.

During this extreme sports period I maintained a passion for cars, but had no idea that there were ways for 18 year old kids to get into race driving at an amateur level.  It wasn’t until 2004 that I found out about SCCA Solo II Autocross, and as the recent owner of a new Nissan 350Z sports car, I was more than eager to enter my first event.  Later that year, I was clued into HPDE (aka open track day) events where I could take my car to actual road courses.  The following two years I did over 30 driving schools, lapping days, and autocross events.  In 2007 I decided to take my driving to another level by entering time attack competition with the Redline Time Attack series.  In my rookie year of time attack competition I maintained a 100% podium finish record with five 1st place, one 2nd place, and one 3rd place finish out of seven races, and a track record at Laguna Seca that still stands to this day for the Redline Time Attack Street RWD class.  Since then I have expanded my driving career to include experience in professional driver instruction, multiple sanctioning body competition licenses, product R&D test driving, and more wins, podiums, and track records driving a number of different vehicles in the Global Time Attack series, MotoIQ Pacific Tuner Car Championships, N.A.S.A. Time Trials, Redline Time Attack, and other specialty events.

Although I did not take the traditional path into motorsports through karting, I believe that crossover athletes are the next wave of professional drivers.  The skills learned through other extreme sports like BMX racing both physically, and mentally, are very much the same as the skills needed to succeed behind the wheel of a race car.  My goals are to pursue a professional driving career to the best of my abilities and move up the ladder into professional motorsports to fulfill my life’s dream.

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MOTORSPORTS HISTORY

2011 - Berk Technology Race Team

MotoIQ Pacific Tuner Car Champaionship - Berk Technology 2008 BMW 135i - "Tuner Over" Class
- 3 events | 3 Pole Positions | 3 Wins
- 100% Win Average
- 100% Pole Position Average
- Highest win and pole position average in class
- Track records at Willow Springs Raceway, Firebird Raceway, and Auto Club Speedway
- 2011 MotoIQ Pacific Tuner Car Championships Tuner Over Champion

Global Time Attack - Berk Technology 2008 BMW 135i - Street GT RWD Class
- Inaugural event Champion. 1st Place Overall Street GT + 1st Place Street GT RWD
- New Street GT and Street GT RWD Track Record - Willow Springs Raceway

2010 - Berk Technology Race Team

Redline Time Attack Series - Berk Technology 2008 BMW 135i - Street Tire RWD Class
- 5 events | 5 Podium Finishes | 2 Wins | Worst finish 3rd Place
- 100% Podium Average.
- Highest win percentage in class
- Track records at Buttonwillow Raceway and Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch
- 2010 Redline Time Attack Street Tire RWD Champion

Redline Time Attack Series - 2009 Nissan 370Z - Street Tire RWD Class
- 1 event | 1 Podium | 1 Win
- 1st Place Street Tire RWD Class
- Track Record at Infineon Raceway ****Wet***
- 100% Stock Car.
- Personal daily driver. Berk Technology BMW 135i did not attend this event.

Redline Time Attack Series - Brakehorn Productions 2004 Honda S2000 - Street Tire RWD Class
- 1 event | 0 Podiums | Best Finish 4th
- Entusiast Class RWD legal car
- 4th Place Street Tire RWD Class at Auto Club Speedway ROVAL
- Borrowed car due to mechanical DNS with Berk Technology BMW 135i

2009 - Double Down Motorsports Time Attack Race Team

Redline Time Attack Series - Street RWD - Double Down Motorsports 2009 Nissan 370Z
- 4 Events | 0 Podium Finishes | 0 Wins | Best Finish 4th
- Stock RWD Class Legal Car un-competitive in Street RWD class.
- Development year for 370Z platform.
- First team to compete in time attack with a Nissan 370Z.
- Fastest 370Z track records at Buttonwillow Raceawy, Willow Springs Raceway, Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch, and Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Super Lap Battle Time Attack Finals - Street FR - Double Down Motorsports 2009 Nissan 370Z
- 1 Event | 0 Podium Finishes | 0 Wins
- 7th Place Street FR at Buttonwillow Raceway

Redline Time Attack Finals - Street RWD - Berk Technology 2008 BMW 135i
- 1 Event | 0 Podium Finishes | 0 Wins
- 5th Place Street RWD at Auto Club Speedway ROVAL

Super Lap Battle Finals - Street FR - Berk Technology 2008 BMW 135i
- 1 Event | 0 Podium Finishes | 0 Wins
- 6th Place Street FR at Buttonwillow Raceway

2008 - Relentless Autosports Time Attack Race Team

Redline Time Attack Series - Unlimited RWD - Relentless Autosports 2003 Nissan 350Z
- 2 Events | 1 Poidum Finish | 1 DNF | 0 Wins
- 3rd Place Unlimited RWD at Auto Club Speedway ROVAL

 

 

 

 

 

 

2007 - Relentless Autosports Time Attack Race Team

Redline Time Attack Series - Street RWD - Relentless Autosports 2003 Nissan 350Z
- 3 Events | 2 Podiums | 2 Wins | Worst Finish 5th Place
- Highest Win Percentage in Class
- Track Record at Laguna Seca Raceway

Super Lap Battle Qualifier - Limited FR - Relentless Autosports 2003 Nissan 350Z
- 1 Event | 1 Podium | 1 Win
- 1st Place Limited FR Class at Willow Springs Raceway

N.A.S.A. Time Trials - TTR Class - Relentless Autosports 2003 Nissan 350Z
- 1 Event | 1 Podium | 0 Wins
- 3rd Place TTR Class at Willow Springs Raceway

N.A.S.A. Time Trials - TTA Class - 2006 Mitsubishi Evolution IX
- 1 Event | 1 Podium | 0 Wins
- 3rd Place TTA Class at Willow Springs Raceway

Tuner Shootout Time Attack - Street Class - 2006 Mitsubishi Evolution IX
- 1 Event | 1 Podium | 0 Wins
- 2nd Place Street Class at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch
- Evo vs. STI vs. GTR Only Time Attack

Nissan Performance Festival - Modified Class - 2004 Nissan 350Z
- 1 Event | 1 Podium | 1 Win
- 1st Place Modified Class at Auto Club Speedway ROVAL
- 2nd Place Overall