Vic Sunset

Vic Sunset (born February 18, 1972 in Long Beach, CA, USA) is a racing driver of American nationality. He has some considerable experience in karting and spec racing, and he made his first professional appearance in the 1992 Life Grand Prix Series season, and drove as an all-star driver for both the series and it's successor, the Rejects-1 World Championship, taking the series title in 1996.

He also participated in the Formula 1 Rejects Grand Prix 2 Championship at the turn of the century.

Early Life

Vic Sunset was born in 1972 as son to an up-and-coming fashion designer based in Long Beach, CA. He grew up in a well-off neighborhood and his parents wanted saw him as capable of being a fashion model when he got older. Vic got exposed to racing after being taken to the Grand Prix of Long Beach with his friends. Vic was then hooked on the profession of motorsport, his dream now to become a successful racing driver.

Vic recieved financial support from his grandparents despite protest from his parents, and soon took up karting. He started racing at local leagues, and his racing skills quickly propelled him up the karting leagues till he was racing at a regional level. When he turned 16, he joined the Sports Car Club of America and took part in several one-make series for the next few years.

Life GP Series and Rejects-1

After graduating high school, Vic had to move with his parents to Germany to support his mother's rising status as a fashion designer. Vic scoured local racing leagues for a chance at earning a seat in a series, but with no luck. In 1991 he returned to karting and caught the attention of Blokkmonsta Racing. He was offered a chance to race internationally in the Life GP Series and he quickly accepted. After spending a few months practicing privately with the team, he was made their main driver for the team for the 1992 season. Although he has had little time behind the wheel of an actual Life GP car, Vic is eager to participate in the series and is glad that he is now racing on the international circuit. Sunset raced in Life GP until its demise in 1993, and then raced in the Rejects-1 World Championship until 1996.

1992-1993

Vic 's debut in the Life GP series was at the first race at Argentina and far exceeded Blokkmonsta's expectations by not only finishing, but finishing 2nd place. He was quite esctatic about getting the podium in his very first race. "I still can't believe that I have taken 2nd place on my first international event! To think that a year ago I was still racing karts!" Sunset commented at the winner's circle.

Vic's first season went a bit downhill afterward, with two DNFs in the next two races. Of note was the fact that Mikhail Karimov hit his stalled car at the Brazil round and ended up getting in a scuffle with him off the track. Sunset now views Karimov as a rival on the track and had announced at the Spanish round that he wants to beat Karimov in the driver's championship.

Vic somehow got the unreliable L190 to work for him, finishing 5 times in 6 races, 4 times in the points. He seemed to have problems with qualifying, always starting at the back of the grid. He started in 10th at the mid-season Superprix at LeMans however, although he did not finish the race due to a gearbox problem.

The second half of the season went downhill for Sunset, as his car's lack of reliability lead to a long chain of DNFs for the rest of the season. His only score in the second half was at the Dutch GP, where he famously rolled his car in a collision with Will Roberts and landed unscathed to drive to a 6th place finish after Danny Ramone was disqualified.

Sunset finished 13th in the 1992 season, tying with Maea Blog with 15 points.

With Blokkmonsta dissolving its full team for LifeGP Sunset appeared to be out of a drive. However, when Blokkmonsta went into partnership with Al Smith Racing Enterprises for the 1993 season Vic was able to drive for the team as second driver.

Shocking most of the community, Vic had an incredible start to the 1993 season, getting 3 wins in the first 5 races, and pulling out a healthy lead over the rest of the pack while his teammate and last year's championship contender Jan van der Maeyede substituted for 1992 champ James Davies whilst Davies was injured. van der Maeyede has since returned to his seat at Al Smith, but Sunset usurped the Dutchman's role of 1st driver in that short time.

Vic Sunset's luck ran out however, as he DNFed almost every race of the season. It looked like he would somehow hold off the other competition, but he ultimately lost the points lead to Davies in the penultimate round. Sunset failed to finish the final race at Macau by crashing out early.

Sunset went on to finish 2nd in the standings with 50 points.

1994-1996

With the creation of the Rejects-1 World Championship after Life GP dissolved due to financial difficulties, Blokkmonsta returned to contention, with Sunset again serving as the team's only driver. For the team's whole stint in Rejects-1 Sunset drive the Andrea Moda S921.

1994 proved a trying year working with the infamous car; For most of the season Sunset failed to finish due to inherent suspension problems with the car. The team even received their first ever DNQ at Italy. Fortunes proved greater for the second half of the season, with Sunset bringing home three top-2 finishes in a row. These results propelled Sunset back into the top 5 in the driver championship by season end.

Blokkmonsta had a similar season in 1995, with the car proving unreliable early on only to be in contention for wins late in the season. Sunset brought home more podium finishes compared to 1995, but he did not score a single win that year and could again only manage 5th in the drivers championship.

1996 finally gave Sunset and Blokkmonsta the results they wanted when he took the driver's title. The years of development finally hammered out the issues with the S921, allowing Sunset to contend for points in almost every race.

Surprisingly, Sunset announced his departure from Rejects-1 at the end of the 1996 season. In an interview Sunset thanked his team and said "While I appreciate defending my title with Blokkmonsta, I have found greener pastures elsewhere and feel that I won't be able to advance my career any further here."

Rejects-1 dissolved in 1997 before any races could be held due to negotiations with its investors turning sour, leaving Sunset as the last champion of the series.

Results

Life Grand Prix Series

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	DC	Points
1992	Blokkmonsta Racing	ARG 2	BRA Ret	ESP Ret	FRA 7	ITA 4	AUT 6	CZE Ret	FIN 4	GER 6	SUI Ret	BEL Ret	NED 6†	ENG Ret	GBR Ret	CAN Ret	USE Ret	USW Ret	JAP Ret	AUS 8*		13th	15
1993	Al Smith Racing Enterprises powered by Blokkmonsta Racing	ARG Ret	BRA 1	VEN 1	USA 1	CAN Ret	IRE Ret	GBR 1	NED Ret	GER Ret	POL Ret	AUT Ret	ITA Ret	FRA Ret	NAM Ret	JAP Ret	MAL Ret	IND Ret	NZL 2†	AUS Ret	MAC Ret	2nd	50

Pole Position
Fastest Lap
† Driver did not finish, but was classified due to being among the last six cars running or completing at least 90% of the race distance
* Race stopped before 75% of the full distance, half points awarded

Rejects-1 World Championship

Year	Entrant	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	DC	Points
1994	Blokkmonsta Racing	Andrea Moda S921	USA Ret	CAN Ret	ARG Ret	BRA Ret	ITA DNQ	FRA Ret	AUT 4	GER Ret	GBR Ret	IRE Ret	NED Ret	BEL 1	FIN 1	JPN 2	NZL Ret	AUS 11†	INA Ret	5th	69
1995	Blokkmonsta Racing	Andrea Moda S921	USE Ret	USW Ret	CAN Ret	BRA Ret	NZL Ret	AUS Ret	JPN Ret	ITA DNQ	GBR 3	IRE 5	FRA 15	GER 2	BEL Ret	NOR 2	POR 2	MAL Ret	INA 5	5th	74
1996	Blokkmonsta Racing	Andrea Moda S921	USA Ret	BRA Ret	ARG 14	NZL 2	AUS 1	JPN Ret	ITA 15	FRA SP 3***	FRA E 2**	GBR Ret	GER Ret	NOR 1	BEL 5	AUT 4	RSA 2	CAN 6	INA Ret	1st	126

Pole Position
Fastest Lap
† Driver did not finish, but was classified due to being among the last six cars running or completing at least 90% of the race distance
*** Sprint Round. Points rewarded as 6-5-4-3-2-1
** Endurance Round. Points rewarded as 30-25-22-20-18-16-14-12-10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1