In 2014 we completed the development of the latest modification of our SIN R1 racing car in England and decided to join the European GT4 series. Relocating the entire production and development activities in Bulgaria, we decided to participate in the most prestigious series under the name of our team SOFIA CAR MOTORSPORT in order to represent Bulgaria on the European sports scene and defend our position as a Bulgarian manufacturer of sports and racing cars.
4 turbulent years of development of our team, car and pilots followed.
Our initial attempts to start with Bulgarian pilots driving a Bulgarian sports car were unsuccessful. The lack of a licensed track in Bulgaria stopped our pilots to reach the levels of their European and world counterparts. After a failed start of the 2015 the season, we invited foreign pilots and began to move up step by step in the development of the car and the team. Working with professional German pilots such as Heinrich Schill and Andreas Gulden has given us the opportunity to quickly tune the SIN R1 GT4 on legendary tracks such as Monza and the Nürburgring. Working with the team was not easy either – the fact that it consisted entirely of Bulgarian mechanics and support team turned out to be a great challenge. The lack of experience, the incredibly difficult conditions with travel from Bulgaria and the sleepless weekends practically discouraged the few candidates for this adventure. However, we continued the season in 2015 with a pole position on the Nogaro track in France, followed by numerous successes, the Red Bull Ring incident with Rosen Daskalov, where the car showed its supreme safety, and finally finished the season in second place on the Misano track in Italy.
In order to make our successes on the European motorsport scene accessible to Bulgarian fans, we created and produced together with the Bulgarian National Television the show RACING.BG (can be found on YouTube). There was almost no support from the business in Bulgaria (except for Electrostart, Networks and Workprotect, who we appreciate), as the expences of the team and the cars SIN R1 were entirely on the Bulgarian company SIN CARS. The cost per season for 2 cars participating in the European GT4 series (https://european.gt4series.com) was 6-figure amounts.
In 2017 we managed to realize our dream and find a Bulgarian pilot to drive the Bulgarian SIN R1 GT4 in the person of Ivan Vlachkov only at the age of 18. Thanks to his unique ability to quickly explore the tracks and phenomenal sports qualities, we managed to record numerous podiums and victories by the end of the season, winning the prestigious third place in the team standings for SOFIA CAR MOTORSPORT and Bulgaria for the 2017 season.
Climbing the ladder with the Bulgarian anthem and raising the Bulgarian flag, we achieved our main goal – to glorify Bulgaria to the European public and to defend the position of SIN CARS as a full member of the family of sports and racing car manufacturers not only in Europe but also around the world.
In 2018, after a very good performance of Ivan Vlachkov and the inability to find a worthy partner with an amateur license (the condition is to drive the car by two pilots who change) and after a failure in the front suspension, we missed second place in the team standings for season 2018. After four turbulent years on the rise of the European sports scene and the incredible results achieved for the first time with a Bulgarian team, car and pilot, we terminated our participation for financial reasons. We are proud of the results achieved, consolidating the achievements of all automotive and sports figures in Bulgaria. (http://sofiacar-motorsport.com)
