25 Hours of Thunderhill

[RacinM3]

So here we go, we're tackling the annual endurance race at Thunderhill. My fourth, and the second annual longest endurance race in the US, the 25 hours of Thunderhill.

After winning the ES class last year in a BMW 328 world challenge car, this year we're trying something completely different - an overall win in a dedicated sports racing car. For the first time ever, I'm officially a "factory" driver for a manufacturer. For more car info, go to www.sakermotorsports.com and www.sakermotorsport.com.

The BMW was a great endurance racer. With parts engineered to go 100,000 miles on the street, reliability was it's strong point. The Saker, while fast and strong, is somewhat unproven. The flat-4 Subaru turbo (WRX) motor should be bulletproof, detuned to about 325 hp in endurance racing trim. The straight-cut gears in the gearbox, and the lightweight suspension are going to see tough duty. The car only weighs about 1750 lbs. though, so hopefully that will help.

We should see between 165-170 down the front straight, and expect the aero package to play a big part in handling through the faster corners. The car's got incredible brakes as well.

Here's more race info: http://www.nasaproracing.com/norcal/25hour/index.html

FCYTravis will be there helping with T&S and data acq., when he's not working corners.

So wish us luck, and if you're there, root for car #5! We'll be the ones trying to run and hide from the Porsche GT3RS's that show up!

Scott

[Fio1]

I hear that Flying Lizzard, Racer Group, Vision and other Porsche Teams will be there this year, most of them will bring their GT3 Cup Cars. There was talk of a dozen GT3's their this year. It should be a fun race, I did it last year with a Miata, and was working with a Grand-Am team on this event. The plan was to have 3 GT3 Cup Cars, but at the end we decided to concentrate on Daytona-24 instead. The budget required for this 'club' race was too much, even though we had a tire sponsor....

This is a good race for the Saker, the perfect test session and a way to introduce the car to the racing world. I remember when I did the Moroso 24 Hours, and the Mosler team showed up with their brand new car. Barbosa last 1 lap before the head gasket blew, then they fixed the problem and headed to Daytona for the 24.

[FCYTravis]

Minor correction: It was the E0 class, Scott :rofl:

[Clown]

WTF? 25 hours?
Does daylight saving start halfway through? ;)

[Robstar]

Maybe it's like GM building a 350, & Ford going one better with a 351... :D

Sounds like a cracker though... :thumbup:

[Sean O'Gorman]

Good luck. Punt a Spec Piñata or two for me. :thumbup:

[oddlycalm]

Best of luck Scott, hope you and the team do well. :thumbup:

oc

[Racewriter]

Neat looking machine. Good luck and have fun.

[theunions]

Just learned that Memo (I see he's already noted on the event home page) will be teaming up with some guys in a Corvette.

[Sean O'Gorman]

Mr. RacinM3's team ended up 48th, only completing 254 of the 681 laps. I was told they had problems all weekend that were never sorted out, but that it was easily the fastest car in a straight line all weekend.

Oh yeah, check out the blingtastic TL that finished third:

http://img87.exs.cx/img87/2297/DSC_0016_sm.jpg

I saw the test version of this car make its debut at Mid-Ohio back in August, a very unusual, yet fast, race car. I like it. :thumbup:

[Winston Wolfe]

my brother has one of these TL with the complete "A-spec" package, including the wheels, tires, and suspension mods (but no "rice-boy" stickers).
It is not quick off the line, but it can boogie when you get on it....
Handles pretty darn well for a heavy fwd car with "only" 6 cyls, though ! :D

[FCYTravis]

A crying shame. :( :cry:

I've been there - and felt the pain of loading up a broken car while the action on track's still raging. It hurts to know you gave it your all but it still wasn't enough.

Sucks.

They say "That's racin'," but that doesn't make it any easier to take.

[Easy]

I remember when I did the Moroso 24 Hours

Community service? :)

[RacinM3]

I'm not down on our team. Going 10 hours was a victory in itself!

The weekend started poorly. The car was not as prepared as well as it could have been. We were to do the test day Friday by getting all of the drivers confortable with and in the car before the race. It turned into a repair session. Every time it went out, it was either too unstable, or something broke. We watched it get repaired/adjusted all day. I never got too turn a wheel in it; same with 3 other drivers.

On Friday night, we found a serious chassis setup problem, and made some big changes.

We didn't know what the changes would do, because there were no more on-track sessions until the start. The best we could get out of it friday was a 2:32, and I think the car only turned 8 or 9 laps. So we gridded the car, and Ralph Warren started. On the start, he reported the car was much, much better. He did an hour, then Mickey Miller did an hour, then Xavier Mc Clure did an hour, then I got in and did 2 hours. My first lap was 2:18, second 2:12, third 2:06, 4th 2:01. I hovered around 2:01, then it slipped to 2:03's because the car developed a high speed turn-in oversteer. It was like taming a lion.

I recommended a wing change for the next driver (Blaine Mc Nutt). After that, the car ran great and we were all excited. Blaine did 1 hour, then Neal Looney got in and double-stinted. After that, Ralph got in, and about 10 PM he radioed back that the engine blew up. (oil cavitation at the #1 rod bearing).

So, we spent the next three hours putting the spare motor in. At 1AM they asked me to start the car. I cranked it; it didn't fire. I cranked it again, it ran for about 1.5 seconds, then BANG, something broke inside. We're still sorting out what caused that.

So, that ended our race.

I got some time in another BMW in the race after that (I was jonesing for some night racing!), got about three hours sleep, then woke up to get back in the BMW again. Ready to get in, the driver brought the car in, running on 5 cylinders. We pulled the valve cover and found a broken rocker arm. So that car was done too.

It was a drag, but after Friday's problems, 10 hours in the race felt like a victiry in itself, and we're keeping the car at our shop now, as Saker wants us to run it in the NASA endurance series next year, including this race. We're going to tear it down to a bare tub and rebuild it. I really think it IS a contender for the overall, if it's prepped correctly.

We had about 25 people on our team, and even with the pressure and frustration, NOBODY went off on anybody else. We have all the ingredients now for an overall in 05!

Here are a couple of shots from the race from Car and Driver's website...report was it was the fastest car in a straight line! (Too bad it wasn't a 25 hour drag race.)
http://www.caranddriver.com/assets/image/1205200401394679.jpg http://www.caranddriver.com/assets/image/1205200412573209.jpg

[Sean O'Gorman]

I got some time in another BMW in the race after that (I was jonesing for some night racing!), got about three hours sleep, then woke up to get back in the BMW again. Ready to get in, the driver brought the car in, running on 5 cylinders. We pulled the valve cover and found a broken rocker arm. So that car was done too.

So, is it safe to assume that at that point, the second place team was begging you to try and get some seat time in the Fordahl 911? :D

[RacinM3]

Actually, Sean, the one doing the begging was me.....

[Fio1]

A friend of mine drove with Memo Gidley in the Camaro. He said it was crazy at night, as Nasa had zero lights out on the track. I don't know man, but I think they need to spring for some spot lights in some of the corners. The SCCA 6-hours at Buttonwillow I do every year has the same problem. You can't judge the braking zone at night in the back section without a spot light or at least a cone with reflectors on it. If you don't have 6 Rally style lights on the hood, you are F-Ed!

[theunions]

A friend of mine drove with Memo Gidley in the Camaro.

Any photos???

Still waiting for MG's recap.

[Sean O'Gorman]

I found these pics on honda-tech (courtesy of Outrun):

http://srv.fotopages.com/2/3319213.jpg

http://srv.fotopages.com/2/3319711.jpg

[RacinM3]

I got to spend a little time with Memo at the race. I'd met him before at Laguna earlier this year and our second meeting confirmed my original impression - he's a very down to earth, genuinely nice person.

Note the missing rear bumper on Gidley team's Camaro in one of the photos. One of his co-drivers lost it coming out of 15 onto the front straight, looped across the track, and backed right in to the end of the hot pit wall. Luckily it had tires protecting it. The car hit the tires and backed up onto them with the rear wheels off the ground. They lost about 5 laps there, and they did a great job the rest of the event.

Fio - reflectors? Why? After driving the car all day you should know the track like the back of your hand at night!

[RacinM3]

http://www.gelatinous.com/scott/albums/2004_12_Thunderhill/dsc_5292.jpg