Going to Sebring?

[RacinM3]

Anybody here going to Sebring??

Root for car #57 in the World Challenge Touring race, if so!!

See you there!

[devilmaster]

Good Luck!

Give em hell!

:thumbup: :D

Steve

[Napoleon]

Originally posted by RacinM3
Root for car #57 in the World Challenge Touring race, if so!!

Whys that?

[RacinM3]

Because I'm the loose nut behind the wheel....:)

[rabbit]

Whatever you do, keep those four black thingees on the gray part.;) :cool:

[devilmaster]

If I remember correctly, Racin M3 said this was his first full season of Speed World Challenge Touring.

His race was yesterday.

Results - http://www.world-challenge.com/2003/events/R01Sebring/tc-results.html

Scott ended up 25th, 1 Lap down, but gained a single point. Congrats! :thumbup: :)

Steve

[RacinM3]

Just got back from Sebring Sat AM. What a week! We tested Tuesday, and practiced Wednesday with SCCA timing. I was pretty happy to be 24th of 47 cars on Wednesday. Thursday was qualifying, and I found another 7/10's, so near the end of qualifying I was feeling ok. I got a hard lesson in SPEED Touring Car when I got out of the car after qualifing and learned that, yeah, I found 3/4 of a second, but fell 9 spots to 33rd!!

This series is incredibly competitive!

This being my first SCCA Pro race, my license was provisional. I had to meet with the chief steward at the start of the sessions, and was informed that, basically, I had to finish the race to solidify my competition status. That sort of changed my goals for the weekend.

The standing start was insane. I mean insanely fun! I got a good launch and passed a couple of cars, got hit twice but didn't lose position, and made the first lap cleanly. I had a few good battles with others cars throughout the race, and almost t-boned Frank Seldorff in one of the Turner cars when he lost it in the hairpin. There was not one yellow flag period, which is unusual in this series. That was a drag, because I got more comfortable as the laps went on, and might have picked up another couple spots had the field been bunched under yellow. As Steve said, I got lapped by the top three cars, but finished right behind them, and tried to keep the car on camera at the finish and during the cool-down lap (ought to make the sponsors happy!).

Anyway, I was also happy to get my first championship point. I talked to a number of drivers and was told more than once that to finish a race in the series is an accomplishment, so to get a point was just a bonus.

Next up is Mosport, and with my License in stone, I'll look to be more aggressive, especially at the start and throughout lap 1!

[turn1]

Awesome dude!

Out of curiousity, are you guys visiting MidOhio this summer?

[RacinM3]

As of now there is no Mid-Ohio race scheduled. As it is, we're having trouble keeping the schedule we have, what with CART's RA cancellation and ALMS' cancellation at DC. We've already replaced CART's lost RA date with the addition of a race at RA with ALMS, and we added another date at Road Atlanta with ALMS as well. I'd like to do M-O, though!

[turn1]

Keep us in the loop - I would love a peek around your ride!

[mapguy]

Watched the race on Speed yesterday. Pretty impressive stuff. Reminded me of the BTCC when it was in it's zenith in the early to mid ninties.

One thing that I thought was really strange was seeing the Mazda Protege's pulling away from the BMW's on Sebring's long straights. :saywhat:

[Sean O'Gorman]

Originally posted by mapguy
Watched the race on Speed yesterday. Pretty impressive stuff. Reminded me of the BTCC when it was in it's zenith in the early to mid ninties.

One thing that I thought was really strange was seeing the Mazda Protege's pulling away from the BMW's on Sebring's long straights. :saywhat:

Don't look now, but it appears that mapguy already has plans to enter World Challenge! Check out the spy pics I found of his new racer:

http://images.cardomain.com/member_img_a/223000-223999/223306_10_full.jpg

http://images.cardomain.com/member_img_a/223000-223999/223306_3.jpg

[RacinM3]

mapguy - here's the recipe:

BMW 328i - Stock engine components (except M3 cams), factory exhaust manifolds, free ECU, 40% restrictor plate, minimum weight with driver: 2800 lbs.

http://www.speedvisionwc.com/competitors/bulletins/03-wc-pb-01.pdf

Mazda Protege - Built engines (lightweight pistons, valves, free cams, advanced cyl head flow work), headers, free ECU, no restrictor plate, minimum weight with driver: 2300 lbs.

http://www.speedvisionwc.com/competitors/vts/02-wc-tc-appendix-a08.pdf

Funny thing, people think the BMW's are more expensive to run, but they're actually less becuase they use more stock driveline parts, plus they're usually more reliable.

SWC has given the Mazdas too much of an edge, IMO, but they are allowed to reel them in if they run away. I can tell you that more than once at Sebring I exited 16 right under the rear wing of a Protege, hoping for a draft by, only to find the Mazda 5 car lengths in front by the end of the back straight going into 17.

BTW, same goes for the Acura and Lexus race cars.

[mapguy]

RacinM3, thanks for straightening that out for me.

Unfortunately my plans for dominating Speed's Touring Car Championship have been revealed prematurely by that no-good punk Sean O'. ;)

It's got the same motor as the Protege but it is more aerodynamic. So look for me to be hauling ass down the straights waving to RacinM3 as a lap him.

:D

[Sean O'Gorman]

Originally posted by mapguy
RacinM3, thanks for straightening that out for me.

Unfortunately my plans for dominating Speed's Touring Car Championship have been revealed prematurely by that no-good punk Sean O'. ;)

It's got the same motor as the Protege but it is more aerodynamic. So look for me to be hauling ass down the straights waving to RacinM3 as a lap him.

:D

I dunno, once Napoleon gets his Touring car on the track, this is what you and M3 will be seeing alot of:

http://images.cardomain.com/member_img_a/321000-321999/321281_4.jpg

Amazing what some people will do to their cars. Its like I type "stupid-ass giant wing and (insert car name here)" and I can find a rice version of almost every vehicle. :rofl:

[Kate]

I was at Sebring but I joined this forum after it -- you can go to my website www.rfmsports.com and click on the button for Sebring 2003 to see where I spent my time. ;) Had a great time except for that rainstorm Friday night, but I don't think I have ever worked harder, even at Le Mans last year.

Speed World Challenge is THE most exciting series in road racing, at leat IMO. I have met a lot of really cool drivers and seen quite a few cars and I don't know how they fit four cars into a 2 1/2 car space but they do.

I'll be at Mosport and will have lots more Speed World Challenge interviews to share. (And Trans Am too).