25 Hours of Thunderhill

[RacinM3]

Well, here it comes again. This Saturday, at 11AM, the green flag will fly on my 5th attempt at the NASA season-ending endurance race. After last year's Saker-Subaru nightmare, I'm back in a BMW M3 this year. We have some pretty stiff competition this year, including two factory Honda entries. We'll be faster than them, but they'll make fewer stops and will probably be dead reliable as well, so we'll have no room for error.

I'm in car #50, driving again for Bullet.

Link to 25 Hour page: http://www.nasa25hour.com/

Link to entry list: http://www.nasa25hour.com/25HourEntryList.pdf

So, when you're snug in your bed next Saturday night and you happen to awake at 3AM, just give me a thought as I'm circulating around Thunderhill in 40 degree weather, and, probably, rain! :cry:

:D

[coolhand]

How would you rate Thunderhill as a track?

[FCYTravis]

Awesome, Scott!

Best of luck to ya!

[RacinM3]

How would you rate Thunderhill as a track?

Well, I used to rate it as my favorite West Coast track, even above Laguna and Sears Point. I have not been there this year yet, but I have been told that a number of changes have occurred, mainly the paving of runoff areas at critical points around the track. While I'm sure the track is safer and will be cleaner throughout the race, I'm told that it has made the track substantially less technical, thus easier to drive. I'm told Spec Miata times have dropped 2.5-3 seconds a lap. So I guess I have a bit of a new track to figure out this weekend.

[oddlycalm]

Give 'em hell Scott :thumbup: So what tires work well in 40 degree rain?

oc

[FCYTravis]

The secret was Michelin Pilot Sport Cups in 2003 ;)

[devilmaster]

Good Luck Scott! :thumbup:

If there is any chance, take the OC logo above, print it out and add it to your suit. Not sure if there is TV coverage there, but just in case.. ;) :D

[RacinM3]

Yep, MPSC's are the tire to have for this one, and we have a whole trailer full of em.

I'll not say they work "well" in 40 degrees and rain. Let's say they work "less crappy".

So far, the forecast for this week is light rain Thurs, partly cloudy Friday/Saturday, then sunny on Sunday, so we may not get the rain. That's a drag; it's fun to race in the rain, and it's a whole lot easier on car and tires when it's wet. Also, it tends to be colder when it's clear. The temp forecast is lows at 31 degrees.

Travis, where are you this weekend?

[RichK]

Well, I used to rate it as my favorite West Coast track, even above Laguna and Sears Point. I have not been there this year yet, but I have been told that a number of changes have occurred, mainly the paving of runoff areas at critical points around the track. While I'm sure the track is safer and will be cleaner throughout the race, I'm told that it has made the track substantially less technical, thus easier to drive. I'm told Spec Miata times have dropped 2.5-3 seconds a lap. So I guess I have a bit of a new track to figure out this weekend.

That's surprising - I ride there about once per month, and the runoff areas (Turn 8 & Turn 11) don't seem like they'd affect lap times at all. Are you sure you didn't hear this about the drastically-changed Laguna Seca track? The MotoGP changes really affected lap times.

Good Luck! I'll be eager to hear your report! :thumbup:

[FCYTravis]

I'm at home... no GARRA until January.

Why? Need a shill- er, hand, in the pits? :)

[RacinM3]

Rich, I was hoping you'd chime in. I got it straight from the mouth of a Spec Miata driver. He said the runoff in turns 8, 10, 11, 14, and 15 had been paved and extended. Said that 14 and 15 were almost a single-apex corner taken together, now. Something about a new Wreck Miata rule about cracked windshields being illegal now and a big uproar about Thunderhill being the biggest problem as the cause of the broken windshields. Maybe no one explained to them that if they could just keep their cars on the track, there'd be no debris to crack their windshields. :cry:

Mind you, this is all from someone else; I won't know myself until the Friday test day.

And Travis, you know you're always welcome.

As far as reports - I got one of those new Treo 650 phones that make it really easy to post here from the track. If I remember, I'll try to give some realtime reports, just for fun!

[RichK]

The cell coverage at T-hill has been improved over the past few months, so you should have no problem posting from the pits! Maybe you can post while driving, you're from California.... :)

I didn't realize that the track changes would affect cars so much. The run-off is too choppy for 2-wheelers to take advantage of it.

[Fio1]

Scott, I'll make sure to stop by and say hello. I'll be there driving the #71 Spec Miata: http://www.the-paddock.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=965&Itemid=1

Check www.the-paddock.net for updates on the race.

Good luck dude, maybe we'll both win our class.... :thumbup: :cool: :rofl:

[FCYTravis]

Billy Johnson's an awesome driver. Y'all should be able to put on a hell of a show.

Good luck!

[RacinM3]

Alex - I'll stop by. Good luck! I'll make you a deal, you don't punt car #50, I won't punt car #71! :laugh:

[Fio1]

Deal! :rofl: :thumbup:

[RacinM3]

OK, I'll try to give hourly updates, when I'm not sleeping.

The race started at 11:00 AM. We're about an hour into the race. We had a great test day yesterday, with no real problems, and qualified 10th of 59 cars.

Our driver had some problem at the start, stalling the car. It would not respond to the starter, so he cycled the main power and was able to get it running. We lost about 25 spots at the start.

Once we got going, he was passing slower cars well, but not making real inroads on our class competition. We got lapped by the race leader, who is not in our class. Right then, a car crashed into the end of the pit lane wall. Full course yellow. We got trapped right behind the leader, behind the pace car. That basically allowed all our competition to come up behind us, nearly a lap up.

Fortunately, we have a 22 gallon fuel cell, which will allow us to run for 2.5 hours, whereas our competition in class ahead of us all have around 12 gallon tanks. So we'll make up most of that lap lost, but that will only be a one time advantage, as the class rules only allow us to fill 10 gallons per stop.

So, we have our work cut out for us!

More updates later.

[RacinM3]

2:35 PM. The first stop went well. We adjusted pressures, dumped 10 gallons in, and changed drivers. We're a little concerned about a spot of oil that was on the ground after the stop, so we'll need to keep an eye on that.

We're 17th overall, three laps down to the class leader. 3rd in class.

Lots of time left, though!

[Rocketdoc]

2:35 PM. The first stop went well. We adjusted pressures, dumped 10 gallons in, and changed drivers. We're a little concerned about a spot of oil that was on the ground after the stop, so we'll need to keep an eye on that.

We're 17th overall, three laps down to the class leader. 3rd in class.

Lots of time left, though!

As I say to my son; be smooove, and you'll be surprised how fast you'll get.

Stay safe.

[Fio1]

At around 7:45 a.m I was on the back straight, when some BMW was behind me trying to pass. I did the right thing and moved over, only to see Lang writen on the driver's helmet. :) Well, if I would have known, I would have blocked the **** out of you.... :thumdown: j/k.....Besides, you would have punted me off the track and I would have ended you like Johanes Van Orverbeek; up side down in the dirt....:eek:

It was nice meeting you Scott. You guys did a great job! :thumbup:

[RacinM3]

Alex, you guys did a great job, too, it was great meeting you! :thumbup: That van Overbeek crash was nasty. Flipped the car end over end from what I saw of the damage (it happened while I was on track). I counted I think 5 rollover wrecks from Friday to Sunday.

Well, the hourly update thing didn't work so well. Sorry 'bout that.

The wrap up, is, I got in the car around 9:15. We were 13th overall, 2nd in class. While I was out there, our class leader (Taz Harvey's ex-world challenge Honda) pitted for fuel. We took the class lead. About 2 minutes later, I was coming through Turn 1, on the throttle at the exit. Suddenly "BANG" - the motor dropped a valve. I got off the throttle, called in with the problem, and s-l-o-w-l-y made my way around to the pits.

We got the car into the paddock, and started removing the cylinder head. We've had valve retainer problems before, and this was no different. Dropped valve, cylinder #6. Luckily, it happened on acceleration when I could instantly unload the motor, not a downshift where vehicle speed would be spinning the motor, so the valve head stayed attached to the stem, instead of breaking off inside the cylinder and destroying the piston and possibly the block.

We got the spare head installed in about 1 hour 15 minutes, I got back into the car at 11:15, and double stinted (really triple stinted) until 3AM. I set our team's fastest lap of the race at about 2AM at a 2:03.997. I don't even know where we were in class at the end of my stint, but it couldn't have been pretty. I got to sleep at 4AM. At 7AM, I was shaken awake and told to get back in the car. We were 17th overall, 4th in class.

During my 7:30-9:30AM stint, I passed one of our competitors for position, and the Taz Harvey car broke. Suddenly we were 2nd in class. I got out at 9:30, and our last driver change took place. Our man brought the car home, I think 14th overall, but second in class. We lost by 13 laps to the class winner.

Although we were lucky, we were helped by the other EO (our class) teams bad luck as well. If we hadn't dropped the valve, we would have won by 35-40 laps I'd guess. But a lot of people there this weekend can say stuff like that, too.

Next year, we're talking about a 996 cup car and going for the overall.

Anybody got any money?

[G.]

This is one of the coolest topics on the board!

Thanks for sharing, M3. Will any of it be shown on SPEED?

How'ed you end up, Fio1?

[RichK]

Congrats, Scott! It was pretty cold up here this weekend, so you are probably still thawing out from the 25 hours.

I forgot to tell you that there is now a Starbucks near the track - hopefully your crew figured that out and made a few coffee runs for you. :laugh:

[RacinM3]

None on SPEED, I'd guess, but there was an ESPN crew there I heard. We'll see.

Rich, we DID discover the Starbuck's. Christmas Blend all weekend!

I can see now why you didn't notice the changes to the track on your bike. Over the runoff areas, they installed little rumble strips, that would make riding a bike over VERY uncomfortable. In a car, though, you barely notice them. At turn 8, I'd run OVER the curb at the apex and exit 4-5 feet off the "track" on the runoff. Probably got a half second there up the hill. At the 12/13 "chicane", you could straight line 12 and run 10 feet off the right at the exit. I'd guess almost 3/4 of a second there. I passed a couple of cars there hoping I would not get a black flag - it never came, so that became my normal line the rest of the race. At 14/15, you could run off to the left at the exit of 14/entrance to 15 (last corner) about 10 feet, probably picking up 5-8 mph of exit speed that you could carry all the way down the front straight. Probably another 1/2 second there.

So I'm guessing the track is nearly 2 seconds faster a lap in a car, pretty much as I was told.

[oddlycalm]

Congratulations guys. :thumbup: Thanks for the reports and hope you are thawed out and rested.

oc

[Lizzerd]

Same from me. Congrats. :thumbup:

And thanks. :thumbup:

[Fio1]

We finished 20th overall and 8th in class. Here are the results: http://www.mylaps.com/results/newResults.jsp?id=255372&ShowPerClass=1

It was a lot of fun, I'll do it again for sure.

Scott: You can win overall with something cheaper then a Cup Car. The running cost would be around 80 to 100 grand to do it in a cup car including rebuilding engine after the fact....Not including the 100-120 grand it will cost to buy a good low hour Cup Car. I think a Radical can win overall. You will freeze to death, but you have a good chance to win overall.

[RacinM3]

Found a shot of the car at Car and Driver.com:
http://www.caranddriver.com/assets/image/2005/Q4/120420050101588959.jpg

[Gnam]

Nice motor. :thumbup:

How much downforce does the wing provide?

[chop456]

:thumbup: :D


Two 3 Series Sedans Will Compete in 25-Hour Endurance Race

Woodcliff Lake, NJ - October 9, 2006... BMW of North America, LLC announced today that it is teaming up with Car and Driver magazine to demonstrate the high-performance capability of its newest diesel engines. A pair of 335d sedans, equipped with twin-turbocharged, 3.0-liter inline six-cylinder diesel engines will compete in the 25-Hours of Thunderhill endurance race that takes place at Thunderhill Raceway Park in Willows, California on December 2-3, 2006.


LINK (http://www.autobloggreen.com/2006/10/11/bmw-teams-with-car-and-driver-to-race-new-335d-at-thunderhill-en)

[RacinM3]

Hmmm...nice.

I am going to make it a point to beat both those cars this year. Even if they're not in our class.