Thursday

With the 25 Hours of Thunderhill postponed to 2021 (thanks, COVID) the final race weekend of the year took place at Buttonwillow in the form of a double header, Super Touring sprint racing and a 3 hour and 15 minute night endurance race as part of the Western Racing Endurance Racing Championships. We were able to use the month of September to properly prep both the Lotus Exige and the E36 BMW M3.

In August, the BMW was involved in contact at Sonoma Raceway and after we replaced the knuckle, control arm, and tie rod we realized that we’d slightly bent the strut. This meant working with our partners at JRZ Suspension Engineering to replace the body of our 14 52 motorsport damper. Shout-out to Erik, Tom, and Frank for turning that around so quickly. Overnight parts from the Netherlands, for the win!

On Thursday, October 8th we loaded up from the shop and got on the road.

Friday

We decided to rent an RV for the weekend to accommodate for friends and family who were coming up from LA to visit and hang out with us at the track. On Friday, Buttonwillow hosted an open test day running CCW #13, the same configuration that we would be racing on Saturday for both Super Touring and the Enduro. The last time I ran CCW #13 was probably 8 years ago, so I opted to test in order to get acclimated. It was Jon’s first time so he also appreciated being able to test and learn the configuration. By the end of the day, we were both lapping in the 1:57’s.

Saturday

Saturday morning, game day. Both Jon and I felt really good after testing and as we went out for morning warm up, we ran into the first problem. Jon discovered that the starter on the Exige had failed, so he was unable to start the car. We tried to bump start it, but no luck. As such, Jon missed warm up.

I went out for practice and laid down my fastest PB lap yet for the CCW #13 config, a 1:57.3. But as I was going for a faster lap I felt something strange in the steering under braking. I initially thought I had ridden a berm too hard and changed the alignment, so I decided to come in. Once I got back to the paddock, we saw a ton of oil on the front right tire; mystery solved. The culprit? My oil cooler was leaking and had dripped oil onto the front right tire.  

The team quickly sprung into action and divided and conquered. Myself and Andrew (Victoria’s brother) went to Napa Auto Parts 12 miles away to buy a new starter for the Exige. Meanwhile, Jon and Drew went to 7’s Only Racing (located at the track) to borrow their welder to try and repair the oil cooler). With 15 minutes to spare, we got both cars back up and running and went out for qualifying. Jon laid down a 1:55.5 for P3 in ST4 class and I ran a 1:55.6 for P4 in ST4 class.

In qualifying, Jon learned that the second set of wheels he has needs spacers, so you can hear the front wheels rubbing on the tie rod ends when corning. He had a good idea of what was going on, so he decided to only do a few laps then bring it in. Ride along with Jon for his qualifying lap in the Lotus here:

The schedule for Saturday also meant that Endurance Qualifying was 25 minutes before the Super Touring race. As such, I ran a short qual-session in order to save the car for the sprint race. 

Ride along with me for a 1:54.9 Enduro qualifying lap (good for P2 in E1 class and 4th fastest overall) here:

After going over the scales to ensure compliance, I rolled over to the pre-grid again. I noticed that Jon wasn’t on the grid next to me (he was a few minutes late and couldn’t get into position in time). This meant that I started from 3rd in class on the grid for the race. One lap in, and Andy (who had qualified pole for ST4) was involved in some contact with an out-of-class car which meant he had to play catch-up for the rest of the race. For the next 7 laps I chased Justin (who had qualified P2 in ST4) -- unfortunately he suffered a bent wheel and flat tire (the berms at Buttonwillow are unforgiving). This meant that from lap 8 through lap 13 I led and eventually won the race. Jon ended up finishing in P5.

Ride along with me during the ST4 race here:

When I returned to the pits, Drew noticed that my front right wheel (near the oil cooler lines was covered in oil again). We inspected the car and discovered that the oil cooler was leaking again, but this time it was from a different spot. We tried to weld it again, but it didn’t hold (to be fair, the oil cooler had been on the car for many years and was probably just done with) so we made a game time decision to drain/bypass the cooler and to run the endurance race without it. This meant that we would have to keep an eye on the oil temps and manage them accordingly for 3 hours and 15 minutes.

We did a quick alignment check using our WunderAligner HD-10 system and threw in some fresh Stoptech SR-33 pads. The endurance race was set to start at 6:15pm PT and run until 9:30pm PT. We decided to have Jon start the race because he’s had the least amount of seat-time in the E36, and no nighttime racing experience prior to this event. By starting in the light we figured he’d have more time to acclimate to the track and the changing conditions.

Unfortunately, Jon had a minor off early in the race and lost several positions. Fortunately, Jon did a great job of driving consistently and sticking to our strategy. We wanted to go the distance in terms of fuel vs. outright pace. By lap 29, we were down a lap and back up to P3 in E1 class. There was an on-track incident where a car went off down the front straight and got stuck in the dirt. As such, the track went to full-course yellow. We confirmed with NASA officials that the pit was open, and Jon happened to be close enough to where we were able to pit him quickly and top him off on fuel. As he came back out on track, the Safety Car was deployed which meant he was able to unlap himself. Jon continued to persevere and after 2 hours he was tired and the car needed fuel again.

Ride along with Jon for the first 30 minutes of the enduro here:

At this point, we decided to put me in to finish the race. We felt that I was able to push harder because we were solid on fuel. By the time the checkered flag came out, we were P2 in E1 class and 5th overall. Woo! What a hard-fought podium finish and a great way to end the year.

Looking Ahead

Looking back, despite COVID, this was a great year for our team. We prioritized endurance racing over sprints, which meant that the car is heavier but able to go the distance. We also focused on getting seat time for every member of the team, and looking back we podiumed at every enduro we entered. Looking at points, we are currently 3rd in the WERC E1 Championships. Depending on how things shake out after this past weekend, it looks like we have secured a solid overall championship podium for the year.

Who’s ready for 2021? We will be! We are excited for further improvements and upgrades to both the endurance car (E36 BMW M3) and the sprint car (Lotus Exige).