BimmerWorld Racing

Q&A with the BimmerWorld Drivers – Mosport Momentum

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Robinson) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:00:00 +0000

The World Challenge Touring Car guys face a hectic race schedule with Mosport hot on the heels of Road America. Before the team heads back up north they took some time to answer our questions.

Check out their comments below, and be sure to send us any questions you might have. We’ll get the guy’s thoughts, and give you credit!
questions@bimmerworldracing.com

(James) TV and Movies would have us believe that when you're ready to pass the car in front of you, it simply requires a downshift and stepping on the gas. In reality it probably isn't that easy. Can you tell us a little bit about getting past a car in World Challenge? Is it a matter of being aggressive enough to make the move? What does it take to get past and make it stick?

[James Clay] Not quite that easy... The cars are so evenly matched in World Challenge that your position is given to you when another driver makes an error or you spend several laps evaluating the car in front, deciding where you have the most advantage, then execute. It is a real chess game and it isn't about being aggressive - certainly you need to be to a degree, but you can't pass just because you want to. If we were any more aggressive I think any car in the field would go flying off the track - they are being driven to the limits every turn, braking zone, and straight.

(James) Put your team owner hat on for a second. World Challenge is all over the map with its schedule. What type of logistics does it take to get the team, spares, and cars up to an event? Has the high price of diesel made any difference this year?

[James Clay] Well this has actually been an easy year with 9 of 10 races east of the Mississippi. This year the transporter costs us about $0.75 per mile for fuel alone to run! Plane tickets aren't getting any cheaper either and with 15 people to shuttle around the country it adds up. To support a team at the level needed for this series takes good guys and a lot of them - one of the biggest expenses for any race weekend for us.

(Nick) Since James is crediting you with the Junior Engineer title, can you tell us some of the keys to making a car handle in the rain? Will rain at Mosport negate any advantages the BMW's might enjoy?

[Nick Esayian] I am certainly no engineer but softer seems to be the ticket in the rain. The key is to balance softer with transition and how quickly the car takes a set... Wayne’s got a plan so I’m confident we will be ok unless it snows. Even with last years super stiff setup in the E90 Clay was all over the bumper of my front drive TSX. That’s proof the BMW is a great platform to start with. Certainly rain negates (a bit) our ability to start feeding throttle as early as we usually do, but these rain races have so many variables it’s difficult to predict what is going to happen.

(Nick) You're part of the WC Vision LLC, which is looking to improve the overall marketing of the World Challenge series. If you could wave your magic wand what changes would you make to the series?

[Nick Esayian] There is no question the first three things we would change...

1.) A more attractive TV deal – Better production (more resources), better on air times, better format... Whether that be a reality type show, live TV, etc. I can’t tell you the answer yet. The economics will make that determination.

2.) Boosting the TC field – TC is great racing... Boosting the field is really the result of building confidence in the series with those potential teams that may be considering building cars, a tight and consistent rules package, and the series profile attractive enough to make it worth stepping up from Grand Am to WC.

3.) A title sponsor. Video game producer, energy drink, electronics retailer, or an auto association like SEMA.... It makes no difference to me who it is. We have a great demo and can provide a package that makes business sense in terms of ROI. We just need to get in front of some of these folks and get a deal done. Right now WC is like a blue chip stock in a down market. We are undervalued. If someone buys in now, as the series matures, they are going to get a huge value for their money. I can guarantee that.

Now get me that wand so we can get onto the rest of our list.

(Seth) You've had some great starts this year with a few holeshot and hardcharger awards. What are some of the keys to getting a good start in WC? Or is it simply your cat-like reflexes and reaction time?

[Seth Thomas] That is a simple answer, RWD BMW. The fact that our cars have a great 1st gear along with the great drivetrain of the BMW's help out tremendously. Every time I am lined up for the start of the race it is time to focus. Staying focused on the lights and getting a quick drag launch from the car is the key. I have been known to attempt a few of these starts on the streets from time to time when the local law enforcement isn’t around. The only problem there is usually a little bit more tire smoke. ;-)

(Seth) Mosport is a high speed track with some pretty scary corners. How does this track stack up on your favorite's list? Do you prefer faster tracks, or something that is maybe more technical?

[Seth Thomas] My preference would be the fast tracks. It seems that most drivers are g-force junkies. The faster tracks give us the g-force fix we are all looking for. The feeling I get when I top the hill at T2 in Mosport at over 100 MPH with the rear sliding out... of course you need to do this to get a good run through the turn all while going down a hill can’t be beat. Same with Road Atlanta and T12. There is nothing like it!!!

Q&A with the BimmerWorld Drivers – Thoughts on Road America

noreply@blogger.com (BimmerWorld Admin) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:38:00 +0000

We checked in with the BimmerWorld drivers a few days after the Road America race to get Clay’s thoughts on his first trip to victory lane, Seth’s predictions for the future, and Nick on what not to order from hotel room service.
Check out their comments below, and be sure to send us any questions you might have. We’ll get the guy’s thoughts, and give you credit!

questions@bimmerworldracing.com

(Clay) You've said that you've driven harder to finish worse than at Road America. What were the one or two key breaks that you got during the race that made it all come together?

[James Clay] That is definitely the case, but it wasn't race breaks that made it work. Really, the whole team was just on it all week. We made a big jump in setup early in testing and the car was just good. I was a little worried when I got hung out on the start and shuffled back to 6th, but having a car that was dialed in, and finally ending up on the positive side of contact in turn 1 at the restart made the run to the front smooth sailing. The fast laps of the top 7 cars were within a couple of tenths, and I wasn't the fastest, but this weekend luck went my way with proper track position.

(Clay) It is often mentioned that certain tracks favor different types of cars. Conventional thinking being that the larger engines of the BMW's have the advantage on the higher speed tracks. Can you elaborate on that and maybe describe the important pros / cons of the BMW at the World Challenge level as compared to a front wheel drive and / or double wishbone setup?

[James Clay] I do think that at this point, we have a slight power advantage, but we are also bigger with more frontal area (increases drag) so it really only shows up when we are in the draft it seems. Our Macpherson strut front suspension isn't as good as an a-arm for racing purposes, but it didn't hurt us as much this time without the fast back and forth transitions. I think the biggest thing that made the cars work this weekend was the brakes - I could consistently brake inside the 4 marker at Canada corner while the rest of the field seemed to be at the 4.5-5 marker. That is just a testament to the Performance Friction brakes and pads on the car more than a particular design-specific attribute.

(Clay) You seemed pretty confident for your first trip to the podium. Obviously anyone at the WC level isn't new to winning as they work their way up, but given the trials and tribulations you guys have all gone through this has to be very special. Has it hit you yet, or is this just the natural culmination of hard work and to be expected?

[James Clay] Not sure if confident is the right word, but I certainly do think the team deserves it, so I am not overwhelmed or surprised. If we didn't think we could win races, we wouldn't be working so hard to do it! Definitely this is good affirmation of all the hard work we have all put in and makes the guys feel better about the late nights fixing the stuff from weekends that didn't go as well.

(Clay) It probably isn't common knowledge but Seth's sister was in a bad wreck this year, and you've recently had a close friend in the hospital. Is it harder to concentrate on racing when things like that are going on away from the track? Does it put any type of perspective on racing for a living?

[James Clay] Certainly as much effort as I put into driving and racing, and as much as I put it in front of other things, the parts of life that are the most important aren't about a piece of metal. It was a busy week for me before this weekend and after with hospital visits, but I wouldn't have missed them for anything. Certainly to be passionate enough about racing to put in the effort required takes making it a priority, but in the end it is a job.

(Clay) You mentioned the important roles of Wayne Yawn your engineer and Jason Marks your crew chief. Can you give us any indication of the impact or changes these guys have made that has allowed you to get to the podium 3 times this year?

[James Clay] Well certainly Jason Marks, as the crew chief and team leader, plus all the other guys that have been with the team for years, make the opportunities so that we can go out and win. Someone pointed out that in our podium picture, Marks and Dave Simpkins (our two longest-term employees) weren't in it - they had continued on with their responsibilities to take the car to impound. That is dedication. Wayne just got lucky (kidding...). Honestly, Wayne has made big strides with the cars this year and they are nothing like what he started with. I also have to thank junior engineer Nick Esayian for pushing us out of the comfort zone and questioning some of our old setup assumptions which is also a big part of why the cars are currently as good as they are.

(Seth) You were right behind Clay's time in qualifying. Do all of you share a race setup, or are you still experimenting up to and including the race? Are there individual 'tweaks' based on driving style for each car?

[Seth Thomas] For the most part our setups are the same. We might differ in setup by some of the shock settings or possibly a slight variation in spring rates. These are our individual tweaks and ones that also suit the slightly different driving styles each of us have.

(Seth) Clay has been your teammate for several years now, is he holding out any speed secrets on you? Seriously a lot has been said about the team's bad luck, but 3 podium finishes for the year isn't too shabby. How do you feel about your chances for the rest of the year? You had a strong race at Road Atlanta going in the wet last year and that is your home track.

[Seth Thomas] This weekend he was holding something out on me. James qualifying ahead of me, and winning - then we definitely know he had some tricks in the bag. For the most part though, we don't have any secrets. The data we get shows us where all the speed is at.

The rest of the year should be awesome for the team and for myself. Mosport is a track that James and I always do very well at. Road Atlanta is my home track where I know all the speed secrets. Plus I owned the track in the wet last year and I look for a repeat this year. So the rest of the year should yield some very memorable finishes for us and include some champagne spraying ceremonies.

(Seth) To follow up on that, has he given you a hard time at all about getting the first victory?

[Seth Thomas] No I think he has been too busy surfing the internet looking at pictures of his smokey victory burnouts. Just kidding! He has actually been busy working on making the cars faster for a short turn around before Mosport.

(Seth) How closely matched are the E46 cars of Sofornas and Martinelli compared to the E90's, do you feel there is a particular area that the E90's enjoy an advantage?

[Seth Thomas] The E46 cars are still great cars in Touring car competition. They are still fast in a straight line and still brake well, since they have the same PFC (Performance Friction) brakes we do. Every year the suspensions get better and better which keeps making the cars faster. The E46 has had 8 years of development which makes it towards the end of its life cycle for development within the rules. The E90 is just beginning and is already faster than these cars in the corners. It is a lot more stable of a car now with all the development BimmerWorld has been doing. So put the PFC brakes, better motor, stiffer chassis, and better suspension and the E90 shines over the E46 cars and still has potential to get even better!

(Nick) You were able to advance several positions and had a solid race. Also it seemed like this race had less contact than we've seen recently. Did the SCCA say anything to the teams, or does Road America have more room than maybe other tracks?

[Nick Esayian] After the fifth time being collected from behind this year I blew a gasket at Mid Ohio in the pit lane after the race. My behavior was probably a bit over the top but I think the TC (touring car) guys collectively were tired of so much contact. Road America is not a place to be cavalier with contact as the Kink, Turn 1, and Canada hold severe consequences if you have an off. We all respect each other enough not to play rough at a place like that.

(Nick) Being the Road America expert would you like to take credit for giving James the tricks he needed to win his first race?

[Nick Esayian] James did a great job all weekend with little or no help from me. The only real advice I gave was related to some reference points to keep the distance driven between turns as short as possible. PD (Peter Cunningham) showed me the tricks almost fifteen years ago so I felt obligated to pass them on.

(Nick) You were slightly behind on qualifying was this a setup issue, or traffic?

[Nick Esayian] I had food poisoning and was in the hotel room sick up until about 20 minutes prior to qualifying. The guys poured me in the car, PD gave me a tow and one of the Mazdas decided to do some blocking which cost us a top six on the grid. This was unfortunate considering how close the top 12 cars were in the race. Starting position was everything. My bad for eating the quesadilla at the hotel. Clay tells me only bagels and pasta at Mosport.

(Nick) Mosport and Road Atlanta would seem to favor the BMW's any predictions or is that bad luck?

[Nick Esayian] I agree. Our cars don’t have the low end torque of the big four cylinders of the Mazdas and Acuras. Once we get up over 100mph the E90’s inline six likes to stretch it’s legs. Fortunately Wayne Yawn, our engineer, has done an unbelievable job of getting these cars to handle. Our crew, under Wayne’s close watch, put a plan together and executed it mid season to get up the cars to where they are now. A tough job to say the least with the schedule the way it was.

Q&A with the BimmerWorld Pro Racers!

noreply@blogger.com (BimmerWorld Admin) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:35:00 +0000

At the start of the season we discussed how awesome it would be to have a behind the scenes blog that we would all contribute to during race weekend. It was a great way, we thought, to bring our fans along for the great ride that it is a Speed World Challenge race weekend. Well as with most ideas success lies in the execution, and it turns out we’re really pretty busy trying to win races during the weekend and too tired or busy before and after. So, since we value our fans we’re experimenting with ways that we can give you a behind the scenes glimpse of the action in a format that is schedule and race friendly. Here is our first attempt! Hope you enjoy.

Send your questions to questions@bimmerworldracing.com.

(Nick): At Mid-Ohio you seemed to be making good progress and moving up through the pack until you got tangled up with a Mazda that sent you off track. That driver received a stop and go, obviously that doesn't help you too much. Thoughts on your race?

Qualifying was disappointing after we started the weekend so strong. I made up about ten spots with a great start and the typical first lap chaos. The multiple yellows put the pack on my butt every time I managed to extend out and gain some breathing room. I was in 6th for more than half the race and struggled with oversteer in the slow stuff, but managed to gap the car behind me in the faster turns. He apparently got impatient and thought he could suspend the laws of physics for a few seconds. It didn’t work and he drove through the grass and into my door sending me to the back with yet again a bent up car. Needless to say Charlie (Putnam) is a brilliant guy, and was driving a great race, but he certainly was not at the top of his game at that moment.

(Nick) With almost a full season with the Bimmerworld team, how is the transition going? Has it been more or less difficult than you initially thought?

Our guys are top notch in terms of professionalism and putting the work in. That’s a big compliment since my benchmark is Realtime. Unfortunately our results don’t reflect their efforts. Out of the box at Sebring we were really in the hunt and my 4th place qualifying showed that. I’m not sure what the issue has been but we have been struggling to keep pace in terms of low and mid speed handling and frankly I’m a bit frustrated as we are getting beaten by guys we should be able to show our bumpers to. James, Seth, and I alternate at being quick each session but we have consistently been off the pace. Our competition keeps raising the bar, we have to have faith that the (SCCA) tech guys have their thinking caps on, and dealing with getting hit every other race doesn’t give me cause to celebrate either. It has been tough and I’ve been struggling to stay positive but that’s racing. The worst are the calls from my old club racing buddies who see some of the new guys that they beat at the Runoffs jumping into a WC car and finishing up front... It’s really not that easy and being in the right car, at the right track, on the right team, and not getting cleaned out is a big part of the equation. The top 15-16 guys in Touring Car are all very talented. Everyone struggles but we know if we keep pushing and our guys keep up the good work the results will come.

(Nick) Given Bimmerworld's previous results at Road America you're in a position to have the most race laps and experience here. Have you shared any tips or tricks with your teammates?

My career started at RA in 1992 so I do have a lot of laps there. There are certainly some tricks to shortening the track and I’m happy to share any insight I may have with the boys. Unfortunately PD (Peter Cunningham) taught me most of them.

(Seth) You ventured off track during the Mid-Ohio race to avoid other cars and had to come in to clear the radiator and still managed to finish 6th with what amounted to a stop and go. That has to make you happy, thoughts in general on Mid-Ohio? It seemed like getting back to the front may have taken all the tires had to give?

I would say the tires on the car from Mid Ohio were very similar to the tires after Sebring. They were done! What a blast coming up through the field though. Patience and racecraft were being tested every lap.

(Seth) Was there any option to stay out with the radiator, or did engine temps force you to come in?

There wasn’t an option at all. The temps on the engine from the Keyhole to Thunder Valley went from 180 degrees to 225 degrees and rising. It was come in, or end the race early. It is so disappointing to watch all your hard work gaining positions disappear in a moment and then leaving pit lane knowing that you have to do it all over again! At that point it was staying focused and trying to make the best of it.

(Seth) You've gotten a few Hardcharger / Holeshot awards this year, and while not as satisfying as podium finishes, it certainly shows that the race craft and driving ability are there. Is it simple bad luck keeping you from the top?

I wouldn’t say it is bad luck, because we keep managing to finish in the top-10. I would say that it is more of getting caught out in qualifying with a setup that doesn’t quite suit the track, or the new tires we have on the car. And then when it comes race time we have the car dialed in. The rest of the scenario is my fault. At Mid Ohio, my worst qualifying effort this year, I made one big mistake on the first lap which was the lap to get the fast time on the tires. This was the difference in a Top-5 qualifying effort to 15th starting spot.

(Seth) How important is qualifying towards the top in this series? It seems that the closer to the front the less chance of getting caught up in traffic and having problems.

Huge! Qualifying in the Top-10 is the most important start to a race. The cars are so closely matched that if you aren’t close at the start then you don’t stand much of a chance to challenge for the lead. Plus when you have 5 Acuras and 5 Mazdas both going for the manufacturer’s points it makes it a lot tougher to move up through the field.

(James) Any consideration to adding a body shop to the BimmerWorld suite of services?

Certainly it would be profitable, but I don’t think Bassen Autobody, who is one of our great partners, would appreciate the competition. It is wild to have the level of contact we have recently, but honestly we came through a lot of races unscathed earlier in the season, which is equally if not more rare, so maybe it is good karma to call it even? And really Bassen’s shop does some amazing work to be able to put us in a position to race all 3 cars after Watkins Glenn and still have time for our team to do their work on the car as well.

(James) You had to visit the pits to fix some damage during the Mid-Ohio race after being an innocent bystander in an Acura spin out. How much power was your car down from the closed exhaust?

It was another disappointing piece of bad luck. I could actually hear the exhaust trying to blow air out – like trying to blow up one of those really long animal balloons and getting nowhere. I looked at data after the race and I was able to maintain my qualifying corner speeds through the race which was a good trick, but I was losing about 10MPH on the longer straights. Not sure how much power that equates to but it hurt about 3-4 seconds a lap.

(James) World Challenge is so competitive with less than a second between first and tenth. With the field that close what can you do to stay out of trouble and on the track? Does it change how aggressive you are during at least the first few laps?

Easy!! – start at the front and watch the fun in the rearview mirror. Mid-Ohio was really tough because we had done some productive testing and spent a lot of shop time on the cars, aside from the Watkin’s Glenn repairs. We had a good setup but just couldn’t get it to the front of the pack. If you don’t start at the front, you have to either be really lucky or claw your way up through traffic and take your lumps along the way.

(James) Road America seems to be a good track for the BMW's and Road Atlanta is almost a home track for BimmerWorld, how important is a strong finish to the team?

After a rough mid-season, a strong finish is super important for me, my co-drivers, and the whole team who has been putting in double-time to get a good result. If the complaints of the Mazda’s and Acura’s ring true, we should be lapping the field with the long straights of Road America, so I am certainly looking forward to it. For once I hope they’re right!

(James) Has it been difficult to keep morale up with the team after all the ups and downs this year or is it just part of racing?

It is part of racing, but that doesn’t mean it is easy. I heard recently that racing is a sport of losing and you very rarely win. But certainly I wouldn’t mind sneaking one in here.

The best things come in 3s

noreply@blogger.com (jamesclay) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 17:32:00 +0000

Or something like that. Check out the Watkins Glen in-car video on the site. That was by far the wildest wreck I have ever been in (and I have had my share...). PRetty scary stuff - I was pretty loose in the car after the second hit due to belt stretch and looking at more of the field headed directly at me. Luckily, everyone else avoided and everyone walked away from it no more than a little banged up. A testament to the safety of the cars we run and the safety gear built into them.

A week later and we have one car back from Bassen Autobody - our miracle worker. We start testing for Mido Ohio shortly. Onward and upward. The good thing is it would be pretty hard to get worse than last race!

Acura/Mazda Sandwich

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 23:03:00 +0000

Watkins Glen is one of those tracks that you love to drive at. For me I love it. This track has so much history and is such a great track to drive on. The whole week I have been pumped to be here. At the same time I think my teammates have been too. We have been working on some very new setups with out suspension that really didn't come together until the last minute with the right combination. This was qualifying for me where I put the E90 BimmerWorld 325 into 6th place. I did have a little bit of a better lap going until another car decided it was time to treat qualifying like a race. He put his nose in on me instead of trying to work together. I let him by instead of risking damage to the car and creating extra work for the crew. Tune in tomorrow for the race to find out how many positions we all advance during the race!

Rollin' the dice

noreply@blogger.com (Esayian #34) — Sun, 25 May 2008 21:26:00 +0000

Well we all struggled throughout the run up to race one at Lime Rock... The race wasn't much better. We all improved our position and we all are in the top ten in points but we are not overly happy with not being up at the front. All three of us are capable and these cars are capable of running at the front. Normally we would test big changes but we are going to roll the dice with a big setup change tomorrow and see how it goes. A ten minute qualifying doesn't leave much time if we blow it so it will be all or nothing. Stay tuned!

1 down, 1 to go.

noreply@blogger.com (jamesclay) — Sun, 25 May 2008 20:04:00 +0000

WEll, first race down. I had a great start, but just wan't able to keep up. Passed Galati, dropped a spot to Saini and the car placed where it should have in 7th based on laptimes. Seth was in front of me but slipped back, Nick was just behind.

Not satisfactory. Nick and I are going to gamble big in our Mon 10AM qualifying session and put completely new setups on the car, Seth will remain relatively close to the Saturday setup. Hopefully this will help us locate some of the missing speed.

Busy day...

noreply@blogger.com (jamesclay) — Sat, 24 May 2008 02:44:00 +0000

Nuts day today. We usually have a test day with 3-4 sessions, then a day of practice with 2 official sessions, then a day to qualify. Instead, due to the double race weekend and special issues at Lime Rock, we have no test day and had three sessions, with the last a qualifier for tomorrow's race, starting at 12:45 and ending by about 5.

We started with 3 fairly different setups on the 3 cars and oddly enough, there wasn't a clear winner. All of us have tuned our own and they are all working. This made it a TON easier for the guys with no spring changes or scaling required at this point. And, we kept the cars out of the walls, which helps a lot too...

My qualifying session was going to be awesome - had a great lap 1 and was showing a low :58 on the dash. Then a Mazda in front of me slid wide in West Bend, tapped the wall, and headed back my direction across the track. I checked up and swerved, got back on it going down the hill, but the damage was done - 0.5 sec on that lap. My next one was blown when I overcooked T1, meaning my sticker advantage wasn't capitalized on. The balk lap was my fastest until late in the sesion when I went out with Seth and Nick in tow and powered on to click a :58.8 on my own on about 10 laps on the tires. The best thing I am finding about a double race weekend is I will get to qualify again Monday morning and get it right this time!

Got it right

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Sat, 24 May 2008 02:19:00 +0000

Lime Rock is one those tracks where you are either on it or you are way off. As I began the weekend I was fighting the setup for some very minor problems, mainly understeer. Using our Motec data and some good calculations from our engineer the setup came together for qualifying. On the magic lap of the Toyo 888 everything was great. The front was turning in and the rear was slightly loose, the right combo. That left me 5th on the grid and the fastest BMW. With the race tomorrow it is time to get some rest for a great race!

Its May 22 so I must be at Lime Rock

noreply@blogger.com (jamesclay) — Fri, 23 May 2008 04:23:00 +0000

Transporter back at 5AM Tuesday, cars unloaded, gone over fully, parts changed, and new setups put on and reloaded and back on the road Wednesday at 3PM - the guys did an awesome job!

Nothing like a little pressure. 20 minute practice session tomorrow, then 2 qualifying sessions, each no more than 2 hours apart to fix the cars and change setup. So as a driver, you better get up to speed immediately. And all this at Lime Rock with walls right up agains the track at many places. Pull the pin and toss...

Ahhh, Utah - Sucked.

noreply@blogger.com (jamesclay) — Wed, 21 May 2008 05:42:00 +0000

No updates because I was busy chashing my tail. The team was working like a well-oiled machine, the cars were good here, and like VIR, I felt like we really had the setup on the cars where we wanted it. We didn't creep up to a solution - we spent the test days circling it and learning even more and really hit it right. Almost. Unfortunately, one final guess for my car was wrong and killed my in qualifying. I came into the pits for a change and was 0.7 sec faster by turn 7, but I caught Seth, then got over-anxious to make up for it in turn 23 and got greedy on the power. I started sliding about halfway to the trackout and it was either lift and blow the lap or stay in it and maybe pull it out. I stayed in it, looped it big, and got stock in the gravel. Turns out, that was good practice...

The race was fair. I got balked in Turn 1 by a car that went in too hot and looked like he was coming back and possibly in front of me. After checking up, I was never able to get back on Seth's tail (in front of me) and catch the draft. I punched my own hole in the air, slowly fell back. Had a nice little battle with Chip along the way. Then 2 laps until the end, I came into Turn 21 and in a split second my brake pedal went soft, my accelerator went wide open, and I launched off the track smoking all 4 tires at over 100MPH to get stuck in the gravel for the final time. I beat Galati though, who had similar luck. I won't name Tilton (oops, I mean the pedal manufacturer responsible for the launch) publicly though. Oh well - poor engineering there that grossly magnified the small leak in a caliper line. I figure if it had happened 3 laps later, that would have been lap 1 at Lime Rock and my car would be destroyed in a wall, so I guess there is a bright side.

Ahh, Utah!

noreply@blogger.com (jamesclay) — Wed, 14 May 2008 22:01:00 +0000

Well the afterglow of VIR for me has been nice. Not a win, but a podium is OK. Certainly makes me look for better things.

So in my time off (right)... I jumped right out of VIR into a couple of days in the office to catch up, then headed out to One Lap of America. Lots of driving, lots of racetracks, and NO sleep.

Luckily, it was a TON of fun with some good friends! I left Thursday night for that, spent over a week on the road, got back in on Sat night.

Now a smarter person would have slept for two days straight. I, on the other hand, played catchup in the BimmerWorld office (got kind of close this time!) for 2 days. That wild dash ended at 11:30 last night, head to Charlotte to jump on a plane at 7AM this morning, fly to Salt Lake City, eat some REAL Mexican food, then off to the track.

Rig gets unloaded:

Cars all snug in their garages. Time to go for a trackwalk.

Monkey is off my back

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 22:51:00 +0000

What an amazing race. So far 2007 has produced some amazing racing for my #38 BimmerWorld E90. We have seen lots of passing action along with lots of speed. In both races this year I have had the fastest race lap along with two top-10 finishing positions. It is looking up for our BMWs. But back to the important race so far, VIR!

I love this track. It is awesome to come to BimmerWorld's home track where both James and I can put on a show in front all our family and friends in attendance. We both were very disappointed after qualifying as we definitely left some time on the table. We were both also scratching our heads as to why we couldn't go faster. At that point though we knew we could race well.

As James has said the weather was looking iffy for our race. It was looking like rain was inevitable and we were going to test out the new Toyo R888 tire for the first time in the wet. We both knew the race was going to start off dry but at some point it looked like we would have to make the switch.

As we are sitting on the starting grid I was waiting for the lights to come on. They are on, I rev the engine, the lights are out and I blow the start not getting the start I thought I should. This didn't hurt me though as I put my head down and headed off to T1 as quick as I could. The first lap was very tight racing as VIR is a very narrow track with all these fast cars hurling through the uphill esses. I had good run up the esses and had my eyes set on picking off somebody at the top of the hill. The door was open to get around PD and I took it. We has some small contact as I was squeezed to the inside but I came out ahead. This allowed James to get a good run out on us both and away he went in front. We continued on in this order until the front straight where I had a big run on James and asked him to let me by. He kindly did and we worked together catching up to the guys in front of us.

James and I caught the leaders. I got around Espenlaub and was catching up to the next 3 guys. It was funny as I caught all the cars I kept watching the black clouds moving towards the track in the distance. This is not the sign I wanted as we were having the race we finally wanted. Even though I could see the clouds moving, I knew I had to work my way up to the front as fast as I could because if it did rain I needed to be in a position for the lead. And being in this position is what paid off. I ran my race right behind the leaders doing everything I could to pass them. Fortunately the guys in front of me made mistakes that cost them the lead. Chip spun it in one giving me a spot. Pierre did the same in Oak Tree giving me another. The next spot was to pass the new race leader. Kuno and I went after it lap after lap. I would be faster in certain sections of the track. He would be faster in others. We were pretty much dead even. I could use his draft to catch him on the straights and pop out to attempt a pass. He would defend the position and keep it. Kuno made a couple of small mistakes that helped me to get up beside him in several spots on the last lap. Every time though I would be in a spot where I could not capitalize on the position. We cross the line bumper to bumper with my first podium.

As for this weekend the BimmerWorld crew did an amazing job giving me the setup I needed to be up front. They changed enough springs to break in their new GearWrench tools. We also had a lot of fun visiting with the home crowd. It really did mean a lot to put on this show in front of the BimmerWorld home fans. Spraying champagne for the first time in my career at VIR is a perfect situation. Having James there beside makes it even better. We predicted a BimmerWorld 1-2-3 and we nailed that down pretty close.

Making this weekend better we headed home on Sunday to help celebrate my nieces' second birthday on Sunday. Maybe if this were her first birthday I might have won. ;-)

VIR Race!

noreply@blogger.com (jamesclay) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 15:33:00 +0000

Round 2 in the books. Saturday was raceday and started out awesome - but hot, especially for April. At around 10AM on the way to the track, we were at 75 and the weather was saying thunderstorms (70%) at 5PM - right in the middle of the race. I spent the day hanging out with friends and customers that came to cheer us on while the guys went over the final small details on the cars.

Sure enough, around race time, the sky started getting hazy. We can't change to rain tires once pre-grid is closed, which was about the time the sever weather warning came over the PA - 60 MPH winds and mixed hail. Nice. We went over the rain proceedure in a quick meeting and then rolled off the grid to do our parade and warmup laps and get the race going.

I got a good launch on the standing start but really couldn't find a hole to the right, so I took my chances on the left of PD Cunningham who slowly was moving to the track edge and me into the grass - not good for traction. I ended up moving back over and settling in, but dropping a spot to Seth in the process. The first few turns were wild with 2-3 wide and bumping for position, but no one was way out of shape and I even avoided any rubbing - not that it was my goal... Seth and PD got together slightly at the end of the back straight and loosened both of them up and I slipped by moving me up to 5th. Seth got a better run onto the front straight and I let him by going into T1 for the start of lap 2. Another lap or so went by and I reeled in Espenlaub who let me by going into T1 again under braking. Unfortunately, this shuffling put me about 10 car lengths behind of the front pack and out of the draft which was so critical. I managed to pick up a few feet on a couple of laps but there is no way the big frontal area can be as efficient as a pack of cars working together, so at some point I had to stop using up the tires, settle in to where I was having gotten some breathing room from Charles and PD behind me, and hope for some mistakes as I watched the battle in front of me.

Luckily for me, the mistakes came in the form of a couple of offs by Herr and Kleinubing - not something I would wish for karma's sake if nothing else, but I moved into 3rd on the second to last lap of the race. Seth and Kuno were really going at it and there was really no way for me to catch and plenty of room behind me, so I took an easy last lap or two and rolled the #36 car in safely in 3rd spot.

The podium celebrations was awesome - Seth's first in World Challenge and long overdue for him. For me, 3rd was kind of the old hat - I need to get it in gear and take the top step. Instead of heading out to celebrate, we hung out waiting for a surprise dyno of all the cars in the field. At about 10PM we were finally free to go and headed out of the track.

Round 3 is in UT in 3 weeks, followed the next week by 4 and 5 at Lime Rock the following week. I leave for One Lap of America this Friday, so I will have plenty of track time (and time stuck in a car) leading up ot these.

The mad rush of VIR

noreply@blogger.com (jamesclay) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 01:33:00 +0000

Well it is pre-race night and I am FINALLY getting a free minute to pop my head in here. This week has been absolutely nuts busy... Not that I am not accustomed to the pace.

In my "off" time between Sebring and VIR, I have done testing for World Challenge, some club races to stay sharp, driver coaching, the international media release of the X6 for SpeedTV, some work with the new 1/3 Series cars with Grassroots Motorsports, and visited a few tracks for our upcoming One Lap of America assault with the 135 (which I also found some time ot wrench on in an all-nighter - drivers can have value!). Kind of my own whirlwind tour of the Southeast US. Through that, I managed to get in the office a few days as well even!

We showed up to VIR after having tested last week ready to go. This weekend has been interesting. We have really continued to learn a lot about the cars. We have had a good setup since we rolled in, and a lot of track time, so we felt pretty comfortable really experimenting in an effort to make things really perfect. We have had this loose problem that is livable, but with rear tires wearing at Sebring, we were hesitant to leave it in. We have tossed spring, bar, shock, alignment, geometry changes, and every other trick we have at it and were making a little progress until today! Finally, we had the breakthrough with a little more rear spring and a tick more shock - odd to control an oversteer, right?

My car was really close for the second practice session (when I added the rear spring) and we made a couple more changes to work on the bumps/curbs. Overshooting that session was perfect - for qualifying, we dialed it back a little and hit it really pretty dead on. I went out behind Seth with Nick a little further behind (rushing from a last minute setup change). Unfortunately, we dropped the ball a little and didn't use the last 2% or so of the tire in the first couple of corners so we left time on the table. I ended up 6th and Seth a couple of hundreths of a second behind - both of us 0.4 behind pole. Nick was balked on his flyer (you only get 1-2 with these tires) and couldn't get it much better with a second outing later in the session.

Looking forward to the race tomorrow. With some front-wheel cars ahead of us, we should get a good start and if we can stay in the draft on the long straights here, we should have a good race. We will know when the flag drops at 4:20 tomorrow!

noreply@blogger.com (BimmerWorld Admin) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:55:00 +0000

Esayian’s Sobering Sebring Satire

(taken from:

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/speed-tc-esayians-sobering-sebring-satire/)

So my Sebring hangover is starting to fade. Racers at all levels can attest to the mental weight you carry after a missed opportunity or poor on track performance. It makes it all the worse when the next race on the schedule is six weeks away. In this case the headache lasted longer than normal as if I had inhaled a big bottle of Jack Daniels... The jug with the thumb hole handle. You know the one.

The BimmerWorld team arrived at Sebring with high expectations…Our E90’s had tested extremely well and we were confident in our ability to stand atop the podium at the opening round of the Speed World Challenge Touring Car Championship, Round #1. Unfortunately the victory does not always go to the swift or the strong.

The first few test and practice sessions have a feel like a high school dance where the boys and girls sit across from one another waiting to see who is going to make their first move. At Sebring, BimmerWorld was the stud at the dance and we made a good showing… After the pre race dust had settled and my teammate Seth Thomas was on the pole. I was 5th for the time being. Unfortunately the glow of our arrival at Sebring had already started to fade as James Clay’s E90 suffered a mechanical issue in qualifying and failed to make a lap at speed so he was relegated to the back.

Little did we know that this was the first of many coming disappointments...

Within 30 minutes of the conclusion of qualifying Seth had been disqualified by SCCA tech as his exhaust hangar had broken during the session and the hanging pipe was a few millimeters under the legal ride height. Granted the infringement wasn’t performance enhancing but with the crew unable to touch the car to determine the cause of the problem the team was left to ponder why they didn’t have the opportunity to investigate while the car was in tech. Vladamir Putin stories aside, the rules are the rules... Our guys were disappointed and I really felt bad for Seth but there is really no time to lament the unreversable.

So all the rest of the BMWs are sent to the back for a variety of reasons like a band of Tibetan Monks before the Olympics in Bejing. I’m the sole holder of the BMW marque and sitting in 4th place on the grid…Behind my three Realtime Teammates from last year no less. Pierre Kleinubing, Peter Cunningham, and the Frenchman, Kuno “the K-nuck” Wittmer.

Taking into consideration Mr. Pierre Kleinubing has hit all four of his teammates in the first turn of a race I knew that the start was going to be interesting. Now I don’t want to give up any company secrets but it is no real surprise that rear drive BMW is going to get a better launch than the front drive Acuras. At least that is until you put one of Bozo the Clown shoes on my foot instead of my handsome Alpinestars racing shoe.

So unlike years past when Caligula (Peter Cunningham) used to take us out the night before in the stretch MDX with all the flag girls and a case of Opus One, I decide to get some sleep before the night of the race. My James Hunt and Eric Curran days are over!

The morning comes quickly and the events of yesterday are behind us. I’m confident my teammates will be quickly working their way through the field to support my charge into the lead. I may have a chance to win this thing.

The 45 minutes running up to one of these races is a unique life experience. No matter how many of these races you have participated in you are little more alive in those 45 minutes leading up to race time. Walking down the isle before you wedding, the feeling in your gut when the state trooper is walking up to your car after getting pulled over… You get it.

Se we are all getting suited up in the transporter and I know James is still a bit low after yesterday’s poor qualifying outcome. He’s optimistic but I know he is disappointed. I can’t keep my mouth shut, “Just remember, there are a few million people that wish they could do what we’re about to do…” James smiles, nods his head and we hop in a vehicle to drive us up to the grid.

After the typical meet and greet of drivers, team owners, crew, officials, and media in the grid we all strap in and roll out onto the grid. Sebring is a special place… WWII bomber base, historical track, 150,000 fans, etc. Look at the names of the drivers above the pit wall, the marques, the history. The colors are presented, the National Anthem is played… What other sport does a pastor come and say goodbye....

Back to the reality of the situation that there are roughly twenty maniacs that are going to accelerate from 0-100mph, run four our five abreast, jam cars worth about $150,000 each into a narrowing track while braking, all on cold tires…. Sounds like fun, right?

FANTASTIC!!! We run a warm up lap, Grid up… The start lights illuminate, the revs go up, and then...

I s**t the bed…. My hopes of a Herculean start are dashed as I rev my E90 BMW to about 5000rpm as opposed to the 6500rpm recommended by my teammates. I listen about as well as my two year old son Troy and ignore the fact that guys that have raced these cars for four years know their stuff. I am an idiot.

I bog the car down and it feels like I’m in second gear… I see the animals behind me, Herr, Altenberg, Espenlaub… All gaining ground and my mindset goes from attack to full defensive. I’m getting passed, pushed around and by Turn 7 I am just trying to stay in the top ten when, WHOOMAH… I get hit by, you guessed it, a Realtime car in the back left wheel. I fight to gain control and then watch my good friend Mike Galati pass me.

Needless to say I am unhappy and bark out at least a dozen words of profanity on the radio. I apologize to the fans that may have been listening on the scanner… I’m sure I sounded like Barack’s angry pastor on an angry rant again the “man.” I this case the “man” was poor Glenn Bocchino who tried to share the same space with me at the same time. Love the guy as I do I have to admit that the track just gets narrow there and we both were pressing. The only difference was I was pressing backward and he was pressing forward.

The rest of the race was, for the most part forgettable… I managed to hang in the top ten until the ill handling car put me in a position to burn the front right tire to the ground and I had to pit.

As much as I wished and hoped for a better day I was going to spend the next 40 minutes driving around, disappointed, angry, and struggling to focus on maximizing the use what I had left. The pit stop, which was masterfully handled by the BimmerWorld crew, still left me nearly a lap down and a comeback was next to impossible. I did what I could and hoped for the red flag that never came…

After the checker I rolled into the pits and shut the car down. One of our crew guys, Chas, comes over, hands me a water, gives me his best effort at a smile and then, thankfully gives me a moment to reflect.

I failed today… This is professional auto racing... The television coverage and data from the car will not allow me to come up with a story to excuse this away. America in its truest form, personal accountability, fortunes won and fortunes lost… That is Speed World Challenge...

Today the hallowed names of past Sebring winner that run above the pit late shine brighter than mine and rightfully so. My two teammates made triumphant charges from the back but also suffered disappointment. So we change out of our Nomex Superman suits and back into our normal lives… Stories told to a friend…

There is Bobby Thomas, Seth’s dad, with a smile on his face. He is happy to just be at the track after almost losing his daughter in a car accident three weeks ago. We still got to do something a few million other people would have given almost anything to do. Life is not so bad.

One down

noreply@blogger.com (jamesclay) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 23:46:00 +0000

What more to say about Sebring other than we had good fast cars. I have driven 3 months without putting a wheel more than 4" off of my mark and then I make two costly mistakes this race. Certainly it is hard to be satisfied knowing that I should have been at the front of the pack, but the guys did a stellar job and our first week with the 2008 team was very positive - what a great group to have with us.

VIR is next on the schedule. Every time I think about braking too late last lap/last turn at Sebring, I am following the thought with the checker at VIR.

Sebring: What a wild ride! (Spoiler)

noreply@blogger.com (Seth) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 02:49:00 +0000

Talk about some crazy ups and downs to start off a new season. As most of you guys know we were fast all week long. James, Nick and I were always in the top 10 in times in every session. The last practice session had James 4th and me 1st. The cars were amazing every session we went out. The BimmerWorld crew had the cars at the track ready to go with the hot setup on the cars from the start. All we had to do all week was make very small adjustments to the cars. Qualifying rolled around on Thursday. Things started out great as we had come up with a plan and a setup to get us up to the front. Our setup proved to be fast as I qualified on the pole and Nick was 6th, going the fastest he had in the E90 since he has first driven it. James had some bad luck but it was nothing anybody could have seen. His motor started overheating on his flyer and he had to pull into the pits. The crew did all they could to get the temps under control but time expired before they could get everything done to get him back on track. So with James' qualifying woes things only got worse from there. My car was found to be too low during qualifying. We are required to have the cars at a 3" minimum ride height which includes anything that hangs down underneath the car with the exception of approved suspension bits. The problem with my car was the exhaust had suddenly dropped down below this 3" minimum. The reason for this was a broken hanger that happened during the session. The rough track of Sebring had just bitten us.

Now starting at the back of the pack for the race was not what I had in mind but it would prove to be exciting. I knew at the start I would have to be fast and efficient passing other cars as soon as the lights went out. And this James and I did. We passed over half the field on the first lap. In the next few laps I picked off a couple more cars and was within closing distance of the top 5. I was passing a car for the 5th or 6th spot at the entrance to Turn 1. I made the pass with no issues and had a good run coming out. The car behind me had a slightly better run and so he hit me in the left rear. This caused me to go into a huge slide that I tried my best to recover from but I couldn't. The car snapped around on me and I found myself sliding into the path of oncoming traffic. Luckily no one hit me and I got the car pointed in the right direction before losing too many spots. I was back to 12th or so. All the cars I had just passed I had to do it again and I had to really start pushing the car. This is when I put my head down to get back to where I was. It took me the remaining laps of the race to do this and I did. I made it back to 6th while setting the fastest lap of the race.

Sebring was great and I can't wait to go back. It was one of the tracks I always look forward to and I can't wait for next year. I think it will have different results for our BMWs then.

noreply@blogger.com (jamesclay) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 04:09:00 +0000

Today was the first day of on-track testing. Everything went smoothly and all of the development and work we put in over the winter is showing. Official sessions start tomorrow and we will start to see where the field is shaking out. Rain tonight, but the weather should hold and we expect sun the rest of the week - except for the normal monsoon after the race of course.

At Sebring, ready to go

noreply@blogger.com (jamesclay) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 04:11:00 +0000

Load-in today. The cars are ready to rock after a quick shakeout of the new gearboxes at Roebling on the way down. Testing starts tomorrow AM, so time to get rested up.

4AM - sounds about right

noreply@blogger.com (jamesclay) — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 09:07:00 +0000

Final decal additions and prep work. Headed to Savannah/Roebling Road for one final shakeout on Sunday, then straight to Sebring!

The days get longer

noreply@blogger.com (jamesclay) — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 06:48:00 +0000

2AM - nice. Working on the final preparations and modifications for the cars tonight - should have one ready for a final dyno run tomorrow morning then begin loading up the last bits on the transporter. Standard rule of racing - you always run out of time and never things to do. Second rule - the car is never as good as it is when it rolls off the trailer, so the extra time spent now will pay off next week in Sebring.

1 day gone and UPS loves us

noreply@blogger.com (jamesclay) — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 00:00:00 +0000

We do our share to spur the economy with overnight shipping. We had some new parts to install and as usual things arrive late, don't fit quite right, or we need to go in another direction. 3 more shipping days until final transporter loading for Sebring...

Less than 100 hours until Sebring...

noreply@blogger.com (jamesclay) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 00:38:00 +0000

And no shortage of things to do. Getting pretty fired up about the season here! I just got back from 4 days at VIR, after 3 days last week. We are set to go test one final time at Roebling in GA this coming Sunday (new goodies to try out!) on the way to Sebring. I am really happy with how testing has gone so far and Nick is a great new addition to the team. The racing dreams have started at night - so let the season begin!

One Week!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Esayian #34) — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 01:20:00 +0000

Roughly a week from now we will traveling to Sebring for Round 1 of the SWC TC Series. Expectation are high and the team is anxious to get rolling and see how we measure up. Reliability will be as critical as speed this year if we are to make a run at the championship. Thank you in advance for your support.