Video Post: Trackside at Sebring 2012

Pic Post: (vintage) NATCC T.C. Kline BMWs at Cleveland

Stance what? Stance who? It ain't nothing new kids. And as awesome as these BMWs look, for better or for worse, it's cars like this that fed the somewhat questionable huge wheels / tacky spoiler trend of the mid to late 90s. But these insanely low, over-wheeled sedans were proper race cars, and they handled and went like nothing else in a sedan body, to say nothing of the stopping. Several cars ran twin front calipers and discs as big as anything seen in their time. It wasn't exactly a spec series, as there were all sorts of makes, models and drive trains allowed, but there were strict rules to adhere to, and the rear wheel drive BMWs and all wheel drive Audis suffered heavy weight penalties. By the point these pictures were taken (1997) they were pretty handicapped and not all that competitive with their front wheel drive competitors. 



The Super Touring formula which the NATCC adhered to was as follows:

• No more than 2.0 liters displacement - Most brands were said to make 290-320hp, and were seen in 4, 5 and 6-cylinder variations. Most were 4-cylinder.
• 8500rpm maximum
• 19x8" wheels
• Four-door sedans only
• Rear wing and front splitter were the only aerodynamic add-ons allowed
• Engine was to be 'stock block' and had to be sourced from the model line, but didn't have to come in the car being raced. As the Audi A4 BTCC thread over on Club GTI shows - these were some awfully trick 'stock block' engines. 

And so in America, we only saw these cars for two years, 1996 and 1997. As I understand it the cars were not especially cheap to run, with their 6-speed sequential gearboxes and highly-strung engines, but they were a blast to watch. Dodge was the only American company to step up to the plate, and their in-house built Stratuses (Strati?) were some of the strongest in the series.

Somewhere our intrepid slacker Josh has at least another 5-6 rolls of film from this trip we took to Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland for the CART  race, for which the NATCC was a support series. Getting him to develop it or print it will be something else altogether, but maybe if I'm lucky he'll see this post and be guilted into it...right after the 2001 and 2002 Daytona 24 Hour races.

_WRS

ALMS - Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park

For the very first time, out of all the years that the American Le Mans series has come to a track even remotely close to where I have lived, I have finally been able to attend a race. Usually Waterfest and this East Coast event fall on the same weekend...for the past several years it has been at Lime Rock Park, and once it was even right in our backyard, the short-lived Washington DC street race.



Since this was such a rare opportunity...who knows when the stars would align in such a manner ever again...I HAD to go. Only one problem. A big one. The day of the race, July 24th, is the birthday of one Mrs WRS.



To convince my wife, who although loves and appreciates my own love of mechanized racing vehicles is not exactly a 'car girl', would take some doing. It's not that she isn't supportive, or not even that she doesn't usually go with me to the track. She has gone with me to Lime Rock for vintage events, the CTSCC, and she's had a blast. It's just that when it's a girl's birthday, well...you know how it can be.



After some mild groveling and explaining that this was a once in a very long while opportunity, and knowing how much fun I had at Sebring she acquiesced, with one stipulation: We had to stay at a nice relaxing bed and breakfast. No problem, sounded like a good deal to me, so I booked a room at the ever so lovely and awesome Cornwall Inn, just 20 minutes down the road from Lime Rock.



First off, it is worth noting that the Cornwall Inn is absolutely fantastic. Innkeepers Mark and Stacey are so very open and everyone who works there quite literally makes you feel like family. Added to that a bunch of fellow ALMS-attendees and it was a sure-fire hit.



One of the more interesting guests with whom we had the pleasure of meeting was Ginger aka 'The Porsche Lady' whom was there in her very newest 911 GT3 RS. Ginger is the sort of person whom is living the dream as far as Porsche ownership is concerned. The RS is but one of many in her stable, but you know what's awesome about that?



She actually drives her cars...all of them. Florida, California and everywhere in between, she had stories about road trips with this car and that one....unafraid to rack up the miles and put these cars through their paces. Simply awesome, and proof positive that the people at these events really make them that much more special.



On race day the forecast was originally for gray skies and potential for scattered thunderstorms, and the heavy rains on Friday night were suggesting they may be right. As morning rolled around it became clear that this was not to be...it was bright, sunny, and hot. Hot as hell actually, and this was early.



After a leisurely breakfast of homemade granola and fruit salad we embarked in old faithful to beat the crowds to the venue. The roads at Lime Rock are small, and even though we arrived before 10am traffic was already beginning to pile up on the small access road. After some brief stop and go we parked, grabbed our tickets and headed over the West bend bridge to say hello to some friends at Falken Tire and Black Swan before the race. It was especially cool how close you could get here, even closer than Sebring in some ways since paddock space was so limited.



Except somehow, even at a track as small as Lime Rock we managed to avoid running into even one of them. It defies logic, but it kind of figures. The insanely hot weather seemed to be effect everyone's ability to think, or maybe just mine, but the first half of race proved to be a real challenge.



If there's one thing I appreciated here it was that the 'lower budget' efforts were pushed over into the B paddock and working in the grass. It reminded me of some of the old school images I've seen online from the late 70s and early 80s of Porsche 935s sitting in grass while decidedly under-dressed team members work on them...a different time to be sure.



One of the guys from Black Swan invited us into their 'garage' area to take some better pictures. It was much appreciated.







Since it was the Mrs's birthday I didn't want to go too crazy with taking pictures and dragging her from corner to corner as I did, so we made our way to the far side of the front stretch for the start of the race. Sight lines aren't all that great, but I'd never been over there before and it was a great perspective for the start of the race. Lunch was decidedly classy...



The crowd was impressive from my perspective. Plenty of people took advantage of the open front stretch before the start.



With the Porsches of Flying Lizard and Falken Tire up front in GT things couldn't have been better.



The Dyson Mazda Lola, which I was personally routing for since it sounds and looks better than the Porsche RS Spyder, and the Highcroft car is too dominant, was off to a hell of start thanks to Chris Dyson.



It was not to last however, as a massive fireball on the overrun into turn run pretty much showed that the engine (or turbo, or both) had expired.



This marked the first of our three unfortunate attempts to get near the track during green flag running. Each time we walked away and headed to another location the race went green.



As soon as we got back to a reasonable spot, the yellow flag flew. It was exceptionally frustrating, and along with the heat it more or less killed the first hour of the race for us.







Lime Rock always produces some insanely close racing, perhaps sometimes too close, as cars usually end up passing in less-than-safe fashion down the no-name straight.



Eventually though things settled into a rhythm and we found an excellent spot right at the West Bend / downhill area, allowing great sight lines and close racing.





As the rain came out in the last 30 minutes or so things began to get interesting.





A few cars spun, and the Falken Tire 911 RSR went off backwards at a fairly high rate of speed. I was about .2 seconds away from getting a great shot of it.



Bryan Sellers was able to drive the car out of the barrier under its own power and was soon back in the race.



The final laps saw a fierce battle in GT and LMP. LMP was close, with the Porsche and HPD running quite close, but GT was literally bumper to bumper. The #45 Flying Lizard Porsche was being hounded by both Rahal / Letterman BMW M3s.



Eventually the traffic which bunched them all together spread them back out, but the BMWs were going absolutely all-out, bumping even each other in an effort to score the team's first win. They didn't quite manage it, but they once again finished 2-3 on the podium. A win is literally right around the corner for these guys.



In the end it was the Porsche RS Spyder of Klaus Graf and Greg Pickett winning overall, and the 911 RSR of Jorg Bergmeister and Patrick Long taking the win in GT.





All in all it was a fantastic weekend, and despite the insane heat we had a blast and perhaps best of all, didn't even hit traffic on the way back into NYC.



Since the final East Coast race, Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, happens to fall on the same weekend as H20 International this was probably the last ALMS race I'll be able to attend this year. I'm a little bummed since I'd gladly forgo H20 the Petit, but that's life...maybe next year.



The ALMS is at Mid Ohio next weekend, and will have LIVE free streaming thanks to Falken Tire and Mid Ohio...stay tuned for links.

As always check out the Flickr Page for a bunch of additional photos....

_WRS

Jeff Koons' BMW Art car = Awesome

I've never hid my affection for the BMW Art Cars of the late 70s and early 80s, they are in a word, awesome. After a few rather dull and (in my opinion anyways) uninspired examples in the 90s and 00s, BMW and Jeff Koons have righted all wrongs of the recent past.



For those that follow or are 'into' art, you already know that Koons is a weird guy. He was married to a porn star for a while and has a rather interesting collection of work. The man has some original ideas, that is for sure. I think perhaps what is most interesting is that he had contacted BMW all the way back in 2003 about doing an art car, which means he is also extremely cool. (anyone who actively seeks out the completion of a BMW Art car is by default, extremely cool no matter what else they are.)



The car looks fantastic, if a shockingly similar to something I did on that Toyota 'Sponsifier' website a few months ago. (pure coincidence I'm sure) I'm a little disappointed that it is vinyl wrapped rather than painted, which is supposedly lighter than paint, and time was a factor for completion so BMW made that call.



The E92 GT2 M3 will not have an easy victory in class at Le Mans this year, but it will have as good a shot as any others, and could pull off a feat that no other BMW Art Car has done: victory at Le Mans. They have gotten excruciatingly close with the Roy Lichtenstein 320i Turbo and the Andy Warhol M1 both placing on the podiums, but never a victory. 2010 could be the year, I sure hope so.

More at BMW Motorsport.

_WRS

Pic post: Brooding Bimmer

The Rahal Letterman GT2 M3 awaiting it's time on the track...

BMW (vulgar display of) M Power

BMW had a few of their historic (and one of their current) race cars on display at Sebring, back in March, and we were fortunate enough to check them out up close and personal before the crowds came in. This afforded a very close look without people getting into all the shots, or having someone from BMW Motorsport telling us maybe we should stop drooling on their price less race cars.



The LMP was cool, any chance to get that close to one of the greats is a chance well worth savoring.



But my favorite was the Prototype Technology Group E36 M3. These were absolutely top of the GTU pack back in the late 90s...the Porsche 911 RSR of the day simply could not touch them. It wasn't until the 996-based GT3R came out in 2000 that it's dominance was really challenged.



Big flares, aggressive looks, great sound. The V8 may be the future of GT class racing, but nothing sounds sweeter than a 6. I can remember drivers like Boris Said dominating the Daytona 24 hours, and pretty much everything else back then. PTG of course went on to run the Panoz GT program, and is currently working on something else at the moment, can't recall what.







The turbo CSL was pure 70s excess. Big turbo power, funky decals, wide flares, a real character machine.



A bit more spartan inside than the M3, but still gets the job done.





Finally, one of the newest E92 M3s was there as well. It really contrasts what passed for safety back then, compared to now. The cage inside the CSL looks like matchsticks compared to this Rahal-Letterman machine.





I meant to go back and get more pics at some point but never did...maybe next time. Looking at these is enough to make me want to start looking at old Bimmers! Hmmmmm

_WRS