Don't believe it? Check out this video from the NASA North East debut race at New Jersey Motorsport Park this past week end.
You ride with our friend (and Merritt BMX boss) Sean Curran, the gray 477 car is driven by Chris Allen. Curran finally got the best of it when Allen went "agricultural" on Lightning's turn 7.
Unfortunately, despite a worldwide production of over 2 million chassis, E30's are starting to get more difficult to find so please, don't crash any more of them!
Big trucks will race on US soil for the first time ever this week end. New Jersey Motorsport Park in Millville, NJ will host the inaugural event of a 10 event series spanning the country over the next seven months.
"Welcome to the Meritor ChampTruck World Series! ChampTruck is North America's home for REAL, AFFORDABLE, COMPETITIVE big-rig truck road racing. We're talking real racing, real tracks and real big trucks! We're talking six-wheel drifts and lots of gear-jammin' action! And we're proud to say that ChampTruck is open and available to anyone – racing pros and those without any prior racing experience! So, why do we do this and who is this series for? This series is for diesel gear-heads who know that real transmissions have more than five or six gears. It's a series for people who love competition… on the largest possible scale. It’s a series for those who’ve grown tired of other auto racing series that have lost all the excitement… they just seem to go in circles. ChampTruck is America. It’s a red-white-and-blue salute to a hard-working, competitive and fun-loving nation that depends on trucks every day of the year. If you’ve got it, a truck brought it. With the Meritor ChampTruck World Series, you’ll get to see your favorite brand of truck and your favorite driver ‘put the pedal to the metal."
Annoy your green friends, take rolling coal to the next level, YeeeHaw!
Here's the 2015 Schedule.
24 - 26 April 2015: New Jersey Motorsports Park (Road Course) 22 - 24 May 2015: Thunderhill Raceway (Road Course) 29 - 31 May 2015: Pikes Peak Int’l Raceway (Full Roval) 2 - 4 July 2015: Charlotte Motor Speedway (Full Roval) 17 - 19 July 2015: Gateway Motorsports Park (Full Roval) 6 - 9 August 2015: Virginia Int'l Raceway (Road Course) 28 - 29 August 2015: Texas Motor Speedway (Full Roval) 11 - 13 September 2015: Motorsports Park Hastings (Road Course) 2 - 4 October 2015: Portland Int'l Raceway (Road Course) 30 Oct - 1 Nov 2015: Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Road Course)
Granted, the trophies usually suck and the grid girls, well, if there are any they are sort of dodgy but that does not mean amateur racing is not every bit as exciting as the top of the professional ranks.
If driving the top three cars in the NASA Northears season opener were Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton this video would be, rightly so, an internet sensation. Thing is, I don't think they would have fought any harder or flogged these old bimmers much faster. It was one of the best races I ever saw and it was won by precisely a half a fender lengths.
But, like hundreds of other epic amateur races, if you were not there you would never know it happened.
So we salute all the racers that sleep in their trailers and rip hard at the track, just for the love of the sport.
This is a highlight video, you are riding with Sean Curran, the orange and gray 343 Axis of Oversteer car is driven by Pete Thibault and the red DriveGear.com rental by Peter McIntosh. Pete ended up winning, as we mentioned, by half a fender but only after somehow avoiding a massive accident.
Lap one of the NASA Northeast Spec E30 season finale at New Jersey Motorsport Park.
The three top divers in the series, Peter Thibault, Sean Curran and James Wilby are all trying to fit into turn four, the high speed kink at NJMP where there is space for just one, maybe two on a good day.
Wilby touches Thibault, in the Orange and Gray Axis of Oversteer 343 BMW, sending him for wild ride to the outer edges of the Axis of Oversteer.
Pete was not only able to save the double tank slapper, but hold the lead and win the race. Brilliant!
How? Fast hands, check it out it's pretty amazing.
Great time to go, a freak early NorEaster storm hit the east coast covering much of the East Coast with a half a foot of snow. We were lucky in southern New Jersey, only torrential rain and 30 degree temperatures. Perfect conditions for a track day, don't you think?
In any case we soldiered on, I ran the trials and won my class (mostly because most other competitors would not come out and play in those conditions) and Pete won his Spec e30 race in the deluge.
Sunday saw temperatures barely in the 40's but with sun and drying condition. Pete qualified 3rd overall in his run group and was ready to go out without any intention of taking prisoners when disaster struck: on the way to the grid, the engine in the 343 BMW died.
We all hopped out of our cars to help: jiggle this, bang on that, pull this fuse, whack that fuel pump. As the field rolled out of pit lane, a DME was swapped in and the car roared back to life. Freep did a valiant job zip-tieing the DME in place, doors were slammed and off Pete went. This is where you pick up the action in the video below.
What happens next is awesome and dismal at the same time. Pete launches out of the pits and catches the field just as the green drops, he passes 14 cars in one lap, 15 if you could the end of the front straight. slashes though the field and is about to catch the leading group when he gets black flagged.
His crime? you guessed it, speeding through the paddock. Fair enough, for sure he was faster than the prescribed 5 or 10 mph. I believe that is an offense punishable perhaps with a drive though. But what happened next, is inexcusable.
The NASA race director meets him in the pits and accuses Pete of speeding and "...almost taking out two officials'. This is clearly shown as a complete fabrication by the video.
What is worse is that said race director tells Pete, a client of NASA after all, to the "the F-ck off the track". This is simply not acceptable and unprofessional.
Later he threatened to ban Pete for the 2012 season.
While we understand many of these positions are manned by volunteers, NASA is a for profit business, NASA racers are customers and customers should be accorded some respect by the organizations they choose to patronize, not be hectored by hysterical frustrated people lacking facts.
Anyway, that's our story, here's the video, you tell us what you think.. Pete's version of events is after the jump
Pete:
"This past weekend, NASA NE hosted its last event of the season at Thunderbolt Racetrack at New Jersey Motorsports Park. After Freep and I packed up at the secret warehouse, it was off to the rack to meet up with AC.
I excited about the event, expectations were high. I had been watching videos and going over data for the prior two weeks, trying to find new speed. But all those notes went in the garbage with a weather forecast for Saturday calling for lots and lots of never ending rain and near freezing temperatures.
I wish I could say Saturday practice was uneventful: first trip into turn 1 and I quickly found my brakes and tires were not up to temperature. I locked up the rears and spun a 720 ending up in the run off area.
Note to self, Brakes, especially rear brakes need careful warming on freezing days.
Deep water streams were running through the track. So much water we were getting wheel spin in 4th gear down the main straight, this with a 155 RWHP car. I qualified on pole but I was very disappointed the e30 field went from 8 to 3 due to breakdowns and the snowpocalypse north of the track
The race saw the same crappy weather but was able to take the win even with a spectacular mid race spin. A new braking line into turn 1 resulted in a spin right into a gigantic puddle. I was told the water went pretty high into the air. (Ed.: it was a spray about the height of a two story building! we thought he was a goner) Most went inside the car and soaked me, great feeling on a 33 degree day!
Sunday,the rain was finally gone but temperatures were barely hitting 40F, Our cars and anything we had left outdoors were covered with ice.
Qualifying took place on a near damp track, with some standing water. I again started at the top of the spec e30 pack and had a great overall spot of p3 on the grid.
Right at race time, luck ran out. As I drove 343 to the grid, the car sputtered and shut off maybe 200 yards from the track entrance.
It became immediately apparent this was not a simple bad electrical connection, it was something worse. Quickly AC, Freep, Johnny A from Drivegear and I, went into diagnostic mode. Just as we narrowed it down to a faulty computer, we heard cars rolling off the grid for the pace lap. Then, just as the pace car led the field through turn 3 on the track, the Axis 343 fired up! Freep frantically secured the DME as I pulled on the belts. I was so excited!
I'm off to the long pit lane. Excited to be on the track, I began to push the car on very cold tires to catch up with the pack. Somehow I managed to catch up just before the last corner.
Green flag and I was on a mission to pass everyone! Up to 4th overall in just 2 laps, I began to throw down qualifying pace laps trying to catch the first 4 cars.
Just as I was getting close to the P3, a car that was smoking and blowing oil on the track, I got a black flag pointed at me at start/finish line.
I thought that it was a mistake but at turn 6 the corner worker had my number and a black flag.
So now I know that black flag is for me and I start to wonder if something is wrong with the car , maybe my hood is open.
I roll into pit lane thinking it was something simple and kind of enjoying the prospect of going out and having to pass more cars again, which is always fun to do.
Not so. I am directed off the course and accused of almost hitting two officials in the pits. I was confused so instead of making a big deal out of it, i just went to the pits to check the camera: it had been a chaotic start of the race and I had been very focused on getting in the race so wanted to make sure I hadn't done anything wrong.
After checking the video, it was clear I was not even close to anyone, much less almost "taking out" not one but two officials.
I approached the race director, same one that told me to get (the F...) off track, to try and figure out what the problem was. After politely starting a conversation, I was quickly blown away with the completely disrespectful attitude that I was getting from him. Listening to him curse and preach safety, I quickly had enough all his BS. Did I mention that he stated he was banning me for the 2012 season over this?
I took the matter up with the owner of NASA NorthEast. He was aware of the problem and addressed why I received the black flag but had no real answer as to o why I was kick out of the race.
He said thatI would not banned for 2012, which was good, but if things dont change with his staff, I won't be back anyway. The rude, cursing race director is an employee of his, and I am one very unhappy customer at this point. What a disappointing end to a season. This is a good example of why Chris Cobetto and his NASA Mid-Atlantic group, draws in cars from all over the country. When you drive in a NASA Mid-Atlanticevent, you treated with upmost respect!
Team Axis was at New Jersey Motorsports Park this past week end and we had a change to grab some real life Traqmate data from young Eddie's new BMW 1 M Coupe and compare it, side by side, on the same day, on the same track with my 2001 M Coupe. As usual we give you our data so you can dig into for yourself, at your leisure.
OK, lets start with the various disclaimers so you can calibrate this comparison. The 1 M is stock save for:
- KW Clubsport shocks and springs. Serup comes with Camber plates which allowed a -3.2 degree of camber up front.
- the car was corner balanced with driver
- Stock brakes with Hawk race pads (sorry, can't recall the compound now)
- 18x10 wheels with non sticker Toyo 888, 275 all around
Not stock, but not an unreasonable setup for anyone doing regular track days. Best lap time: 1:15.097, Theoretical best lap 1:14.614 (combined best segments from the whole session)
Top speed in session, 133.28 mph
My 2001 M Coupe (s54) is also modified:
-Ground Control/Koni Shocks/camber plates
-Diffsonline LSD, 3.46 final drive (from 3.15, making the gearing almost identical to the e-46 M3)
-stock brakes, PFC Direct Drive rotors, PFC race pads
-9x17 and 9.5x17 wheels with 245/45 and 275/40 Kumho 710 (year old)
Best lap time 1:14.470, theoretical best time 1:14.342
Top Speed in session 132.58 mph
What do we see from the data? well, while it's not the perfect comparison because it's two different drivers, it's amazingly close. I was surprised by the acceleration curves being so matched but I think I had to work much harder to get there than Eddie did even with an almost 300 lbs weight advantage. Slap some fresh Hoosiers on that puppy by and you got something pretty awesome on your hands.
Here is the bonus, there were no overheating issues at all despite the 95 degree, 100% humidity day and the brakes held up fine. Great news for the lucky 1 M owners!
Have a look at the Traqmate data for the BMW 1 M vs MZ3 , play around with it by downloading the free software (windows or mac via parallels) HERE
The Axis of Oversteer 343 car of Peter Thiboult and the 77 of Sean Curran started side by side in Sunday's NASASpec e30 race at New Jersey Motorsport Park's Lightning.
Pete and Sean have great opening lap scraps until Sean reads lapped traffic a bit better and slips ahead. Then Sean gets hit (11:40) trying to squeeze by a blind man driving a yellow Miata and 343 gets in front. There are a couple of full course yellows...one inexplicably with no pace car and the fight goes on between the two BMWs.
Real bumpers show their value as the two make their way through slower and sometime apparently clueless traffic until Pete's luck runs out (around 16 min.) as he gets taken out by a car that had spun next to him. Sean takes the win, Pete will be back at the secret warehouse fixing some body panels.
Spec E30 race with NASA NE at Lightning. Started P2, finished 1st. There were two full course cautions, one only lasted a lap and the pace car never came out, that's why the first restart is a bit weird.
First, I think I can speak for all enthusiasts in the greater New York area, we're hoping the track pulls through and stays open. That said, given its financing plan was contingent on sales of trackside vacation homes and shopping mall style retail...in Millville NJ, we are not surprised....
I enjoy NJMP's Thunderbolt track layout. Many are not so enthusiastic but I like the combination of the two fast corners and the more technical section. They have hotel rooms right above the garages, which is nice. and it's relatively close to NYC.
What I keep wondering is why, when they designed this facility, they did not think big enough for a track up to real international standards, with properly done runoffs, with tunnel access rather than bridge access to the infield, with the possibility of joining the two tracks into a single long course... I know it's not a fair comparison, but having driven at a track like Paul Ricard HTTT, I have seen what can be accomplished if you have the right combination of financing and knowhow (Paul Ricard is owned by a company controlled by Bernie Ecclestone, I would bet it's not losing money), I wish, someone would step up here in US... Oh wait, Austin and Tavo Hellmund's group are thinking right. Bummer about Texas being 1800 miles away!
Read the story by the Press of Atlantic City HERE (thanks to Preeth Kumar and Jaffster for the news)
Axis Pete is (unofficially still) Nasa NE Spec e30 champion for 2010. Congratulations!
Halloween weekend marked the last race weekend for NASA NE. After some car problems at the Watkins Glen race, I decided to head down to the track one day early on Friday to work on car setup and testing.
Friday morning started with a brisk chill, about 34 degrees and about 15mph wind. Despite the cold weather I was excited to hit the track, with my track notes and brain in check. The car felt good right out of the box but after some setup work, the car put power (such as it is :) ed.) down better and felt well balanced in the high speed corners. It never felt this good all season. The rest of the Axis crew showed up just after I was done with Friday practice and well chilled. After a few beers and food, I went to bed dreaming of warm weather.
Saturday started out about the same as Friday: windy and cold. In practice i took the time to bed in some new brake pads for the race. Then set out for Qualifying hoping I would get a clean lap.
NASA NE was running one race group (that's like 437 cars all at once ed.) which tends to make the sessions crazy with some of the faster cars lapping 20 seconds faster than the slowest ones so Sean Curran and I made sure to take our Spec E30s to grid very early hoping for clear track.
We were 3rd and 4th in line but, as I feared, qualifying started out crazy and ended crazy. Every lap was filled with traffic, I managed to get one ok lap in right before I has a "moment" with a GTS3 car. THis resulted in a broken wheel and a punctured tire.
Lucky for me Phil's Tire Service was there offering trackside support and I was able to get a new Wheel and tire in no time. After checking the alignment and for other damage, we threw some fuel into the tank and were ready for the race.
The race was not too exciting, just some handling issues after the first lap when the car developed a push in every corner. Later found out that toe measurement was correct but in the wrong direction, Oops. Still, I managed to hold off Sean to take the win and reset the new track record to 1:37.249.
Our friend Sean during Sunday's NASA race at Thunderbolt. Some guy in a shiny GTS4 Cayman S thought he passed the SpecE30... He would not try it again for the remainder of the race!
Another great performance by our CG at the Porsche Club of America races at New Jersey Motorsport Park last month. You got two races, two stories, same result...of course!
"Started from pole (out of 12) in class, but had my worst start ever. Almost everyone was earlier full throttle and went wide in T2 trying to make up for it. Went back to P4 and had to reel back in the positions 1 by 1.
Took me 15 laps to get back the 400yds I lost on P Debusmann and G Crawford in their 993s. My car is faster for a few laps but then it becomes a handful in the fast corners without the help of rear Wing. Had to lift in the faster corners and it was a tight battle between the top 4 in class.
Was able to play the traffic to my advantage and make the pass for the lead just before a double yellow, and then fend off P. Debusmann for the last few laps before the checker.
Video includes front and rear view cam of the tight racing with the 4 top cars in class."
Race 2 after the jump "Started the Sprint 2 P3 in class as I didnt get the fast laps in Sprint1 due to my poor start. Managed to move to P1 in lap 1 before the double yellow and then got Baron Jacobs on the restart. Held him at bay for a few laps but I got slower as I started to have to lift more each lap on the fast corners where the rear wandered without the Wing (to prevent lift). Tremper passed me for P1 and we had a good dog fight with one more pass each for position until I finally got him helped by traffic. Ended winning race defending against Glen Crawford for the last few laps. Hard work!!
4 wins (5 if you count Time Trials) and 6 podiums for Team Axis this Memorial Day week end.
On Saturday, at New Jersey Motorsport Park with NASA, Pete took first place and set an new track record in Spec E30 with the Freep coming in third. On Sunday places were reversed with the Freep taking a commanding victory with a car severely damaged by shrapnel from a competitors exploding motor. Peter was right behind for and Axis 1-2. IN GTS3 on Saturday Stee avoided on track trouble to come in fourth. I held up the flag at the TimeTrial TTB class.
Start of Sunday's Spec E 30 race from Pete's car. Pete started 5th and climbed up to 2nd place. The trick with Spec E30 is to keeping momentum so brakes, well, they don't see much use.
The big annual Porsche Club were at Watkins Glen and CG, as I predicted, laid waste to the competition winning Saturday in H-Stock configuration and taking the overall win in the Enduro on Sunday with a big wing I-Prepared.
A blistering 2:08 lap in the I-Prepared Cayman
Next big event will be Hyperfest at Summit Point, see you there!
MORE PICTURES AND VIDEOS AFTER THE JUMP
CG in the H-Stock Sprint race, dicing with Baron Jacobs in the Green 911.
Justin and Pete rocked New Jersey Motorsport Park's Lightining course this past week end at the NASA Northeast races. Justin won his first race and Pete set a Spec e30 track record in qualifying. But let's hear it from them...
Justin:
It seems like only weeks ago team Axis Of Oversteer Spec E30 racers were ripping through the twilight at Summit Point during an EMRA enduro in which a small technicality kept car 343 off the podium. The team went to work over the winter at the secret warehouse honing an already solid German sled. With a fresh motor rebuild by the Axis’s own Chad Knaus, car 343 was ready for the NASA Northeast season opener at the latest (and only) road course in the depths of New Jersey, NJMP.
My rookie year, 2009, yielded a 2nd in the Spec E30 North East championship so pressure is on for 2010. The season opener was a great way to test enhancements made to the car over the winter, work out the inevitable bugs and gain valuable track time. With most of our fellow Spec E30 racers at Summit Point the class was a bit light, to say the least. In the video you may notice my hard shifting style, it is that ham fisting that earned P3 during qualifying due to a broken shift rod. Yes, you heard right…I broke the rod during qualifying. The always quick Sean, newly licensed racer Dwight, and myself lined up for the start.
The Redline Speed Worx shop owners were at the race and called the start for me but I didn’t get the jump I needed to move past any of spec E30 racers: Dwight did a bang up job (yet no banging took place between us, I will save that for our next meeting) on his first race and will no doubt be a threat as the season progresses. After the consistently quick Sean was dive bombed by a 944, the race was mine to lose. I kept the shiny side up and took the race win, although it was just a matter of being there as the checkers flew. I am sure future races will see more Spec E30 racers make the drive north to do battle at The Glen, Lime Rock, and Pocono, there are rumors the Axis’s own 232 will be at NJMP at the end of May for our next race. Hope to see you all at the track soon, stop over our pits for cheese dogs!
Peter:
After a long and snowy off season, it was time to go racing! Justin was going to race the first NJMP Lightning event, but due to family responsibilities, could only race Sunday. So I decided to race on Saturday. It was my first time on the Lightning track, but after a few videos and some Traqmate data files from Freep, I was confident in some good lap times.
During practice I was on the pace quickly. Was very impressed with the layout and the elevation changes of the track. We were going to have two other spec e30 cars, but one had a problem during towing, and was unable to make the Saturday field. The other spec e30 driver graduated comp school the day before. The car felt great right out of the box. Had a best time of 1:19.83 for practice, but had a lot of trouble with corner exit oversteer. The track was very cold and seamed like one in ten cars were blowing motors and throwing oil on the track for the whole morning. Adjusted tire pressures for qualifying and put a fast lap down of 1:19.74 which got me 12 on the grid and a few seconds ahead of the other spec e30.
Well like the morning went with blowing motors, mid day was full of cars going into the wall, which delayed my race over an hour and half. That did get me time to add some cheeseburger ballast into the car. Adjusted tire pressures right before the race, and we were ready to go. My start was not the greatest, and the straight line speed of the cars around me for the start was nothing I could touch. After a few laps of sorting out the field, I pretty much had open track for the whole race. Went the wrong way with the pressures which lost allot of grip, but was able to beat the track record by a few tenths posting a 1:20.06. Then going with the day theme, a 944 exploded a motor on the back straight and brought a fill course yellow. After a very bad restart, I look ahead and see a 944 ride over the side of a lotus, and I swear the front end of the 944 was about 2 feet off the ground! The full couse black flag comes out on track, and I guess some people need a refresher course of the rules, because I was passed by 4 cars! After a few min in the pits they called the race. Finished 12 overall, a lap ahead of the other spec e30. Felt good in the race and looking forward to the end of may for the larger spec e30 field.
