Das Race: My '97 M3/4/5

[Jake]

Missed an Oktoberfast at VIR update but wrote about it on my blog, so have at it over there.

This past weekend was our season finale at Summit Point. In recent years' past, it's not been a W2W race weekend, with just HPDE and Time Trial going out all weekend. Chris decided to change it back and "Fall Finish Line" was born.

I got in super early and waited in line for a bit with Zach. Caught a fun odometer reading on the truck heading down.






The high for Saturday was just 40* and we had some low overnight temps anticipated. All W2W racecars are required to run water in the cooling system, which can be a problem with a low of 21* in November. Enclosed trailer FTW, I just ran the car up to temp for a bit at the end of each day and stuck it in the trailer with a small ceramic space heater going all night. Seemed to keep the trailer around 55-60* - perfect.

It was a lousy season for all of GTS2, really. Among some new track records and a lot of fun, almost all of us dealt with engine problems (me, Matt D, Chris D), crashes (me, Scott, Mark, Matt D) or both. Regardless, we're all stronger for it now and managed to share a lot of good times and laughs throughout the season. For the final weekend, I'd done the math on season points and realized I just had to show up and finish both points races to take 2nd Place for the season. It's not so much an earned trophy in the "OMG I went really fast" sense, but I managed to have a reliable enough car and keep my nose clean enough that the points did add up.



So, we all showed up and had a decent-sized field with nine of us starting on Saturday. Our warm-up was cut short by a new Spec3 driver and Boxster driver getting tangled up - we got 8 minutes into the day and they crashed over at T3 - so we didn't get much heat in the cars, not like it would have stuck around anyway.

Qualifying was qualifying, and then we had our first points race before lunch. I got a good start and was chasing Bill and Dorrian, until Dorrian locked his brakes up going into T5 and almost bit it into the wall. I slowed down to not hit him but lost Bill. Ended up finishing 6th in the first race. Didn't have to do anything spectacular in the second race, just finish, so I just kept it clean and a bit slow and finished 7th. 

I never bought a new set of tires all year, and ran the entire season on the same BFGoodrich R1's that I bought in February. My heart wasn't in it (nor was my wallet) after paying for a top-end motor rebuild and a rear-end cosmetic rebuild. I am working with Kevin from FlimFlamSpeed in Richmond to strategize and plan for the 2019 season, and "several sets of tires" are part of the list. I knew that this event would not be a fast one and I'm okay with that, but I want to focus on speed next season and having the right gear for the job is where you have to start.

Didn't run any spectacular lap times, I think I kissed a 1:24 or 1:25 at one point. Matt W (in my class) ran some 1:19's which was flying! I did get my season-ending trophy on Saturday night, and they are cooler this year than in years past. This makes five years of competition in the M3 and five season-ending podium trophies, which I am very pleased with.



Looking ahead to 2019, the GTS2 power:weight ratio has been changed. We can now run 14.0:1 instead of the current/old 14.5:1. Chris thinks that equates to about 100 lbs out of the car, or another 10 hp permissible. My car is fairly heavy so I'm excited to lose the weight. I have about 75 lbs of ballast in the trunk and it can be pulled, plus wiring can be thinned, and there's the 100 lbs. 

Definitely a difficult season, but I am very glad it ended on a positive note. I finally feel like I have an ideal setup in both the car and the support rig. Having an enclosed trailer is THE best, and having a new truck that is very capable to pull it makes for some relaxing tows to events. The car is very functional and only needs tweaking to be in an even better place for next season!