Thunder Strikes Twice! (Part 2 - Sunday)

Day 2 of the May NASA event was forecast for 80% rain, and indeed on the three mile drive from town down Hwy 162 toward Thunderhill Raceway Park, the rain, fog, and even snow threatened in the distance. Teams readied their rains, but took to a dry track for qualifying. In spite of the overnight rain and a green track, some very fast times appeared on the board.

Mike C dropped a smoking 2:05.6 in the #10 car, firing a shot across Brad McClure's lap record 2:05.8 from the previous day. The usual suspects in the top 5 included Greg P, Lauren T, a newly revitalized Steve F, BTM Motorwerks' own Andy Chittum. Brad, suffering slightly from a late-night strategic session, took the line in 7th, right behind Andy.

At the drop of the flag though, Brad got an insane launch, blasting by Chittum on the inside, while Chittum held Ted B off on the outside. Early in the race, Brad was also able to sneak by Lauren T on the inside, but as the lead cars settled in, the top 6 became a train of cars that for nearly half the race was covered by less than two seconds.



Finally, nearly halfway through the race with six drivers each scrambling for every hundredth just inches away from each other, Steve F got a move on Greg P for 2nd, and passed him on the outside of the 85+ mph Thunderhill Turn 1. This allowed Steve F to move up and really start pushing Mike C, and McClure started pushing Greg hard as well. Several times the wiley McClure tried to sneak inside Greg P as he'd done the previous day, but Greg had learned his lesson and kept that door firmly shut to the BTM Motorwerks driver. Finally a few laps into the 91 car's assault, Greg's tires seemed to overheat, and he went wide in turn 11, allowing Brad, Lauren, and Andy all to get past. But Brad's car was also looking a little ragged at this point, and Lauren began to attack as well. At the same time, each time Lauren tried to get an advantage, Andy also attacked, keeping the fast TFB Performance #69 car in a very unforgiving BTM Sandwich, just where he'd been in the middle of the round 6 endurance race just a few weeks previous.

The three cars battling let Mike C and Steve F away to eventually take 1st and 2nd, but the final podium spot might have been the most hotly contested battle all weekend. Lap after lap Lauren T pounced on the series-leading #91 car, and Andy pounced again from behind, making it very difficult to him to get an advantage on Brad.

Finally, on the white flag lap, Andy was able to get a run on Lauren's #69 car and eke out a 4th place finish, with Brad hanging on for the final podium position. Kudos out to all the top drivers, including Scott N that kept the back of the group honest early on, and Ted B for making a late-race charge nearly catching up to the back of Andy's #19 car and getting involved in that battle as well.



Earlier in the day, Chittum also won the 2nd GTS Challenge race of the weekend, starting in the back of the back due to a qualifying snafu, but passing Bennet M on the last lap. Many of the other GTS cars took advantage of stickier slick tires allwoed in GTS Challenge, but Andy drove the Spec e30 required Toyo RA1s and pushed his competition hard enough that the Toyo's longer-life advanage made the difference.

Team BTM Motorwerks Racing will return to NASA Norcal competition June 11th and 12th, this time to their home track Infineon Raceway at Sears Point. The team's 91 car leads the series championship by a healthy margin, and the team will be looking for solid, reliable race finishes to bring home the season trophy at the end of the year.

Thunder Strikes Twice! (Part 1 - Saturday)

March 14th and 15th saw another huge field of Spec e30s return from around the state to Willows CA, at the world-famous Thunderhill Raceway Park for rounds 7 and 8 of the 2011 NASA Championship. BTM Motorwerks' championship-leading #91 car saw Brad McClure back at the wheel, and Andy Chittum opted to drive the new #19 car in both GTS Challenge and the Spec e30 races to generate as much data as possible to test and tune the car.

The weekend's threatening rain and classically fickle Thunderhill weather had all the paddock's drivers ready with full-tread Toyo RA1, but Saturday looked to be overcast and nothing more. Se30 qualifying looked good for the BTM Team, with Andy and Brad posting the 3rd and 4th fastest times. However, heartbreak befell the new 19 car when the 19 car came in underweight - a side effect of the changed weight requirement from the Round 6 enduro. Andy took his place at the back of the grid.

At the start, Brad in the 91 car came alive, blasted off with one of his signature 'BTM Power' starts and quickly began pressuring Greg P for 2nd place. He made his move and began chasing Mike C down for the lead.



Back at the back, Andy found himself starting in 26th in nearly ideal cool dry conditions. Like his drive in round 1 where he gained 24 positions he had his work cut out for him, but it was even more difficult than the wet race as the entire field
had their cars working well, and there were many personal best laptimes in the field. He got a good start as well, and moved steadily up through the field passing individual cars until he caught up with a 5 car train comprised of Dan G, Derek W, Scott N, Brian M and Jeff L.

Andy first got by Team Roadrunner's Jeff when he made a minor mistake in turn 2, and got a run on Brian M on Thunderhill's long front straight. Pulling up behind the series director Scott, Andy now found himself with two cars right on his bumper, and three ahead, all vying for position. As Andy began to put pressure on Scott, he also found a little more speed and motivation in the 44 car and pushed inside Derek W on the inside of T2. Andy followed him through as well, finally passing Derek on the outside of T3, the hairy off-camber turn typically only used single file. In the same lap, Andy also managed to get a good bounce exiting T8 and got inside Scott in T9. However, Derek, Brian and Jeff were all waiting to pounce, and as Andy and Scott went down the hill at compromised speed, Derek and Brian both pounced, bracketing Andy. Andy got on the brakes first in the four car wide mess, Brian sailed around wide and touched Scott's rear bumper, and Derek made it by on the inside. Scott spun from the contact, Derek went by safely on the inside, and Brian made it through, but Andy found the 44 car sideways in his direct path, leaving only the well-used grass on the outside of T10 as his exit. After a short stint as a high-speed Bavarian weed-whacker, Andy re-entered at T11 and continued the chase.

Brian's line around the spinning Scott also compromised his speed, and Andy was able to repass him going into 14, leaving only Derek ahead of him from the original train of 6 cars. As the 19 car charged down the front straight, the white flag flew - if Andy was going to make it up further than his current 9th place, then he'd have just one chance. Indeed, Andy managed to throw the car into the first two turns with such force, that he got alongside Derek going into T3 again, however, he strayed just an inch or two too far into the marbles, and T3 bit back. The result was more of an audition for the next 'Fast and the Furious' film than a great passing maneuver. In spite of the slide / drift / ass-clownery Andy was able to keep the 19 car pointed forward, but his already suffering RA-1s weren't in any shape for right hand turns for a while. Derek got away, while Brian repassed exiting 6 and Jeff repassed exiting 14. Andy nearly got back by Jeff at the finish line, but the new #5 Team Roadrunner car edged out the 19 by a little less than half a second. Though running as high as 8th from his 26th place start, he'd have to settle for 11th.

Back at the front, Brad ruthlessly chased down the #10 Team Courtney-Olivier car setting a new lap record at 2:05.8. While neither car was able to either pass or make much time on the other the drama was no less than Andy got in the midfield, the 10 and 91 cars touched several times, but in the end Mike C managed to hold off the hard-charging McClure.



Earlier in the day, Chittum also ran the GTS Challenge race. Caught in some traffic, he fell to 2nd in the first lap, but retook the lead on the 2nd lap, and sailed to an easy victory, giving the 19 its first top-step result just three weekends after tightening the last bolt on the new car.

Team BTM Motorwerks then came away from the first day of the weekend with a 1st, a 2nd, and a hard-fought 11th as well as a new Thunderhill lap record for Spec e30s.

Stand by for Part Two of Thunder Strikes Twice! to be posted in the next few days. Available Now!!!

Thunder on the Hill!

A mild weekend of weather in Willows contrasted the previous round's Sonoma Splash as once again a very healthy grid of 26 Spec e30s converged on the world-famous Thunderhill Raceway Park. The competition started early on Friday night as Donny E got the trickery going early at the traditional pre-event meeting at Casa Ramos in Willows.

Saturday morning saw the cars warm up and qualify for a traditional race day with a half-hour qualifying and race each. But the fine NASA officials had some ideas in store for the grid, deciding to use the Saturday race results as qualifying for a 1 hour mini-enduro on Sunday. Drivers would be required to stop once during the race, exit the car, then return to continue to the end.

BTM Motorwerks' two cars went out further back in the field in Saturday qualifying to get good position, but given the full Spec Miata and USTCC field in the same session, neither Brad in the Norcal points leading #91, or Andy in the newly repainted #19 car were able to get good laps in with the busy 70 car field, starting 10th and 12th respectively. It's a tribute to the healthy field that a car and drivers that dominated the first two rounds have merely to suffer some bad positioning, and they'd immediately be mid-pack.

Also driving the #19 car for BTM Motorwerks in GTS Challenge 1 would be Ross Martindale, a new addition to the racing team and working through his 4 rookie races, but an old hand with BTM Motorwerks, having spent time in the garage building not only the mighty 91 and the new 19 Spec e30s, but also Andy's 328ti USTCC Podium machine as well.



The Saturday Spec e30 race blasted off from its usual standing start, with some carnage in turn 2 resulting in a few cars off the track. Luckily Brad and Andy avoided the majority of the trouble and started moving forward. Brad in the mighty 91 car moved forward quickly, getting into an epic battle first with former series champ Donnie E, then with Lauren T, moving from his 10th place start up to a worthy 3rd place podium. Still breaking in the 19 car and looking for some performance, Chittum avoided mid-pack mayhem early on, then laid down consistent laps to move up to 8th by the end of the short race.



Sunday's race began mid-morning, and the racers found themselves with another twist to deal with - NASA officials inverted the entire starting grid, all 26 car's starting positions would be inverted, putting series organizer Scott N, victim of the Saturday turn two schimozzle on pole, and Tommy O, the Saturday winnner at the back.

Once again, the cars took off, and given the inverted grid, the field compression was pretty impressive heading into turns 2 through 5 the twistiest part of Thunderhill Raceway. Brad in the 91 car got an excellent start, and was already running in the top 10 by the end of the 1st lap, followed closely by Andy. The usual suspects Donnie E and Lauren T had again also made good starts. But as the field headed through T14, suddenly Lauren and both of the BTM cars headed for the pits to do their pit stops early! Each driver exited then returned to their car as required by the rules, and all blasted back into the track leaving a small group of about 5 cars in clear air away from the bulk of the other 70 cars.

At this point, an epic battle began with Brad getting into the lead of this group, followed closely by Andy and Lauren. Lauren seemed to have the speed advantage, but each time he tried and failed to pass Brad, Andy would catch up as well and just about turn the whole thing upside down. For nearly 8 laps this went on, until a number of things happened. First, Tommy O caught the back of the group, having stopped, and got into the mix, managing to get inside Andy in the 80+ mph entry in T1. Second, going into T9, 4 black stripes suddenly appeared under the 91 car, and it along with Brad sailed off into the dirt outside T9. Slightly later it appeared that Tommy O and Lauren T touched bumpers causing Lauren's exhaust to drop down and drag on the pavement. Tommy O steamed on, but Lauren got the meatball and had to return to the pits and lost a lap during repairs.

Andy found himself out in the middle of no-mans land occasionally passing backmarker Miatas, and holding off Robert L for some time, but before long, Brad had recovered, and the 91 car easily cruised ahead again. Before long, another incident between two cars on the other end of the track brought out the safety car, but only just as Brad and Andy motored by, putting the rest of the field behind them a lap down.

But drama wasn't over once the still 60+ car field had been gathered by the safety car. On the restart, Brad and Andy found themselves in the midst of a number of fast mid-pack Miatas, and a few other Se30s that, given the pit stops was pretty difficult to tell who was leading who. Both cars charged on at the restart, passing numerous other cars, when suddenly, the 91 car headed off track again, this time outside Turn 4. Andy again motored on alone, with Brad far in the distance behind slowly catching up.

Andy got the call on the radio the time was nearly up, but at the same time exiting T15, the 19 car began to starve for gas. With an angry gaggle of spec Miatas and Brad in the 91 car rapidly approaching, Andy managed to keep the speed up and the gas usage down just enough so the 19 and 91 cars ended up in a drag race down the final straight to the checkered flag, the 19 just about a quarter-second behind after 23 laps 60 minutes, and a whole lot of racing.

Brad again ended up 3rd overall behind Tommy O and Donny E, while Andy made it to the end in 4th. Stay tuned for links to video, and more details from the weekend!



BTM Motorwerks will return both cars to NASA's Thunderhill event May 14th and 15th for rounds 7 and 8 of the Spec e30 Series.

And It Just Gets Better!

While the hordes of rabid Spec e30 fans can point to a lot of firsts and best evers from the March 19th - 20th NASA race weekend at Infineon Raceway, one can hardly deny this was most certainly the weekend of The Brad. Dominating victories both Saturday in abysmal monsoon conditions and in just regular rain on Sunday, the combination of the 91 car and Mr. BTM Motorwerks himself has proven to be a winning combination again.

Interestingly, the few weeks leading up to the race weekend was anything but. The entire BTM team, Brad, Andy and Ross, worked tirelessly to finish the new 19 car, with the old 91 just an afterthought. Thursday night both cars were still in pieces, and Friday meant loading up late to get to Infineon early the next morning.



Saturday morning involved just a few tweaks to get the new car running, and the 91 purred to life as usual.

But the Sonoma winter proved to have a few surprises for the entire field. While a Norcal record thirty-two Spec e30s lined up to grid, the day's steady rain turned into classic Sonoma weather that floods the Napa river, turns the valley into mush, and lays down enough water that grapes are still happily growing six months later. Any experienced driver at Infineon Raceway will tell you about the utter lack of grip in T2, the lake in T5, the river that spans the straightaway from 6 to 7, and the rising water that altogether removes T10 from view. Normal stuff. Saturday's weather was some order of magnitude worse.



And yet, Brad managed to place the 91 car on pole by a solid second and a half over Lauren T and the rest of the field. Stories of him drifting sideways throughout the entire track started to circulate in the paddock - crazy, skilled or both, the Brad and 91 car combo was really working well. Further back, Andy experienced the one minor failure in the new car - an unpowered transponder. Ironically, the BTM cars would be starting on opposite ends of the grid, pole position, and 31st.

And at the standing start, Brad launched, and was gone. A spin by Lauren T right in the middle of T1 undoubtedly made for good video as all 31 other cars filed around him before he could get the car pointing the right direction again and take up the chase. '10 champ Gary R challenged for the lead early on, and that characterized the race with he and Brad disappearing from the field in a misty blast, sometimes on, sometimes off the track. In the end, Brad finished second, but was awarded the top step when the NASA tech crew found an infraction on the reigning champ's car.

Andy, trying to break in the new motor gently, survive the blunt end of the field, and surf up through the field drove a more conservative race, but steadily moved up to 7th by the checkered flag, possibly setting some sort of record for a 24 place gain in a Spec e30 race.

Sunday was a bit more normal qualifying and race, Brad again set a blistering pole on pole and Andy a respectable 4th with the new car. Ever-bent on excitement and drama, the NASA crew inverted the top 10 places, leaving the BTM cars starting 6th and 10th. Once again, the standing start amazed fans and drivers alike, with several of the further-behind fast drivers getting excellent starts and making things very busy indeed at the front. It was Brad again who, amidst duels with Lauren T and Donnie E managed to motor to the front, and drift sideways to the top podium step again. Andy brought up the rear of the top six, holding position in spite of going easy on the new engine.



BTM Motorwerks will return with both cars April 16th and 17th for Round 3, this time at Thunderhill Raceway in beautiful Willows, CA. We'll see you all there!

-Andy

Starting the Year Off Right - Spec e30 Infineon

The first race weekend of the year is always filled with anticipation, excitement, and uncertainty - everyone's ready to race after the long winter break, and everyone wants to be that guy to get that holeshot and be the first around the first corner and get that racing season started.

BTM Motorwerks #91 car was driven mostly by Brad McClure last year, with some occasional help from Andy Chittum, and after a lot of work, the car was really working well, good enough for 2nd overall for the year. But a few issues with NASA's fine technical crew that morning meant a missed warmup session, and a slightly late start to the qualifying session.

Andy took to the track, was stuck in traffic for two laps, then broke free and managed what felt like two more good solid laps with a little time on the table. It was quite a surprise then, to find out that Andy's effort had brought in a 1:56.4, a new lap record for Spece30 at Infineon amidst the largest field to date.

Gary R, the 2010 Champion lined up next to Andy for the early afternoon start. At a Thunderhill event the previous summer, Gary had managed to pull an amazing standing start and leave the BTM car standing, but this time Chittum was ready for the green flag, and Gary fell back to fourth behind Greg P and Loren T. A late charge in the race brought him back up to the front, but Chittum managed keep the BTM car on track and land the top podium position.

The next race of the afternoon was GTS 1, where McClure took over and also managed to drive away from the field. Two wins for the BTM car for the day!

Sunday began more quietly, with Brad taking over driving duties for both the Spec e30 and GTS Challenge races. Qualifying second to Gary R again, Brad lined up next to the 2010 Champion and once again got an amazing start. This time Gary also had a good start, and latched right on to the BTM car's bumper. After getting a few car length lead, both competitors worked to wring every bit out of their cars to gain a tenth on the other, and for 12 hot sweaty laps, they gained and lost mere inches from each other. Once again though the BTM car took the checkered flag with Gary R just seconds behind.

The Sunday GTS Challenge race manged to be more incident filled. The rolling start put McClure in good position, but was nearly passed a number of times by the Bennett M's car. Traffic in the busier race both helped and hindered each car, both again pushing each other for tenths. Finally, late in the race a faster overtaking car from another class dove inside the battle, and hit Bennett's car squarely in the rear quarter panel. Able to continue, he fought on, but McClure once again brought the BTM car back in 1st position.

So, what started as a crazy weekend turned out to be a very good start to the racing season. Sixteen more races will come and go though before we crown a season winner, and every year has come down to the very last race. NASA has promised inverted grids, and other mixups to keep things interesting, but you'll hear all about it right here. Stay tuned!!!

October Rounds 13 &14 @ Infineon Raceway

Infineon Raceway, October 9th

• GTS1: McClure qualifies on the pole and wins race!
  

• Spec E30: Brad McClure Qualifies in 2nd position next to Trefethen on the Pole with Gary in third.
  

• 1	69	Loren Trefethen	1:57.568
  2	91	Team BTM Motorwerks	1:57.666

• After two restarts, and Team Berkley got black flagged, the BTM Motorwerks BMW walks away from the field, post fast lap of the race with a 1:58.491 and takes 1st Place.

Oct 10th, round 14

• GTS1: McClure again Qualifies P1 and wins race.
  

• Spec E30"Round 14 qualifying was almost a copy of Saturdays results with Trefethen on Pole, Brad Mcclure, Greg Petersen, and McMicking

		Loren Trefethen	1:58.740	4
		Team BTM Motorwerks	1:58.863

Due to a horrible starting in Saturdays race the official decided to penalize us with inverting the grid. The funny part is, that Team Berkley who has been winning a lot of races this season, for some reason qualified 3 seconds off pace, and now with the inverted field, he's up in front again. A little suspicious. In addition to the inverted grid, the track configuration was changed to the Indy setup.
The start was great, Brad McClure nails the start and jumps 5 position as he heads in to turn 2 with 17 anxious Spec E30 drivers. Fortunately for the first lap, it was all clean tight racing. The BTM Motorwerks BMW was working up in the field, dodging Scott Nevels punt/spin in turn 4 and then later the Berkley car gets punted in turn 7, making McClure go really wide and gets passed by 3 cars.
The rest of the race, was just a serious battle to the front like if you were in a concert trying to get to the front bar.
We ended up in Second Place for the event. What a great race it was.

Our Next event in November 6th & 7th for the season finally. BTM Motorwerks is currently in 3rd place.

A RS America in Marina

BTM Motorwerks racing has been visiting Marina, CA with the Porsche club during the summer break when NASA Road racing series takes some time off.

Here is a great Picture of Ross & Keli Martindales 1994 RS America at Marina.

Our own Porsche Carrera RS Turbo is getting dialed in. Unfortunately on the second run, we broke a axle. The turbo power comes on in a fierce way and with the 335/35/17 Hoosiers, something is going to give way. I'm glad it was just the axle and not the 915 gearbox.

We will be at Infineon Raceway on October 9th and 10th for round 7 of the Nor Cal Spec E30 racing series http://norcalspece30.com/ Anyone is welcome to come by. Just look for the Big black truck & trailer with the BTM Motorwerks.

Cheers

Brad.