What happened to the BimmerWorld cars yesterday? Seth and James qualified very high - 4th and 6th I think, but something seemed to happen at the beginning of the race that caused James to pit/ultimately retire and put Seth back a bunch of spots to ultimately finish 10th or so.

Was anyone there to report on the race?

I was told (from a friend at the track) that both cars had some damaged, so that is all I know.

Seth finished 10th, so if he had damage or a spin at simepoint, thats still pretty good. I don't see anything on the race notes that says he was in the pits.

Clay pit on the second to last lap and retired.

Sofronas also had contact on the last lap I think.

Eric Prill said it was raininjg heavily for the race and after (as of 3:10pm).

The race notes are not too descriptive, but you can follow along with it and get a big picture.

But, all in all, not too bad first race...atleast they showed speed in qualifying.

I'm sure James will be able to elabourate more, but I agree that the qualifying positions indicate a very strong car and driver line up. I'm optimistic about the season...

:)

Eric Prill said it was raininjg heavily for the race and after (as of 3:10pm).
it didn't rain for the TC race. the rain started about noon and was pretty heavy to about 3:45, that's when they called the Star Mazda's out. the SM race was at 4:15, but they really shouldn't have run it...
Jake

I was at turn 15 watching the race, so I didn't see the contact. However, both cars seemed to have a good start. On the second or third lap by James wasn't running with the leaders anymore. When he finally came by, the rear bumper was hanging off of the driver's side and a Mazda followed shortly with a damaged passenger side.

Seth seemed competative at the start and slowly went back as the race went on. His car showed some damage after the race as well.

It was great to watch a challenge race in person. It was the best racing of the weekend with the exception of the GT2 finish, which took 12 hours to unfold.

Hopefully James will chime in and let us know exactly what went down.

JP

I saw the Star mazda highlights on Speed, craziness! Then the winner gets penalized for passing under yellow...

ALMS Gt2 was awesome. If he can't take the rubbing, he should have initiated the sequence, awesome finish, nice hard racing how it should be!

I saw the Star mazda highlights on Speed, craziness! Then the winner gets penalized for passing under yellow...

ALMS Gt2 was awesome. If he can't take the rubbing, he should have initiated the sequence, awesome finish, nice hard racing how it should be!

What was shown? I was on the pit lane and could not see much. Both of our drivers said they could not see past the nose of the car.

The first clip was of the start of the race and someone in the front going on the right side of the straight to try to pass, and he went through a LONG pool of water, got drenched!

What team are you tech'ing for?

I am an owner in Mundill.

Here
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=709494
Is my write up. Sorry and I'll try not to hijack any more threads today!

Ah, Nice! I think we actually spoke over PM before, didn't we?

Anyways, goodluck with the rest of the season!

I guess we're all just going to have to watch the race on Speed this weekend. :)

Both of our drivers said they could not see past the nose of the car.

Sounds like proper racing weather!! :D

I was standing at the turn 3-4-5 sequence and it looked like the cars kept getting hit, very unfortunate but it is promising that they had the pace to qualify that high.

i was also at 3-4-5 watching the star mazda race..definitely didn't look like much fun to be racing in that weather!

what's even worse is the final race of the winter season for the panoz season didn't even go green :(. I was behind the pits watching them put the windows in when i saw the track truck go through a puddle of water on the front straight that would make okeechobee blush! horrendous weather, but at least it cleared up for SPEED GT :)

how 'bout the #30 whelen 'vette? didn't look like much competition there. but nice to see aschenback doing well in another ride...would still rather see him in a Porsche :(

What happened to the BimmerWorld cars yesterday? Seth and James qualified very high - 4th and 6th I think, but something seemed to happen at the beginning of the race that caused James to pit/ultimately retire and put Seth back a bunch of spots to ultimately finish 10th or so.

Was anyone there to report on the race?

James had a flat tire and some motor issues. My car was running good until it decided to cut off passing for 4th place in Turn 1. Got it refired after losing a couple spots, gained them back and then it did the same thing again in Turn 1. Losts more spots and then worked to gain them back making the final pass for 10th spot in Turn 17 on Galati. Fun times none the less. The E90 is going to be good this year!!!:buttrock

Yeah, one of the valve stems on James' rear tire blew out after getting bumped (only about 20 seconds into the race too!).

I was in the pits and swapped him a new rim and he was good to go, but like Seth mentioned, there are a few electrical gremlins that caused the power to cut out a couple times; developing a new chassis isn't always easy :)

Nick

Yeah, one of the valve stems on James' rear tire blew out after getting bumped (only about 20 seconds into the race too!).

I was in the pits and swapped him a new rim and he was good to go, but like Seth mentioned, there are a few electrical gremlins that caused the power to cut out a couple times; developing a new chassis isn't always easy :)

Nick

Doh, stupid valve stems.

Did any of the electrical system get replaced for 07, or were these gremlins carrying over a bit from 06?

Doh, stupid valve stems.

Did any of the electrical system get replaced for 07, or were these gremlins carrying over a bit from 06?

I'm not sure if anything was replaced or not, but I believe it is a relatively new occurrence.

Other than that, the cars are better than ever and constantly being improved :)

Doh, stupid valve stems.

Did any of the electrical system get replaced for 07, or were these gremlins carrying over a bit from 06?

Electrical system is the same as it was last year with the exception of a bigger battery. Nothing has really changed and this has not popped up in a couple days of testing either. Weird part is there wasn't a drop in voltage when this happened.

On another note I found this picture from Sebring this year.

http://www.world-challenge.com/files/photos/thumbnails/DSC_1929-720_720x0.jpg

On another note I found this picture from Sebring this year.
I sent James a couple I shot of you guys on his email.

James had a flat tire and some motor issues. My car was running good until it decided to cut off passing for 4th place in Turn 1. Got it refired after losing a couple spots, gained them back and then it did the same thing again in Turn 1. Losts more spots and then worked to gain them back making the final pass for 10th spot in Turn 17 on Galati. Fun times none the less. The E90 is going to be good this year!!!:buttrock

Seth, congrats to you and James... based on qualifying it looks you've got some fast E90's to race this year! Thanks for the details and looking forward to watching the race on Speed when it's televised.

Definitely a great weekend to show the potential of the cars. Once they find a third driver who can run quick, it'll be a very nice trio attack on the mazda's and audi's.

Electrical system is the same as it was last year with the exception of a bigger battery. Nothing has really changed and this has not popped up in a couple days of testing either. Weird part is there wasn't a drop in voltage when this happened.

On another note I found this picture from Sebring this year.

http://www.world-challenge.com/files/photos/thumbnails/DSC_1929-720_720x0.jpg

I keep telling James we need to put some Dubs on the cars...get some more ground clearance :lol

Just watched the race on Speed this weekend (avoided these forums til now:) ). Bummer to see James have problems as well as you Seth.....BUT you guys DID qualify VERY well, so I'm happy to hear the E90 chassis will be fun and fast.

Good luck.

Gio

Nice punt by Davis on Sofronas.....looks like that penalty was well-deserved.

This explains a bit more for anyone who did not see the race:

http://www.world-challenge.com/files/photos/thumbnails/DSC_4543-720_720x0.jpg