Kevin our supertech / in house SpecE30 wheelman and I took a trip to Buttonwillow last weekend. Neither of us has ever been there before but we had adequate warning NOT to join the Sunrise club. :eyecrazy


Saturday

Practice was frustrating for both of us. Gil Caravantes took care of Kevin and Dave Lang was going to show me the line around the track. Dave lasted about 2 corners before he took off with Josh Zwart. I was left fending for myself behind a JS car which was fine with me. The first half of the session sucked. I was not slowing enough for the technical sections which resulted in blowing every apex. The fast sections such as the esses and Riverside were fun and I was running flat out in a few laps. I was able to eek out a paltry 2:17.201.

Qualifying was a little better I was able to slot in behind Gil and get a good look at the fast line. I improved my lap time by over 5 seconds at 2:11.654. I was quite a bit off the pace but was satisfied.


Saturday race video (http://www.vmwerks.com/videos/cca_race_BW_11.10.2007.wmv)

The race was quite an experience. Everyone wanted to win the race in turn 1 and consequently there were some thrills. Dodging a side view mirror I was able to get through cleanly. I slotted in behind Mark Ghafouri who promptly ran away up through Lost Hills. Lance Boicelli schooled me in Off-Ramp only to have Tom Bell spin in front of us in Star Mazda. I ran off the track exiting Cotton Corners and had a really wild ride at about 4:12. A few laps later Paul Quattrocchi spun and lost fire in his turbo'd M42 E30. There was alot of "moon dust" hanging in the air on the track. As I passed through I caught a glimpes of Paul sitting across the track, 8:55 on the video. It scared the bejezus out of me! About that time I caught up to Jim Bassett and Lee Papageorge. Lee dove under Jim at Star Mazda but I was unable to follow him through. I got around Jim in turn 1 on the next lap and passed Lee in Star Mazda. As Lee put it I pulled a "Lee" on him in his favorite corner.
I was rammed (rear ended) by Claudio Pecora at the exit of turn 1, yes Virginia, at the EXIT.
At 14:30 I was exiting the Buttonhook (Lost Hills) and received a passing flag from the corner worker. I glanced in my mirror and saw a heated battle between 2 very fast cars, Mirzayan and Pecora. Their closing speed was going to be very high and they were running 2 abreast down the front straight. I decided to run hard for turn 1 and stay wide to let them through. I entered the corner on the left edge of the track and stayed there until the exit at which time I was struck from behind. I was hit very hard... so hard in fact Pecora's Vanos was smashed and he had to pull out of the race! Claudio stopped by my pit area and talk to me. He offered no apology and “blew off” the damage to my car he said it wasn't a big deal. :help

Sunday
We missed practice due to a light rain. We bought a set of R888's for each car so we could qualify and race later in the day.
Qualifying was alot of fun, patches of water and fresh unshaved Toyo's! The R888's are AWESOME tires even at full depth. They do not squirm and are very predictable.

Sunday race video (http://www.vmwerks.com/videos/cca_race_BW_11.11.2007.wmv)

The race was really uneventful save for a yard sale I held at the Bus Stop. At 12:27 I demonstrate how to lose an expensive LTW splitter and fender liner. The runoff did not seem so bad but it was worse than I remembered. I left a trail of parts along the infield at the Bus Stop! The car didn't turn right very well anymore either. I suspected a tire going down but it never got worse. At 18:00 Tom Bell dives through the double garage door opening I left for him in Off-Ramp. I returned the favor in turn 1 despite not having any camber and very little caster on the left front. When I got back into the pits I noticed the car had no camber and 2" less caster on the drivers side! The berm is MUCH bigger than it seems.... I was able to rip out a 2:11.519 which is a testament to the Toyo's.

All in all, despite being rammed and running off everywhere, I had a good time. I LOVE Buttonwillow Raceway, just stay on track. I inspected the car with Kevin and my right strut tower is cracked where the edge of the camber plate tried to force it's way through the top of the strut tower. Both sides (towers) are bowed up significantly... :shifty

Wow that sucks, are you going to weld in some plates or what are you going to do for the towers?


I havent watched the video yet, but aren't you suppose to stay in the racing line, and the other person (wanting to pass) is suppose to find a different route? I dont know the BMWCCA rules or anything, but I remember that from my first track..but that's just HPDE.. :confused:

13/13 handed out?

13/13 is under investigation as I understand it.

There is a conflict in the rules. As a rookie you are supposed to drive your line and be predictable. But the rules state that the slower car will make room for the faster cars. It is also up to the passing car to make a clean move. I used a wider line AND did not stray throughout the turn, remember I was struck at the EXIT of the turn where I would have been anyway. Viewing VJ's in car clearly shows Pecora accelerating and IMO, attempting to push me out of the way. If he were paying attention he would have seen the IP on the back of my car and the rookie emblem and figured out that I could not acclerate as fast as he is able to.

Seems to me Pecora may have been involved in contact at the earlier BW race this year. Not sure.

Jay

Here's just the hit:

Rammed (http://www.vmwerks.com/videos/pecora_hit.wmv)

I just viewed your Saturday race video and I need to thank you and all the drivers that drove thru that dust cloud for staying on the race line and not hitting me. That incident was scary from my seat as well. It was almost a code brown.

I realized after the race that was my first spin on a race track. I didn't try to save it. I don't think I could have saved it. I thought the safe move was letting the car spin into the infield. Somehow the car kicked back on to the track.

Thanks for posting your race report.

Paul Q

Yeah, Claudio hitting you was pretty bad. To clear up that on-line/off-line despute, it shouldn't matter if you're on or off it, if the passing car hits you, its usually his fault. I mean I've had some close calls this season with slower cars, and probably 90% of those close ones are due to me being a dumbass. 9% is due to a simple miscommunication, which is also mostly my fault, and the remaining 1% is because the slower car is being an asshole-- in which case its still my problem to pass them without incident.

My first impression of Claudio this year was that he was a complete dick, and throughout the season, he has made himself out to actually be a very nice guy. I feel that he does make mistakes as a driver, and his biggest issue is that he doesn't know how to manage those mistakes.

Like I said, I like the guy, and I feel kind of confused on my OWN outlook on this situation. We should all sit back, I think, and await CCA's decision before me come to any conclusions... the exception is Walter, of course... Good racing by the way! Fun weekend!

Edit:
Just watched your sunday video... (yes, at work)... NIIIIICE save in that little loop coming off Cotton-- straight up rally skills!

I just viewed your Saturday race video and I need to thank you and all the drivers that drove thru that dust cloud for staying on the race line and not hitting me. That incident was scary from my seat as well. It was almost a code brown.
As I mentioned, I've been racing since 2001, and that was the first time I felt like my heart actually stopped, as I entered the cloud. And then heard your motor rev right beside me - I felt like I could have reached out and touched your hood :help

Nice job staying off line, BTW. I basically made a guess, and maybe played the percentages a bit in driving on-line. Whew!

I got around Jim in turn 1 on the next lap
And *I* nearly ran into you coming out of the corner, as I briefly forgot about the junkyard motor :D I haven't had a chance to look at the video yet, but I'm pretty sure you'll be able to hear me yelling at you to "Goooooo!"

Bummer about all the other stuff that happened.

And *I* nearly ran into you coming out of the corner, as I briefly forgot about the junkyard motor :D I haven't had a chance to look at the video yet, but I'm pretty sure you'll be able to hear me yelling at you to "Goooooo!"

Bummer about all the other stuff that happened.

Jim: :stickoutt yeah that motor has NO bottom end. It did run good at the top though. I have an engine that I am waiting on some small parts for. When I get the new motor in I promise to scoot out of your way with much more vigor. For now I have to get a motor ready, repair my shock towers and work up the nerve to remove my bumper and see how much of my LTW splitter I can salvage.

Matt: It was funny.. the video caught me off guard. It didn't feel as "stressed" as it looked.

PaulQ: I agree with Jim, I had a real pucker going through the dust cloud. :)

picture of the rear damage?

Walter - sucks. Sorry about that, it is NOT the BMW CCA way. :nono

Let's talk about that motor part we chatted about at the track. I have more info! :evil2

I had debated bringing up the subject of Pecora's driving during a couple sessions, but as a Rookie.....

I was actually quite in shock to see him passing under yellow during Saturday's first Practice session of the day. Then in Qualifying, to see him fly off the track on Pit out, then proceed to pass everyone on the warmup lap, which was not under Yellow as the first practice had been.

Those two things were just a bit of a shock to me as this was my first weekend out with the group.

I had debated bringing up the subject of Pecora's driving during a couple sessions, but as a Rookie.....

I was actually quite in shock to see him passing under yellow during Saturday's first Practice session of the day. Then in Qualifying, to see him fly off the track on Pit out, then proceed to pass everyone on the warmup lap, which was not under Yellow as the first practice had been.

Those two things were just a bit of a shock to me as this was my first weekend out with the group.

He was showing off to us rookies...

I had debated bringing up the subject of Pecora's driving during a couple sessions, but as a Rookie......

Always bring it up - we police ourselves. Best to bring it up with a non-rookie in a semi-private setting to try and understand the personalities in the group. Claudio is a good guy. He was just trained in a different form of racing - and that training is sometimes hard to break with our vintage rules. Also, at one time or another we all make mistakes - heck, I drove my car into the dirt and destroyed my splitter at Thunderhill 2 weeks ago on the first session of Saturday.


I was actually quite in shock to see him passing under yellow during Saturday's first Practice session of the day.

Not good - as you get to be more a part of this GREAT group, feel more free to bring this kind of thing up. Passing under yellow is very dangerous (as we all know).


Then in Qualifying . . . proceed to pass everyone on the warmup lap, which was not under Yellow as the first practice had been.

A perfectly acceptable practice and one you will see me doing if I get out to the quali session line a little late. Please remember, that a quali session - that does not have standing yellows displayed - is a green flag session from pit out. It's dangerous for anyone to treat it otherwise and the wild back and forth accross the track "heating the tires" during a green flag session should be avoided.


Anyway - I am both sorry and not sorry that I missed BW. I wish my car had been ready, but I'm not too sorry about missing the drama.

A perfectly acceptable practice and one you will see me doing if I get out to the quali session line a little late. Please remember, that a quali session - that does not have standing yellows displayed - is a green flag session from pit out. It's dangerous for anyone to treat it otherwise and the wild back and forth accross the track "heating the tires" during a green flag session should be avoided.



I was Crew Chief for the #089 rookie car and I specifically remember telling my driver that there was standing yellow on the qualifying warm up lap.

I was Crew Chief for the #089 rookie car and I specifically remember telling my driver that there was standing yellow on the qualifying warm up lap.

Then my statemeny would certainly NOT apply. The flags control the track. The drivers must respond to the flags. If no yellow flags, red flags, black flags etc, then the track is green.

I would NEVER advocate ignoring a yellow flag during the first lap of qualifying, just that this is NOT the way BMWCCA asks the track to run the session. The only yellow flag laps to start a session (in BMWCCA) occur on the pace/warmup lap of a race. Now, sometimes tracks have their way of doing things, but our Competition Steward is supposed to get his/her way on this, and our stewards (for 2008 esp) are supposed to get an operations book that addresses this.

It wasn't so much a "Problem" or dangerous situation, at least not for myself. During Practice there was Def standing Yellow, even double yellow in a couple spots on the Out lap. I saw him already passing people, and just gave him room on the inside of Star Mazda, and figured, "Whatever, I'm doing what I'm supposed to, not passing, I'll leave him room and he can get in trouble on his own"

During the Quali, I recall Yellow on the Pit Out flag station, but that was most likely do to Claudio already in the dirt. But then down at Star Mazda there was no Yellow, but based on the Practice, I'd expected Yellow's again. So I wasn't weaving or anything, just the entire group was at a Reduced passed, with Claudio passing everyone.

I really did not mean for this to become a pick on Pecora thread. I do not like his attitude or driving style. FWIW I wanted to club race so that I would stand a better chance of NOT getting hit. I was very surprised when it happened since I thought I was giving way etc. I am sure he's a nice guy most of the time, this time he was not.

I basically made a guess, and maybe played the percentages a bit in driving on-line. Whew!

And I guessed that Jim guessed right.

On behalf of Jim and myself, it was our pleasure not to hit you. :)

I understand the situation is being looked into further, but this sort of conduct is not a regular thing I would hope?

As a hopeful future IP club racer this kind of rash behavior has me a bit worried.:rolleyes

I understand the situation is being looked into further, but this sort of conduct is not a regular thing I would hope?

As a hopeful future IP club racer this kind of rash behavior has me a bit worried.:rolleyes

In my experience here it is not a regular thing. Yes, mistakes are made - but they are dealt with and this does not become "regular".

I was Crew Chief for the #089 rookie car and I specifically remember telling my driver that there was standing yellow on the qualifying warm up lap.
I was there also, and it was business as usual as far as flags. Quali sessions are almost always green on out lap with CCA, and that was the same for Saturday's session best I could tell (and I was spotting for my pops).

thanks
brad

I was there also, and it was business as usual as far as flags. Quali sessions are almost always green on out lap with CCA, and that was the same for Saturday's session best I could tell (and I was spotting for my pops).

thanks
brad

Here is an example of how reliable eyewitness testimony is. I'm not doubting Brad's word, but I'm sticking by mine. If I get a chance I'll check the video. I might be wrong... I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken.

and that was the same for Saturday's session best I could tell (and I was spotting for my pops).

thanks
brad


My memory's a bit fuzzy, but I think you guys showed up just after qualifying on Saturday, no?

No, we arrived Friday afternoon. That much I am sure of.

Sorry... I meant Brad and the GIANT EvoSport trailer. I thought they got there just after qualifying, but I was tied up catching up with some people, so I could be very wrong.

Either way, if there was a yellow out, then that's some bogus stuff right there. Passing under obvious yellows (and especially RED!!) are two of my biggest on-track pet peeves.

Here is an example of how reliable eyewitness testimony is. I'm not doubting Brad's word, but I'm sticking by mine. If I get a chance I'll check the video. I might be wrong... I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken.
Lawson is right, I did get there after Quali. In my delerium (not slept for 36 hours prior to that arrival) I apparently mentally believed that I was there! LOL

That being said, I cannot speak to what I saw (just what I saw for the next 4 sessions). However, I have never in 8 years of racing seen a NASA/CCA quali session that was not green flag on the out-lap.

Thanks
brad

In my delerium (not slept for 36 hours prior to that arrival) I apparently mentally believed that I was there! LOL

Heck, in my delirium I believed I was actually there to drive. :(

That being said, I cannot speak to what I saw (just what I saw for the next 4 sessions). However, I have never in 8 years of racing seen a NASA/CCA quali session that was not green flag on the out-lap.

I only remember seeing it once, and it was when track officials didn't have enough time to clean up all the debris brought on track by on off in a previous session. With the number of toxic dirt clouds I saw on Saturday, I wouldn't be surprised at all if that were the case here, too.

I remember learning my first club race weekend that the out lap on qualifying sessions is green. How did I learn? I nearly whacked someone while scrubbing in my tires. That same someone (forget who it was) was kind enough to reasonably politely inform me afterwards that there are no warmup laps in qualifying sessions. :dunno And I had been stewing in my car all through quailifying about that bastard that passed me on the warmup lap! :D

Sorry for going off topic, but it seemed sorta applicable. I didn't have my camera on during the session so I can't check, and I surely don't remember whether a flag was out on a session 5 days ago. I guess I had a pretty drama-less weekend, based on some of the accounts coming out here!

And I had been stewing in my car all thorugh quailifyin about that bastard that passed me on the warmup lap! :D

:lol

So, how'd the new car work out? Good shakedown weekend?

Claudio is a good guy.

Sorry Jon, I really hate to disagree with you, but no he is NOT a good guy.

And my apologies to Walter for hijacking his thread, but here are the facts:
- May Willow Springs race, practice session, you Jon are stopped between T2 and T3. Claudio passes me between the standing yellow at T1 and the waving yellow at T2. His "excuse" to me: "It was only practice".

- June BW race, Fri test day. They use red flags as "black flag all" and under those circumstances I would expect no passing, but I can't say that that's a rule. However, I am passed by Claudio under a waving red flag.

- As mentioned, he passed multiple cars under DOUBLE-yellow in Sat practice. I spoke with the competition steward both before and after she had a chance to speak to him. His "excuse": "It was only practice". Again.

I'm sorry, but what racing series/venue teaches that it's OK to ignore the flags because it's a practice session? That is totally, utterly unacceptable. Period.

And topped off by the clouting that Walter took? And his reaction to the incident? No, nothing "good" about this person at all.

Sorry Jon, I really hate to disagree with you, but no he is NOT a good guy.

And my apologies to Walter for hijacking his thread, but here are the facts:
- May Willow Springs race, practice session, you Jon are stopped between T2 and T3. Claudio passes me between the standing yellow at T1 and the waving yellow at T2. His "excuse" to me: "It was only practice".

- June BW race, Fri test day. They use red flags as "black flag all" and under those circumstances I would expect no passing, but I can't say that that's a rule. However, I am passed by Claudio under a waving red flag.

- As mentioned, he passed multiple cars under DOUBLE-yellow in Sat practice. I spoke with the competition steward both before and after she had a chance to speak to him. His "excuse": "It was only practice". Again.

I'm sorry, but what racing series/venue teaches that it's OK to ignore the flags because it's a practice session? That is totally, utterly unacceptable. Period.

And topped off by the clouting that Walter took? And his reaction to the incident? No, nothing "good" about this person at all.

Hmmm - your experience is different than mine, but I respect your opinion. My experience is more hanging around with him at his shop, where his passion for BMW's and racing is apparent. But admitedly, I have never been passed by Claudio, either in a yellow, red or green flag situation (where I wasn't sitting on the side of the track blow'd up).

:lol

So, how'd the new car work out? Good shakedown weekend?

Yeah not bad, thanks for asking. It definitely needs more springs (which are on order) & less weight (also in process). I was also having a minor issue with leaking in the power steering system which shouldn't be too difficult to fix. The biggest issue was just getting used to the car, I wasn't driving nearly as fast as the car could've gone. Felt very stable, though. Planning on heading to Cal Speedway 12/1-2 for more testing. At some point I'll have to figure out how to play with the motons, but first things first. :redspot

As a neutral observer with only the video to watch, how the ** did he manage to rear end you there? You were way wide of the apex, and he easily should have been able to get underneath you on the exit. The only explanation could be that he didn't adjust for your wide line and exited at the same point. I would speculate he was p'od he could not get past you the straight, was under pressure from the car behind him and went all Spec Miata on you. He should have known your exit speed would be slow given your line. That and the other carnage was pretty intense for a BMWCCA race.

BTW, is that 5th you were in at the end of the straight?

P.S. I always watch races right at T1 when running in that direction. Always a ton of drama, even after the start.

As I mentioned, I've been racing since 2001, and that was the first time I felt like my heart actually stopped, as I entered the cloud. And then heard your motor rev right beside me - I felt like I could have reached out and touched your hood :help

Nice job staying off line, BTW. I basically made a guess, and maybe played the percentages a bit in driving on-line. Whew!
A bit late (hey at least it's not 2008 yet :) ), but here's a video snippet of my view through the cloud.

Note: Please right click and select "Save As..." on the link below to save to your computer before viewing. Thanks.

http://www.jimbassett.com/videos/Buttonwillow-Race.2007-11-10.DustCloud.Xvid.avi
(4.67MB - Xvid or DivX codec required)
[Edit: correct spelling of codec name in video file name]

Enjoy!

Hey Jim it looks like you were closer to hitting that E30 than I was!

91M5: I was in 5th at the end of the straight. I saw VJ's in car and Claudio had plenty of room but was in a "red mist" I believe... Doesn't matter anyway, I received my full CCA competition license just before Christmas so I can take the target off the back of my car... :)

Jim-

That was too close!!!!!! I'm still shakin"........ Could you see the car at all before you went into the cloud?

-Chuck

The cloud hung in the air and you could not see the car until you were nearly on top of it...

Jim-

That was too close!!!!!! I'm still shakin"........ Could you see the car at all before you went into the cloud?

-Chuck
Nope. Like I mentioned earlier, I couldn't see in, hadn't seen a dusty car come out, and hoped to h*ll the car was off-line.

Whew!