Seattle Folks: Pro-3 racing at Pacific Raceways this weekend

[Lance Racing]

Everyone is welcome to come out to see the last race of the ICSCC schedule at Pacific Raceways this weekend, Sept30/Oct1.

Of special note, the Pro-3 race for E30s is 1:20pm on Sunday (Group 4). There are a solid dozen Pro-3 cars entered, and may grow by a few come race day. We'll see if Ted can wrap up the Pro-3 crown for 2006. If he does, it will mean there will have been 4 different champions in the 4 years that Pro-3 has existed. very cool.

The BMW Club will have a small hospitality tent in the paddock on Sunday with free snacks for BMW owners.

Weekend schedule is the same as usual:

Saturday AM: Practice
Saturday Afternoon: Qualifying-1
Sunday AM: Qualifying-2
Sunday Afternoon: Races!

Weather looks to be dry!

[Lance Racing]

A few more cars that will be in the paddock:


Photog: Miki

[Kruzen]

Awesome, i just may have to show for this, does it cost anything to attend events?

[BimmerToad]

Looks like fun. Are the races run pretty clean, or is contact a regular occurance?

[Tucker]

I'll try to come by and look at the cars if possible. I'd like to get some ideas for my car as I plan to build it for ITA (eventually Pro3). What time during the weekend do you think is appropriate to do so? Thanks.

[Stu]

Ditto to Toad's question about contact.

Lance, how do your Pro3 cars compare with Spec Miata's on lap times? I heard SM's are a bit faster than SO (325i) SpecE30's, but how do they compare to the setups you guys run?

Thanks,
Stu

[Lance Racing]

Looks like we may get 16 Pro-3 cars again. Hoping to secure a split start again which would be fun.

More Pro-3 cars!

[Lance Racing]

There is a nominal cost to get in, I think $5 for the weekend, maybe a little higher. Our race entry fees cover most of the costs of the weekend!

Contact is rare and is frowned upon. This is semi-low budget racing, and we don't have the time or money to be fixing quarter panels and door panels all of the time.

If you wanted to come out for just one day, Sunday is probably the better day. We have a 20 minute qualifying session around 9:30 am, then our race is at 1:20pm. The race is 30 minutes long. We try to park as many of the Pro-3 cars together in the paddock so you can easily walk around and see all of the cars while they are not being driven. If you come, you have full access to the paddock. Feel free to walk right up to the cars, look in the interior, check out the engine bays, ask questions of the drivers. Everyone is happy to dispense advise.

A good Pro-3 car (and driver) can beat a good Spec Miata (and driver). But a good Spec Miata driver can beat an average Pro-3 car/driver. They are not too far off our lap times. And on a tight twisty track that favors handling over horsepower, they have an advantage too. They have 30-ish less HP and weigh a couple hundred pounds less. On a track that favors horsepower, then the 6-cyl of the E30 will have an advantage.

The Pro-3 cars are allowed a higher level of suspension tuning then the SpecE30 cars, which is one reason a Pro-3 car can run ahead of a Spec Miata. We all run the Toyo RA1 as a spec tire, which helps to compare the classes.

For those reading that are not familiar, the Pro-3 Series is just in the Pacific Northwest. Most of the drivers live in the Seattle area. Our 13 race series runs at tracks in Seattle, Portland, Spokane and Mission BC.

[BimmerToad]

damn, looks like tons of fun. Can't wait to get a career and start wasting money on racing :D