PRO-3 cars racing in Kent, Wa. Oct. 20

[Lance Racing]

E30 PRO-3 cars are racing in a 4-hour enduro race this Saturday, October 20 at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Washington.

I believe 6 or 7 of the E30 PRO-3 cars are entered in a field of over 30 race cars total. Race starts at noon at ends at 4pm.

Weather looks like a mixed bag, probably will be both wet and dry.

For these enduros, the regular class rules for PRO-3 are dropped (including minimum weight) and we run in the P2 class, with the only limitation is the engine can be no greater than 2.5 liters. Because the M20 is just shy of 2.5 liters the E30 is well placed to compete in P2.

cheers,

Lance Richert

[Jparkr]

PitCrew FTW

[Keith M]

PitCrew FTW

Which car? I'm with the # 55 in pit 7.

Keith

[Lance Racing]

Yep, I want to thank R3V'ers James Crivellone, Derek Wescott and John Parker for helping crew the car for the race. They obviosly have a lot of E30 knowledge between them. Hopefully the car runs flawless and the biggest decisions made that day will be what to have for lunch. LOL.

The car is currently being prepped at Auburn Foreign Car. Receiving new front brake pads, and we replaced the rear half shafts which were getting loose. Also got the fan working again for the defrost so we can keep the windshield fog-free during the race. We expect rain for part of the race, if not all.

This is the car, though I don't know what car number we have been assigned for the race:

[Mot]

John and Criv are making me come out next time you guys race. I would come up this weekend but I already had plans...

[Lance Racing]

Well, it always a lot of fun!

I see that there are 9 PRO-3 cars entered in the P2 class.

[Lance Racing]

Looks like we are pit stall #27 and car #30 for the event.

The entry list:

http://www.nwers.com/docs/2007EntryList.pdf

The pit layout

http://www.nwers.com/docs/2007Map.pdf

[DarkWing6]

PitCrew FTW

w00t!

[Lance Racing]

Well, good news - bad news for our race effort.

We did finish the race, though the car received some damage about 30 minutes into the race. We talked about having a Plan A, Plan B, etc. well this was Plan F(U*#)!

We started the race on dry weather tires, and as we took the green flag, the rain started to fall. The dry tires were not great in the wet, and after a few laps I spun off and went backwards into a tire wall. I was able to get back to the pits and the crew went to work pulling out fenders, checking the car, and getting it ready for me to take back out. The corner workers reported my crash in to race control as a big impact, so the on-site paramedics insisted I get out of the car and check me over. They signed me off to continue and I went back out, this time on full treaded wet weather tires.

Took the first couple of laps slow to test if the car seemed to run and handle OK. I discussed this with Erik our crew chief on the radio and we decided the car was OK mechanically and picked up the pace. The rest of the race was nice and smooth and we finished, looking a little worse for wear. We were getting good fuel mileage so we radio'd Stephanie during her middle stint and told her to stay out an extra 15 minutes before coming in.

I'll have to re-start the "major surgery" thread with the new repairs, though the work this time I would consider "minor surgery" in comparison. The frame rails are bent just a little bit, but I believe we can leave the engine in the car while doing repairs. We'll just remove the front bumper, fenders, hood and valence, put the car back on the Celette rack, give it a tug here and there to straighten it, and spray and reinstall new sheet metal.

I'll say again, these E30s are super tough. I backed this car into the tire wall pretty hard, and I thought the rear quarter was going to be wasted, but it was not! Having the full aluminum bumpers really helped... they absorbed a lot of energy.

Special thanks to James, Derek and John for crewing. I didn't wreck the car on purpose just so they would have some drama to contend with mid-race, but they did a great job jumping on the crippled car, getting it road worthy, I think we were back out in around 15 minutes. The guy that was right behind me on track when I went off found me after the race and was amazed when he saw the car back out on track. He thought the car was toast when it impacted.

Long live the E30!

Lance Richert

[AlarmedBread]

Ouch, sorry to hear about the bad luck. Glad you guys pulled it together and finished. Long live diving boards ;)

[Keith M]

I saw you car and all the work being done from our stall. I loved the tie down strap holding the hood on. I saw Steph later on and she was still smiling. I think she may be hooked on these enduro things.

Car # 7 DNF'ed. Both of our drivers are 60 + and both are novices. Both had a great time and drove well except the last lap. The car ran out of gas on the front straight just as the white flag came out. He coasted for a bit, but couldn't make it around to get the checkered flag. 117 laps completed, 118 needed to finish 23rd or 24th.
One more pint of fuel... nuts.

Anyone get pictures?

Keith

[Lance Racing]

Here's a shot Miki took of the car pre-crash:



And Stephanie after the car was band-aided back together:



The guys working on the car in the pits:



Finished the race:



The yellow spoiler was returned.... again!

[DarkWing6]

Funny to notice the color change in the wheels over the time of the race.