BMW wins VIR 13-Hour Race

[woodym3]

The SCCA's Charge of the Headlight Brigade 13-Hour Race was held Saturday under a cloudless sky. A factory-supported Acura grabbed a quick lead and was 5 seconds faster per lap than any of the other top cars until last year's winning Honda Civic moved through the field to take the lead. Both of these cars were in the ITE class and were very highly modified. Bimmerworld of Radford, Virginia had entered an Jason Marks' E36 325i. James Clay, Dave White, Seth Thomas were co-driving with Jason. It is built to ITR standards, but without the necessary balast to make the necessary weight. So it too was in ITE along with the Mazda MX-5 Pro Cup driven by Mazdasport drivers Charles Espenlaub, Charlie Putman, and Jason Saini. These four cars held the top spots after 3 hours. Two E36 325i cars (ITR) from Cincinnati were driven by Bill Sarran, Scott Hughes, Brian Wade and Billy Maher (#78) and Chris Hughes, Ron Checca, and Larry Wright (#88), and an ITR Z3 were also running in the top ten. Another ITR 325 was punted off the track on the first lap and the mangled car later spun into a guard rail. It spent a long time in the paddock replacing suspension, steering and motor mount pieces.

In the end the Bimmerworld car took the win. They were able to take the lead by acting as if they needed a late pit stop and the Acura team relaxed. In the darkness they shot by and were 5 seconds ahead on the last lap. Contact with another car caused the Acura to finish 29 seconds behind after 321 laps (1,050 miles). Wow. The #88 325 was 4th overall and first in ITR (315 laps) and #78 7th overall (314 laps). The Thompson/Jackson Z3 was 14th and an E30 325is entered/driven by Ron Willis along with his wife Terri, Dave Toy, Ron Cajolo, and Ted Giovanis was 16th overall and 3rd in ITS despite a slipping clutch the last few hours. Other locals of interest included Rob Hines in a Nissan 350Z at 9th overall, and a Mercedes 260 driven by Paul Moorcones, Chuck Allard and Poscente that was 21st after 9 hours, but dropped to 42nd overall at the finish.

This was my first time attending this fun event. Well, maybe the great weather helped. But I will go back.
Woody

[mlytle]

thanks for the report woody! sounds like it was a great event, wx was beautiful. that is the most bmw's the event has had in a while.

last time i did that event the temp got down to low 20's at night...brrrrr...

[Bob]

That winning technique sounds similar to the "Lemons" strategy!

[Scotty]

Thanks Woody! And I'm sure we all look forward to your online reports from now on.