All posts by stewal46

Saga of the Fraudulent TiSA 995193

Replicas, Tributes, and Clones. Oh My!

Forged or faked copies of valuable collector cars has long been a problem in our hobby. An auction expert recently told me about the MG K3 race car made in the 1930s. Only 33 of these cars were produced by the factory, yet today there are over 100 “survivors” that he knew about. 

Creators of these imitation cars can be motivated by several things. Perhaps they just admire a certain car and want to have one like it. The less scrupulous are often driven by greed. When a 1973 Porsche Carrera RSR is worth $1.75-$2.0 million dollars there is a lot of incentive to take a 911 chassis and  turn it into a gold mine.

There are legitimate classic car replicas and tribute cars that sell for far less than their authentic counterparts, and there’s nothing wrong with buying or selling one of these, as long as it’s priced accordingly and the buyer knows the car is not a genuine example.

Problems arise when someone claims a replica is an authentic example of a valuable classic car and tries to sell it for the high price of that original. Unfortunately this has happened too many times.

BMW Group Classic has tightened up their requirements for a certificate.
We had to jump through a lot of hoops to get ours.

To date BMW’s have been mostly immune to this issue. That is not to say that there have not been any problems in the BMW community. There have been quite a few cases of counterfeit 328 Roadsters made from a 319 chassis. Finding a third party VIN plate is not difficult, and getting a “Zertifikat” from BMW used to be much less rigorous than it is now. The result is that many of these fake roadsters can “look” genuine at first glance.

Regrettably I have run into this problem twice in my years as a BMW collector.

In the early 2000’s I was looking to buy and race a CSL. In my search I found a car that the seller claimed was a genuine Alpina racer driven in period by none other than Hans Stuck. It had a VIN plate that carried a correct CSL number. 

As further proof of its authenticity the seller showed me a photocopy of a WAGENPASS with the VIN of the car hand written in it and a race meeting entry listing Hans Stuck as the driver. It was a poorly done and blatant forgery. Plus a simple check of the records showed that Hans Stuck was driving a different car at that particular race.

There was also a stack of paperwork accompanying the car. Upon inspection of these papers I found a receipt for the roll cage installation dated 1992, along with a bill for building the race engine dated at about the same time. The clincher was a receipt from a European car repair shop in California for a service dated in 1990 that had the car’s VIN listed on it.

What became clear was that the car had been a street car until the early 90’s when someone had converted it into a race car.

When I confronted the seller with these receipts he just shrugged his shoulders and walked away. Why he had kept these papers and allowed me to look through was either stupidity or an act of immense hubris. He did continue to advertise the car as a genuine Alpina race car for another 6 months with a correspondingly high asking price.

Here is the fake TiSA that was being offered for sale. Lots of sexy race history comes with it.

More recently I was made aware of a car being auctioned in England claiming to be a genuine TiSA. As an owner of a TiSA myself I am always interested in these cars and the value they achieve at auction. So I followed the link and looked at the car.

I was impressed as I read through the glowing description of the car:

“— Acquired by Scuderia Bavaria (Dieter Quester) in the late eighties and one of four totally rebuilt for BMW’s semi-official entry to the FIA Historic Touring Car Championship in the early 90s

— Much success in ’91/92 with Dieter Quester winning the FIA Championship in ’92

— Owned and raced by our vendor since 2004 

— Expertly run and developed by marque experts, Laranca Engineering for Richard Shaw and Jackie Oliver 

— Triple European Touring U2TC Championship winner. Multiple class wins and impressive results between 2004-’17. FIA papers valid until 2026. Winner of the 2011 Goodwood St Mary’s Trophy

— Years of investment, time and hard work have gone into this car to make it probably the most developed and successful genuine Ti/SA out there. Recent fresh engine and gearbox”

Wow! It looked on paper to be a great car with a lot of provenance.

Then came the punchline:

“******  *********(name withheld intentionally) from Scuderia Bavaria had purchased a number of cars prior to the ’91 season including four of the genuine #995 prefix 001 to 200 chassis-plated original cars for Quester to prepare (our car today #995193 was one of those). They retained the car’s centre steel hull but, we understand, very few of the original panels remained in place. All four were prepared to the original spec to comply with the FIA regs.”

What caught my attention was the VIN given in the ad- 995193. There were several pictures of the car, including the VIN plate showing 995193. 

That happens to be the same VIN as my TiSA. I was dumbfounded.

The shiny new VIN plate on the fake TiSA. You’d think a 56 year old VIN plate on a race car would be just a bit more worn.

I immediately shot off an email to the auction company informing them that the car they were going to offer for sale was not the genuine TiSA #995193. To substantiate my claim I included photos of my car, its VIN plate, matching engine block stamping, matching VIN stamp in the radiator shroud, and the certificate of authenticity from BMW Classic.

Genuine TiSA VIN from 1965. It looks the part.

I also told them that my car had been one of the 54 TiSA’s imported by Max Hoffman, a fact almost unknown in Europe. It was sold by the BMW dealer in Portland, OR in 1966. I told them that the car had remained here in the Northwest its entire life with a documented chain of ownership from new.

The auction company had an obligation to pass my email on the the owner of the car. They said he was shocked to find out his car was a fake.

I don’t know what story he was given when he bought the car. Nor do I know how much research he did into TiSAs and how to verify their originality. Neither do I know what he paid for it 17 years ago. But given the high estimate listed in the auction description ($117,000-$138,000), he clearly hoped to benefit from the sale based on the claim that the car was an original TiSA with a lot of sexy race history.

Fortunately the owner realized he had a problem and wisely decided to withdraw the car from the auction to spend some time contemplating his options.

I think there is a lesson here for us. As the values of rare BMW models such as 328 roadsters, CSL’s, and TiSA’s start to climb there will be an increasing temptation for less scrupulous people to make a proverbial silk purse out of a sow’s ear. 

Right now you can buy a nice 1800Ti for less than $25,000 and with a little work and a few readily available parts you can turn it into something that may pass for a $100,000+ TiSA to someone who doesn’t know much about the cars.

The VIN stamp in the radiator surround is very hard to fake.

Let the buyer beware! If you intend to invest in one of these rare cars from BMW do your homework! Know who you are buying the car from. Know where to look on the car and what to look for to verify its authenticity. Check with the BMW community for helpful information about and verification of any rare BMW you may want to buy. A great place to start is with the BMWCCA!

I don’t know if the story of #995193 is over yet or not. I have written several posts on the various BMW forums to create a digital record of the story. My hope is that any would-be buyer of the car will do an online search and so find the information, should the car be put on the market again as my car.

Update on OFF-SEASON PROJECTS

We have a bunch of projects going on this winter with the cars. Some are repairs. Some are for fun. In no particular order here is what’s happening.

Street 2002- This project has been going on for 3 years. It is one of those projects that has taken much longer than I had hoped. It is now finished and on the road. I’ll do a separate post on it soon.

Koepchen 2002- This winter I decided it was time to refurbish the Koepchen 2002. I have been racing it for about 12 seasons and it was beginning to show its age.

After being stripped down the car spent several weeks at the body shop being cleaned up, straightened up, and made to look new. It received aa new coat of paint from the belt-line down. Here’s how she looks:

Back from the body shop and ready for re-assembly.

M3- We have been waiting for weeks for parts for the transmission in the M3. You may remember that it broke at the September race at Road America. The shift linkage broke and fell on the spinning output shaft and tore things up. The repair parts come from England, and between COVID and the mess in the shipping world it is taking forever to get them.

Fortunately the internals of the transmission were not badly damaged.

NSU- I found a guy who can build a race engine for the NSU. He lives in Eastern Canada and grows grapes for wine. What a coincidence! He has been busy preparing the parts he has and ordering parts from Germany. Unfortunately he has been experiencing the same delays in shipping that we have had with the transmission parts for the M3.

Used barrels, pistons, and heads from Switzerland. Thomas will perform some magic on them.

The block assembly is just about done, along with the installation of the timing chain housing, timing chain, and tensioner. I hope to have the engine back and in the car in time for the June SVRA race at The Ridge. The car should be much more competitive with its new, full tilt race motor.

CSL- Luigi has been taking the winter off. He has been on display in the showroom of BMW of Salem. He had a fresh engine built over last winter and only had a few laps at Oregon Raceway Park. He will need a race prep and he will be ready to rumble.

Swift- The swift had an engine change over the winter. The previous engine had an unknown number of races on it and it was beginning to loose power. I found a spare YAC engine and had Jay Ivey rebuild it for me. It has now been put in the car and is ready for the first race in March.

I have attached our proposed race schedule for this coming season below. Hope you can make it out to an event to cheer us on.

New Car Coming!

I must be crazy. At a time in my racing career when I should be finding good homes for my cars and slowing down I purchased a new car.

The car I found is one of the 3 GS Tuning Team cars from the 1976 DRM series in Germany. The DRM (Deutschen Rennsport Meisterschaft) was the predecessor to the current DTM series. It began in 1972 as a series for Group 2 touring cars and Group 4 GT cars. Races were divided between over 2 liter and under 2 liter divisions, with separate championships for each.

Jörg Denzel piloted the car to several top 10 finishes in the 1976 DRM season.

The car was driven during the 1976 season by Jorge Denzel. Jorg began racing in 1970 and moved to the DRM series in 1975 driving a BMW 2002 and finishing 10th in the championship. For 1976 he hoped to build on his success and so he moved to this BMW 2002TI prepared by the well respected GS Tuning company.

He had an up and down year with several DNF’s and several top 10 finishes. His best finish was 3rd at the final race of the year at Hockenheim. He ended up 15th in the championship. You can view the results from the full 1976 season here: http://touringcarracing.net/Pages/1976%20DRM.html

After 1976 the FIA changed the rules for Group 2 so the car was put into long term storage. It was seen again in 1995 when it was sold out of the collection of Mr. Klaus Rath to Mr. Rudiger Julius. Mr. Julius began a restoration and had a new Wagenpass issued for the car in 2004. The car was sold again in 2002 to Christoph Haas who drove it in a few hillclimbs between 2003 and 2012. In 2015 it was sold again to Christian Traber who commissioned a complete restoration of the car. Mr. Traber raced the car a few times between 2016 and 2019 and vintage racing events at SPA and Monza.

The car has its original M12/7 engine developing just over 300 HP.

I saw the car advertised last year in Switzerland. When I first saw it the price seemed a bit high so I didn’t pay much attention. A few months later I saw it again and the price had come down to the point that I sent an inquiry to the owner.

I also began to research the history of the car and the more I discovered, the more I became interested in adding it to my collection. After some back and forth negotiation we settled on a fair price and the car became mine.

The car still looks great from its restoration in 2015-16.

The car is currently sailing up the west coast of Baja California headed to Long Beach. From there it will sail up to Seattle and should arrive the end of February.

The car came with 2 sets of wheels and a few spares. It also has a current FIA HTTP. It has several unique features including axel driven alternator, 4 wheel disc brakes, rack and pinion steering, and 10X15″ wheels. It weighs 895 kg, or about 1900 pounds. The M12 develops about 320 HP so it should be quite a quick car.

The axel driven alternator set low in the car to lower the center of gravity.

I hope to race it 4-5 times this season. I have entered it in the Rolex Reunion races, as well as the Sonoma Speed Festival. Hopefully you can come out to one of these events and see the car in person.

2020 Season Review- Pt. 2

Our next event was the David Love Memorial Race at Sears Point Raceway outside Sonoma, CA. This is one of my favorite tracks and it really suits my 2002.

The weather was fantastic all weekend and the racing was some of the best I’ve had in quite a while. Thanks to Rob Fuller, Jim Froula, Troy Ermish, and the other racers in Group 8.

We had some great B Sedan racing all weekend.

After practice and qualifying we had the Qualifying Race on Saturday afternoon. I had qualified 3rd for this race behind Mike Thurlow in his Corvette and Troy Ermish in his 510 Datsun. At the green flag Mike and Troy drove away from the rest of us but I had a great battle with a group of Datsuns lead by Jim Froula.

Jim chased me hard for the opening laps, then Michael Anderson got by him and brought Rob with him. Michael put on a lot of pressure but I was able to hold 3rd place until the checkered flag.

My Koepchen 2002 ran hard all weekend. The new Tinney motor and Elite transmission worked very well on this track.

Sunday morning we all went down to pre-grid for the morning warm-up session and the CSRG folks informed us that this session would be a race that set the grid for the Feature Race later in the day. This took us all by surprise. I had planned to scrub some sticker tires for the Feature Race. Troy only put a few gallons of fuel in his car. It would be an interesting race.

At the green flag Mike disappeared in his Corvette but eventually pulled off because he didn’t have enough fuel to finish. Troy was having to short shift and coast to save fuel so he, Rob and I had a fun battle the entire race. Mike Korn came from the back and passed the 3 of us. I eventually finished 4th behind Mike Korn in his Chevy Beretta, Troy, and Rob but I turned my best lap of the weekend- 1:53.7.

The Feature Race was gridded by our best lap time of the weekend because of the confusion from the warm-up/race. That meant I started 3rd. Again, I had a great race with Rob and eventually finished 5th.

Here are the videos from the weekend:

Saturday Qualifying Race.
Sunday Morning Warm-up Race.
Feature Race.

2020 Season Review- Pt. 1

Even the cars had to maintain social distancing!

It’s been quite a while since I have posted anything. I apologize for that but it has been a very strange year for all of us. Plus I had some health issues this year that have reduced my energy.

Last march we weren’t sure if we would have any racing at all this season. Though several big events were canceled or re-scheduled we were finally able to attend 8 races and a track day out at ORP. We’ll review the first 3 in this post.

Our first event was the SOVREN Spring Sprints held at Pacific Raceways in Kent, WA. I will admit Pacific Raceway is not one of my favorite tracks. It is rough, narrow, and there is no run-off room. Because of these factors I’ve just never felt very comfortable racing there.

However, I was anxious to try the new motor and transmission combo in the Koepchen 2002 as well as the new seat in the Swift so Mary and I loaded the RV and headed up I-5.

It was a different kind of weekend for several reasons. First, it was the first race under the new COVID protocols which meant social distancing, masks, and extra paperwork. Second, SOVREN and SCCA shared the track for the weekend so we had a lot of different cars and classes at the track. It did make for some down time for us.

Saturday and Sunday had pretty good weather so I got some good seat time in both cars. I found the new engine and transmission combo to work very well together in the K2002. The power and torque were improved and complimented the closer ratios in the transmission.

The new bead seat in the Swift was a huge improvement for driver comfort. I now felt like I could actually drive the car closer to its limit.

Unfortunately the weather turned to rain on Monday so we packed up and came home early. Here’s the video from the weekend:

Our second event for the season was a track day out at Oregon Raceway Park in the high dessert of eastern Oregon. Its a 2.3 mile, highly technical track with lots of blind rises and blind apexes. It’s really a lot of fun to drive, but also very taxing.

Lots of run off room out here, and no neighbors to complain about the noise.

We had a group of Racecraft friends and 8-9 cars out for the day of practice. It was a good chance to get some seat time. I was also getting some time on the new motor Terry Tinney built for the CSL. My friend, John Murray had purchased an ex-DTM MB 190 that he wanted to get familiar with.

The day began with a short track orientation with Bill Murray, the track manager. He helped us all a lot and made our day more productive and fun.

Following that we began taking our cars out for some runs. I began by taking the M3 out for a few laps. The last time I drove ORP was 5 years ago so I began slowly and built up speed as I re-familarized myself with the track.

3 German wings.

Over the lunch hour our resident hooligan, John Hill, entertained us all. You’ll have to watch the video to see what he was up too. You won’t be disappointed.

I did get some time in the CSL but it was a lot of work on this track. The car is quite heavy to steer and as busy as this track is it gave me quite a workout.

John Hill had brought his Mitjet and he let me have some laps in it. The Mitjet is a tube framed race car much like a scaled down NASCAR car. It has a solid rear axel, a 2 liter Renault engine, sequential gearbox, and ABS brakes. John has raced it a couple of times in the 25 Hour race at Thunderhill, winning his class in 2019. It was nice of him to let me try it out.

Here’s the video from the day:

In July we were back at Pacific raceway for the PNW Historics. I had the K2002 and the Swift there again. The field of cars for this event was smaller than in years’ past but the racing was just as competitive as always.

The K2002 was in Group 2 which is mid-bore production cars and sedans. I had some great racing all weekend with Bruce McKean, Paul Gladio, Eric Smith, and Josh Moriarty.

Unfortunately I got a very nasty surprise in Race 4. Watch the video to see what happened.

Ouch! What hit me?

The Swift ran in Group 6. There were only 8 cars in the group but I still had some great racing with John McCoy in his Mallock. He was much quicker tham me down the long straight but I was quicker under brakes and through the turns. It was a classic battle!

Here’s the video from the weekend:

Winter Projects Update

I thought I would update some of the projects we have going on with the cars this winter. Racecraft has been working hard on almost all of my cars. Here’s a rundown.

Koepchen 2002

New engine and new headers and we’re all set to race.

After 3 seasons it was time to freshen/rebuild the motor in the car. I had a spare motor which we sent down to Terry Tinney for some Tinney Performance magic and he delivered in spades! A few more HP’s and a little more torque. Thank you Terry!

I also had Racecraft install the Elite transmission I had purchased for Luigi but have since decided not to use in that car. The Elite is an exact copy of the ZF 5 speed transmission that was homologated for the 2002 back in the early 1970’s but with modern, stronger internals.

The Elite transmission required some minor changes in the transmission tunnel.

Getting it in the car required some modifications to the transmission tunnel and a new exhaust manifold for clearance. The car is all done and ready for our fist event next month.

Swift DB-2

The seat in the Swift is just the aluminum tub with a little bit of foam. It has never fit me well and the lack of support makes driving the car very uncomfortable. So we decided to fit a bean-bag seat in the car.

Here is the finished bead seat ready to go into the car.

This type of seat is made up of tiny beads of foam that has epoxy resins added and then it is molded to fit my backside. Its a lengthy process but it works very well and the end result makes fitting in the car wonderful.

The only problem is I have to sit in the car for an hour without moving while the epoxy sets up. That is a small price to pay for the comfort I will have now. And that comfort should translate into lower lap times.We will be taking this car to the first race next month as well so I will know quickly if the new seat helps.

Luigi CSL

You may remember that at the Rolex Reunion last August we ended the weekend by finding bits of metal in the oil in Luigi. Fortunately we caught it in time to salvage the block and major internal bits.

The engine is currently down at Tinney Performance getting rebuilt. It should go smoothly as no major parts will be needed and the machine and porting work have all been done on the head and block.

#34 Hyde Park 2002

This old war horse took a hit at The Charity Challenge too.

Unfortunately the #34 2002 was the victim of a brain slip by a Datsun driver at the Charity Challenge. The Datsun hit its LF wheel on the RR wheel of my car. When the tires touched the Datsun was lifted into the right side door, traveling down the side of the car and ripping the RF fender.

Fortunately we had a spare right side door, and the rest of the metal work was fairly minor. The fiberglass fenders were fairly easy to repair. The RR wheel was damaged but we were able to find someone who could repair it.

Back from paint and good as new. All we need is a few decals.

The car is now back from the paint shop ad ready to have the decals put on it and it will be ready for its first race at the David Love Memorial race in April.

Asahi Kiko M3

Unfortunately I had a brain fade at the Charity Challenge with the result that the front bumper was severely damaged on the M3.

Replacement bumper cover came from New Zealand. Not cheap!

Jim was able to find reproduction parts in New Zealand which we had air shipped to Seattle. Racecraft had to do some metal repairs to the supports and brackets, but that was about all.

The car is at the paint shop and should be done in a week or so.

The NSU is sitting out the first part of the season as Jay & Colin Ivey work on a fresh engine for it. They have torn the engine down and ordered parts from Germany. This is their first experience working on an NSU engine but are hopeful they can get it ready by mid-season.

Our first race is in just a couple of weeks down at Laguna Seca. We will be running 12-14 events this summer so check back often for updates and results.

Lesson Learned- Charity Challenge 2019

During qualifying for the Group 8 race on Saturday I was lined up 4th. After the green flag dropped I tried to pass #33 NASCAR on the inside of Turn 1 but realized he didn’t see me and backed off. Going up the hill to Turn 2 I moved to the inside and passed him. I attempted to pass the #25 car also but was too far back for the driver to see me coming. He turned in to Turn 2 and we made contact, spinning us both out.

Damage from contact with the NASCAR guy.

Following the contact Jeff the CSRG Race Director came to our pits and informed me that I would not be allowed to race anymore that weekend.

In discussing the incident with Jeff and reviewing my in-car I realize that I exercised poor judgement. I ended my conversation with Jeff by telling him I understood why I was not going to be allowed to drive my other car but I wasn’t happy.

Replacement number cover came from New Zealand. Not cheap!

As I thought about it later I realized that the reason I wasn’t happy was not because of Jeff’s decision to send me packing but I was unhappy with myself for allowing myself to get into the frame of mind that put my car in a bad position and created the potential for damage to my car and another car.

I realized that I began the session in a very impatient and aggressive frame of mind. I had just qualified my 2002 in 3rd place in Group 9 and had driven perhaps my best lap ever in that car at Sonoma. I knew my M3 was quicker that either of the NASCAR cars I was following and I was impatient to get by them and drive another “miracle” lap. The results of my poor judgement and even poorer mindset speak for themselves. This race weekend was a real wake-up call to me personally, as well as being a very expensive lesson. Nose clips for E30 M3’s don’t come cheap, if you can find one.

This old war horse took a hit at The Charity Challenge too.

I am also in a very unfortunate position after last weekend as I was both the perpetrator and receiver of avoidable contact. My #34 BMW was hit by another car during the Group 9 race while being driven by Jeff Gerken.

I want to commend the Board of CSRG for their decision to clamp down on aggressive driving. As an owner of several valuable cars I have felt that things have gotten out of hand at many events in recent years. There are some events I will not participate in because of the poor level of driving allowed. 

CSRG has taken a very brave stance by committing to cleaning up the driving at their events. I would like to respectfully point out to the Board that the only way it will work as we would all hope is  for the Board to be as even handed and consistent in applying their standards as possible, no matter who causes an incident. Anything less will cause feelings of resentment, lack of respect for the Board and its decisions, and lower turn out for their races.

Here’s the video from the weekend:

Rolex Monterey Races- 2019

On the Thursday following our trip to Road America I suffered a mild heart attack. It came totally out of the blue- I had no warnings, nor did I have the usual precursors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes.

It did cause me to miss the Portland races the following weekend but I recovered enough to make the trip down to Monterey for Car Week. I had to skip the Pre-reunion races, but we arrived in time to take the Asahi M3 to Carmel for the Concours on the Avenue.

The Carmel Concours is always such a fun event. The race cars that are entered convoy over to the event from the race track on the public highway accompanied by a contingent of CHP motorcycle cops.

The Asahi M3 placed 2nd in the race car group at the Concours on the Avenue.

This year we placed 2nd in the race car group to a beautiful green Aston Martin DB5. The judges said they had a very difficult time deciding but ultimately went with the more historic car.

After the event the race cars all head back to the track by heading out Carmel Valley and going over the scenic Laureles Grade. It’s quite a fun adventure.

Thursday and Friday are practice/qualifying days at the track. Each of the 12 run groups gets one session on track each day. With 3 cars entered I had a lot of seat time on each day. By Friday evening I was feeling a bit tired. The CSL is especially wearing to drive because of the suspension geometry.

The CSL was in Group 5A- 1973-1981 FIA IMSA GT, GTX, AAGT. This group is a real mixed bag. The fastest cars in the group are the turbo 935 Porsches and big block GT cars like Decon Monzas and Corvettes. The next group of cars in terms of speed is primarily RSR Porsches and CSLs like mine.

Luigi ran well all weekend. In the feature race we finished 10th with a best lap of 1:40.3.

The CSL raced both races on Saturday, the Bonham’s Cup race in the morning and the Rolex Feature race in the afternoon. I had qualified 12th in a group of 38 cars so I was pleased. My main rivals were 3 RSR Porsches driven by Erich Joiner, Alan Benjamin, and Cameron Healy.

I was able to get by all of them going into Turn 2 in the morning race. I held them all of until the last lap when Erich Joiner was able to get by. I ended up 10th. The morning race sets the grid for the Feature Race in the afternoon.

In the Feature Race Alan Benjamin forced his way by at the start and kept me behind him until about 4 laps in. I was able to get back by him between Turns 2 and 3 and pull away, finishing about 12 seconds ahead of him. I ended up 10th again with a best lap of 1:40.3.

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The 1800 Ti was in Group 4B- 1961-1966 GT Cars Under 2,500 ccs. I qualified 35th out of 45 cars because I never got a good, clean lap during my qualifying sessions. There were just so many cars on track. I knew the car was quicker than we qualified. It made for a very interesting first lap as I was able to pass 6 cars by Turn 5!

The Big Box ran well all weekend. The car is a lot of fun to drive.

Because I was not up to full song I chose to only run the morning race. Still, I finished 25th out of the 37 cars that finished. There was a few more places to be had if only . . .

Terry drove the car in the Feature Race in the afternoon and finished 20th with a best lap of 2:06.3.

Both races were marred by long yellow flag sessions. Both Terry and I were passed under yellow by fellow competitors. Sometimes that happens.

The M3 ran in Group 6B which is made up of IMSA GTO, and GTU cars from 1981-1991. It is a pretty quick group of cars. Still, I managed to qualify mid-field out of 32 cars!

While the car showed well at Carmel it was not a great weekend for the M3 on-track.

Unfortunately the car had some issues all weekend. It began to have a miss during the Thursday practice which got worse each day.

For the Sunday morning race I was able to only make 2 laps before I came in. I was afraid the miss would damage the engine. I never started the Feature Race.

As it turned out once Jim had a look at it we needed to replace a sensor and the distributor cap and the car was fine.

So it was kind of a mixed bag of a race weekend. The CSL did very well. The 1800 showed its potential, and the M3 showed well in Carmel but had some problems on track. Given my health scare I was just glad to have been there racing!

We did get some nice publicity for the M3. Automobile Magazine blog did a nice piece on the car. Here’s the link:

https://www.automobilemag.com/news/monterey-car-week-2019-concours-avenue/

Car Throttle also did an interview of me on Saturday. My interview starts at about 4:00. Here’s that link:

http://www.facebook.com/carthrottle/videos/447996349127467/

Weathertech International Challenge at Road America

Every other year we make the trip back to Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. This year we went back for the Weathertech International Challenge the weekend of July 18-21, 2019.

Road America is by far my favorite track in the US. I have many fond memories of going there in the 1960’s and 1970’s watching some of the most famous names in racing compete on that track.

Here is one of my favorite memories from the 1960’s. Jim Hall leading the Can-Am race in 1968.

This year we made the trip with the Swift S2000 and my M3. I was looking forward to racing both cars on this fast and flowing track. I had also entered the M3 in the Friday night parade and concours.

I ran the Swift in the practices and did a best lap of 2:32 and change. The car had a tendency to trolly track in the cracks in the pavement going down the straights which was a challenge to say the least. Jim said it has enough downforce at that speed that it won’t go anywhere, but it still was not comfortable.

Road America has 3 places per lap where the car reached its maximum speed. It also has several long high speed turns that really stretch your neck.

Jeff Gerken and I get ready to go out for practice in our S2000 cars.

I decided to let Jim run the car in the feature race on Sunday as he was about 4 seconds a lap quicker in it than me. He had also blown out the diff in his Datsun on Friday so he was without a ride.

He ended up finishing 16th after the race was shortened because of an incident involving several cars.

As I mentioned, I entered the M3 in the Friday night parade and Concours. This is an incredibly fun event that is unique. The race cars line up outside Turn 12 at the track where they are inspected by the judges. Following that they head into town behind a police escort.

My M3 on the streets of Elkhart Lake. It won 1st in Group 4.

Someone told me that as many as 20,000 fans line the route into town and winding through the city streets. Once the cars are parked the fans descend on them en-mass. After a couple of hours the judges announce the awards for each division and the cars fire up and drive back to the race track.

The M3 was the winner of Group 4 so I was invited to present the car for the Best in Show judging on Sunday in Victory Circle at the race track.

I had some great laps in the M3 before the alternator fully broke and the motor overheated because the fan belt disappeared. In the interest of not making the problem worse we parked the car for the rest of the weekend.

I managed a 2:34 and change with the car in qualifying. It is a real joy to drive on this track. I really want to bring it back sometime soon. I bet I could get into the high 2:20’s with it.

Here’s the link to the video from the weekend: