Not even a couple weeks into 2021, we kicked off the racing season with a trip to Southern California for our very first SCCA race weekend and a U.S. Majors Tour event at that!
We love the Spec E46 class and series because it’s a national class where these cars can be raced all over the country in a variety of series. In 2019 we did a NASA National Championship run, racing in California at Sonoma and Thunderhill to qualify for the National Championship at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. We were all set for a similar campaign and with more cars and the national championships at Utah Motorsports Park but COVID threw a wrench into those plans (and everything else in the world).
With the 2021 NASA National Championships to be held at Daytona International Speedway, we decided to instead participate in the SCCA Run Offs (SCCA’s National Championship) which is set to be held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. To be able to compete in the Run Offs, you have to qualify by competing in a minimum number of US Majors/Hoosier Super Tour events (minimum 3 weekends and finish minimum of 3 races in the same class) or participate in 4 Divisional race weekends and finish in the top 3 of the divisional points race in that same class.
This race weekend would be the first of our “winter” Southwest road trip, followed by a Hoosier Super Tour event at Circuit of the Americas in February, Buttonwillow in late February and Thunderhill in March. With this “trip” we should have all the races taken cared of to qualify for the Runoffs before the PNW racing season gets going.
New track, trailer and tires
By the time the cars hit the track on Friday mid-day, we had gotten through three new firsts:
- New track: This would be a new track for everyone on the team but being able to get some simulator time on iRacing in the Mazda Global MX-5 Cup Car helped us get up to speed on the track and some sense for braking points and a rough setup direction.
- New trailer: With a few cars to transport and what is looking like a packed racing year, it was time for us to invest into the shop and buy a larger trailer. This was our inaugural outing in the new truck and trailer. We’ll still be seeing our trusty individual trailers for other weekends but the new trailer made this trip much easier to manage.
- New tires: This also was the first time we strapped on Hoosier tires for T3 competition on any of the SE46’s in our fleet. While the Hoosier’s are technically more narrow in diameter 225/45/17 versus the 255/40/17 spec for the Toyo RR’s. We measured them and the Hoosier is still wider than the Toyo RR. 😮
Learning a new track and an roval
Having some time on the simulator really helped out and after a couple sessions, each of the three drivers started developing a rhythm and we were able to start focusing on specific sections of the track. While a decent sized track, it ended up being relatively simple. Kind of like Portland International Raceways, it felt like figuring out how to get the first 85-90% came relatively easy but that last 10-15% took a good amount of discipline and intestinal fortitude.
The track is made up of a two chicanes which are similar to the PIR chicane, one very tricky decreasing radius right hander, a deceivingly simple final sector that leads to oval section and longest full throttle sequence and a turn 1 and 2 on the oval that requires a good amount of commitment to stay full throttle the entire time. It wasn’t until after Saturday’s qualifying and race sessions that we were convinced it was possible to stay 100% full throttle through the whole oval and bets were laid out to see who the first one was to stay flat on Sunday AM’s qualifying.
Saturday Podiums and Progress
The story of the day on Saturday was to keep learning and bring back some hardware. With a limited field in T3, podium spots were almost guaranteed but there were other cars from other classes that qualified amongst the T3 runners, which were made up of our fleet of 3 BMW E46’s and the #12 BMW SpecE46 of Brian Ghidinelli.
Racer on Rails customers John Hennessy and Russell Seewald had an incredible battle the entire race where Russell was able to hold off a late race charge from John to hold on for P3 in T3.
Gama Aguilar (person writing this article 😁) got behind Brian Ghidinelli, who qualified on pole and stuck behind him for the majority of the race, waiting for an opening to make a pass. About 3/4 of the way through the race there was an opening going into the last chicane of the track. I came out of his draft right before going to brakes, moved into the inside and got side by side. As I started trailing to turn in, I looked at the body language of Brian’s car and it looked like he didn’t see me so I started backing out of the move but he turned in too quickly and we ended up making contact with Brian spinning out.
I made sure the car was still working (it was) and while I thought it was a clean move, I didn’t want any questions or discussions with stewards so I backed off and waited for Brian to catch up. Once he did, I waived him through to give the position back and resume racing. The goal is to qualify for the Runoffs. Winning every race is a goal and would be awesome but that’s not the ultimate goal.
Saturday Race Results: 1. Brian Ghidinelli, 2. Gama Aguilar, 3. Russell Seewald, 4. John Hennessy
Sunday AM Qualifying and Final Race
After getting the bets on the table for who would got flat through the oval first and John Hennessy strapping on some sticker tires, we went out for qualifying. Gama and Russell both went out on scrubbed but still fresh Hoosier A7’s and with qualifying time of 8am PST, the track conditions were going to be near perfect.
Everybody improved across the board, dropping at minimum 1.5 seconds. John Hennessy put in a MEGA lap of 1:52.106, less than 1 tenth of second behind Brian Ghidinelli with a 1:52.048 – both of which broke the previous T3 track record. Gama came in with a 1:52.652 and Russell came in with a 1:54.655.
With the starting grid for Sunday’s race based on fastest lap from all officially timed sessions on Saturday and Sunday so far, we ended up being gridded across multiple cars from other classes.
The start of the race was a bit faster than of us expected as the overall pole setter had us well into 4th gear before the green flag flew. John got caught off guard a bit with that start and missed opportunities to tuck into the inside lane and lost some spots by the time we were braking for the chicane.
Russell took advantage of that and stuck behind John but on the second lap going into braking for the first chicane, he had a spicy downshift into 3rd gear which locked up the rears and sent him on a ride. Fortunately, no walls or bumpers were hurt during the spin. Russell got back on the track, finished the race and made the most of some flat spotted rear tires.
John got into a rhythm but the lost positions at the start created a gap to the P1 and P2 battle that was unfolding.
Gama (err… I) got a couple of positions on the start of the race and was behind Brian by mid-way through lap 1 but an out of class Corvette was getting around me on the big straight aways and getting in the way for the braking zones. It took a couple of laps but eventually created enough space to not have to worry about it.
I started putting my head down to eat away at the gap Brian had created (probably around 3-5 second gap) and around lap 4, a spun out Mazda Rx7 GT2 car almost took me out in the first chicane. Was able to put down some fast laps and eventually, the Rx7 got around me and while it slowed me down a little, it eventually went out of sight and caught up to Brian.
About half-way through the race, the RX7, Brian and I were all bunched up and it became apparent that the RX7 didn’t have the braking or handling performance to hang with us in the corners and while it would motor away on the straights, the lap time gap wasn’t big enough to create separation. It would turn into who would be the last person to have a lap or a sector screwed up by the RX7 and giving the opportunity to the other driver. We both benefited and took hits from managing the RX7 but unfortunately for me, it ended up being on the second to last lap (as I was leading) that the RX7 parked it on the sequence that leads on to the main start/finish straight. I had to lift and adjust my line to not take us both out and by the time I was back on throttle and had cleared the RX7, I looked to my left to take the inside line (and thus make Brian go around me on the outside to overtake), he was already tucked in with some overlap.
This turned into the most exciting sector of the weekend where we went side by side through the entire oval sector for the last lap and I stayed flat for as long as possible to try to keep the position but Brian had the inside line for the chicane and unless he completely over slowed, it would have been near impossible to keep the position by going around him on the outside.
From then on, the RX7 hassled me on another two corners which sealed the deal for Brian. Overall, was a great race and incredible time at our first time as a Racer on Rails team, going to a super speedway and roval course.
Sunday Race Results: 1. Brian Ghidinelli, 2. Gama Aguilar, 3. John Hennessy, 4. Russell Seewald
Thank you to everyone at the SCCA Cal Club, Hoosier Tires and all the volunteers who made this race weekend happen without a single issue and in the middle of a pandemic. THANK YOU!
Speed Nerd Bonus Content: What changed over 1 day?
From Saturday to Sunday, the qualifying laps, average race laps and fastest race laps all came down by at least 1.5 seconds. So what happened? Below is a comparison of the fastest race lap time on Saturday versus Sunday. Here’s what we think happened:
- More seat time: Saturday was only the third or fifth time any of the RoR drivers had ever driven on the track in real life. Each session would help find more speed.
- Staying flat on the oval: Every little bit counts and as we got comfortable with the track, it became clear that you could take it flat every lap and while a little sketchy, it was possible. Just had to believe and trust that it was possible and it appears to have resulted in almost .75 seconds gained before hitting the brakes for the chicane.
- Patience on the exit of corners: This is likely tied to #1 but as I understood the track more and more, I started focusing on corner exits – do anything possible to not need to lift or hesitate too much when ascending to full throttle. Still not perfect at all but I think it got much better.
- Use that purple crack: The additional grip of these Hoosier A7’s relative to the Toyo RR’s is significant. For example, on sticker tires in the Toyo’s, coming out the hot pits I can drop it into 1st or 2nd gear and light up the rear tires. That was near impossible with the Hoosier tires. I think we got more comfortable with the tires and what they could take under all aspects of a corner. I think we still left grip on the table but that just gives us something to look forward to.
