Homestead race report
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Photo's are up on my web site http://www.nuzzomotorsports.com
The Nuzzo Motorsports two Mini Cooper S's took to the race track at the
Homestead-Miami Speedway on April 11-13. The technical inspection of both
the #20 and #21 cars went very smoothly. We had made a number of performance
modifications during the down time since Daytona. While all of our changes
were fully compliant with the rules, you never know how the technical
director may view things.
Once through tech we loaded the #20 car onto a flatbed and took it over to
South Mini for a show and display promotion. The event went quite well. Race
fans, current mini owners/enthusiast and new customers came to the show room
to have their photo's taken with the car and driver, to get an up close and
personal look at the first new generation professional race cars and to ask
tons of technical questions. They also wanted see what modifications we had
that they could apply to their mini's. And they came to test drive the new
mini's so they could get a first hand feel for the new car.
Friday was the promoters test day an unofficial but very welcomed event.
This would give us our first chance to test on track the changes we've made.
The Bodymotion crew setup our garage area and double-checked the #21 car
before it took to the track. Mike, Gene and Shane took turns behind the
wheel during the day's practice sessions, giving feedback to the crew who
made the necessary adjustments to get the car dialed-in.
Saturday began the official race weekend. Both the #20 and #21 cars took to
the track for the first session. The setup felt good and we recorded the
second fastest lap time in both the first and second practice sessions.
There was more tuning to do and the suspension changes we made proved to be
in the right direction. The #20 posted the fastest race lap for the third
practice session. This put us in front of the Acura's, Lexus's, BMW's,
Toyota's and everyone else in the STI class. Our qualifying could have been
quicker but when you're dealing in fractions of seconds, it doesn't take
much to bump you down a few positions.
During Sunday mornings, practice Shane again put us on top by turning a
1:34.8 that was fast enough to be an unofficial track record for our class.
By noontime, we were in the cars on the false grid with 49 other cars. We
took one parade lap, then the pace car pulled in and as we came down the
front straight, the green flag was displayed. The rules do not allow passing
until the car crosses the start line. So it's a real battle going into turn
one at over one hundred MPH.
The #20 car was three abreast into turn one and by turn 3, there was a lot
of bumping between cars as we struggled for position. The #20 car passed
seven cars on the first lap! On the second lap, we came into turn one and
got pushed from behind hard enough to send the car sliding through the grass
where it made contact with the inside wall. The car bounced away from the
wall across the track in front of oncoming cars and came to rest in a gravel
trap. Some slight body damage and a broken axle retired the #20 for the
race.
When the track went back to green, the #21 proceeded to make up more ground.
A second full course yellow came out around lap 16 when two BMW's took each
other out. Ironically, these drivers shared the same car together all of
last season.
During this full course caution, we brought the #21 into the pits for fuel,
tires and a driver change. We were running good until the car started to
lose power. We were forced to bring it in and identify the problem. A small
crack in the intake manifold was the culprit. The crew made a temporary fix
and sent the car back out. However, this wouldn't last, as we had to bring
the car back in several more times to patch the problem. On lap 70, we
brought the car in once again and did another driver change, fuel, tires and
another patch. The crew would have to patch the problem a couple more times,
but the #21 car would finish the race, take the checkered flag and an 11th
place finish despite being down almost 20 laps.
The crew did a fantastic job prepping and setting up the cars. Their pit
stops were fast and flawless. The team is coming together nicely.
The weekend was bitter sweet. During practice, we showed the world we were
the team to beat. If it wasn't for some unfortunate luck, I have no doubt
that we would have been on the podium.
I was very please with the new Performance Friction brake pads, they
worked great and were a key factor in good performance. We could not have
gotten where we are with out the support of our partners.
Thanks again to all of our 2003 partners who make this all possible:
Habberstad Mini (www.habberstadmini.com)
Lava Records http://www.lavarecords.com
Bodymotion (www.bodymotion.com)
KW Suspensions (www.kwsuspension.com)
BBS wheels (www.bbs.com)
PROMINI (www.promini.com)
South Motors Mini (www.southmini.com)
Grafik Dezine (www.grafikdezine.com)
Autosport Image (www.autosportimage.com)
Performance Friction Brakes (www.performancefriction.com)
Mini USA (www.miniusa.com)
Bosch (www.boschusa.com)
Diamond Racing Products (www.diamondracingproducts.com)
Nology Hot Wires (www.nology.com)
PiperCross USA (www.pipercrossusa.com)
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The Nuzzo Motorsports two Mini Cooper S's took to the race track at the
Homestead-Miami Speedway on April 11-13. The technical inspection of both
the #20 and #21 cars went very smoothly. We had made a number of performance
modifications during the down time since Daytona. While all of our changes
were fully compliant with the rules, you never know how the technical
director may view things.
Once through tech we loaded the #20 car onto a flatbed and took it over to
South Mini for a show and display promotion. The event went quite well. Race
fans, current mini owners/enthusiast and new customers came to the show room
to have their photo's taken with the car and driver, to get an up close and
personal look at the first new generation professional race cars and to ask
tons of technical questions. They also wanted see what modifications we had
that they could apply to their mini's. And they came to test drive the new
mini's so they could get a first hand feel for the new car.
Friday was the promoters test day an unofficial but very welcomed event.
This would give us our first chance to test on track the changes we've made.
The Bodymotion crew setup our garage area and double-checked the #21 car
before it took to the track. Mike, Gene and Shane took turns behind the
wheel during the day's practice sessions, giving feedback to the crew who
made the necessary adjustments to get the car dialed-in.
Saturday began the official race weekend. Both the #20 and #21 cars took to
the track for the first session. The setup felt good and we recorded the
second fastest lap time in both the first and second practice sessions.
There was more tuning to do and the suspension changes we made proved to be
in the right direction. The #20 posted the fastest race lap for the third
practice session. This put us in front of the Acura's, Lexus's, BMW's,
Toyota's and everyone else in the STI class. Our qualifying could have been
quicker but when you're dealing in fractions of seconds, it doesn't take
much to bump you down a few positions.
During Sunday mornings, practice Shane again put us on top by turning a
1:34.8 that was fast enough to be an unofficial track record for our class.
By noontime, we were in the cars on the false grid with 49 other cars. We
took one parade lap, then the pace car pulled in and as we came down the
front straight, the green flag was displayed. The rules do not allow passing
until the car crosses the start line. So it's a real battle going into turn
one at over one hundred MPH.
The #20 car was three abreast into turn one and by turn 3, there was a lot
of bumping between cars as we struggled for position. The #20 car passed
seven cars on the first lap! On the second lap, we came into turn one and
got pushed from behind hard enough to send the car sliding through the grass
where it made contact with the inside wall. The car bounced away from the
wall across the track in front of oncoming cars and came to rest in a gravel
trap. Some slight body damage and a broken axle retired the #20 for the
race.
When the track went back to green, the #21 proceeded to make up more ground.
A second full course yellow came out around lap 16 when two BMW's took each
other out. Ironically, these drivers shared the same car together all of
last season.
During this full course caution, we brought the #21 into the pits for fuel,
tires and a driver change. We were running good until the car started to
lose power. We were forced to bring it in and identify the problem. A small
crack in the intake manifold was the culprit. The crew made a temporary fix
and sent the car back out. However, this wouldn't last, as we had to bring
the car back in several more times to patch the problem. On lap 70, we
brought the car in once again and did another driver change, fuel, tires and
another patch. The crew would have to patch the problem a couple more times,
but the #21 car would finish the race, take the checkered flag and an 11th
place finish despite being down almost 20 laps.
The crew did a fantastic job prepping and setting up the cars. Their pit
stops were fast and flawless. The team is coming together nicely.
The weekend was bitter sweet. During practice, we showed the world we were
the team to beat. If it wasn't for some unfortunate luck, I have no doubt
that we would have been on the podium.
I was very please with the new Performance Friction brake pads, they
worked great and were a key factor in good performance. We could not have
gotten where we are with out the support of our partners.
Thanks again to all of our 2003 partners who make this all possible:
Habberstad Mini (www.habberstadmini.com)
Lava Records http://www.lavarecords.com
Bodymotion (www.bodymotion.com)
KW Suspensions (www.kwsuspension.com)
BBS wheels (www.bbs.com)
PROMINI (www.promini.com)
South Motors Mini (www.southmini.com)
Grafik Dezine (www.grafikdezine.com)
Autosport Image (www.autosportimage.com)
Performance Friction Brakes (www.performancefriction.com)
Mini USA (www.miniusa.com)
Bosch (www.boschusa.com)
Diamond Racing Products (www.diamondracingproducts.com)
Nology Hot Wires (www.nology.com)
PiperCross USA (www.pipercrossusa.com)
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