California post race report
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3rd Gear
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California post race report
I want to thank everyone who came out to support us at Fontana, it was nice to meet so many of you. I hope to see a large turnout at Laguna Seca.
Thx
Tony
April 11, 2005
Dear Corporate Partners, Friends, Family and Fans,
The infamous Santa Ana winds invaded the California Speedway at Fontana California on Thursday forcing the cancellation of the test day activities. We were looking forward to using the four half hour test sessions to get familiar with the racetrack and make any adjustments to the cars prior to the official practice on Friday.
Instead, we processed the car through tech and organized our equipment in preparation for the next day’s sessions.
This weekend was full of firsts; it was the first time Geoff Auberlen would be racing with us, it was the first time we have raced the MINI’s on the west coast, it was the first time I would not have my own rig at the track and the first time I wouldn’t have my regular crew with us. We were looking to make it our first podium with the MINI’s.
We hitched a ride on a friend’s trailer so we only had room for the #20 MINI and a limited amount of space for our necessary tools, equipment, and spare parts. It’s amazing how much stuff you accumulate over time that you carry with you in case of that one need somewhere you haven’t gotten to yet. So it was a tedious job going through all of our inventory to see what is necessary and what is nice to have. Then we had to make sure it would all fit in the space allotted us.
Over the winter, we had freshened up the car and replaced any item that was a possible failure point. We have worked hard to make the car reliable and weren’t going to let a ten-dollar part sideline us during a race. The car was ready to race.
On Friday, we went for practice and the car felt fine. We used the first of only two practice sessions to get familiar with the track and how the MINI would react under different conditions. After a half a dozen laps, I brought the car in and Geoff got his first taste of the professional race MINI. Geoff had previously raced a stock MINI in the 25 Hour race at Thunderhill. It was a good session and the car came back in one piece. During our debrief after the session Geoff didn’t like the way the front end was responding, so we made a tire change to correct this.
The second session Geoff went out and the car was working fine until the end of the session when the rear brakes began to lock up. The session ended early because of a crash so we brought the car back to the paddock to work on the problem. We had flat spotted both rear tires so they needed to be replaced. The problem was a bad wheel sensor that had defaulted the abs system. The only way to correct this after replacing the sensor is to clear the fault code with a computer, which we didn’t have. We tried to locate a computer but no luck.
Qualifying was the next morning and we had the car ready to go except for the brake problem. Qualifying is only fifteen minutes long, so you have to get a fast lap in on your first or second lap. We went out and on the first lap the brakes locked and the car spun. The car was un-drivable so we brought it back to the paddock. We had a few hours before the race so we did everything we could. We got lucky and found an independent shop that had the BMW GT1 tester. He brought it to the track and we were able to read and clear the codes.
We were all relieved we were going to be able to race. If we hadn’t found the computer, we would have packed up early and never made the race.
We started last on the grid of 71 cars made up of 49 GS class cars and 22 ST our class of cars. At 2:45, the cars rolled off the grin and onto the track. There will be two safety cars one leading the GS cars and one leading the ST cars. There will actually be two race starts, the GS cars will take the green flag and begin racing then fifteen seconds later the green flag will be thrown to start of the ST cars. This is done for safety reasons; having 70 cars all trying to dive into turn one at the same, time can be a real disaster on this track, on other tracks like Daytona you can get away with that. Geoff started the race and was running good and getting lap times about two seconds off the leaders. Normally our times wouldn’t be this far off but the oval at this track is close to two miles long and besides being down on horsepower to our competitors, we have the aerodynamic equivalent of brick.
In the infield section of the track, we could pass Porsches and BMW’s but as soon as we got on the oval, it was like dragging a parachute behind the car.
The first half of the race was uneventful with only two full course cautions. One hour and twenty minutes into the race, a forth-full course came out and we left Geoff in the car. One lap after going green there was another caution. So we brought Geoff in and I got into the car to finish the race. I left the pits and we went green on the next lap. Three laps later, a caution came out for four laps, then we go green for two laps, then another caution for five laps, then we go green. Five laps latter the white flag is out signaling one lap to go.
When the checker fell, we had gone from last place to 41 overall and 12 in class. A very respectable finish on a track like this. Had we been able to qualify even in the middle of the pack we would have had a strong top ten finish or better. Geoff drove a great race and we look forward to having him back with us for the U.S. Sports Car Invitational at Mazda Raceway in Laguna Seca at Monterey Apr 29- 30.
I have to say crew did a great job. Our pit stops were fast and flawless. Chuck and Lisa were our only regular crew this weekend and we were working without a lot of our regular tools and equipment. Thanks to Rich for volunteering all weekend, his help was invaluable, and thanks to future racer Grace for lending a hand. Thanks to Chris and Dan from Bullet Motorsports for joining us this weekend and bring the extra tools we needed. Thanks to Power Racing for letting, us hitch a ride. And a big thanks goes out to Mickey for bring the GT1 without it we wouldn’t have gotten to race.
Thanks also go out to all the MINI fans that stopped by and gave us their support.
Our next race is April 29-30 at Laguna Seca.
This race will be broadcast on Speedtv Sat, Apr 16 12:00PM, Sun, Apr 17 2:00AM, Mon, Apr 18 1:00PM
Please check your local listings for changes to the schedule.
For further details, please contact Tony Nuzzo at 516-674-1441
In addition, visit http://www.nuzzomotorsports.com for race news, photos, and video.
###
Thx
Tony
April 11, 2005
Dear Corporate Partners, Friends, Family and Fans,
The infamous Santa Ana winds invaded the California Speedway at Fontana California on Thursday forcing the cancellation of the test day activities. We were looking forward to using the four half hour test sessions to get familiar with the racetrack and make any adjustments to the cars prior to the official practice on Friday.
Instead, we processed the car through tech and organized our equipment in preparation for the next day’s sessions.
This weekend was full of firsts; it was the first time Geoff Auberlen would be racing with us, it was the first time we have raced the MINI’s on the west coast, it was the first time I would not have my own rig at the track and the first time I wouldn’t have my regular crew with us. We were looking to make it our first podium with the MINI’s.
We hitched a ride on a friend’s trailer so we only had room for the #20 MINI and a limited amount of space for our necessary tools, equipment, and spare parts. It’s amazing how much stuff you accumulate over time that you carry with you in case of that one need somewhere you haven’t gotten to yet. So it was a tedious job going through all of our inventory to see what is necessary and what is nice to have. Then we had to make sure it would all fit in the space allotted us.
Over the winter, we had freshened up the car and replaced any item that was a possible failure point. We have worked hard to make the car reliable and weren’t going to let a ten-dollar part sideline us during a race. The car was ready to race.
On Friday, we went for practice and the car felt fine. We used the first of only two practice sessions to get familiar with the track and how the MINI would react under different conditions. After a half a dozen laps, I brought the car in and Geoff got his first taste of the professional race MINI. Geoff had previously raced a stock MINI in the 25 Hour race at Thunderhill. It was a good session and the car came back in one piece. During our debrief after the session Geoff didn’t like the way the front end was responding, so we made a tire change to correct this.
The second session Geoff went out and the car was working fine until the end of the session when the rear brakes began to lock up. The session ended early because of a crash so we brought the car back to the paddock to work on the problem. We had flat spotted both rear tires so they needed to be replaced. The problem was a bad wheel sensor that had defaulted the abs system. The only way to correct this after replacing the sensor is to clear the fault code with a computer, which we didn’t have. We tried to locate a computer but no luck.
Qualifying was the next morning and we had the car ready to go except for the brake problem. Qualifying is only fifteen minutes long, so you have to get a fast lap in on your first or second lap. We went out and on the first lap the brakes locked and the car spun. The car was un-drivable so we brought it back to the paddock. We had a few hours before the race so we did everything we could. We got lucky and found an independent shop that had the BMW GT1 tester. He brought it to the track and we were able to read and clear the codes.
We were all relieved we were going to be able to race. If we hadn’t found the computer, we would have packed up early and never made the race.
We started last on the grid of 71 cars made up of 49 GS class cars and 22 ST our class of cars. At 2:45, the cars rolled off the grin and onto the track. There will be two safety cars one leading the GS cars and one leading the ST cars. There will actually be two race starts, the GS cars will take the green flag and begin racing then fifteen seconds later the green flag will be thrown to start of the ST cars. This is done for safety reasons; having 70 cars all trying to dive into turn one at the same, time can be a real disaster on this track, on other tracks like Daytona you can get away with that. Geoff started the race and was running good and getting lap times about two seconds off the leaders. Normally our times wouldn’t be this far off but the oval at this track is close to two miles long and besides being down on horsepower to our competitors, we have the aerodynamic equivalent of brick.
In the infield section of the track, we could pass Porsches and BMW’s but as soon as we got on the oval, it was like dragging a parachute behind the car.
The first half of the race was uneventful with only two full course cautions. One hour and twenty minutes into the race, a forth-full course came out and we left Geoff in the car. One lap after going green there was another caution. So we brought Geoff in and I got into the car to finish the race. I left the pits and we went green on the next lap. Three laps later, a caution came out for four laps, then we go green for two laps, then another caution for five laps, then we go green. Five laps latter the white flag is out signaling one lap to go.
When the checker fell, we had gone from last place to 41 overall and 12 in class. A very respectable finish on a track like this. Had we been able to qualify even in the middle of the pack we would have had a strong top ten finish or better. Geoff drove a great race and we look forward to having him back with us for the U.S. Sports Car Invitational at Mazda Raceway in Laguna Seca at Monterey Apr 29- 30.
I have to say crew did a great job. Our pit stops were fast and flawless. Chuck and Lisa were our only regular crew this weekend and we were working without a lot of our regular tools and equipment. Thanks to Rich for volunteering all weekend, his help was invaluable, and thanks to future racer Grace for lending a hand. Thanks to Chris and Dan from Bullet Motorsports for joining us this weekend and bring the extra tools we needed. Thanks to Power Racing for letting, us hitch a ride. And a big thanks goes out to Mickey for bring the GT1 without it we wouldn’t have gotten to race.
Thanks also go out to all the MINI fans that stopped by and gave us their support.
Our next race is April 29-30 at Laguna Seca.
This race will be broadcast on Speedtv Sat, Apr 16 12:00PM, Sun, Apr 17 2:00AM, Mon, Apr 18 1:00PM
Please check your local listings for changes to the schedule.
For further details, please contact Tony Nuzzo at 516-674-1441
In addition, visit http://www.nuzzomotorsports.com for race news, photos, and video.
###
5th Gear
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 638
Likes: 1
From: Redding, CA 96001
Thanks for the report! You folks should have a lot of fun at Laguna; it should be a great track for your MINI. It is hard on brakes though; I used to race SCCA showroom stock there and went through lots of front brake pads.
Cheers,
Dave
Cheers,
Dave
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