A big thanks from Kevin

I just want to thank The BMW Store and Brown Bros. Racing for doing such a great job this weekend. Without all their help I would not have been much help to the team. I was really impressed with the late night fix of the shock on Friday night. You guys did a fantastic job. Dave did an awesome job all weekend and I am bummed that he didn't get to drive the 330. Rocky I think Dave has earned a full race weekend with Dave, the full time driver, and with the full team support. Wayne thanks for all your help this weekend also. Wayne, Dave, Geoff and all the crew did a great job fixing the wheel studs fast, and without that we would not have made the top 10. Thanks Geoff and Jay for all your fast tire changes and everyone else that helped change tires. Thanks to everyone that fueled the car. We had to fuel the car a lot and it was done in a quick and clean manner every time with no penalties. Thanks also to the guys that kept all the fuel jugs full of fuel. That was a full time job. We used about 400 gallons of fuel for the race and that was just the M3, they were busy. I just can't thank the team enough for all their hard work the whole weekend. During the race, everyone did a great job of quickly getting ready for pit stops and making the pits stops smooth and fast. Felt bad a couple of times that I had to wake people up for pit stops but there were no complaints from anyone. Alex did a great job with all the data and diagnosing problems quickly, then fixing problems fast. It was a pleasure to work with the whole team and being apart of such a great event. I was very pleased how well it turned out.


I want to thank all the drivers for doing a wonderful job. It was nice to work with my boy Taylor Hacquard again. He did an awesome job on track with really fast and consistent times every time he was in the car, even when it was in the middle of the night. I have worked with Mikel Miller before but this was the first time with him as a driver. Miller was great all weekend and helped a lot with feedback for setting up the car. It was the first time for me to work with Carlos Tesler-Mabe and he is truly a professional driver. He is a very consistent driver and a pleasure to work with on and off the track. Chris also did a great job with consistently fast times. It was great working with Chris again.


Thank you Chris for letting me join the team for this event. You said that once you do this race once you get hooked. That is true because I can't wait to do that race again. I hope I get the opportunity to do it next year.


The whole crew deserves a very big thank you because without them we wouldn't of had a chance to race this weekend. You guys made a great car and that is the biggest part of this race. You can have fast drivers, a great strategy, and fast pit stops, but if the car doesn't last 25 hours then you have nothing. You guys built two cars that lasted the whole race. I am very impressed by that accomplishment.


I can’t give my thanks enough to the crew and drivers.


Thanks


Kevin Harrison

Two top-10s for The BMW Store/Yahoo! cars!

The final results out of 73 cars:

#16 M3 - 7th overall
#99 330 - 9th overall, 3rd in class

So we came down from Canada and put the two BMW Store/Yahoo! cars in the top 10 of this huge field! What an amazing job by everyone involved, especially the mechanics and pit crew. I am so impressed and proud. We had a lot of work to do when we unloaded on Thursday and were hit by several setbacks, including one that could have prevented the M3 from even starting the race. But nobody gave up, they just worked harder and found solutions.

It's hard to explain how epic a race like this is. Each car travelled over 3,100 km during the race, which may not be impressive until you consider that the cars are either accelerating, braking, or cornering near their limit the whole time...and it was dark for at least 13 hours of the race.

A big thank you to everyone involved, which included a large crew that came down from The BMW Store and Brown Bros. Racing to support both cars:

Dave Dalmonte
Nick Viel
Jay Kendal
Chris Lacousta
Brian Wickware
Andrew McKinnen
John Baytka
Wayne Johnson
Marcus Schellhase
Geoff Holmes
Rich Fakui
Bryan Taylor
Adam Ingram
Don McLain

(I sincerely hope I haven't left anyone out)

Thanks to Yahoo!, our title sponsor. The cars looked fantasic in the Yahoo! livery and were definately among the most noticed and talked-about at the race. They should look good on TV too when the highlights package is aired.

I want to especially thank Dave Dalmonte from The BMW Store. Dave put an incredible amount of work into the build and preparation of both cars, especially the M3 in the last few months. He really put his heart and soul into the car and we wouldn't have been there, or finished the race, without him.

Nick Viel from The BMW Store has also been a big part of the build and prep of both cars, thanks Nick.

Thanks to Andy Pearson from Specialty Engineering who did a lot of custom fabrication, engineering and build on the car.

Thanks to Neel Vasavada and Alex Weissinger from Apex Speed Technology who made this complex car actually work and helped us iron out the bugs. We didn't know how ambitious this project was until we started to hit the roadblocks but they helped us get over them. It was especially great to have Alex on hand at Thunderhill to diagnose and fix things things on the fly.

And keeping things running smoothly all weekend were John Olsen and Kevin Harrison from World Speed Motorsports who seemed to get by on coffee alone. It was great to have their guidance and expertise.

To other the drivers of the #16 M3: Mikel Miller, Taylor Hacquard, and Carlos Tesler-Mabe...thanks for doing such a great job and making sure the only one damaging the car was me. Next year I won't make that mistake again.

And of course a big hats-off to the drivers of the #99 330 who took that car to 9th overall and a podium in class: Tony Morris Jr., Keith Carter, Rocky Elli, Ryan O'Connor, and Nick Viel.

Stay tuned, or sign up for email updates, we should have more pictures and video available soon.

Thanks!

Holding on

The #16 is holding on to 7th, the #99 is holding 9th. 7 minutes left.

Nursing both cars home

In the M3 we've asked Mikel to run slowly to keep the studs from snapping. It must be driving him crazy. Currently 7th but likely to lose some spots.

The 330 is running 9th overall and 3rd in class, and is nursing its brakes but has a nice 6 lap buffer to the next car. Keith Carter is in the car.

24 minutes left.

#16 M3 back on track

After a lengthy pit stop to remove and replace 2 of the 3 broken wheel studs the M3 is back on track. Looks like the stop dropped us from 4th to 7th. We're not sure how hard we can run the car with the wheel studs as they are so we're telling Mikel to back off a bit so we can keep enough laps to hold on to a top-10 at a minimum.

The #99 330i is running 9th overall, 3rd in class. The car has lost rear brakes but with 49 minutes remaining they're going to run the car until the end as-is.

Huge setback for the M3

The #16 M3 has been in the pits for the last 20+ minutes with three broken wheel studs. The guys have been trying to remove the stubs and have only been able to get 1 of 3 out so far. We need at least one more. The car is dropping steadily down the standings and we're hoping to get the car out in time to hold on to a top 10.

We knew there was a high likelihood of something going wrong and now it has.

Full course caution at 9:50AM

The car immediately ahead of the #99 330i just blew a motor on track and is out of the race. The cleanup has brought out a full course caution which will help both cars conserve fuel. The #16 M3 needs at least one full fuel stop and potentially one splash and go.

The #99 330i is running 10th now, up to 3rd in class. There is a 3 lap buffer ahead and 5 laps behind. Tony Morris Jr. is still at the wheel, Keith Carter will be getting in once the caution period ends and the car comes in and pits.

The #16 M3 is sitting 4th overall with Mikel Miller at the wheel. There's a 2 lap cushion either side. The plan is to leave Mikel in until the checkered flag although he'll need to pit at least once more.

2 1/2 hours to go

There's been a lot going on but I've either been in the car or sleeping so sorry for not getting more updates.

We've had a lot of ups and downs in the #16 M3 over the past few hours. I took over from Mikel about 5AM and was having a pretty good stint going, running some fast consistent laps, but tripped up on lapped traffic and hit the right front fairly hard. I had to limp around almost an entire lap to get back to the pits. We didn't lose a position but lost a lot of time to the cars ahead and behind.

Taylor took over from me and ran a great stint, keeping us in 4th place. Mikel took over from Taylor about 8:45AM and is knocking off some more fast laps. We're currently running 4th, with competing cars about 2 laps ahead and behind us.

The #99 330i has been running smoothly with Tony at the wheel since about 7AM. He's been setting some great times and just set a new record for the car at 2:00.8. The #99 is currently running 11th.

Mikel Miller is flying!

Mikel has been flying in the #16 M3 on this double-stint, setting several fastest laps for the car. He made up a spot on track from a big deficit, and we've pickup up another spot due to troubles with the #22 porsche. We're currently running 4th.

5AM update - 7 hours to go

Yes, still 7 hours left. It's hard to believe.

The #16 M3 is currently running in 6th with Mikel Miller at the wheel. Chris is up next, at approx. 6AM.

The #99 330i is running 13th. Ryan O'Conner just got into the car after a longer stop to change front brake pads. Tony is next at around 7AM.

Scary moment for the M3

As I was typing the last blog the guys jumped out of their chairs and ran to the pit wall. Mikel came coasting down pit lane and the car wasn't running. Alex, John and Kevin diagnosed the problem really quickly (the master switch had come loose and was shutting off) and Dave was there with the tools and we got him going quickly although we may have dropped to 6th from 5th.

Data helps us again

The #16 M3 was experiencing some intermittent shutoffs that required a full car recycle and refire on track. It happened at least 5 times over the course of a few hours. After looking at the data Alex was able to diagnose the problem wire and repair it quickly at the next stop.

9 hours remaining

Both cars are still running, the #16 M3 in 5th place with Taylor driving. Mikel Miller is next and we're still double-stinting.

The #99 330i is up to 11th overall and 4th in class with Keith Carter driving, with Nick Viel up next.

10PM update - 14 hours left

Things are going well so far and everyone has their fingers crossed.

The #16 M3 is currently running 5th overall!! Carlos took over the car at about 9:40I think. The car seems to be moving up the standings based on good lap times, quick pit stops, and reliability.

The #99 330i is also having a great run, currently in 14th overall and 6th in class. Tony Morris Jr. has been in the car for several stints and has been clicking off some great lap times.

There is a LOT of time left to go, almost 14 1/2 hours, so it's way too early to start getting excited.

Data

The #16 car is running a motorsport ECU and data logging system. This is a picture of some of the data we pull off the car at each pit stop. We have Alex from Apex Speed Technologies with us here at the track to look over it for any abnormalities, and he has also been uploading some of it so Neel from Apex can look it over down in LA.

Top 20 for the 330!

The #99 330i continues to fly through the field, currently running in 18th!

Top 10 for the M3!

After a lengthy caution period and a subsequent stop to refuel for Mikel Miller's second stint, the #99 M3 has cracked the top 10. Still almost 18 hours to go...

The #99 330i has steadily climbed up the rankings since being sent back to P40 after the fuel stop penalty and is now running in 24th place. Last year the #99 finished 26th so this year is going really well so far. Ryan O'Conner is still in the #99.

Driver strategy

#16 M3 - we've now cycled through each driver on a single stint (being one tank of gas), approx. 1:30. We will now try to double-stint each driver, so that's almost 3 hours each. We may have to adjust this if those stints become too long.

#99 330i - everyone has been through the car. Each stint is approx. 1 hour, and the strategy is to double-stint each driver in that car if possible too.

We're at the 1/4 point!

Both cars are running well so far:

#16 M3 is currently running in 11th place, with Mikel Miller driving.

#99 330i is currently running in 27th place, with Ryan O'Conner driving.

The sun has gone down to start the 13 hours of darkness. We've gone past the 1/4 mark, at 5:15PM.

Next drivers:

#16, Chris Cumming at approx. 7:45
#99, Tony Morris, Jr. at approx. 7:00

Current drivers

#16- Hacquard (Miller next)
#99 - Viel (O'Conner next)

Pit stop difficulties for the #99 330i

The #99 has dropped about 10 spots after a penalty for spilled fuel during a pit stop. The rules are pretty harsh around here for things like that...the car had to do a 5 minute stop-and-go penalty, which is about a 3 lap penalty when you consider the slow trip down pit lane on top of that.

The car was running in 30th before the penalty, then dropped to 40th, and now has climbed back to 36th.

The M3 is currently running 13th.

100 Laps

We're 100 laps into the race, the #16 M3 (Carlos) is running in P16, the #99 330i (Nick) is running in P28. Things seem to be running smoothly right now but there's a loooooong way to go.

1 Hour Mark

#16 M3, P18, Miller
#99 330i, P34, Elli

Patrick Dempsey

For all the ladies out there following along at home, Patrick Dempsey is in the #26 '25 in 25' car. Currently running in P46.

First 15 minutes

#16 M3, P21, Mikel Miller driving
#99 330i, P40, Rocky Elli driving

One hour to race start!

Both cars have completed race prep and we're going to roll them out to pre-grid on the main straight. We're supposed to have an F-18 flyby at 10:50 so that will be cool. Race cars are cool but fighter jets are even cooler.

Getting strapped in

M3 on the main straight at night

Qualifying

Didn't post the qualifying results last night because of all the drama that unfolded when we got off track.  Neither car was really trying to put a big effort into qualifying because after all it's a 25 hour race.  Anyway, the #16 M3 qualified 26th and the #99 330i qualified 44th.  There are 66 cars we can see on timing and scoring.

Funny picture. This is Rocky last night as he brought the strut back from the welder and we all stood around captivated by it. Not really funny, we just all look funny.

Major Problems for the M3

After taking to the track for the afternoon sessions, the car began to develop a strange fuel pressure problem.  It gave us 5-6 complete fuel pressure shutdowns over the course of the afternoon on a fairly random basis.

But we would have been happy if that was all we encountered.  With 15 minutes to go in qualifying we did a tire change...unfortunately one of the wheel spacers wasn't put back on the car, causing rubbing between the rim/tire and the shock strut.  By the end of the session it had worn through a huge portion of the shock strut, which resulted in a loss of all damper oil and severely weakening the strut:

This picture doesn't really do it justice so let's just say the shock strut was FUBAR.  It would have been impossible to drive the car like this and it pretty much looked like we were done.  It was too late, 6PM PST, to try to secure a new one and have it sent to us for the 11AM start tomorrow. 

We asked around the paddock and nobody had a replacement but someone had a similar one.  We tried to make that one work to no avail.  Finally we decided to try to build the damaged one back up with a tig welder by depositing aluminum back into the void caused by the rubbing.

After about 4 hours of running around, the final result came back and looked like this:

We're not sure if, (a) the strut will stay together under the loads for 25 hours, and (b) the seals in the shock were compromised by the heat of the rubbing or the welding process.  But hey, it's all we got, so we're going to find out tomorrow I guess.

Meanwhile another group of guys has been trying to diagnose and repair the fuel pressure problem we were having.  After lots of theories, tests, and a conference call with the car builder we have something to try that we hope will work.  We'll find that one out tomorrow I guess too.  Unfortunately we won't get a chance to test any of this before the race starts at 11.

Other than that the car seems to be running pretty well but everyone's nerves are pretty frayed right now.  25 hours is a really long time and so far we haven't run more than about 1.5 hours without an issue!

The good news is the other car, the BMW Store/Yahoo! #99 330i, ran problem free today and the guys have just a normal pre-race prep to run on the car before tomorrow's race.

Friday Morning Test

Both BMW Store/Yahoo! BMWs have been running well in the morning's practice sessions with no issues so far.  All drivers have been through both cars getting comfortable.  Lunch time now.

Test Day #1

We had a productive day today as The #16 BMW Store/Yahoo! M3 continued its shakedown process.  We spent a lot of time making sure the baseline setup was where we wanted it.  Not glamorous stuff but it has to be done because if you don't know where you're starting you get pretty lost after you make a few changes. 

After the setup work Mikel Miller took the car out for some initial impressions, which were good.  We have a pretty well balanced car out of the box...which sure beats the alternative. 

Shortly afterwards the car quit on us.  Needless to say we were all a bit worried but the guys did a great job of diagnosing the problem in the throttle butterfly servos.  We managed to get back out for a few more laps before the track closed at 4:30.  Hopefully that will be the biggest mechanical drama we experience this weekend!

Most of our work tomorrow will be incremental improvements on the handling we have, as well as figuring out fuel mileage, tire pressures, driver and tire changes, etc.

The #99 BMW Store/Yahoo! 330 arrived at the track late afternoon and will be on track tomorrow morning.

Car 16 arrives at Thunderhill

The #16 M3 arrived at 8PM Wednesday night and we began to unpack.  The car is looking great with all of the sponsor logos.

It's cooold here, almost dipping to freezing overnight...so much for being in California!  But the skys are clear...

The BMW Store/Yahoo! take on the 25 Hours of Thunderhill

After many months of hard work preparing two cars for this year's epic endurance race, the 25 Hours of Thunderhill, the cars and crew are just hours from leaving for California.

Returning this year will be the BMW 330 that successfully completed last year's race in its maiden outing, except this year the car will benefit from a full year of development that includes a lighter overall weight and more horsepower out of the BMW 3.0 litre inline-6.

Joining the roster this year will be the brand-new BMW E92 M3 that saw it's track debut this past Sunday in a shakedown at Mission Raceway Park. While much development is still to be done, hopes are high that this car will survive the 25.

Competition will be heavier than ever before this year with 73 entrants contesting the world's longest non-stop endurance race.