Brian Morgan, motorsports editor RACING LINES [email protected]

Maxson, Atkinson win as season ends at Roebling Road The 2010 BMW CCA Club Racing season sprint and the Saturday enduro in his E30 picked up a few nuances of the faster line I ended in December with its traditional closing M3, with pressure exerted courtesy of was running, and he was able to retake the round at Roebling Road near Savannah. Because D-Mod competitor Mike Akard, who started lead as the pair of us worked lapped traffic." it is the lasteventofthe year, the stakes are high from the pole on Friday and fell back late in With two laps to go, Maxson caught a gaggle at Roebling for those still in the hunt for national the race, and then finished second overall on of cars, two of which were in a tight battle championships-and the stakes were higher Saturday. Akard would go on to win the class for the SE36 championship and were than usual in 2010, as the weekend was the South on Sunday, finishing second overall to Geoff attempting to pass two other cars. Maxson Atlantic region premier event, offering two 150% Atkinson, who took the overall and !-Pre­ chose the right-hand lane, while Akard points-paying sprints and a 100% enduro. As pared wins in his E36 M3. elected to split the four slower cars between always, the Roebling weekend was run by the Akard took the lead from Maxson early in Turns Three and Four, momentarily regain­ Tarheel Chapter in conjunction with the host Friday's sprint, but it didn't last. "It was like ing the lead-but he couldn't maintain trac­ VDCA vintage racing group. three steps forward and two steps back," said tion through Turn Four. Putting four wheels D-Modified racer Rick Maxson took Akard, "as Maxson's Kinetic/Sunbelt-pow­ off, he relinquished the lead to Maxson, who overall and class wins in both the Friday ered M3 gained many car lengths with each went on to take the checkered flag. trip from Turn Nine into the braking zone for Todd Brown, who spent the weekend bat­ " TIRE RJlCI( CCA Club Race at Roebling Road One. As the end of the race loomed, Maxson tling a shorting cam-timing-sensor wire, took 12/10 Distance: 20 Laps advantage of Akard's excursion to move into Class . TIRE RJlCI( CCA Club Race at Roeblrng Road Pos. Pos . Driver Car Best Lap 12111 Distance 35 Laps second in D-Mod in hi s E30 M3. He said of I I OM Rick Maxson E30 M3 01:15.5 2 I JP Sean Garrity E36 M3 01:17.3 Class his difficult weekend, "There was one rather 3 2 JP Jason Crisl E36 M3 01:17.8 Pos. Pos. Driver Car Best lap 4 3 JP Dan Parker E36 328is 01:17.4 I 1 OM Rick Maxson E30 M3 0116.7 shining moment when we used a temporary 5 2 OM Todd Brown E30 M3 01:17.9 2 2 OM Mike Akard E30 318is 01:17.3 6 liP Kevin Ogrodnik E36 M3 0118.0 3 I JP Michael Skeen / Jason Crisl E36 M3 0118.9 hose clamp to ' unshort' the wire, allowing 7 3 OM John Brown E30 325is 0118.7 4 1 IP Geoff Atkinson E36 M3 0119.5 8 21P Craig Lippe E36 M3 01:18.3 5 21P Kev1n Ogrodnik E36 M3 0117.9 us to run Friday's race in its entirety. Starting 9 3 IP Brad Mclarty E36 M3 01:18.6 6 3 IP Evan Darling/Craig Lippe E36 M3 0119.3 10 4 OM Mike Akard E30 318is 01:15.7 7 2 JP Dan Parl

Club Racing awards eleven national titles Eleven racers won Tire Rack BMW CCA finished second in his E36 M3. to qualify. A total of 35 racers contested national championships in 2010. The winners Randy Mueller of the South Atlantic D-Mod in 2010. came from five of the series' regions, with three region won the C-Modified title in his E36 Jesse Clark from the South Atlantic each from the Pacific and North Atlantic M3. Mueller, whose memorable wins in the region won the highly competitive J-Pre­ regions, two each from the South Atlantic and O'Fest race at were among pared class in his E36 M3. A total of 29 North Central regions, and one from the South the highlights of the 2010 season, takes the racers contested JP in 2010. Sean Garrity of Central region. For the first time since 2005, title from Peter Carroll of Canada, who fin­ the South Central region finished just one there was no national champion from Canada. ished second this year after winning in both point behind Clark. To win a national title, a racer must complete 2008 and 2009. There were 53 competitors in Tim Smith became the first two-time a race in a minimum of four events. C-Mod in 2010. champion in the closely-contested Spec E36 The complete list of winners follows, with Nick Large of the North Atlantic region, class. He edged out 2009 champ Jason Briedis the list ordered by class si ze. who campaigns an E36 Z3 coupe, won the in the fmal race of the season at Roebling Road, Vic Pizzino of the Pacific region won D-Modified title in his rookie season. Brett using a loaner transmission from Briedis. !-Prepared, the largest class in the series with Strom, who won the title last year, had Bob Martin of the North Atlantic region 78 competitors, in his E36 325is. Kevin enough points to repeat, but he ran in just took the last-ever title in J-Stock-once Ogrodnik of the North Central region three events, one short of the number required among the largest classes in the series- in

94 ROUNDE L • MARCH 2011 BMW CCA Club Racing is supported by The Tire Rack (title sponsor); BimmerWorld (Club Racing Schools title sponsor); HMS (official supplier ofsafety gear); Evosport and VAC Motorsports (premier sponsors); Sunoco Race Fuels (official fuel supplier) and Grassroots Motorsports magazine (associate sponsor). Ganassi Riley-BMWs take Daytona one­ two: The Grand-Am championship-winning Ganassi Riley-BMW Daytona Prototype team started the 2011 season with a win in the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas , Joey Hand , and Graham Rahal won the race, while their team­ mates-Scott Dixon, Jamie McMurray, Daria Franchitti, and Juan Pablo Montoya-finished second. Ganassi regarded a Rolex 24 win as unfinished business; the team finished second at Daytona last year-the start of a season in which Pruett and Rojas won nine of twelve Grand-Am races on their way to the series championship . Pruett and Rojas will run the full2011 Grand-Am season in their Dinan-BMW VB- powered proto­ type to defend their title ; the next race is at Homestead Miami Speedway in March. 32nd, we finished fourth overall and second end, the team of Mike Skeen and Jason Crist Plumb, Longhi win Daytona Continental: in class behind Maxson." finished third overall and first in I-P behind In their Rum Bum E92 M3, Matt Plumb and Nick The Spec E36 duel in front of Akard and Maxson and Akard. J-Prep winner Geoff Longhi won the Continental Tire Sports Car Maxson was the first in a three-race battle for Atkinson was next across the line, while Challenge season opener at Daytona International the national championship between Tim Smith Briedis won Spec E36 with a tenth place fin­ Speedway on the Friday before the Rolex 24. It was and Jason Briedis. Smith won the race on Fri­ ish. Other winners in contested classes were the third consecutive M3 win at Daytona; Plumb day, while Briedis took the victory in the Bruce Weinstein in M3T (E30 M3), Rich and Gianluis Bacardi won for Rum Bum in 2010, enduro, as Smith lost a transmission. He was Abraham in K-P (E30 325is), Sean McKay/ and and Matt Bell won for Turner able to borrow a spare tranny from Briedis; Ray Korman in I-Stock (E36 M3), and Scott Motorsport in 2009. The Boss Mustang of Joe back in the car in two hours with help from his Gress, repeating in Spec E30. Foster and Scott Maxwell was second, ahead of four more M3s, including the crew and other racers, he returned to edge out The threat of bad travel weather on Sunday car of Bill Auberlen and Paul Dalla Lana; the Fall­ Briedis for the title on Sunday. Briedis, the sent many racers home early, and the threat Line cars of Charles Espenlaub and Charles Putman , 2009 class champion, clearly demonstrated of rain moved the Sunday sprint to an ear­ and AI Carter and Hugh Plumb; and the Simmer­ the spirit of Club Racing with his loan. lier spot in the day. The race, run in wet-but­ World car of Ken Wilden/Bob Michael ian. A full Sean Garrity finished the Friday sprint drying conditions, was dominated by Geoff report on Daytona will appear in the next issue. second overall and first in J-Prepared, ahead Atkinson in his I-P E36 M3; he was followed BMW wins 24 Hours of Dubai: A Z4 GT3 of class competitor Jason Crist. Other win­ across the line by D-Mod winner Akard, who entered by German privateer Team Schubert and ners of contested classes included Kevin says he was feathering the throttle to save driven by Claudia HUrtgen , Augusto Farfus, Edward Ogrodnik in !-Prepared (E36 M3), Dennis fuel, believing that he was in the lead. J-Pre­ Sandstrom, and Tommy Milner won the 24 Hours of Pippy in M3T (E30 M3), John Negus in pared went to Dan Parker, Spec E36 went to Dubai in January. Another Schubert Z4 GT3- K-Prepared (E30 325is), Scott Gress in Spec Smith, M3T went to Dennis Pippy, and Rich supported by Turner Motorsport and driven by Bill E30 in a 325i, and John Corbishley in Abraham repeated in K-Prepared. Auberlen, Matt Plumb , , and Paul Dalla C-Modified in an E46 M3 Bud Merrill was the competition steward, Lana-finished fifth. Will Turner and Don Salama Qualifying for Saturday's enduro was run Steve Roepken was the tech steward, and co-drove a Marcos Racing 120d with Hal Prewitt in the wet, but the track appeared to be dry­ Larry Fletcher was the timing-and-scoring and Toto Lassally; that car left the race at about the ing at race time, and most competitors made steward.-Brian Morgan with Mike Akard, nine-hour mark with abroken crankshaft. the correct bet by going out on slicks. At the Todd Brown, Gerry Sparks, and Tim Smith X-Raid's Peterhansel, Cottret fourth in 2011 Dakar: Stephane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret piloted their turbodiesel X-Raid X3 to a fourth-place finish in the 2011 Dakar rally, run in Argentina and his E30 M3. In 2010, the last year before the in his E30 325is. Chile in January. The overall win went to Nasser stock classes are replaced by the Sport classes Rolando Saldana of the Pacific region AI-Attiyah and limo Gottschalk in aVolkswagen Touareg ; VW swept the top three positions. The (see the 2011 racing-season preview story in is the repeat winner in H-Prepared in an E46 X-Raid team 's new Mini All4 crashed out in atesting this issue for more information), fourteen M3. The class was contested by nine racers incident at the halfway point in the event. competitors ran in J-Stock. in 2010. Eric Heinrich of the North Atlantic Nerces Mavelian of the South Central BMW to contestiLMC: BMW Motorsport has region won the new M3T class in his Gulf region is the repeat national champion in B­ announced that it will contest the entire Interconti­ Racing-liveried E30 M3, a car that he con­ Modified, a class contested by five racers in nental Le Mans Cup (ILMC) series in 2011. The cars verted from J-Stock. The most dramatic 2010. MaveEan races a supercharged E36 M3. will compete in the series' LM GTE Pro class, the GT class for manufacturers. BMW Team Schnitzer will weekend for Heinrich was at O' Fest, where Ralph Warren of the Pacific region won enter fwo cars in the European rounds and the he performed major repairs on his car after a his third straight H-Stock title in Scott Cary's season finale in China, and BMW Team RLL will run crash in practice with the help of many of the 135i, still the only 1 Series car in Club Racing. its two ALMS cars in the two American rounds. The racers on hand, and returned to competition, No titles were awarded in Super-Modified, series begins with the in March; along with co-driver Steve Amos. with nine competitors; E-Modified, also with continues with European rounds at Spa, Le Mans John Negus of the North Central region nine competitors; I-Stock, with six racers; or (the 24 hour race) , Im ala, and Silverstone; returns to repeated asK-Stock champion this year. John F- and G-Stock, with two racers each. Com­ the U.S. for Petit Le Mans at in October; won the class, still one of the least expensive plete national points are posted on www.bmw­ and ends at a not-yet-designated circuit in China. and most competitive classes in the series, ccaclubracing.com.-Brian Morgan

MAR CH 2011 • ROUND EL 95