MW3 Motorsports

Start your engines

christina — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:41:43 +0000

It’s strange how the concept of time works. Here at MW3 moaned about the lack of track time all through the winter months. Then all of a sudden the first event loomed and there was a mad rush to get the cars prepped! We did manage to eek out couple of lapping days in before the first NASA event…. they were sorely needed to shake out the cobwebs in our brains. They reminded us why we love this sport.

It appeared the first event was going to be a chilly one. The forecast for Denver called for mid-40′s and rain/snow mix. Luckily we were 90 minutes south of that mess. It was mid-50′s, a light breeze and lots of room on track due to the scardee cats who cancelled due to bad weather. Pshaw. It was perfect driving weather. The cars stayed cool, track temps were perfect.

I enjoyed my first TT sessions in my new-to-me E36. It just so happened that no one else from the TTC class showed up. On top of that, I was faster than everyone in TTB except for one contender who was 2/10′s of a second ahead. Saturday’s fastest time was 1:07.993 (on NItto NT-01s) and Sunday’s best time was a 1:08.794 (on Dunlop Direzza Star Spec’s). For anyone wondering, tires DO make a difference. Not bad for my first “official” showing, if I may say so myself!

Jim also had a good showing in TTA. He was also alone in his class for this first NASA weekend of the 2012 season. That didn’t stop him from setting some good times. He put down a 1:07.199 on Saturday and a 1:06.748. Not bad for running on his old Nitto NT-01′s from last season… that he was also in the process of cording!

In all, it was a successful start to the 2012 season. Unfortunately Jeff was out of commission due to a fuel leak that developed in the middle of the night Friday. He’ll be back in the running at the next event in May though! We look forward to seeing you out at the track this season – it’s gearing up to be another great one for MW3 Motorsports!

Rolex 24 Roundup

christina — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:16:05 +0000

Unbelievably, 24 hours have passed since the cars roared past the finish line of this epic race. This was MW3’s first time attending this behemoth of a race and we can’t stop bantering back and forth about what an awesome experience it’s been.

We can’t tell you anything about it without detailing the obvious: the cars! The Daytona Prototypes are the epitome of engineering and art all in one package. Seeing them up close was… neat. How can something so enormous come from such a little package? We’re happy to tell you we found out! Lots and lots of money.

The GT cars are only a few seconds a lap slower, which makes them even more amazing (to us anyway). They may have tube chassis’ but they remain true to their respective manufacturer heritages. This was the inaugural year for the Audi R8 and they ran a stock clutch!

As expected, the start of the Rolex was intense. We expected the drivers to settle into some sort of rhythm over the next few hours. I guess they did… it just so happened the speeds were faster than the qualifying times. These guys were at the limit every single lap. To do that for (a record-breaking) 761 laps? Insane. Incredible.

We watched from a variety of corners until my feet gave out at 2am. We had planned to sleep in the car but Jeff insisted we head back to the condo for solid rest before returning. It was tough to leave… And when I woke up a few hours later, it was painfully obvious we wouldn’t be heading back. I could barely hobble to the bathroom without crying. Damn plantar fasciitis!! It seemed like forever before SPEED started covering the race again. I was miserable watching it on TV – the only thing that soothed me was the sound of surf just outside our patio. I suppose there are worse places we could’ve been!

Walking Daytona International Speedway

christina — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 01:17:18 +0000

Part of the Rolex 24 experience is the Daytona 5K. You take off from the Start/Finish line, make your way through the infield (skipping turns 5 and 6) onto the first set of banked turns before the Daytona Superstretch (pass the bus stop chicane). NASCAR 3 and 4 follow and cross over the Start/Finish line. For grins, imagine you’re strapped into a car going about 200 mph.

It was obvious there had been two full days of practice on the track before we stepped foot on it. Not only were there skid marks, there were actual gouges out of the pavement where cars had apparently fallen off the banking. Thirty-one degrees of banking must hurt when you come crashing down. Daytona track engineers have also put some thought into how cars enter into the infield road course. I’ve never seen gators quite like these.

For those of you contemplating walking a track, as we’ve said before – do it! Not only is it fun, you’ll be amazed at what you’ll see… and therefore learn. More from Daytona soon!

Slippery when wet

christina — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 16:17:55 +0000

We woke this morning to clouds and a light, steady drizzle. Knowing the cars would be out regardless, we hustled to get dressed and out the door. I turned off the radio when we got within half a mile of the track – no need for tunes when there are racecars running! We jumped out of the car just in time to see them coming in from the first practice of the day. Perfect timing for our first jaunt through the paddock. Again, concentrating was hard. Every turn found us face to face with another gorgeous car and their drivers.

I had a chance to talk with Paul Dalla Lana for about 15 minutes. He revealed the M3 took 2 full seasons to shake out the kinks! I asked him about his pre-race routine: he skips all the pre-race fanfare on pit road and “gets quiet”. After seeing the madness on pit road before the BMW Performance 200, I can’t blame him! It was mayhem with seemingly every fan out to get pictures with their favorite drivers and cars.

Before we knew it was race time. “Drivers… Start your engines!” and they were off for a couple of reconnaissance laps. Cars were already sideways, backwards and generally off track through Turn 2 due to the wet conditions. The race hadn’t even started!

Nevertheless, the new BMW M5 pace car peeled off. The GS class came through first with everyone jockeying for position while trying to keep it on the track.

The ST class was next and surprisingly, they kept the start clean too. The drivers seemed to be settling into a good rhythm when the GS cars started lapping those in the ST class. You guessed it: Yellow flag. It meant everyone could duck into the pits to put slicks on though. The track was drying quickly and things were about to speed up. (Full disclosure: We have a particular interest in the Turner cars seeing as Will has helped us out the past year and will continue to do so in 2012.) The TMS cars came out of the pits tail to nose.

Then Said and Auberlin started to pick their way through the field. We were on the edge of our seats as they went from 14the & 15th… up to 9th and 10th… up to 6th and 7th (the 96 car qualified 14th, the 97 car qualified 26th)! It was a brutal finish with several yellows the last 25 minutes of the race. Everyrestart had us up on our feet, hoping no one would get punted… passed… or both. In the end, the Rousch Mustang beat the rest of the field with relative ease.

And that was just the warm-up race! Rolex 24 starts tomorrow afternoon. Stay tuned for more updates from Daytona!

Watching the big boys play

christina — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 02:01:59 +0000

It’s Day 1 of the 50th anniversary of the Rolex 25 at Daytona International Speedway. This is the first day everyone is out (not counting the Roar before the 24 earlier this month), shaking down the cars. And, not kidding, they get right down to business – practice in the morning, qualifying the same afternoon.

I’m not gonna lie. It was hard to concentrate. But we still managed to learn a few things: Mazda’s spit fire. Ferrari’s are shockingly quiet. ‘Stangs, Camaros, Astons and BMW’s roar. And the Daytona Prototypes? They shake your entire soul.

And, finally, the question everyone asks: how steep is that banking? Let us say, for now it’s… ridiculous. Stay tuned. We’ll be canvasing the facilities to get good shots of everything, including that banking…. We’re sure to get some crazy shots of degree angle when we do the 5K, on the track, Saturday morning. Until then, enjoy these. More to come!

Rolex 24 at Daytona

christina — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:52:28 +0000

That’s right, MW3 Motorsports is heading south tomorrow morning – to Daytona, FL for the 50th Anniversary of the Rolex 24! We wish we were driving. Instead we’ll be among the crowd, cheering on our favorite teams and drivers. (Go Turner!!) Tune into SPEED – maybe you’ll catch a glimpse of us enjoying ourselves.

It’s going to be a crazy weekend. This is on our must-do list:

Thursday: Practice and qualifying
Friday: Parade of Champions and Exhibit, more practice sessions, BMW Performance 200 starts at 1:30 pm EST
Saturday: Daytona 5K (we’re walking the track!), driver autograph session, Rolex 24 starts at 3:30 pm EST
Sunday: Rolex 24 finish at 3:30 pm EST

In between all that we’ll be enjoying all that Daytona International Speedway has to offer. This includes tastings from the Bavarian Beer Garden, Chili Cook-Off, Wine & Cheese Party and the Cafe 24 Breakfast Garage. That doesn’t even count the tickets we snagged… right above pit road!

We’ll have the camera on and focused – leave us a note on FB if you have any special requests and we’ll do our best to capture the shot you’re looking for. We may even see if they’ll let us up on the giant ferris wheel with it to see what kind of perspective that gives us.

Cheers!

christina — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 02:27:13 +0000

The three of us here at MW3Motorsports want to take a moment to say thank you to our fans and sponsors. We truly appreciate your support this past year. It’s been one of tremendous growth and fun and we couldn’t have done it with out you. Here’s to hoping you have a fantastic holiday season with your friends and family. Cheers!

Free Lunch

christina — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 16:19:44 +0000

MW3 Motorsports has had a great season so far. It’s due in large part to those who have supported us. Jim & I have mentioned it in our previous posts, but we want to show a little love. One week from today, Friday August 5th, all MW3 cars and drivers will be out at High Plains Raceway to do just that. We invite you, our Sponsors and Fans, to join us.

Despite the saying, there is such a thing as Free Lunch – at least in our pits from 12-1… There will also be a limited supply of MW3 schwag. If you’re brave enough, we’ll smack a helmet on your head, strap you in and take you for a spin around the track too! Come on out. We’ll be there from 8-5.

2011 TTA Season Part 1

Jim — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 20:17:37 +0000

2011 has been a fun season so far in the MW3 Evo IX. With a rough start to the season by cutting a tire at the first event and barely mustering 2nd place, it seems to have picked up and we have started to put down some good laps. Jim and the Evo have made a home in TTA class with NASA Rocky Mountain and the class is really starting to grow. A-class tends to have a wide variety of cars from highly modified E36s to the baddest of American V8 muscle. Although the Evo is down 4 cylinders to most of these beasts, the power to weight ratio remains consistent in the class to keep it even. With the help of Tobz tuning in Denver (and a set of 272 Cosworth cams), the Evo can almost make the same power as a lot of its V8 counterparts with some skilled tuning.

Other new additions this year are external GPS units made by Qstarz, and a fancy Android app which logs valuable lap data and in-car laptimes that really help improve the car and driver. If you have an Android, be sure to check out the Trackmaster app by Trackaroo, you can save quite a bit of money going this route and get a good amount of data for the price.

Thus far this season the MW3 Evo has set 2 lap records, three 1st place finishes, a 2nd place finish and sits in the points lead going into the last two events. With some stiff competition beginning to mount in A-class, the second half of the season should shape up to be a great one. Hopefully with some good luck and some consistent driving the MW3 Evo can continue to get quicker this season, notch another record and possibly the TTA championship.

As we mentioned in the last post, come join MW3 at High Plains Raceway on August 5th for an open lapping day!

Stay tuned for more updates, results and product reviews this season.

Spare

christina — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 02:18:54 +0000

This past weekend was a blissful one at the track for two of us here at MW3. It was mid-May the last time Jeff & I rolled rubber on track surface (with NASA at Pueblo). Far too long. We were getting antsy, so Jeff & I signed up for an open lapping at HPR Friday. And Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending the 3rd annual RMR PCA Ladies Day (also at HPR).

Friday was particularly exciting because, well, I have a new track car. Before you ask, rest assured nothing has happened to The Beast (the 2008 E90 M3). In fact, it’s been a tremendous joy to drive at the track, not mention learn to drive on a track in. But there’s this adage: Less is More. (Well More is More too, but that’s not the point I’m trying to make) The Beast has lots of driver assists that help me look good. Horsepower and the M button come to mind. My goal is to be a great driver and it’s time to branch out to make sure I have the basics nailed. So I looked for something more pure. I ended up with a very nicely prepped and well maintained 1998 Arctic Silver E36 M3 with a mere 86K miles on it from a fellow NASA time-trialer, John. And I got to take it out for my first track laps in it Friday.

After the first session, all I could think was “WOW.” This car is planted. It may have a back seat but that didn’t stop me from boogying my way to a 2:10.8 lap time. Not bad for my first time in the car! John holds the NASA TT track record at 2:07.0 in this very same car. The day ended when I cracked the front passenger rotor. It seems slowing the E36 and The Beast are two entirely different exercises. I have much to learn and am eagerly awaiting my next turn at it. Pending new rotors, of course. I’m thinking slotted…

So it turns out, it’s a good thing I have a “spare” car for the track now! (I’ll be honest. I had already planned to take The Beast out for one last day of playing.) I mounted a new set of Conti scrubs from Turner on the APEX ARC-8s earlier in the week in preparation for a good time. Was it ever… Driving on a track full of women in The Beast with sticky tires and the S65 V8 roar made me happy. There’s no other way to put it. It was 100-degrees but I was first to grid. Because there is nothing better. Gents, trust me here. There’s nothing quite like seeing a woman get excited about turn-ins and apexing and track-outs. This event is the perfect place to get her hooked. Many thanks, again, to PCA for putting this event together!

Rest assured MW3 won’t go so long between track-time. All three of us will be out at HPR on August 5th. As a way to say Thank You to our fans and sponsors, we invite you to join us! If we haven’t already, we’d love to meet you and drive with you. We’ll even be giving rides to those brave enough to put a helmet on & strap in.