Fill us in on the nitty gritty of the 25 hour race…
Walter: Tell us how 25 hours of Thunderhill went
sneville44
#2
Hey Kregg…I’ll let Walter fill everyone in on the action…found some stuff on the web to check out and this cool photo with Donny at the helm…lots more to come I’m sure.
http://www.mylaps.com/results/showrun.jsp?id=1022863&perclass=1
http://www.autofiends.com/index.php/2008/12/25-hours-of-thunderhill-the-end-of-the-beginning/
http://jalopnik.com/5103579/four-hours-down-21-to-go-welcome-to-the-25
-hours-of-thunderhill
Carl_C
#3
I’ll wait for Walter to reply, but suffice it to say it was a blast. We did get fog’d over for about 10 hours and the race was then extended to 3pm. Track conditions that morning in the fog, dark, and slickness made for an interesting drive I will be talking about for awhile. It was a great effort at low cost and in a short time of prep, a SpecE30 car made a good showing against solid competition with better prepped and more powerful cars.
vmwerks
#4
We ended up 5th in class… the thing that hurt us the most was the fog delay, we knew our car was not going to break in 25hrs. Our competitors would at some point most likely suffer a mechanical. Not meaning any ill will towards the other E2 cars but history speaks for itself. The front drive and high strung rear drive cars tend to have more issues.
As a point of note… the car ran with the same engine, transmission and differential that it rolled out of the BMW factory with. AND the same car ran a complete SpecE30 racing season before coming to the 25hr.
Hats off to Kevin Borchers for putting this whole thing together 2 WEEKS BEFORE THE START OF THE RACE!!! Mike Luce, Alex Johnson, Serge Ryssev, Jon Parvu, and Kevin worked very hard to make sure we had a winning combination.
Unfortunately as stated about we only got to run 18hrs. I am so proud of the team, words are not enough. By choice we showed up with NO spares and used tires robbed from all the SpecE30’s we had around the shop.
Special thanks to our sponsors,
Temple Coffee - caffeine
Evil Genius Racing - brake pads
Elliot Taylor, Brimstone - THE CAR!
Jasper Trout www.troutfarmphotodesign.com - graphic design and photographer
Valley Motorwerks/Pointsix Motorsports - shop time, parts, track support
Sacramento Bariatric Medical Associates - MONEY 
PIAA - lights and lighting consulting services
986inc - cool/warm suit test unit - worked flawlessly!
Scott Neville - pre-race logistical support
Glendine (gporter89) - THE BEST BAKED GOODS AND CARROT CAKE - PERIOD!!!
Thursday - I left the shop at 5pm with Kevin following in my pickup. Upon arrival Donny Edwards showed us to our pit spot and I was able to get the trailer backed into our spot so Elliot, Kevin and Donny could do some testing on Friday.
Friday - Testing was uneventful and Elliot was able to shake off the rust and get acclimated in the car again.
Saturday - Donny ripped out a 2:08 to qualify around 22nd position out of approx 63 cars! As usual the butterflies were very active as 11am loomed ever closer. At the flag drop you have to bite your nails the first turn could cut your 25hr plans VERY short! Everyone was able to get through cleanly and Donny settled in right in and was able to make up some spots early on. It was clear that our car was running strong and was handling like a dream. All the prep work that Kevin, Jon and Mike did was paying off in spades.
Honestly, the race was very easy for us, all we did was add fuel, change drivers and tires. It seemed that the ill prepared or broken car teams were getting all the press!!! I was able to get into the car around 2:30pm and work my first session. By now we had a slipping clutch (maybe due to improper break-in but who knows?) We could drive around it, and we did for the rest of the race!
At 7pm the race was stopped, luckily for us we pulled into the cold pits moments before the yellow flag was thrown. This allowed us to work on the car since we pitted under green. The front pads were DONE, Evil Genius (Evil Generous?) had a set of pads that we installed Sunday morning.
Sunday - The race was back underway with remaining heavy fog pockets along the track but it was driveable. We were running very strong and looked to be a solid 6th place behind Divaspeed and several TOP NOTCH Spec Miata teams. I opted to hand over my second session to Carl Chiu since he is much faster than I am and we needed to work on getting back up the leaderboard. With approximately 7 minutes to go the Diva car was off track, we were 3 laps down on them and were running very low 2 minute laps with hot shoe Kevin behind the wheel. We knew we could make up the 3 laps if Kevin pushed hard and was careful negotiating traffic… with only MOMENTS to go Kevin crossed the start finish line for the 3rd time assuring us a top 5 finish.
The team!
Ze proud fazzer…
Our spotter was rockin’
We had all the latest handsfree technology from Siberia
Ready? I think so!
Night pit stop.
laz
#5
I’ve read a few other race reports from the 25Hr, and yours was distinctly lacking contact and stupid offs that resulted in bent parts. Nice job guys!
kevron
#8
Oh wow, it was such a blast! One of the most fun weekends of my life. It wasn’t easy by any means, and we did have a few problems and some penalties to contend with, but overall we really couldn’t have asked for anything better. Getting the opportunity to share the track with (and trade some paint with) pro drivers such as Boris Said and Charles Espenlaub is a childhood dream come true.
I really owe a huge thanks to Walter Ford for making this all possible for me. He has given me the opportunity of a lifetime by letting me drive a race car for him. Thanks a million Walter!!!
Next year I will be going back to school and won’t be in the Spec E30 but I’ll still be at the track every weekend chering you guys on, instructing, and helping out in any way that I can. I think we’re planning on running a full enduro season so I think I’ll get to race some too.
A big thanks to Donny Edwards as well. Best friend I have ever had. I hope some day to be half the race car driver he is. In case everybody hasn’t heard Donny ran a 2:07.7 on Saturday, shattering the track record. I don’t know how he does it!!!
sneville44
#9
I met this photographer (Curtis Creager) at the 25-hour. Pretty cool guy and a BMW nut. Here’s his website with event photos. I think the photos give a good flavor of what the event is all about:
http://www.creagerimages.com/gallery/6742053_DNizF#430630985_mgeYX