It turned out to be a perfect day for a race at Road America on Saturday, August 20, 2011.
The forecast showed a good chance of rain throughout much of the day and the skies looked a little angry. The practice session was a little wet, but the rest of the day was beautiful.
The Muscle Milk Aston Martin took pole in the P1 class, and Joey Hand took pole in the BMW for the GT class.
The closing laps were exciting as I watched from turn 3. The Dyson Mazda caught the Aston Martin but was not able to pass. After 4 hours of racing the gap between first and second place was only 0.112 seconds – a record in ALMS racing.
The #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 458 took first in GT, with BMW taking second and third in class. Joey Hand and Dirk Muller maintain a firm lead in the points standings, making BMW fans very happy.
The complete official race results are HERE.
BMWs have weaknesses in their cooling systems that many owners like to address.
The complaint is the use of plastic in certain components, like the radiator, the water pump impeller and the thermostat housing. Those pieces can become brittle, break and cause a lot of trouble.
At about 80,000 miles I did a lot of work on the cooling system.
Here’s a video of the work I did.
I replaced the radiator on my (14 year old) 1997 M3. I also replaced the water pump with a Stewart High Performance unit and I upgraded to an aluminum thermostat housing. Of course, I replaced the thermostat while I was in there.
Comparing an old Dunlop SP Sport 9000 to a new Yokohama S.drive
Old tires with plenty of tread can perform poorly or even be dangerous. Time and exposure to elements degrade the rubber and the compound begins to harden. That means that the tire won’t grip as well. This video talks about tire aging and compound degradation.
Aging can also effect the tire structure below the surface. The generally accepted sweet spot of tire life is around 5 years for normal driving. High performance driving and trucks pulling or carrying heavy loads might have a shorter practical life. Some have suggested 4 years.
On July 31 the St. Louis BMW Club took a driving tour to St. James, MO. Our group was about 45 people in 30 cars. We started out at Plaza BMW, who provided a nice bakery breakfast for us.
Leaving in groups we took off down Hwy 44 and got off at the Pacific exit. Winding our way through some backroads we had a great drive to Sybill’s Restaurant. Group 1 was surprised by a cow in the middle of the road! Good thing we keep a reasonable pace and don’t go crazy fast.
Sybill’s is a great restaurant and we enjoyed a wonderful meal. Not shown in the video was our visit to the Two Squirrels Winery after lunch.
The BMW M3 has a great history.
This short video highlights the first generation M3 and its racing heritage. Can the M3 do well in 2011?
The first generation M3 was the E30. It had legendary performance on the race track in DTM.
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