This past Memorial Day weekend was a great time to take in local racing events as many chapters of the BMWCCA and NASA held sanctioned racing events. When posed with the dilemma of attending the Grand AM race at Lime Rock Park or to take in the grassroots effort of the Spec E30 NASA series we opted for the later. While Grand Am is a fantastic series with tons of BMW involvement and an event well worth attending we felt that supporting our friends over at the Axis of Oversteer as they campaign two E30s to be more significant to all the would be racers and BMW fans out there.
The Spec E30 Series is a national racing series that is is a competitive, fun, safe, affordable racing series, focused on road racing with limited modifications and specified required components. This series really showcases the driver’s skills rather than just who can tune the best car. It is a great way for individuals to enter racing, more specifically BMW racing. Spec E30 is racing on a different level, it harkens back to a time when racers wrenched on their own cars, the last weeks pay was in a set of tires- all for the thrill of the race and for knowing that no one else was responsible for placing, not the mechanic, the tire compound or the crew chief. Much of today’s racing world is big money, big teams and big sponsors, grassroots racing like Spec E30 is a different feel, it is real with real people just doing something they love and we respect that a great deal.
For the most part E30 Spec racing is racing stock E30s with safety modifications- full cages, fire suppression and the like with other minor tweaks such as camber plates and Toyo RA-1, size 205/55/14 or 205/50/15 tires being used. For the full list of rules and regulations visit the official SpecE30 site.
The Axis of Oversteer boys showed the rest of the field how it is done at New Jersey Motorsports Park. On Saturday Pete Thibault took the checkered flag first and Matt Russell was just behind him in third place. On Sunday the driver’s rolls reversed a bit, Matt took home the checkered first though finishing with notable damage he acquired from some shrapnel (thanks to someone’s motor blowing), and Pete was in a not so distant second place. The team did a great job racing and enjoying themselves during the weekend- and that is what is all about, having a good time with BMWs. When it comes to racing looks don’t matter and by the end of the weekend these cars took some serious abuse.
Official Release: She sits in a 1987 open-top BMW 3 Series Convertible, authentically dressed in an eighties-style Bordeaux-coloured dress, her hair down and put into perfect shape by a hair specialist. She is slightly nervous before the “test drive”: “I’m a little on edge because I’m not sure exactly what’s going to happen with all this wind. But BMW has assured me that it’s all safe.” The huge rotor of the wind tunnel slowly starts to turn, from the control centre you can see a gentle breath of air slowly but surely developing into a stiff breeze at 60 km/h. After this windy test drive, the result is clear: the hairstylist on the set is not too happy since the only thing the tousled mane of model and TV presenter Sylvie van der Vaart would be good for is an eighties music video.
For those of you out there that want more of the E30 M3, this is some of the best footage of that car driven to its limited we’ve ever seen. The driver is Patrick Snijers and it’s at the Manx Rally in 1988.
Our friends at Jalopnik are featuring the venerable M10 4 cylinder as their Engine of the Day. As you may or may not know the M10 was designed by noted engineer and race driver Baron Alex von Falkenhausen. Yes (as Jalopnik mentions) that is a helluva a name. In between designing engines you’d expect someone named Baron Alex von Falkenhausen to fly zeppelins and slay large game. What he did do was to go against BMW bosses and design a 1.5L (instead of the asked for 1.3L that was eventually expanded to 2.0L. Here’s more from Wikipedia:
As BMW M12, the engine is also one of the most successful engines in racing. Starting with the European Touring Car Championship, it was also used in Formula 2 and in the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft, where it was turbocharged by Paul Rosche according to FIA Group 5 rules.
Official BMW Press Release: BMW Group Mobile Tradition stands on the threshold of an eventful year. In June the BMW Museum in Munich will reopen its doors; the legendary BMW M1 sports car celebrates its 30th anniversary this year; and BMW Group Mobile Tradition models will again be lining up at a wide range of major events. As ever, Mobile Tradition will be attending the traditional start of the classic calendar – Techno Classica, held from 26th to 30th March 2008. At this, the world’s largest classic car show, visitors to Hall 12 will once again find an array of classic models sporting the BMW and MINI badges. This year’s novelty is that practically all the cars and motorcycles displayed on the BMW stand will be the property of club members. “I am delighted that we have gone down a route with the clubs that will convey to visitors the fascination and enthusiasm generated by our products,” says Karl Baumer, Director of BMW Group Mobile Tradition.
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We believe in the old school BMW ownership experience. We believe in garage nights with a six pack and some friends. We believe in 2002s, in E30 M3s and E34 540s with the 6 speed. We believe in progress in both design and engineering but we haven't lost sight of what made the brand and its products great all those years ago. And yes, we believe in the manual transmission.
We long for the days of the wave and for the days of roll-up windows. Yet we love the gadgets on the inside and the xenons on the outside.
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Sections: E30 3 Series, Motorsport Jun 4th, 2010 No Comments 
