The Nasa 25 Hours of Thunderhill is the longest endurance race in North America and one of the iconic US motorsports events around. With an eclectic mix of drivers from: Rolex Daytona Prototype drivers Mark Wilkins, Anthony Lazzaro, Michael Valiante, Jon Fogarty, Burt and Brian Frisselle; American Le Mans Series driver Johannes van Overbeek, Memo Gidley; Indy Lights driver Troy Castaneda; sports car ace Randy Pobst, Formula Drift Driver Tyler McQuarrie and many more!!
One of My Life at Speed’s favorites was the Reign Motorsports BMW who took a 3rd place in the E3 Class with Drivers Inc.stunt driver Brett Smrz, DirtFish Rally School’s Aleks Altberg, Derek DeBoer, James Colborn, and David Wheaton.
In years past Actors like Patrick Dempsey and Paul Walker have also competed in the Series.
The car to watch this year was the 034 Motorsports Audi TTRS. This is the first appearance the car has made to the U.S. Shipped over from Germany this production based touring car is a front wheel drive, 2.5 litre 372hp track monster. More specs can be found on the 034 Motorsports’ site (http://www.034motorsport.com/audi-ttrs-race-car-vln-24h-a-302.html)
The Audi TTRS climbed into the first place postion after a few hours on course, but unfortunately had a issue with the transmission 126 laps into the race unable to finish the 25hr. It was heartbreaking for the entire team. One of the drivers, Robb Holland, described his feeling as being “gutted”.
The most interesting vehicle to hold first place for a number of hours in the evening was #66 Lynam Racing Silverado. Yes this fire breathing NASCAR Truck was leading the pack over Radicals, a Panoz GTS, and Porsche 997 cup cars. The great story about the Lynam Racing Group was that it was piloted by 2 drivers. Troy Lindstrom was behind the wheel for a blistering 8 hours his first stint in the car. Car #66 ended up in 3rd place in ES Class 652 Laps
So who took the win you might ask? Well it was car #00 Motorsport Solutions/Ehret Family Winery Porsche 997 Cup Car, driven by Memo Gidley, Pierre Ehret, Anthony Ward and Tyler McQuarrie. I’ve been following Tyler’s career in Formula Drift since 2008, it was great to see him out running on a grip course!
So what are the classes for the 25hr of Thunderhill? Most cars can be classified under NASA rules 6 Classes ranging from E0 to E3 and ES and ESR. I learned that ES and ESR are allowed full fueling restops and are allowed to change all 4 tires at one stop. E0-E3 classes can only add 10 gallons of fuel at a time and can only change out 1 tire per pitstop.
Great Stats taken from http://www.nasa25hour.com/
-70 cars took the green flag.
-47 cars took the checkered flag.
-Winner covered 679 laps or 1,953 miles
-Largest single make in the race was 27 Mazda Miatas.
-Oldest car in the race a 1969 Datsun 510, newest 2013 Mazda2, 2013 Scion FR-S, 2013 Acura ILX (2)
-Fast lap of the race was put in by the No. 17 Davidson Racing Norma, a time of 1:42.999 on lap 66.