2008 Autocross Runoff
“Racing a car is an art form. Climbing into a car is giving me my instrument. The track in front of me is the sheet of music that I can express myself on”
-Rug Cunningham
Twenty years ago, our Chapter conducted a “King of the Hill“ Runoff, pitting class winners against each other in a 325ix from BMW of North America during our annual Spring Fling autocross. Now we´re fortunate to have seven autocrosses per year, each with independent results to keep the focus on fun rather than creating an intense rivalry for an annual points trophy. Instead, the return of an autocross runoff was inspired by the memory of Rug Cunningham and his legacy of friendly competition. Jeff Gerken, Center Operator of our autocross supporter Cunningham BMW, offered to create the Rug Cunningham Memorial Trophy to award to a BMW CCA member every year. As before, each class winner would compete for the best time in an identical car, this year a 135i provided by Cunningham BMW. Roundel´s Satch Carlson told the assembled crowd a great story: when the Stadium lot was used for vintage racing many years ago, Rug Cunningham sponsored a winner´s trophy. He competed in his personal Indy Car and proceeded to win the whole thing, and with it, brought home his own trophy! Though history sadly couldn´t repeat itself, our July 6th Runoff was a great beginning for a new San Diego Chapter tradition.
Winner in 4-cylinder Stock was Max Likhterman, driving down from Orange County in his 1981 320i, which he has entered in several autocrosses. The 4-cylinder Modified victory went to David Barrish, a serious autocrosser with a well-prepared and trailered 1976 2002. David was unable to return from his Lake Arrowhead home for Sunday, so his entry reverted to second place finisher Doug Patotzka, a huge E21 community fan with a turbocharged 1983 320i that finished less than half-a-second back from Barrish. In 6-cylinder Stock, the capability of current BMWs was well-demonstrated by Ed Shen in his 2008 535i 6-speed, outrunning some 335i´s and E46s in the process. Apparently nobody told Ed that heavier cars are supposed to be slower! Victorious in 6-cylinder Modified was Albert Pernia, who often brings his supercharged and well-sorted 2001 330Ci down from Irvine and into trophy territory.
Our Mini Cooper Class champion was a surprise, considering that we have such strong support and great drivers among our friends in the Mini community. One of them was kind enough to loan his Cooper S to Ted Drcar, whose X Class Porsche Carrera corded the rear tires and had to be retired. Last time that´ll happen: Ted went out and took the Mini Cooper Class by eight-tenths in a car he´d never driven before! In M Stock, Coronado´s Jeremy Sykes took his Z4 M Coupe to a 1.5 second victory, and his son Geoff, a newly-added Instructor, also trophied in the same car in Gold Class (though Instructors were not eligible for the Runoff). Endless tinkering helped Damon Martin to tweak his 1995 M3 into generating the fastest time M Modified Class, earning him the coveted Fastest Time of the Day (BMW) trophy. Damon spends a lot of time in Germany on business, and we suspect that he brought some BMW secrets back from the Fatherland. Out of the wonderful variety of non-BMWs participating on Saturday, from Corvettes to Porsches, from WRXs to a big honkin´ Dodge Magnum Hemi wagon, Henry Botkin emerged nearly 3 seconds ahead of the fray with his killer Camaro. And so the 8 participants in our 2008 Autocross Runoff were set ...
On Sunday morning, the run order was literally drawn out of a hat so nobody had an advantage of tire condition or pavement temperature. After getting 4 practice laps on the reverse-direction course in their own car, each driver would take 2 laps in the Cunningham 135i, with at least 30 minutes between drivers as others enjoyed the course for their timed runs. Corner workers were extra-vigilant to make sure no cones were ever-so-slightly displaced as each driver fought for every inch of track and hundredth of a second. The mighty 135i was impressively quick, though its paddle-shifted automatic was unfamiliar to most competitors with their 3-pedal cars. All of them enjoyed the 135i, finding it neutral enough to exhibit either understeer or oversteer. These cars have a great autocross future!
When the times were compiled, three drivers were bunched in the 96-second range, but Ted Drcar emerged with a 95.662 on his second lap to become our 2008 Autocross Runoff Champion! Ted does have 9 years of autocross experience, including SCCA, but the fascinating fact is that Ted drove his Porsche and a borrowed Mini Cooper on Saturday, then drove his wife´s X3 for practice on Sunday followed by the 135i. That´s 4 very different vehicles (rear engine, front wheel drive, all wheel drive) in two days! Ted showed us the true spirit of Rug Cunningham: drive for the sheer joy and challenge of it. Whether it was a vintage 125 hp Porsche 356 or his beloved 2002 Trans Am car or a modern M car, Rug reveled in extracting the most from whatever he drove. Just goes to show us that while we spend time and money improving our cars, sometimes it´s just as important to “modify” the driver. That comes with a lot of seat time, so keep using our autocross events to learn how to get the absolute most out of your car and yourself. Maybe we´ll be writing about YOU next year.
