BMW Team PRG Take on Laguna Seca

The green flag waved moments after the sun burned through the dense Northern California marine layer, but despite the improving track conditions, BMW Team PTG knew it was in for a challenging 2-hour and 45-minute race at Laguna Seca. In the previous two days, the team witnessed a 40hp difference that couldn’t be made up in the turns, a blown engine, and disappointing qualifying positions. When the three E-46 BMW M3s that make up BMW Team PTG’s American Le Mans team accelerated past the green flag in Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth qualifying positions, the team knew the next few hours would be filled with hard work. When, less than five minutes into the race, the Number 6 BMW with Johannes van Overbeek in the cockpit made contact with one of the Porsches team members shearing off the front right spindle and ending his day in the sand at turn two, the team knew its day was looking bleak. And when Niclas Jonsson, driver of the Number 10 BMW, radioed in with a mechanical problem that no one could diagnose, victory began to look utterly hopeless.

This is racing at its best, and it’s stories like these that create legends. But before racers can become legends, they must pay their dues at some of the most technical tracks in the world—this month it was Laguna Seca Raceway. Laguna Seca is a 2.238-mile road course that takes drivers through a total of eleven turns, along a front straightaway that incorporates turn one, and around North America’s most recognizable corkscrew, all in less than 1½ minutes. Add to that Laguna Seca’s northern location in Monterey, California, just minutes from the Pacific Ocean, and suddenly, an already-technical course is handed any number of unpredi- ctable weather conditions.

The race at Laguna Seca winds down the season for the American Le Mans. After this track, the teams finish the 12-race series by heading to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, followed by the last race of the season in Australia. Neither the Las Vegas or Australia tracks are conducive to the M3s’ power, or lack thereof, so BMW Team PTG knew Laguna Seca would be its last realistic chance of pulling off a victory for the remainder of the season. But with all the problems before the first five minutes of the race, frustration definitely loomed on the horizon.

Despite everything, BMW Team PTG was at an advantage over the previous year. The 2000 season brought the new 2001 E-46 M3 chassis as an E-36 replacement, and several welcome changes with it. The new chassis was more competent than the previous model. The E-36 M3 design was effective, but unfortunate chassis traits made the E-36 exceptionally hard on tires. The E-36’s wider rear track forced the BMWs onto their outer wheels through the turns, wearing hard on the tires. The suspension was set up with this in mind, attempting to force weight back to the inside track, and Yokohama, BMW Team PTG’s title sponsor, used specially designed tire compounds to make the M3s stick.

With the introduction of the E-46 came a stiffer chassis and boxier wheel placements—both of which were embraced by the team. The new wheel positioning situated the front and rear tires almost exactly the same distance from the vehicle’s centerline, resulting in better weight dispersion to all four corners throughout the turns. Although the driving style remained similar, as compared to the E-36 chassis, the E-46 offered a better dispersion of tire wear, resulting in more predictable handling for a longer duration. The improved weight distribution also allowed Yokohama to design harder compound tires for the BMWs as the tires could now work together through the turns, ultimately decreasing tire wear as well as lap times.

Adding to the difficulties BMW Team PTG faced at Laguna Seca was the essence of the American Le Mans. Although the M3s run some of the fastest laps in the GT class, the GT cars are forced to share the track with the much faster Prototype and GTS classes. The combination of classes occupying the track at the same time adds to the difficulty of the race, and often times challenges drivers more than any other racing series could, as even the leading cars in the GT class are lapped by the Prototypes.

But for now, none of this was a concern to Hans Stuck in the Number 7 M3 he was piloting, or his 31 years of racing experience. As far as he was concerned, his goal was simple—cleanly advance in the field from his Number Eight qualifying position to something a little more respectable, setting up a good position for the second half of the race—memories of Saturday’s blown engine must be forgotten. Approximately 1½ hours after the green flag waved, Hans found himself firmly in Second Place pulling into the pits for fuel, tires, and the mandatory driver change.

Keeping with the tradition of the European series, the American Le Mans requires a driver change at some point during the race. For BMW Team PTG, Brian Cunningham would replace Niclas Jonsson in the Number 10 M3. Peter Cunningham would have taken control of the Number 6 M3 from Johannes van Overbeek, if turn two had treated them better, and Hans Stuck was about to yield the Number 7’s drivers seat to Boris Said.

After the seemingly endless 40 seconds it takes to change tires, and more than one minute to top off the fuel cell, Boris Said revved the 420hp, 3.2L inline-six M motor, and followed pit lane to where it merges with the track shortly after unfriendly turn number two. With only one car separating BMW Team PTG from clenching victory, Boris set to work for the final hour of the race. The Number 10 M3 left the pits in Fourth Place, one up from its original qualifying position.

Although Boris found himself in Second Place, taking the checkered flag was going to be difficult, as the lead car was a Porsche with a hefty horsepower advantage over the M3. Although the M3s are fast in the corners, set up with a touch of oversteer, the First Place Porsche was driving away from Boris, and it was beginning to look like BMW Team PTG would have to settle for a Second Place finish. Suddenly, in an unexpected move, the lead Porsche entered the pits, radioing in with possible engine problems. While the Porsche crew diagnosed the cause, Boris piloted the Number 7 BMW into First Place and put a lap on the Porsche before the crew realized the culprit was a cracked exhaust manifold.

With less than 30 minutes remaining, the Number 2 Panoz in the Prototype class rounded turn six and ended his day in the wall, putting out the first and only full-course yellow. By the time the yellow flag came out, Boris Said was one lap over the Second Place car, and Brian Cunningham had firmly positioned himself in Third. When the green flag flew again, all but the Number 7 M3 raced forward—to the crowd, something looked terribly wrong. To the team, however, things were going better than they could have hoped. Boris was so far ahead of Second Place that he positioned the Number 7 M3 towards the back of the pack for the restart and drove the course seemingly alone until the checkered flag waved. One lap down, the number 23 Porsche 911 GT3 R picked up Second Place, followed by Brian Cunningham, pulling off a Third Place finish in the Number 10 BMW M3.

On the podium, Hans Stuck took the mic and let loose a victory yodel. Boris Said, meanwhile, had no time to celebrate—he was changing suits and heading to the Trans Am team he also races for, as the Trans Am Series race was already taking the track. After Niclas Jonsson and Brian Cunningham made their podium speeches, the team headed back to the trailers to load the cars and equipment and move on to the next track. For BMW Team PTG there would be one night to celebrate before driving to Las Vegas for the next race—hopefully followed by another celebration.

Yokohama and BMW Team PTG

With its name clearly spanning the hood and fenders of the three 2001 M3s that make up BMW Team PTG, Yokohama has made itself a force to be reckoned with in the American Le Mans. Since 1984, when Yokohama got its start in motorsports, through today, where Yokohama finds itself actively involved in American Le Mans, off-road racing, CART/Toyota Atlantics, Grand American, Formula Ford 2000, and various club racing series, Yokohama is continuously taking victories on the track and applying them to its range of street tires.

In some cases, however, the tables are turned. Consider the Yokohama AVS Sport tire, which is designed for street vehicles, utilizing aggressive tread designs to channel water away from the tire in order to maintain contact with the road. After tests were run on the AVS Sport, Yokohama realized those same water dispersion characteristics not only could, but should, be applied to the track. Yokohama set to work and, utilizing tire technology from the street, created wet-weather tires that now run on eight cars in the American Le Mans Series.

As an involved sponsor of BMW Team PTG, Yokohama has taken it upon itself to work closely with BMW Team PTG to create tires specific to the M3s and the 12 tracks of the American Le Mans. In doing so, BMW Team PTG has race tires that are specifically designed for the weight distribution and chassis characteristics of the E-46 M3s. When BMW Team PTG utilized the E-36 M3, Yokohama designed a tire that complemented the chassis. Due to the wider rear track of the E-36, the weight would transfer to the outside during cornering. To compensate, Yokohama designed softer tires, allowing the M3s to ride on the outside wheels without losing valuable time in the turns. Unfortunately, the side effect was hasty tire wear. When the E-46 M3 arrived, the chassis was square, resulting in better tire usage through the turns. Seeing this, Yokohama worked with BMW Team PTG to design completely new race tires for the 2000 season. The new race tires utilize a harder compound than before, as the E-46 relies upon the inside wheels more than the E-36 did, translating to gradual tire wear. The result is a car that retains its handling characteristics for a longer duration of the race, allowing drivers to concentrate on the track as opposed to a continuously changing chassis set up.

Yokohama’s evolution in tire technology not only makes cars perform better but also makes them safer. Without tires that are matched to the performance of a vehicle, tires would be utterly destroyed by the power and performance of the car. Because of this, Yokohama is constantly improving its race and street tires with the hopes that its tires will always be at least one step above a vehicle’s requirements. As Yokohama works closely with the American Le Mans and BMW Team PTG, tire technology finds its way from the track to the street quickly. As a result, today’s street tires are far better than race tires of 20 years ago, and street tires in another 20 years will undoubtedly outperform those used on racecars today.