BODYMOTION at the Track

BODYMOTION RACING WINS TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP      DR. TIM FOX WINS DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP

INAUGURAL 2011 SEASON: INTERCONTINENTAL TROPHY CUP SERIES CROWNS CHAMPIONS AT ROAD AMERICA

The 2011 season ended in spectacular fashion this October 7-9 here at one of America 's most beautiful, fastest race tracks. The Road America track is over 4.0 miles in length and resides in rolling hills, west of Lake Michigan in the Wisconsin farmland. Air temperatures reached 80 degrees in the afternoon and barely a cloud was seen all weekend. Friday's practice was less than ho hum with speeds approaching 150 mph. Neither Bodymotion Racing's drivers, points leader by one point entering the weekend, Brian Kimmins, nor his team mate Tim Fox had driven their P-1 class ITC Cayman S race cars at the circuit before. Both drivers were quickly up to speed as the Bodymotion crew, along with driver coach's made adjustments to fine tune for optimal lap times.  Both drivers lapped within tenths, and often hundreds of a second of each other. The #20 Cayman S of Brian Kimmins became the first victim of the notorious back stretch "kink". This 110 mph right hand jog can bite back hard, so when Brian reported that he had merely gone off track we were relieved. However the crew had to replace the front splitter, brakes ducts, under trays and front fascia so the car could return to the track later the same day.

The ITC team of Fox and Kimmins were joined by Jersey Shore PCA drivers Charles Belluardo and Mike Gussis. Both of their Bodymotion prepared Cayman S's are generation one cars (2006-2008 non-DFI) and thus ran in the P-2 class. Charley raced with the ITC season regulars and won his first ITC race on Saturday, congrats to C.B. Since Mike Gussis did not have a full roll cage, he was only permitted to practice with the ITC group.

As previously mentioned, the championship in P-1 was up for grabs; Kimmins entering the weekend with a narrow lead meant that whoever won the race weekend would capture the title. The pressure was on as each focused harder on even the most minor details. The radio communication had coaches down to feet and inches on apex, turn in and brake points. These guys were on their game for Saturday's race. A weekend add on was inserted into the p-2 class, besides for Charley B., the Isringhausen Porsche Cayman S #58 was rented to Porsche driver Mark White from Accumototo Racing.

The standing start went perfect while the crew, trackside could still smell a wisp of burning clutch, even after two laps!  The Fox-Kimmins battles for the lead of the race, and the championship, was on in turn one. These guys ran clean, nose to tail for the entire race, Fox ahead, then a pass, then Kimmins with Fox in pursuit. Lap times under 2:30 seconds the entire way up to the 45 minute mark, Kimmins ahead with a comfortable lead, then, with just a few laps to go, a full course caution!  Up to that point, just behind the leaders, Charley Belluardo, was slugging it out with Isringhausens' Skip Cloar.  Skip and Charley swapped positions on track and were never more than a half a second apart. Charley ran wide on left hand turn eight and Skip went to pass him, but could not complete the move before they entered the carousel. Nose to tail they accelerated up the back stretch into the kink. Charley, protected his line but was early on entry, as he tried to correct the left rear came out from under him and contacted the outside retaining wall at over 100 mph.  The instant reaction of the car was to snap back and the left front contacted the same wall bouncing the car back on track directly in front of Skips oncoming Cayman. The 58 car contacted Charley's #37 on the right front fender and door tearing the nose from Skips' car. Both drivers shaken but uninjured. Both cars were flat bedded back to the Bodymotion infield paddock.

Because of the amount of leaking fluid from the 37 car, now on a flatbed in front of me in our paddock, I advised our crew, by radio to inform the race stewards that there must be a considerable amount of fluid on track at or near the collision site. We were assured that the track had been properly cleaned and inspected.  With less than five minutes left, the race was restarted and would come to a one lap shoot out between the three P-1 one cars and the one P-2 car. On the restart the 20 car edged ahead and was pursued by the 14 and 58, four miles to settle the issue. Coming into the last turn onto the front straight, the lead car Brian Kimmins #20, racing for his first championship, was hit from behind by the 58 car. Minor damage but the interruption of power application allowed the Tim Fox #14 to pull alongside the 58 car as all searched to accelerate in what would become a drag race to the checkered flag. The 58 car in the middle bounced off both the 14 and 20 leaving the black tire "donuts" on both cars. Tim managed to cross the finish line ahead of the Kimmins car by a narrow margin. Not the type of excitement we expected as Brian voiced his displeasure with the driver of the 58. Mark White became a factor in a race that should have been settled between two drivers battling for the points. A racing incident that otherwise would not have caused much of a fuss, but because of the importance of the finishing position in the race and the outcome it would have on the season long point battle it wound up possibly causing Brian the title.

So the points battle was to move to Sundays race, who ever won that last race of the season would win the first ever ITC championship.

At this point, I was secure in the knowledge that Bodymotion Racing would win its first ever, series championship. So why was it so much drama and intensity for me? Other than having to deal with two badly wrecked race cars and those drivers, I felt, more than ever, that our crew needed to provide both of the championship contenders with equally matched, reliable cars. How would you feel if a mechanical problem decided the winner versus driver skill and ability? So we went about the business of making sure both cars were ready for the next and final battle to be held the next day, on Sunday October 9th.

A beautiful autumn day, not a typical "get away day", but instead, a tense" everything up in the air" day, waiting to see how everything settles. As the handicappers would say, six of one, half dozen of the other, the odds were even, it was up to the drivers to decide, and decide it they did. Tim Fox ran the race of his life, not missing a mark and building a lead over Brian Kimmins that seemed insurmountable. Until Geoff Isringhausen crash in turn 13. Once again a badly wrecked car with no driver injury (physical) that required several full course safety car laps. This erased the lead of Tim Fox as Brian drove his heart out in pursuit after the restart. In the end it was Tim Fox to get to the checked flag first. As you can see in the photos, the first thing the drivers did was a big team hug, now the crew could breathe a sigh of relief as the champagne soaked us all under the bright blue Wisconsin sun.

Team BODYMOTION Wins in Miami, Maintains 1ST Place in ITC Championship May 21 & 22, 2011

May 21,2011, team Bodymotion headed south, very south for the ITC second round at Miami/Homestead Speedway. The team was informed, as the cars were being loaded in NJ, that due to the progressive banking, Hoosier recommended that suspension set- ups be adjusted to more conservative levels. This because the banking causes over loading on the outside tires and could cause tire failure.

So before the trip started the team unloaded and realigned both the 14 and 20 cars. The delay caused us to hit rush hour traffic in Washington DC and lengthened the 28 hour tip to Miami to 32 hours.  

When Saturdays practice session was about to take place, we learned that the banking would NOT be used. So instead of the Grand-Am course, we used the club course. The team did a great job re-aligning both cars in time for the session. Both cars practiced at the top of their classes and no problems were noted. 

Qualifying had the 20 car on the pole, earning Brian Kimmins the first ever "Forgeline Wheels" pole award, an oversize novelty check for $500 (the real one is in the mail Brian) was presented during the post race ceremonies. Tim Fox in the 14  car  started in the second row.  Brian took the green flag and stayed at the front for most of the race in the #20 Cayman. The #14 car of Tim Fox, literally fell on its face as the green flag dropped. "it's dead! Tim shouted on the team radios "I think I blew it up!"

The engine management system had put the car into "limp" mode, delivering only 50% available power. Tim reported the problem over the radio and helped the team diagnose the problem while he was completing his first lap. He was able to drive around at reduced speed and come down Pit road. The computer was reset and off he went, unfortunately a lap down to Brian in the 20 car and the rest of the field.

During the closing laps the overheated brakes were causing Brian and his spotter Rob Slonaker, to adjust braking points. During this late race adjustment Brian bobbled a shift and temporarily lost the lead. Most would have flustered and over drove an already ailing car after 45 minutes of getting beat on, However brian kept his cool and passed the leader in the closing laps to take the win and the checkered flag. Brian led most of the laps and won his first race. It was very exciting to hear on the radio and watch from the pits. Brian and  spotter/coach Rob drove a great race.

The crew had its work cut out for them to get both cars ready for Sundays second round. The 20 car got new brakes and new rear calipers, the 14 car got a complete physical. We found the suspect and attempted a repair, we did not have a spare crankshaft position sensor, no one else did either (now we do). We went into the second race with crossed fingers.

The starting position was set by draw. We drew the second row, better for Tim because if the same thing happened as the day before, and he was in front of another car, a huge wreck might happen. Sure enough, as soon as Tim mashed the accelerator coming to the green flag, the engine went limp. We instructed him, while on track, to cycle the ignition switch off and back on. It worked! For now as he worked his way thru the field . Tim went to the front and led  40 minutes of the race, as he stretched his lead, the limp monster came back.

Tim was able to recycle the key every time and still maintain the lead but it was shrinking. With just a few laps left, in the infield with Skip Cloar right on his bumper, it died again, this time not enough momentum to get it fired and lost the lead and the race. Congratulations to winner Skip Cloar and the Isringhausen team. A  well run race, great strategy and they put themselves in position at the right time without over using their car.  We look forward to round three, June 25 th at Sebring International.

INTERCONTINENTAL TROPHY CUP CELEBRATES ITS INAUGURAL RACE AT NEW JERSEY MOTORSPORTS PARK  APRIL 15-17 2011 

 The newly formed ITC series principles made the trip from Indianapolis Ind. to officiate over its first series race. The series principle Doug Livingston and his staff did a great job organizing and making this series a reality. Actually the weekend had two ITC races, also separate practice, qualifying and race sessions were held both Saturday and Sunday. This format will follow through the season (except of course Lime Rock Fri.-Sat).

 For New Jersey the Cayman only series had six cars so we had our race within the regular scheduled NASA race group. That group, chock full of Corvettes, Vipers, BMW's and Porsche GT3 Cup cars is the fastest race group of the NASA regional series. So we were competing against the other Caymans in ITC, but also against the other NASA entrants for over all position.

The Bodymotion liveried entries of Dr. Tim Fox and Brian Kimmins ran the practice day (Friday 15th) to get their new cars tuned for the track, Dr. Tim, driver of the #14 Fox Rehabilitation/Bodymotion Racing Cayman S is a member at NJMP and has had time on the circuit. Brian Kimmins, driver of the #20 Bodymotion Racing Cayman S had not, so he had to learn the new car and the track in quick fashion.

Our drivers were assisted and supported by the Bodymotion Racing Grand Am crew including, my wife Margaret, car chiefs Paul Schwarz and Geoff Abel, Brian, Patrick and Jeff Nowell and Bodymotion tech Patrick Gumley. The crew also supported NJMP and Jersey Shore PCA member Michael Criscito. Mike pilots a spec Boxster and he had his first top ten finish overall from a top 30 start.

 As they say if we had a dollar for every photo taken, we might be able to do Daytona next year.                  The crowd and spectators enjoyed the paddock hospitality courtesy of Fox Rehab.

Driver coaches and data analysis experts, Rob Sloanaker and Bill Buff Jr. rounded out the team to give Bodymotion the top qualifying spots both days. Consistent lap times in the 1:12 range were occasionally trumped with a 1:11 or so to earn us the top two start position in ITC's first event ever, anywhere. We actually qualified in the first two to four rows overall in every session                                                     

Bodymotion wants to thank all of the club members who made the drive down to check out the series and the racing and to cheer us on. I counted two dozen people on the roof of our transporter. And we did not disappoint!!! Our guys finished one-two!!! Congratulations to all as the new ITC P-1 point leaders head for Miami-Homestead for the second round on May 21, 2011. For more information on this race, future races and the ITC series please visit: www.trophycupracing.com                                                                  

We have finally finished unloading from last weeks event at NJMP. We are very gratified that every one in the DE last Wednesday and Thursday did so well, a fun and very safe event with little or no incidents. The Club race was shared by advanced DE drivers and the fun continued through the enduros on Sunday. Congratulations to all of our club racers where no serious incidents occurred, no driver or team sanctions for rules or driving where accessed. It was a very long weekend for us as we had a full paddock, which made for a great weekend. Fun Fact: 18 cases of water, 10 cases of Gatorade and about 500 pounds of ice where consumed through the six day event. A very big thank you to Margaret for preparing, cooking, serving, cleaning up, and generally keeping everything running smoothly throughout the weekend, it could not have been what it was without her.

First up was the JSR DE on Wednesday and Thursday August 25 and 26. We started on Tuesday, August 24 with set up for the next days DE day. Wednesday morning began with tech inspections at 7:00. The duties were shared between JSR members who stayed over in the area or came down first thing to make the early start. Over 160 cars were checked out between Wednesday and Thursday. With tech inspections taken care of it was time to head out on track. There were a lot of fresh faces at this event and it was very gratifying to see so many of those new members who have attended our meetings at the track anxious to get on track. There were so many smiles you could not count them all.

With the Schattenbaum Club Race right after the DE, there were many drivers from neighboring regions, including perennial Porsche track-side fixture Pete Tremeper, who was lending his talents to the PA system. A big thanks has to go to the many seasoned veterans from all over who volunteered their time to instruct and help the newcomers. Their help and generosity insured that the many newcomers had a great time and were able to get the most out their time at the track. The JSR board did a great job of planning, scheduling and handling the entire behind the scenes logistics to pull this event off, our sincerest thanks for the long hours spent by Greg Pfremmer, Rob Cimler et al. Also thanks to Jerry Nelson and his staff from Schneider + Nelson Porsche for their generous contribution to subsidize our track day. Without them we would not have the ability to hold this and future events. And a final thank you, to everyone who attended from all of us, we had a great time and look forward to seeing more of you at more track days next year.

After the JSR DE things got a little more serious with the start of the Club Race weekend hosted by the Schattenbaum region. Bodymotion Racing supported 15 drivers and their cars including the previous two days under drivers education guidelines. These drivers included Greg Pfremmer, Tom Gieger, Anthony Castranova, Frank Bennet, Dr. Ash Bhattacharya, and John Yurish. Schattenbaum also hosted a DE for advanced drivers during the weekend. These drivers, guided only by their skill and good judgment while on track, had a great opportunity to continue on from the two previous days and really hone their skills. Bodymotion supported Jeffrey Nowell, Bobby Chopra and David Greenman during this portion of the race weekend. Club racers, Charley Belluardo, Jim Pappas, Marc Devoe, Steve Dabney, Scott Leder, Mike Criscito and Fred Chin and our very own Mike Bavaro were under the care of Bodymotion's trackside support staff. Crew members included: Paul Schwarz, Peter MacIntosh Jr., Nick Belluardo, Ross Devoe, Anthony Demaio, and Patrick Nowell. The crew worked together to keep all the cars on track, safe and competitive.   Bodymotion added more depth to the support program by having certified driving instructor and data analysis engineer Bill Buff Jr. to assist all of the drivers to improve their on track skills. Bill's instruction and analysis proved invaluable as the weekend progressed. Despite deteriorating track conditions as the weekend progressed, all of the drivers were able to improve their lap times.

The schedule for the weekend consisted of practice on Friday, then three thirty minute sprint races on Saturday, with a one hour enduro rounding out the weekend on Sunday. The group supported by Bodymotion Racing gathered several class and overall wins, several runner up and about a dozen podium finishes. The highlight was Charley Belluardo's H class win in the enduro on Sunday. Charley, along with crew chief Schwarz, wore down the competition with consistent lap times and a perfect pit stop. A good time was had by all, especially those who attended Thursday night's chimenea marshmallow roast sponsored by those bad boys at Seaboard Welding/Fire Safety. 15 pounds of steak, 8 cases of beer and 10 bottles of wine attested to the strength, bravery and fortitude of the Bodymotion contingent and their guests. This is one of the busiest race weeks we have all year and lived to tell about it. Join us next year it is sure to be a lot of fun, we will be there.

Thanks to everyone who came out and we look forward to seeing everyone at an upcoming event. And if you would like to join in the fun just let us know, we will be heading to the historic Watkins Glen soon, as well as a return to NJMP in October. In the mean time check out this video featuring two of Bodymotion's Customers dicing it up in the Blue group. Speaking of future events, PLEASE MARK 10/10/10 on your calendars and plan to participate in the Jersey Shore PCA's 50th anniversary celebration. We need all of the founding membership to come and bring their classic rides and families, this will be an unforgettable event for all the members young and old.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRGcaf47HNQ

                                                                                                                                                                                                     

GrandAm WEEKEND at NJMP

The Grand Am Rolex Series came to New Jersey Motorsports Park July 17-19. Live Speed TV coverage highlighted the weekend's big news, the heat. Drivers were sent to the medical facility at the track in alarming numbers. The intense heat, bright sunshine and Louisiana-like humidity combined for a one-two-three punch. Crews and officials also wilted under the steamy conditions. This years event was marked by a first, the support race to the Grand Am pro race was a special Porsche Club of America sanctioned Club race. Invitees were seasoned racers only which made up quite an impressive field of Porsches; from 70's vintage open top 914's, through 80's 944's, 911 SC and Carreras into the more modern liquid Boxster, Cayman, GT3 and Cup cars. It was quite an array and the spectators were clearly delighted. In fact, the in-field crowd was the largest we have seen in the past three years and the corner grandstands were all full. Many PCA members stopped by the Bodymotion paddock to say hello and get a respite from the sun. During the Grand Am races we had live timing and scoring on our monitors and also had our flat screen TV with the live satellite broadcast to keep us all informed.

The Jersey Shore region was represented with some of its best cars, drivers, crew and support. My wife Margaret, Nick Belluardo, and I provided the support to keep our guys running and help them to be comfortable and quick on track. Bill Buff Jr. was on hand to provide data analysis and driver coaching for Mike Criscito. 

Tom Ross brought his 968 turbo, fresh from the Robin Hood rally competition last month.Tom improved his lap times through all of his practices and was able to win his class in both the Saturday and Sunday sprint races. Congratulations to Tom for a great drive. 

 

Also representing JSR was Marc and Ross DeVoe. Marc's #14 911 Carrera suffered a broken throttle spring during Saturday's event. Fortunately Marc was able to safely bring the car to a stop off track. He and his crew chief, Ross fashioned a replacement and was able to return to compete on Sunday.     

Charley Belluardo's newly acquired Cayman ran flawless all weekend. Charley has been diligent in his conversion from driving 911's for the last 10 or more years. He seems more relaxed and eager to push the limits on this new platform. The # 37 car bested all in its class during qualifying and most of the cars in higher classes going on to win the group in Saturday's grueling hot 30 minute sprint race.  It was during Sunday's race, on the first lap that Charley chose to use the turn one runoff area rather than take him and possibly other competitors out. Charley could not re-enter the track until every single car went by, this was also a class move as he most certainly would have caused an unsafe condition or even a crash had he darted back out into traffic. His in-car video shows how many cars he passed as he headed back from last place to finish on the podium in class. Watch this edited video and you get an idea of how much fun this competition can be. Charley's Charge

 



 

Our newest Jersey Shore member is also the newest provisional racer in the field. Rumson's Mike Criscito and his spec Boxster with Bodymotion livery débuted in his first PCA race. Mike has competed in NASA races before, but this was his first ever PCA event.

Mike's # 878 is a 2.5 liter 200 hp 97, basically stock Boxster. There were several other spec Boxsters and some in other classes as well. Mike did well as he is perfecting the technique of momentum racing (see last months Shoreline article for info on this).

Mike found out on Saturday that when you leave the paved surface of any track, unintentionally, at speed, there is usually a consequence. NJMP, since it caters to all types of racing, including motorcycles, has large runoff areas. This helps to minimize impact speeds, and in most case's, helps to avoid contact at all.  Almost all, as in Mike's incident at the very fast, turn four right hander. In the Boxster it is taken almost flat out, but the pavement was a bit too narrow on Saturday. Mike brushed the tire wall with minimal contact. The Bodymotion crew quickly went to work to restore the ripple effect that tire walls have on Porsche sheet metal.

On Sunday Mike was confident under the tutelage of Bill Buff Jr. With Bill on the radio he was able to lap the Thunderbolt circuit 4 seconds faster than the previous day (and stay on track). Mike finished second in class and should be proud of a podium finish at his first two PCA races. Great job Mike.

Mike's wife, Rita Criscito, was spectating from various vantage points, the Bodymotion paddock, the timing and scoring tower, and from pit road. She got some great photos and video of the weekend. Check this out on You Tube:    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXkjHzolpTY&feature=email

                                                                                                                                                                                                     

JERSEY SHORES INAUGURAL POCONO TRACK DAY           

 

 

Some of the board members and organizers of our first driver education event at Pocono International Raceway met up the preceding evening for dinner. They made plans for early morning activities in preparation for a full day at PIR's North Course. The rest of us made the two hour trip the next morning, leaving the shore area around 5 AM Friday July 9, 2010.

We all met up at the North Course paddock and submitted our vehicles for the requisite tech inspection. Then on to the registration folks, and for some of us with little or no Pocono experience, there was the required classroom session. All of these necessary steps provided by club members, for participants to help insure a fun, safe day, on and off track. It 's great to see all of the folks that volunteered to make this event go off without a hitch. The tech line went smooth and quick, as did the classroom. Members were treated to a non-intimidating look at the course, safety workers, flags and on and off track etiquette. And it all worked!

We had about an incident free day as you could wish for. The 100 degree temperatures we had all week had subsided to mid seventies for most of the partly cloudy day. We all have to give a hats off the hard working all volunteer staff that organized and carried out this day. Greg Pfremmer, Rob Cimler, Phil Kim, and Mike Gusssis did a great job, as I am sure there were more club members on, and,  behind the scenes. Also a well deserved THANK YOU!  to ALL of the instructors that showed, some with two or more students. Multiple students  makes for a long day,  without you guys,  we could not have enticed so many new club members to give DE and our club a shot. A special round of Kudos go to the guys that came to instruct only. That's right, maybe you weren't aware that some guys like Brian Nowell and Jose Roque and others did not even get out on track with their own cars.

 














This was a great, safe day and it shows how a small club can work together and have a good time. We look forward to all who attended to spread the word, and sign-up while there is still room for our next event. That event is a two day in August. Wednesday the 25th and Thursday the 26th at New Jersey Motorsports Park. This event precedes the Schattenbaum Club race which will be held the following three days. If your not a racer, you may want to stick around as Schattenbaum has openings for the next three days in their advanced DE sessions during race weekend. We always have a great time, what's not to like? Five days at the track beats any five days at work. We hope to see you all there.