We made it!

We finished the 2010 25 hours of thunderhill!!! We finished 5th in class. What an effort by this new team. From fabricating a new exhaust 15 minutes before the start, to making custom rear brake pads in the middle of the night, this team just never stopped. All the drivers did their job flawlessly with almost no damage to the white Lexus. The crew never missed a beat and worked as a well oiled machine. To finish this Severe Endurance Race is a major accomplishment and we did it well...!

This effort was truly dedicated to our friend Tim Nickel and he was definately riding with us the entire way....!

Minor injury

We broke a hub with about 2 hours left. We had to wait for a tow truck but fixed her and are back out with about 1hour/20 mins to go.

3 Hours To Go

Another good pit stop by the Grip Racing/Wilson Motorsports crew with just under 3 hours to go. The track is as greasy as ever, but the rain is holding off for now.

Twilight/morning

The crew finished up the new brake pads and repaired the exhaust early this morning. Kai ran a tough double stint with the first half having modest brakes (just sparks). We put te new custom pads in and te car was back to being great again. The track is down to one defined line through much of the course. If you dipboitside the line its muddy and like ice Cars were going off everywhere a few hours ago. Kai described it as being like the twilight zone with cars spinning of in every corner of every lap, as if choreographed. Beau has been in for about 2 hours. It's a bit foggy, cold and wet right now. We are still 5th in class.

Special thanks to our friend Shane Donley for hangin out and helping run the show...

Scott's Second Stint

Just hopped out of the car after a double stint in off-n-on rain conditions. About 3 hours behind the wheel in all. Had to work on conserving brakes while keeping a good pace. Concentrated on turn-in, good lines and mid-to-corner-exit speed. Enjoyed my battle with Dennis in the Mothers RX-8. Just before the end crested the top of the hill on the back side of the course to find all the reflectors missing and mud on the track. Took a ride over the slick exit curb and damaged the muffler. Finally time for some rest.

Scott Webb
scott@webbracing.com

Wow. We got busy

During Scott's fuel stop we noticed that our rear brake pads were gone again. We also discovered that we didn't have any spares. What we did fund was another Lexus is300 in the parking lot and talked the young owner (she was a little tipsy). Unfortunately we discovered her brakes were shot too. She did say we could keepthe car and use whatever we may need. So it's now part of our paddock space.

After all that we decided to make a set of pads from some front race pads we had. Justin and bob are busy gettin them done now.

We also lost our exhaust during this last stint, which fell off at the entry of pit lane. We called Scott in but since we didn't have the part yet we decided to send him back out to keep circulating. Meanwhile we have asked Scott to conserve both brakes and fuel. Not eAsy to do in a racecar. Luckily we got a full course caution which made everything easy, but we were running very low on fuel. So while Brian went to retrieve the exhaust we called Scott in, Johnny fueled the car and Kai hopped in the driver seat.

Kai is out there now with about 7.5 hours left...

We are in 5th place and it's 4:11 am.

Slippin and slidin

I just finished out the first round of double stints.
It's slick as hell and cars are off track everywhere and running into each other. The lexus was a handful but we stayed out of trouble. We had many yellows and two full course cautions. We came in in 5th place. Scott got back in after a fuel stop and tire rotation.

We were hit with a penalty for rotating all 4 tires when then officials stated we could only do 2. After pulling out the rulebook we found that it said nothing about only 2 tires. We kept Scott out instead of coming in for our 2 minute penalty and protested our penalty. Team owner Mark returned with good news and we were allowed to stay on track.

All things considered, things are good.

- Johnny

Johnny's 2nd Stint

Johnny Kanavas getting back in the car at 9:30pm.

Stopped on straight

They have stopped all cars on the front straight due to an incident in turn one. Race should resume in about 5 minutes. 15 hours to go.

Night

John has been running a consistent and clean stint in the dark and wet. Johnny is preparing to get in for a night stint. We will most likely stay on intermediate tires as it isn't raining that hard.

We are sitting around 7th in class.

Our best tool

This is our most important paddock item...

Brakes and John in

Just brought Beau in and did a back-paddock stop as we did a full brake pad change, tire change and driver swap. John is now in the car, on intermediate tires, with light rain. 17.5 hours to go...

Preventive maintenance

We brought our Lexus in for a little camber adjustment to help get some more life outa the tires. Durin the stop we discovered our rear brake pads were shot. We threw in some old pads for now and will change all four corners in a bit.

Endurance racing at it's best..

A bit of contact...

Just climbed out of the car a short while ago after a longer-than-normal stint behind the wheel due to a couple of unscheduled pit stops. Not long after I got behind the wheel I had side-to-side contact with an E2 class Integra through the high-speed kink that precedes the climb up the hill on the back section of the course. Having gotten along side the previous corner I thought for sure the driver of the Integra saw me on the inside - but clearly not. Perhaps it was because it was a right-hand-drive car and I was on the left side. But the result sent both cars off track at a high rate of speed, and caused damage to the #21 Lexus in the form of a cut tire, broken wheel and some new racing stripes down the side of the car in the shape of tires. After a quick stop, I rejoined the race none the worse for wear. We did make another stop several laps later to change another tire as a precaution and re-torque of lug nuts on the right side and 10 more gallons of fuel.

After that, the car ran just fine with the exception of a lumpy brake pedal. But leaving more room in the braking zones and carrying more mid-corner speed kept the lap times within our target. Traffic, as hinted at above, is quite a challenge right now. Everyone is excited and not paying as much attention as I had hoped. But no more contact that session, and plenty of passes.

We're presently 5th in the E1 class and gaining on our competitors. The weather man is calling for lots of rain starting at about 9 tonight. We'll see. Until next time...

23 hours to go

We are about 3 hours into the race.
Shortly before the start the crew thrashed to install a new muffler to help quiet the car as we were over the 95db limit.
Johnny took the green and finished out the first stint and the car was sitting 3rd in E3. Our pitstop timing was perfect as a caution came out right after we entered the pits, closing the pits to everyone on track. Unfortunately, not long after Scott took to the track, an E2 Acura came into contact with our Lexus, forcing us to pit. We had to replace a broken right front wheel before sending the car back out. Shortly after that we pitted again to address a vibration, changed a tire, topped off the fuuel and sent scott back out... So far so good and we are sitting in 6th place in E1, about 29th overall...

Race day

Today is race day! Team owner Mark McManus and all the drivers just did an interview for RevItUpRadio.net radio while the crew does the final buttoning up of the car. Weather is overcast but dry with the forecast of rain later and tomorrow. Johnny will start the race, followed by Scott.

Thinking about Tim Nickel...

As we prepare to do battle today, I can't help but think about Tim and much he would have enjoyed being part of this effort to get his car to the finish of this toughest of endurance races, although I know he's with us in spirit.

Qualifying and final prep...

After giving all the drivers some laps in the Lexus, we focused on getting the car ready for qualifying.

Qualifying was a bit messy. We never really got a clean lap and there were a few yellows and an eventual red-flag for the session due to a pretty nasty accident between a BMW and a Stock Car (driver had to be cut out of the car, but is ok)...
We ended up 5th in class (not sure where overall...) We made a slight setup change to the car and it worked well... Brian, Bob, Cliff, Mark, Brandon, and Justin did some final prep to the car, geting her ready for tomorrow's start.

The driver rotation for the race will be: Johnny, Scott, Beau, Kai, John

We are happy with our racecar and looking forward to the race... Stay tuned for updates through the entire 25 hour race.

Qualifying

Night practice/ qualifying is about to begin. We've made a slight change to the car and Johnny will take the car out. So far car is great.

Testing

We all made it to T-hill. About to go testing and work on the car's setup. Johnny will be in the car first, followed by some checking over. Scott will jump in after.

Grip Racing/Wilson Motorsports brings their Lexus to the 2010 25-Hours of Thunderhill

Grip Racing/Wilson Motorsports brings their Lexus to the 2010 25-Hours of Thunderhill

San Jose, CA (11.30.10): Grip Racing/Wilson Motorsports enters the #21 Lexus in the E1-class of the world’s longest sports car race, the 25-Hours of Thunderhill. The newly formed team owned and managed by Mark McManus and Bob Wilson, are out to prove something at this year’s “Severe Endurance Race”. “While not new to auto racing, the formation and partnership of Grip Racing and Wilson Motorsports as a new motorsports team and service company is a new endeavor. We have pulled out all the stops and put a lot of work and time into prepping our Lexus for this year’s “25”.” reports McManus.

The effort is in honor to the late Tim Nickel who recently passed away after losing his battle with cancer. The Lexus was Nickel’s racecar and he wanted nothing more than to see the car continue on racing. Tim’s positive attitude and passion for auto racing was infectious to those who knew him and obvious in his impeccably prepared Lexus. The effort will truly be a tribute to this great asset to the racing community and most importantly, a great person and friend.

Signing on with Grip Racing/Wilson Motorsports for the 25, will be drivers: John Klusendorf, Scott Webb, Johnny Kanavas, Kai Goddard, and Beau Borders. Both Klusendorf and Webb have already spent some time behind the wheel of the IS-300 in NASA’s 2010 Western Endurance Racing Championship [WERC]. Webb is also the 2009 E1-class championship of the WERC. Borders comes from a broad racing background, including sports cars and formula cars, both professional and amateur. Goddard, a professional driver, instructor, motorsports marketer returns to the 25 for his 2nd time. Kanavas is a professional driver and driving instructor who will be returning to the 25 for the 6^th time. Webb and Kanavas have a history of racing together as both teammates and competitors in several races, including “the 25”. “I’m really looking forward to this year’s 25. Being back with my old teammate Scott will be great and the guys at Grip Racing/Wilson Motorsports have really prepared a solid effort for what always seems to be a brutal test of endurance.” commented Kanavas.

Grip Racing/Wilson Motorsports welcomes partners and sponsors: PIAA, Motul, Slicart Custom Apparel, Fresno Tap Recycling, South Bay Driveline, Ground Control Suspension, eprodius, and CRU-DataPort to this year’s 25-Hour effort.

Follow the team’s effort at their live blog, which will feature live updates throughout the event: http://gripracing25.blogspot.com/

The white Lexus will be entered in the E1-class and will be running the number 21. The green flag flies @ 11:00am (pst) Saturday, Dec. 4 and runs through 12:00pm (pst) Sunday, Dec. 5 at Thunderhill Raceway Park.

Live timing & scoring of the event can be found at: http://www.drivenasa.com:8080/liveresults/champs

Partners & Links

Motul - www.motul.com

PIAA - www.piaa.com

Slicart Custom Apparel - www.slicart.com

Fresno Tap Recycling - www.fresno-taprecycling.com

South Bay Driveline - www.sb-driveline.us

Ground Control Suspension - www.ground-control-store.com

eprodius - www.eprodius.com

CRU-DataPort: www.cru-dataport.com

Johnny Kanavas - www.johnnykanavas.com

Scott Webb - www.webbracing.com

Beau Borders - www.beauborders.com

NASA Pro Racing - www.nasaproracing.com
25-Hours of Thunderhill - www.nasa25hour.com

Thunderhill Raceway Park - www.thunderhill.com

source _ eprodius

Welcome

Welcome to the Grip Racing/Wilson Motorsports blog site for the 2010 25-Hours of Thunderhill. Follow our effort live throughout the event. Our Lexus is #21 in the E1-class. Coverage will begin Friday Dec. 3 and the green flag flies 11:00am (pst) Saturday, Dec. 3.

Feel free to leave comments on our posts so we know who's out there...