# BMWs sweep E0 at 2009 25 Hours of Thunderhill



## scottn2retro (Mar 20, 2002)

Hi All - Team Nitto Tire/Bullet Performance won the E0 class of the 25 Hours with 2 other BMWs completing the E0 podium. Their e36 M3 (black/green #95) was fast and the team was able to battle around a cracking header in the 2nd half of the race to take the victory. Their Bullet #2 team mates in the orange e36 Jaegermeister car finished 2nd with the white Yahoo car from Vancouver took 3rd in class. It was the 3rd time the Bullet Performance BMW team from Costa Mesa, Ca. has won the 25 Hours. This also made it the 3rd year in a row that Nitto NT01 tires were on the E0 class winning car. This year, the top 3 finishers in E0 were on NTO1s.

NASA Race Results:
http://www.drivenasa.com/liveresults/25hour/

Some pics on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=164669&id=102793526753&ref=mf

Lots of BMWs this year, which was great to see. BMWs are definitely becoming one of the preferred vehicles (along with Mazdas) at the longest endurance race in North America (and there were quite a number more not shown below):


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## ffej (Aug 17, 2005)

I know a bunch of guys who were involved with different teams - you probably know a bunch of them, too, Scott. That race really is brutal. MANY cars end up having issues. Nicely done on the class win!


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## scottn2retro (Mar 20, 2002)

Definitely a lot of familiar faces from BMW Club Racing and the BMW community in the paddock as BMWs and Mazdas continue to take over as the cars of choice to try to take on this monumental race.

Check out the entry list from the NASA site:
http://www.nasa25hour.com/


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## scottn2retro (Mar 20, 2002)

More pics:


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## Zippycar (Jun 1, 2005)

*25 Hours of Thunderhill Driving the #72*

I was one of the co-drivers of the #72 BMW. (The White, Red and Blue M3) The 25 hours of Thunderhill was a wonderful experience. Our Fall-Line prepared M3, an ex Koni Challenge Car was absolutely perfect for 21 hours and 49 minutes. Our team, James Hamman, Dave & Cooper MacNeil and Randy Probst, did a wonderful job of driving and protecting the car to go the distance. It is a totally different mind set and game plan to race for 25 hours. 81 cars started the race and the attrition rate is close to 80%+ So many things can and will go wrong.

What is so great about the race is that you have so many variables in cars and drivers. Driving with the Flying Lizard's, Johannes van Overbeek, Jon Fogarty, Rich Walton and Todd Grantham. Not to mention keeping an eye out for Wolf Henzler in the rear view mirror, kept things lively, especially at night. The Track was such a fun course to drive. Three miles, 14 turns and two hills (Jumps if you took them too fast) and lots of run out space if you forgot where the apex was.

Team Weather Tech/Fall-Line Motorsports had a great race. For 22 hours #72 was in the top ten, and never lower than 9th. With three hours left to go, we were in fourth place and going for third, when a broken serpentine belt caused low oil pressure and the engine to seize up.

The Weather Tech / Fall-Line BMW performed flawlessly up until this point. Thanks to Jim- for the car, Dave and Cooper and especially our "hot shoe" Randy Pobst.

Special thanks go to our crew. The Guys at Fall-Line Motorsports who built and prepaired a wonderfully performing and fast M3 for our 25hr challenge. Their dedication to keeping us going at all hours- right up to the end... Is very much appreciated. Thank you!!!

We will be back next year... Oh yes... Next year!!!!

p.s. The Blue #16 is my car - The Blue Devil. It is an identical car to the #72, so we brought her out and used it as a practice car and she ended up being a parts car for car #70 our other team. #70 was a M3 with a 500+HP BMW DP engine in her with a sequential transmission. Uber Fast but she did not hold together. Sometimes Less _IS_ more 



















Any questions... just ask!


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## Zippycar (Jun 1, 2005)

Here are a few more pics of the 25 Hour Race:


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## Zippycar (Jun 1, 2005)




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## scottn2retro (Mar 20, 2002)

Thanks for posting. Here is the Nitto press release on a Tire Dealer web site:

http://www.moderntiredealer.com/New...s-podium-at-2009-25-Hours-of-Thunderhill.aspx

*Nitto Tire sweeps podium at 2009 25 Hours of Thunderhill*

Race teams from around the world gathered in Northern California to compete in the world's longest endurance race, the 2009 25 Hours of Thunderhill. The race requires teams to drive throughout the night for 25 hours straight. At the end of 25 hours the team with the most laps in each class is declared the winner. Nitto sponsored team, Bullet Performance, ran in the E0 class, which is the fastest class that requires drivers to use street-legal tires. They won first place running Nitto's NT01 road race radial. The second and third place teams also ran Nitto's NT01s to round out the class podium. This is Nitto's third consecutive class win at the 25 Hours of Thunderhill.

Team Nitto Tire/Bullet Performance started the race strong, qualifying in the pole position amongst 17 class competitors. When asked about qualifying driver Brett Strom explained, "I qualified on tires that we had been testing hard on for two days. It is a testament to the NT01 that even after numerous heat cycles it can throw down a very fast lap and then go on to last forever during an endurance race."

After 25 hours of racing and 682 laps completed, Bullet Performance took first place. In addition to winning first place, the team set a class record for the most laps completed. Rounding out the podium was Andiamo Racing/Bullet Performance 2, who completed 675 laps, and Team The BMW Store 2, who completed 668 laps. All three teams ran Nitto's NT01 D.O.T.-compliant road race radial.

In addition to sweeping the podium at the 25 Hours of Thunderhill, Nitto took home an additional win in the Western Endurance Racing Championship (WERC), which holds a six-hour endurance race concurrently with the 25 Hours of Thunderhill. Team Project Scion competed in the E1 class with Nitto NT01s. Along with the class win, the team took home the series championship. Footage of the races will air on the Versus channel in early 2010. For more information and a schedule of air times, visit http://www.versus.com/schedule.

"We are extremely happy with the performance of the NT01," said Harry Kong, from Nitto's marketing department. "Winning first-, second- and third-place finishes is a great testament to the NT01's durability and performance."


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## scottn2retro (Mar 20, 2002)

*Versus TV airing*

NASA has posted the first airing of the Versus channel show:

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The television coverage will be aired on *March 22, 2010 at 5pm eastern*. It will be shown on Versus, best known for covering the Indy Car series.

Visit their site at www.versus.com. Use the "Channel Finder" on the lower right hand side of the web page to find the cable channel in your area.


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## scottn2retro (Mar 20, 2002)

Our team got the pics back from the track photographer. I have a bunch of them here:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/photos/showgallery.php/cat/3373


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## scottn2retro (Mar 20, 2002)

Track photographer had some really nice shots of the E0 2nd place car, the #51 Jagermeister car


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## karimMsalama (Dec 2, 2009)

Very nice thanks


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## trev0006 (Dec 29, 2003)

Great pictures, thanks for posting.



scottn2retro said:


> Hi All - Team Nitto Tire/Bullet Performance won the E0 class of the 25 Hours with 2 other BMWs completing the E0 podium. Their e36 M3 (black/green #95) was fast and the team was able to battle around a cracking header in the 2nd half of the race to take the victory. Their Bullet #2 team mates in the orange e36 Jaegermeister car finished 2nd with the white Yahoo car from Vancouver took 3rd in class. It was the 3rd time the Bullet Performance BMW team from Costa Mesa, Ca. has won the 25 Hours. This also made it the 3rd year in a row that Nitto NT01 tires were on the E0 class winning car. This year, the top 3 finishers in E0 were on NTO1s.
> 
> NASA Race Results:
> http://www.drivenasa.com/liveresults/25hour/cars
> ...


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