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M3 Wins at Solo Trials Nationals

Dear Friends,

As some of you know, I have been campaigning an E36 M3 in SCCA
Solo events all summer, with mixed success.  With  the engine and
suspension modifications that I have done, the car is far from stock, and 
competes in the "Street Prepared" category.  The SCCA didn't know 
where to put the car ( in its stock form,  it is in " A stock," where Bob 
and Patty Tunnell have met with great success), so they put it in "C 
Street Prepared," with the Hondas and RX-7's from Hell!  On a tight 
autocross course,  the M3 has its work cut out for it, outweighing 
its competitors by well over 1000 pounds.  Moreover, most Street 
Prepared cars are trailored, as they are pure race cars, not legal or 
suitable for the road.  

Our car (my wife Julianne also races it.  She even won the Seattle 
National Tour event!  No competition in her class--I know of very few 
CSP lady drivers, I don't know why--but she showed huge guts by even 
entering such a big event) is VERY streetable, and has, although it 
is "firm," retained its original BMW luxury feel.  In fact, I have 
put over 35,000 miles on it, driving it to events all over the West.  
It is fun to pull into a big meet, and park our car and its little 
tire trailor right between the big motorhomes and transports, slap 
the magnetic numbers on the sides, mount up the R1's, and go racing.

At the Seattle Tour in July, I ran up against some extremely fast 
competition, and was happy to have placed 3rd on one day, 7th 
another.  The courses were tight, and I was no match for the little 
screamers.

This past week, I hauled all my stuff over to Denver for the Denver 
National Tour, and placed 5th overall, but ran a very close 3rd on 
Saturday, surprizing myself and everyone else by beating many of the 
top shoes in AS, SS, ASP, etc.  It was starting to look like the CSP 
BMW might actually have a chance!

Well, it's day came this week.  The SCCA put on the first-ever 
National Championships Solo Trials, which is a SPEED event, run in 
either huge lots, or on a proper race track.  The skills are a 
mixture of autocross and road racing, with a little "big cajones" 
thrown in.  Speeds are more in the 60 to 95 range.  At last, a venue 
where there is enough room for a big car like the M3 to have a 
chance.

The first day was a  .8 mile course set in a huge airport parking 
lot, featuring long straightaways, big sweepers, and hard braking 
zones.  The M3 was ready, and won the first leg of the Championships 
by a large margin.  The next day was set on the Stapleton Road 
Course, and suddenly, we were seeing sustained track speeds that 
would  give the M3 a chance to be really competitive against its 
former intimadators.  It performed flawlessly, and won the second day
of Solo Trials by an even larger margin.  At last, a National Championship
for a C Street Prepared M3!

If any of you have been wanting to start racing your M3's, but want 
to go faster than autocross speeds, don't miss a chance to enter an 
SCCA Solo Time Trials.  Road racing requires a roll cage (making the
car totally unstreetable), and autocrossing , generally speaking, a smaller
car (once again, the Tunnells have proven everyone wrong by being ultra tough in AS).  
Finally, there is a forum where the M3 is THE car to have.  In stock 
form, the M3's handling on a road style course is widely know.  In 
Street Prepared form, it is utterly awsome!  

Well, tomorrow I go back to Denver to complete the 10-Day-long  
"Autocross 'till You Puke" event being put on by the Rocky Mountain 
Division ( I flew home only for one day--out of underwear!).  The Pro 
Solo is definitely the province of the "Hondas from Hell," so I 
expect to get my Teutonic butt kicked.  But I wanted to share with 
you BMW fans our *shared* victory.  I say "shared" because without 
the help and encouragement of many of you, the car project could not 
have been successful.  Here on the Net, we have shared many ideas and 
theories, and I knew that you would want to know that they worked!

Sincerely,

Carl

Carl Buckland
1000 Boston Bldg
Nine Exchange Place
Salt Lake City, Utah  84111
801-531-6686
Fax 531-6690
E Mail buckland@domain.elided