Racing World Challenge with Turner Motorsport

["Jeff Tarr" <jeff@xxxxxxxx>]

Hi Folks-

Now that the racing season is over, a number of people have asked me for a
write up of what it is like to race in the Speedvision World Challenge.
Here is a brief write up.  Feel free to follow up with me if you'd like more
information.

I drove the entire 1999 Speedvision World Challenge race series with Turner
Motorsport (TMS).  The entire experience was amazing.  The series consists
of nine weekends from May to October at road and street courses throughout
North America.  TMS handled all the logistics and maintenance of my race
car.  This included transporting it to each event, performing all repairs
and maintenance, setting the car up to my preferences, dialing in the car
while at the track and even arranging accommodations while at the track.

Although I'm not new to racing, I was new to World Challenge and to the TMS
team.  At the first race of the season, Mosport (Toronto, Canada), I quickly
realized that I went with the right team.  During the first practice session
I blew up my motor.  The crew had to stay up all night preparing a new motor
and installing it in the car.  They did all of this in the paddock at
Mosport.  When I arrived at the track in the morning my car was not only
running, but it was the cleanest and sharpest looking car in the entire
field.  The crew did not skip any preparation detail from installing the
motor to detailing the car to wearing their uniforms.  Not only was I
impressed, but so were my sponsors.  Hard work and dedication like this was
demonstrated consistently throughout the season. How the crew rebuilt the
entire front ends of two cars and transported everything from Colorado to
California in four days I'll never know.  It is behavior like this that
earned TMS the Jim Cook Memorial Trophy.  This award is given out annually
to the team who has made significant contributions to the overall success of
the Speedvision World Challenge series.

Driving with TMS greatly improved my race-craft.  After every on-track
session, the crew chief would conduct a one-on-one debriefing with each
driver and adjust the cars as necessary.  TMS brought different shocks,
springs and sway bars so that the cars could be dialed in for each track.
Additionally, the team outfitted my car with a telemetry system that allowed
them to analyze my driving style and point out mistakes that I was making.
I copied this data into my personal computer and studied it at home after
the race.  The drivers also meet to review strategy, tactics and technique.
Will Turner is very talented and has lots of experience; his insight was
extremely helpful.  The entire TMS team really know BMWs inside and out.
>From simply being on the team I've learned almost everything there is to
know, mechanically, about my car.

The Speedvision World Challenge is considered to be one of the most
competitive series in the USA.  This year there were over sixty competitors
in my series.  I came in eighth place overall and was runner-up rookie of
the year.  I owe most of that strong finish to TMS by giving me a capable
car.  The 2000 season with TMS will be incredible.  Next year TMS plans on
running a combination of E36 and E46 body styles.  The Speedvision World
Challenge will be going to new venues, including a season finale in Aruba!
Additionally, the series will be running at least four weekends in
conjunction with the American Lemans series. There is no substitute for
racing with the big boys.

More information about the Speedvision World Challenge can be found at
http://www.sccapro.com/wc .
More information about Turner Motorsport can be found at
http://www.turnermotorsport.com .

- -Jeff


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Jeff Tarr
jeff@domain.elided
http://www.tarr.com/
AOL IM:  jeffisfast

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