The AUTOXROSS Team were at Brands Hatch last weekend racing at the American Speedfest, the day was filled with the highs and lows of your typical race weekend, although overall achieving an eventful result.
We started Qualifying strong on old tyres, despite this we achieved 7th place on the grid with our fastest lap of 50.81. After reversing the grid it placed our green machine 2nd.
Not realising that certain rules restrict drivers from using new tyres in race 1, we had to go out in the same old tyres used during qualifying, therefore putting us at a disadvantage in the 27’c weather. After defending our position in 4th for 9 laps the heat proved too much for the car, dropping to 5th place where we remained for 3 laps before dropping once again to 8th which we held for another 3 laps. After lap 16 Simon decided to pull off due to problems we presumed caused by over-heating resulting in a DNF.
After returning to the pits, a tired and hot Simon decided to go and cool off whilst thinking about the possible reasons for our mystery mechanical problem. The decision was made to change the aluminium diff to a steel diff to see if it would cope better with the scorching temperature, as well as removing the undertray to provide more ventilation for the car.
Heading out into race 2, after fitting on the outside 2 new tyres, our AUTOXROSS BMW Z4 was now 2nd on the grid. on Lap 2 we managed to secure 1st position, which we maintained for an astonishing 8 laps, before our mysterious problem returned, making changing gear extremely difficult. Unfortunately missing out on a podium by just 4 laps, we finished 8th with our fastest time being 50.65.