The Fart-hinder Saab 9-3, a.k.a. Fart-kontroll, survived another full race weekend with nary a bobble. World Racing League sanctioned a pair of 8-hour endurance races at our home track, Brainerd International Raceway, and we were there with the ONLY Saab currently competing in the World Racing League.
In addition to the Saab, team member Mark Fitzpatrick had just completed work on a 1994 Mazda Miata R. Eric Peterson, who had done the welding on the Miata roll cage, was invited to drive as well. Due to lack of track experience, Eric signed up for the BIR Performance Driving School a few weeks prior to the race. Unfortunately, the Miata, which had been driven to the track, suffered an engine failure. With less than three weeks to the race, Mark scrambled to figure out options. Fortunately (it's always nice when there's a "fortunately" shortly after an "unfortunately") he was able to locate a "ran when removed" used engine of unknown mileage near Milwaukee for about half the going salvage yard price. Even more fortunately, a work related meeting took him to Milwaukee and he was able to borrow a pickup truck for the trip. With one week before race day, the substitute engine was fitted to the Miata and fired up. All looked promising to make the start of the race.
There were three new drivers as part of the Fart-hinder group for the weekend. New to the team and to endurance racing, that is, but not to competition.
Jeff Gadbois was used to Formula Fords, Spec Racers and Sports 2000, and had seen success in those purpose built racing machines. It had been several years since he had been behind the wheel and he was anxious to give it a try again.
Paul Moormann had done some ice racing, including setting pole position for an ice race in his initial year of racing and earning him Rookie of the Year honors. He had also helped to build and co-drive a Saab Sonett with a Saab 900 turbo drivetrain, and later drove that car in a few regional rallies with some success. Paul has worked out of his home as a mechanic and is quite familiar with the Saabs of our era. His expertise as a Saab tech has already been valuable to the team.
Our third newbie was mentioned above: Eric Peterson.
The Saturday event was slated for 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p. m., and the green flag did wave at the appointed hour. However, the race was red flagged, then black flagged only eight laps in due to a timing problem. The track's timing and scoring transponder antenna loop under the start/finish line was not picking up signals. About the time a new cable had been run through conduit under the track, the WRL timing computer hit a glitch. More time was lost while software was loaded onto another computer. The green flag fell again at 12:30 p. m., but the race was shortened by a half hour as the track policy is to end all racing by 8:00 p. m. in order to placate neighbors on nearby lakes.
There were three new drivers as part of the Fart-hinder group for the weekend. New to the team and to endurance racing, that is, but not to competition.
Jeff Gadbois was used to Formula Fords, Spec Racers and Sports 2000, and had seen success in those purpose built racing machines. It had been several years since he had been behind the wheel and he was anxious to give it a try again.
Paul Moormann had done some ice racing, including setting pole position for an ice race in his initial year of racing and earning him Rookie of the Year honors. He had also helped to build and co-drive a Saab Sonett with a Saab 900 turbo drivetrain, and later drove that car in a few regional rallies with some success. Paul has worked out of his home as a mechanic and is quite familiar with the Saabs of our era. His expertise as a Saab tech has already been valuable to the team.
Our third newbie was mentioned above: Eric Peterson.
 |
| The Saab gets up to 110 to 115 mph before turn 3 at BIR |
Tim started originally in the 9-3, but Jeff was behind the wheel when the second green flag was waved. He had an obligation that evening and didn't want to be late. On fresh Yokohama tires, it wasn't long before Jeff set a lap at 1:58.884 and hit a top speed of 114 mph. That turned out to be the fast lap of the day for the Saab.
The Miata was entered under the team name "Gensoku" in class GP3. It ran well on the replacement engine, but the alignment seemed to be changing. The car had been aligned by a local racing shop earlier in the week and all was set to spec including the recommended torque on the bolts. In talking with another Miata racer later it was found that slipped alignment was a common issue with Miatas under race conditions. The fix is to nearly double the torque on the bolts for the alignment eccentrics.
Paul was the second driver in the Saab and quickly fell into lap times around two minutes as well. Travis McCormick was back to drive third, while Tim took the cleanup position.
Over in the Miata pit (which was right next to the Saab pit) Eric drove the second shift, followed by Mike Mandy. Mark was back in the roadster for the checkered flag. While the Miata ran lap after lap without any new issues, more experienced teams in GP3 were not having much luck, The Team Hackcent Hyundai spent a lot of time in the paddock and dropped well down in the pack. The usually reliable JAB VW Golf succumbed to a blown engine, with piston rods hanging out of the block like one of the zombies on The Walking Dead. Difference was the Golf engine was truly dead. That elevated the Miata to first in class, the position it held until the finish.
On the final lap, Mark slowed a bit to allow Tim in the Saab to catch up, and the two crossed the finish line in team formation.
A couple of other cars failed in the final laps - the Team Generations Nissan 300ZX suffered a blown engine in the final 15 minutes, and the North Loop BMW 325 lost a ball joint just before turn 2 - which elevated both the Saab and the Mazda in the final standings. The Saab finished 7th, and 7th in class GP2 behind the race winning Honda Civic and five BMWs. The Miata was classified in 8th place overall and the winner in GP3.
Both cars were in generally good shape after nearly eight hours of racing. Some checking of fluids, swapping of tires, and they were ready to face another day.
Since Jeff and Paul had only signed up to drive one day, that left five drivers. The Miata had only been entered for Saturday, so all five would be driving the Saab.
Eric was first out, and ran a clean stint. His lap times were consistent, and competitive with what the other drivers on the team were turning. His quickest was just under two minutes, at 1:59.68. Darn good for a rookie.
Second up was Tim, who also set consistent laps right around two minutes, with a few that just broke the two minute mark. Mike also ran in the 1:59 to 2:03 range during his stint.
Mark took to the track next and ran similar lap times, with the official fast time of the day for the Saab at 1:57.031. Unfortunately that was still ten seconds a lap off the the pace of the race winning Honda Civic and most of the BMWs.
When Travis got behind the wheel for the final stint, the Saab was in a solid tenth place. His instructions were to run consistent laps as the chance of catching the car ahead were nil and the 11th place car was about 20 laps behind. By now the tires were going away, too. Even so, his lap times were only a second or two slower than the others on the team, and he held on for tenth overall, eighth place in class GP2.
Fart-hinder Racing is now better equipped to record data during the races, with apps such as Harry's Lap Timer and RaceChrono recording lap times, speeds at various places around the track and g-forces during acceleration, braking and cornering. The 9-3 still has a stock gearbox, with an open differential, so the inside tire often lifts enough during cornering to spin a bit. The suspension is better than it has been, but can be better still.
Our next race is at the end of July, a ChumpCar sanctioned weeked consisting of two 7-hour races at Brainerd. There are several conflicting endurance races in the region within a week or two, so entries at all are low. Both the Saab and Miata will be competing at BIR.
 |
| About to get passed by the Tubby Butterman BMW. In the meantime there are dragsters on the old main straightaway. |
Paul was the second driver in the Saab and quickly fell into lap times around two minutes as well. Travis McCormick was back to drive third, while Tim took the cleanup position.
Over in the Miata pit (which was right next to the Saab pit) Eric drove the second shift, followed by Mike Mandy. Mark was back in the roadster for the checkered flag. While the Miata ran lap after lap without any new issues, more experienced teams in GP3 were not having much luck, The Team Hackcent Hyundai spent a lot of time in the paddock and dropped well down in the pack. The usually reliable JAB VW Golf succumbed to a blown engine, with piston rods hanging out of the block like one of the zombies on The Walking Dead. Difference was the Golf engine was truly dead. That elevated the Miata to first in class, the position it held until the finish.
 |
| Team formation at the checkered flag. |
A couple of other cars failed in the final laps - the Team Generations Nissan 300ZX suffered a blown engine in the final 15 minutes, and the North Loop BMW 325 lost a ball joint just before turn 2 - which elevated both the Saab and the Mazda in the final standings. The Saab finished 7th, and 7th in class GP2 behind the race winning Honda Civic and five BMWs. The Miata was classified in 8th place overall and the winner in GP3.
Both cars were in generally good shape after nearly eight hours of racing. Some checking of fluids, swapping of tires, and they were ready to face another day.
Since Jeff and Paul had only signed up to drive one day, that left five drivers. The Miata had only been entered for Saturday, so all five would be driving the Saab.
Eric was first out, and ran a clean stint. His lap times were consistent, and competitive with what the other drivers on the team were turning. His quickest was just under two minutes, at 1:59.68. Darn good for a rookie.
Second up was Tim, who also set consistent laps right around two minutes, with a few that just broke the two minute mark. Mike also ran in the 1:59 to 2:03 range during his stint.
 |
| Leaning hard for turn 4, Travis McCormick at the wheel. |
When Travis got behind the wheel for the final stint, the Saab was in a solid tenth place. His instructions were to run consistent laps as the chance of catching the car ahead were nil and the 11th place car was about 20 laps behind. By now the tires were going away, too. Even so, his lap times were only a second or two slower than the others on the team, and he held on for tenth overall, eighth place in class GP2.
Fart-hinder Racing is now better equipped to record data during the races, with apps such as Harry's Lap Timer and RaceChrono recording lap times, speeds at various places around the track and g-forces during acceleration, braking and cornering. The 9-3 still has a stock gearbox, with an open differential, so the inside tire often lifts enough during cornering to spin a bit. The suspension is better than it has been, but can be better still.
Our next race is at the end of July, a ChumpCar sanctioned weeked consisting of two 7-hour races at Brainerd. There are several conflicting endurance races in the region within a week or two, so entries at all are low. Both the Saab and Miata will be competing at BIR.
