Sat May 2nd Autobahn

This is a great race track and has an incredible facility, it is like a Country Club for car guys. Instead of golfclubs and caddy's you have race shops, garages and racecars. We had to bleed the brakes again due to air in the line, as Rachel mentioned before. The brakes came out great and we were ready to go! The track was extrememly slippery and had sand that was washed up by all the recent rain in the area. Mark Pombo (a great guy and Jetta TDi Cup pro-driver) drove Derek's GTR for the Autobahn event, until Derek, Tom Long, Andrew Carbonell and Rhett O'doski flew in Saturday evening from the Grand Am race in New Jersy.

This year the competition is fierce for the top 5. Derek's GTR is competing with my friends Ian Stuart/Peter Lier from Orlando, Fl running the black Porsche GT2, and then the other Nissan GTR is proving to be stiff competition as well.

Some snap shots from the Autobahn paddock area:





** Mark was the fastest car by far, 3-4 seconds, in the first out lap, on lap 2 the car went into limp mode and the power was cut down to 1/3! Mark was mid-corner when the GTR lost power and almost lost it, his last two laps were slow(er) and he finished up with a 11th place position, which is not what he hoped for. Fortunately it's not Mark's fault since the car had a failure.

Mark with the GTR, me with the M5, and Mark, Ian and Rankins with the other GTR.




**Ian Stewart took 1st place with the GT2, and Steve Rankins took 2nd in the other GTR! Both are top Auto-Xers and Ian is a multiple National Champion. I have never run this track before and it was rather technical, not including all the sand that was on the track! I finished in a respectable 17th overall, and 4rd in class. The BMW Performance driving school E90 M3 beat me by a total of 2 seconds, the Audi S4 racecar, and other E90 M3 just about tied at 3 seconds a lap faster-- both have run there before. We have many other high Horse Power tracks that we will be able to gain some points, including our home tracks of Sebring and Daytona!!!

Troy Fralick in the Freedom Autosport M6 and Mark Pombo in the GTR:

Getting up early is Over Rated. May 3rd

This is the first opportunity that I have had to make a post on the blog. It has been a longggg trip thus far and this journey has just begun. I have driven almost 2000 street miles in 2 days and a total of 8 hours sleep... Feel like a zombie right now, but thankfully my co-drivers have finally taken over the transit driving!! I get to rest up and work on doing all the fun stuff now, taking pictures, blogging and the like. Time to get some Zzz's and a good nights rest tonight!

The M5 is packed to the gills! We have 3 guys, all our racing gear, tool box, extra parts (brakes etc), a folding bike and a bunch misc crap. We barely fit all the stuff in the car and still have space for 1 man in the back seat.

LOOK AT THIS!! Can you fit this much stuff in an M5!? Matt Hale my 3rd co-driver made a nest back there :)







Andrew Carbonell has joined me as my co-driver today on May 3rd. Andrew flew in from New Jersy Motorsports Park where he was racing in Grand Am ST on the Freedom Autosport Mazda team with Team Owner Derek Whitis (Derek is running the Freedon Autosport green GTR). Andrew is an excellent driver and may assist me with some of the driving events.

Carbonell in the drivers seat:




Today was a tiring day... Supposed to get up at 7:45min to get going to the Auto X, and I got a call at 6:40am that Derek and the crew were waiting in the lobby... WTF!?!? I just went to sleep a few hours ago....

Update:

(Rachel:)

Well, because Jonathan has absolutely NO spare time to write on the blog, those duties have been relinquished to me... but... I don't mind.

I want to make sure the followers are UP-TO-DATE on what's going on while Jonathan is halfway across the country. :-)

Jonathan arrived in South Bend, IN yesterday at around 5pm. (So that's about a 19 hour trek, mostly driven by him, but Ian Stewart also helped out a bit).

After arriving, it was nonstop: first a car wash, then all the decals had to be put on, then the bleeding of the brakes (again!) -- due to some air being in the lines.

Thankfully he had help by Troy who is co-driving the Wounded Support Fund/Freedom Autosport M6.

After a nights sleep of about 8 hours- the longest he will probably get on the trip, the first event this morning was the Wet Skid Pad at the Tire Rack facility.

Results were GREAT!! He ended up 10th Overall, and 1st in his class!
You can view the results by clicking ~* HERE *~

He just arrived at Autobahn in Joliet, IL and is bleeding the brakes once again! (yes- I know, but better safe than sorry when you are trying to stop a 4,000 pound beast!)

After Autobahn, is a 300 mile trek to Florence, KY. Hopefully Jonathan will be able to squeeze in some time to post some pictures and blog ... :-)

Farewell... Too Late? Never...

(Rachel:)

10 am this morning, I'm picking my brother up from the airport and Jonathan calls me, "Ok- so things came together, should I run it? (speaking of the One Lap, of course, what else?).

What does every good wife say, "OF COURSE!!!!".

Seriously, though, OF COURSE! he should run the One Lap. When not on it, he's thinking about it, when not thinking about it, he's talking about it.

If he did not run the One Lap, all I would hear about during the week of the One Lap is how he should have run it! haha (vicious cycle, I know, tell me about it...)

So out of courteousness I drive my brother to meet my father in Leesburg. After about 10 phone calls back and forth of planning, I am then headed to Orange City to get the car aligned- to Performance Wheel and Tire, there's no where better, and worth the trek.

Meanwhile Sam & Christa have picked up the Dinan wheels and tires from my house to bring them to get mounted at only the best- Discount Tire (thanks John Bess!), run to Titan for SRF brake fluid and then back to my house to let the mayhem begin (as if it hasn't already)...

If my hearts pumping a gallon a second, I can't imagine Jonathans' and besides ALL the stuff he has to take care of as well before leaving- T- time being 7 PM.

I finally get home at 5PM. That leaves only 2 hours to flush the brake fluid, change the brake pads, pack, and load the car...

Obviously that would take longer and Jonathan finally kissed me goodbye and sped off at 9:30pm. He's got a long drive ahead: 1100 miles to South Bend, IN. Where the true FUN begins!

GOOD LUCK!


p.s. You might wonder why I'm still awake at 2am.------

KEEPING YOU UP TO DATE WITH EVERYTHING-- WHY ELSE???

haha...

Good night everyone! (except for Jonathan who is driving through Atlanta right now as I type this....)