Twelve Hours, One Tough Lesson in Tires
Back in the BMW for my first-ever 12-hour race. We were leading the sprint until a turbo issue 15 minutes from the end dropped us to P2, then ABS and DSC problems on Sunday made it a fight just to bring the car home P6.
VIR put us back behind the wheel of the BMW and in front of something completely new: a 12-hour race. I'd done endurance races before, but twelve hours is a different animal, less about one fast lap and much more about the hundredth one.
It turned into a lesson in tire management. Over a stint that long, how you treat the tires in the first hour decides what you have left in the last. You learn to work with the car instead of against it, smoother inputs, protecting the rubber, saving the push for when it really counts.
Saturday: so close in the sprint
The sprint race on Saturday was going exactly to plan. We were leading, the car was strong, and the checkered flag was in sight. Then, 15 minutes from the end, a turbo issue took the power away and dropped us from P1. We held on for P2, a podium, and a good result, but it's hard not to think about what that last quarter of an hour could have been.
“Fifteen minutes from a win. That one stings, but P2 in the sprint and a first 12-hour finish is still a weekend to build on.”
— Alex Pollard
Sunday: twelve hours of problem-solving
The long race brought a different set of problems. The ABS started playing up, then the DSC stability control, the systems you lean on most when you're tired and the tires are worn. Each time, the crew got the car sorted and back on track, and we kept going.
We finished P6. Not the result we wanted after Saturday, but we got the car to the end of my first 12-hour race, and we came away knowing a lot more about the car, the tires and ourselves.
Thanks to the whole Zenith crew for every fix, every stop and every hour of that weekend.
First 12-hour race done, and a sprint podium in the bag. Next up: Road America, a new track and two 7-hour races.