[larchmont]

http://www.vtec.net/news/news-item?news_item_id=208811

"RealTime Racing, the most successful team in the history of the World Challenge series has entered two of its Acura RSX sports cars and today announced the world racing debut of Acura’s newest performance four-door sedan, the Acura TSX."



To be televised on SPEED channel, Sun. Mar. 21, noon.

And it did GREAT!!! Read on!....

 

[Ray]

http://www.theracesite.com/index.cfm?pagetype=2&form_article=6621

 

[larchmont]

Well, today's the day.

And, apparently a change in the TV schedule: It'll be THIS Sunday, Mar. 21, at noon.

Here are a couple more links:

Listing of the drivers and cars:

http://www.speedvisionwc.com/2004/entrylist-tc.html

Our guy is Pierre Kleinubing -- #42 on this chart. (BTW the numbers have nothing to do with how good they are or anything like that. I understand he's REAL good.)

.....and here are the qualifying results:

http://www.world-challenge.com/2004/events/seb/tc-qual.html


HE'S THIRD!!!!!!!!!


That's out of 35.

That's FANTASTIC.

He's surrounded by BMW's -- two ahead of him and two others in 4th and 5th place. After that you have all the "usual suspects," including lots of other BMW's and you-name-it.


What the heck, let's see if I can paste the whole chart:


1 1 Bill Auberlen/Rolling Hills Est/CA Turner Motorsport/H&R Springs/BMW 325i 1000 2:23.199 93.017
2 98 Bob Stretch/Dallas/TX Wheels America/BMW 325Ci 200 2:23.323 92.937
3 42 Pierre Kleinubing/Ft. Lauderdale/FL A-SPEC/RealTime Racing/Acura TSX 100 2:23.508 92.817
4 27 Nic Jonsson/Buford/GA LectricAir/Tecmark Corporation/BMW 325Ci _ 2:23.558 92.784
5 29 James Sofronas/Newport Beach/CA LecticAir/Techmark Corp/GMG/BMW 325Ci _ 2:23.564 92.781
6 72 Jeff Altenburg/Ellicott City/MD Tri-Point/Mazdaspeed/Mazda ProtegeES _ 2:23.776 92.644
7 4 Peter Cunningham/W. Bend/WI NISMO/TeamRTR/Nissan/Sentra SE-R _ 2:24.034 92.478
8 2 Justin Marks/Chico/CA Turner Motorsport/H&R Springs/BMW 325i _ 2:24.089 92.442
9 71 Shauna Marinus/Folsom/CA Tri-Point/Mazdaspeed/Mazda ProtegeES _ 2:24.510 92.173
10 44 Victor Gonzalez(R)/San Juan/PR A-SPEC/RealTime Racing/Acura RSX _ 2:25.383 91.620
11 43 Matt Plumb/Newport/RI RealTime/SANZ/Sun MicroSystems/Acura RSX _ 2:25.500 91.546
12 24 Jim Osborn/Ooltewah/TN TC Thompsons ChildrensHospital/BMW 325Ci _ 2:25.834 91.336
13 78 Jon Prall/Cupertino/CA Postini/BMW 328i _ 2:26.160 91.133
14 3 Dino Crescentini(R)/Malibu/CA Turner Motorsport/H&R Springs/BMW 325i _ 2:26.220 91.095
15 02 Scott Poirier(R)/Deerfield/FL Team AutoHaus Pompano/Mercedes C230 _ 2:26.543 90.894
16 9 Chip Herr(R)/Lititz/PA Car Doctor Mtspt/Warwick Auto/Mazda ProtegeES _ 2:26.760 90.760
17 96 Scott Hendricksen(R)/Gastonia/NC Sparco USA/Oakley/Mazda ProtegeES _ 2:27.051 90.580
18 99 Kevin McKee/San Francisco/CA Wheels America/BMW 325Ci _ 2:27.254 90.456
19 00 Andrew Monterrubio/Red Bluff/CA Tech2Mspt/Enkei Wheels/APR Prf/Acura Integra R _ 2:27.798 90.123
20 03 Peter Lockhart/Canada/ Team AutoHaus Pompano/Mercedes C230 _ 2:27.970 90.018
21 25 Eric Curran/S. Deerfield/MA VAC Mspts/Chili Pepper Racing/BMW 325Ci _ 2:28.040 89.975
22 10 Ryan Pilla(R)/Amagansett/NY Car Doctor Mtspt/Warwick Auto/Mazda ProtegeES _ 2:28.156 89.905
23 38 Seth Thomas(R)/Cumming/GA Bimmerworld/BMW 325i _ 2:28.403 89.755
24 36 James Clay/Blacksburg/VA Bimmerworld/BMW 325i _ 2:29.002 89.394
25 13 Scott Bradley/Mountain View/CA Circuit City/Sony/Mazda ProtegeES _ 2:29.145 89.309
26 58 Tom Stewart/Purcellville/VA Stewart Motorsports/Honda Civic Si _ 2:29.254 89.243
27 16 Phil Parlato/Commack/NY Phil's Auto Body/Electromotive/BMW 325i _ 2:29.397 89.158
28 28 Scott Galaba(R)/Chicago/IL Garrett Popcorn Shops/Tecmark/BMW 325Ci _ 2:30.724 88.373
29 23 Ken Payson/Worcester/MA Mazda/Red Line/Mazda ProtegeES _ 2:32.194 87.519
30 46 Nick Esayian(R)/Encinitas/CA Total Trolly/Datamine/RealTime/Acura Integra R _ 2:32.445 87.375
31 26 Michael Flynn/Orlando/FL Irish Mikes's Racing/Subaru Impreza _ 2:32.920 87.104
32 7 Mark German/Pittsburgh/PA Green Filter USA/Ground Force/Mazda 626 _ 2:33.059 87.025
33 97 Chris Tindol(R)/Gastonia/NC Sparco USA/Oakley/Mazda ProtegeES _ 2:33.499 86.775
34 31 Mark Hein/Clearwater/FL Speedstar Wheels Racing/Honda Civic SiR _ no time _______
35 37 Matt Richmond/Mooresville/NC Bimmerworld/BMW 325i _ no time _______

 

[larchmont]

Hey, admins etc. -- can I nominate this thread to be rushed onto the Home Page under "The News"?

 

[Maurice]

Race is over.

TSX took 2nd!!!

Great start to the racing season.

http://www.world-challenge.com/2004/events/seb/tc-results.html

 

[larchmont]

Thank you AGAIN, Maurice!!!! (This dude is an Ace!!!!!!) :bowdown1:


For those of you who might not have caught that, 2nd!!!!


The complete chart:

(I draw everyone's attention particularly to: "Margin of victory: 1.821 seconds.")

Fn
Ps St
Ps No Driver/Hometown Sponsor/Car Pts Prize Lps Gap/
Status Fast
Time Fast
Speed
1 1 1 Bill Auberlen/Rolling Hills Est/CA Turner Motorsport/H&R Springs/BMW 325i 34 10500 17 _ **2:23.640 92.731
2 3 42 Pierre Kleinubing/Ft. Lauderdale/FL A-SPEC/RealTime Racing/Acura TSX 29 7300 17 -1.821 **2:24.744 92.024
3 5 29 James Sofronas/Newport Beach/CA LecticAir/Techmark Corp/GMG/BMW 325Ci 26 4500 17 -2.108 **2:24.201 92.371
4 6 72 Jeff Altenburg/Ellicott City/MD Tri-Point/Mazdaspeed/Mazda ProtegeES 23 5200 17 -2.375 **2:24.079 92.449
5 8 2 Justin Marks/Chico/CA Turner Motorsport/H&R Springs/BMW 325i 21 2000 17 -9.728 **2:24.893 91.930
6 9 71 Shauna Marinus/Folsom/CA Tri-Point/Mazdaspeed/Mazda ProtegeES 20 3800 17 -10.319 **2:24.724 92.037
7 4 27 Nic Jonsson/Buford/GA LectricAir/Tecmark Corporation/BMW 325Ci 20 1200 17 -10.588 **2:24.557 92.143
8 11 43 Matt Plumb/Newport/RI RealTime/SANZ/Sun MicroSystems/Acura RSX 18 1100 17 -22.358 **2:26.665 90.819
9 15 3 Dino Crescentini(R)/Malibu/CA Turner/H&R Sprng/Centric Parts/BMW 325i 17 1000 17 -23.616 **2:25.916 91.285
10 17 96 Scott Fredricksen(R)/Gastonia/NC Sparco USA/Oakley/Mazda ProtegeES 16 2600 17 -29.987 **2:26.607 90.855
11 12 02 Scott Poirier(R)/Deerfield/FL Team AutoHaus Pompano/Mercedes C230 15 800 17 -30.53 **2:26.683 90.808
12 10 44 Victor Gonzalez(R)/San Juan/PR A-SPEC/RealTime Racing/Acura RSX 14 700 17 -33.517 **2:26.626 90.843
13 7 4 Peter Cunningham/W. Bend/WI NISMO/TeamRTR/Nissan/Sentra SE-R 13 600 17 -34.538 **2:25.117 91.788
14 14 78 Jon Prall/Cupertino/CA Postini/BMW 328i 12 550 17 -44.055 2:28.063 89.961
15 19 00 Andrew Monterrubio/Red Bluff/CA Tech2Mspt/Enkei Wheels/APR Prf/Acura Integra 11 500 17 -52.842 2:27.948 90.031
16 25 58 Tom Stewart/Purcellville/VA Stewart Motorsports/Honda Civic Si 10 450 17 -54.832 2:29.115 89.327
17 26 16 Phil Parlato/Commack/NY Phil's Auto Body/Electromotive/BMW 325i 9 400 17 -1:22.738 2:29.705 88.975
18 29 46 Nick Esayian(R)/Encinitas/CA Total Trolly/Datamine/RealTime/Acura Integra R 8 475 17 -1:27.019 2:30.144 88.714
19 28 23 Ken Payson/Worcester/MA Mazda/Red Line/Mazda ProtegeES 7 1350 17 -1:50.298 2:32.804 87.170
20 31 7 Mark German/Pittsburgh/PA Green Filter USA/Ground Force/Mazda 626 6 300 17 -1:52.231 2:34.169 86.398
21 27 28 Scott Galaba(R)/Chicago/IL Garrett Popcorn Shops/Tecmark/BMW 325Ci 5 _ 17 -2:19.821 2:32.344 87.433
22 22 10 Ryan Pilla(R)/Amagansett/NY Car Doctor Mtspt/Warwick Auto/Mazda Protege_ 4 _ 16 Mech. 2:27.945 90.033
23 33 38 Seth Thomas(R)/Cumming/GA Bimmerworld/BMW 325i 3 _ 16 -1 laps 2:33.580 86.730
24 13 24 Jim Osborn/Ooltewah/TN TC Thompsons ChildrensHospital/BMW 325Ci 2 _ 15 Mech. 2:27.804 90.119
25 18 99 Kevin McKee/San Francisco/CA Wheels America/BMW 325Ci 1 _ 14 -3 laps 2:29.604 89.035
26 20 03 Peter Lockhart/Canada/ Team AutoHaus Pompano/Mercedes C230 _ _ 13 Mech. 2:30.314 88.614
27 24 13 Scott Bradley/Mountain View/CA Circuit City/Sony/Mazda ProtegeES _ _ 13 Mech. 2:30.566 88.466
28 23 36 James Clay/Blacksburg/VA Bimmerworld/BMW 325i _ _ 12 Mech. 2:28.099 89.939
29 35 37 Matt Richmond/Mooresville/NC Bimmerworld/BMW 325i _ 500 12 Mech. 2:30.422 88.550
30 16 9 Chip Herr(R)/Lititz/PA Car Doctor Mtspt/Warwick Auto/Mazda Protege_ _ _ 10 Mech. 2:27.748 90.153
31 32 97 Chris Tindol(R)/Gastonia/NC Sparco USA/Oakley/Mazda ProtegeES _ _ 10 Elect. 2:33.963 86.514
32 2 98 Bob Stretch/Dallas/TX Wheels America/BMW 325Ci 1 200 9 Mech. **2:27.515 90.296
33 21 25 Eric Curran/S. Deerfield/MA VAC Mspts/Chili Pepper Racing/BMW 325Ci _ _ 8 Mech. 3:42.073 59.980
34 30 26 Michael Flynn/Orlando/FL Irish Mikes's Racing/Subaru Impreza _ _ 0 Crash no time _
35 34 31 Mark Hein/Clearwater/FL Speedstar Wheels Racing/Honda Civic SiR _ _ 0 DNS no time _

Time of race: 50 minutes, 47.892 seconds.
Average speed: 74.294 mph
Margin of victory: 1.821 Seconds
Lap leaders: Laps 1-8, #42 Pierre Kleinubing ; laps 9-17, #1 Bill Auberlen
Fastest race lap: #1 Bill Auberlen, 2:23.640 (92.731 mph)
Fastest qualifier: #1 Bill Auberlen, 2:23.199 (93.017 mph)
Cautions: One for Eight Laps
B&M Holeshot Award: #37 Matt Richmond advanced 10 positions on lap one
Sunoco Hard Charger: #46 Nick Esayian (R) advanced 11 positions in total
**- Under Existing Track Record
Prize money includes contingency earnings

 

[larchmont]

Hey, admins etc. -- can I nominate this thread to be rushed onto the Home Page under "The News"?

No?

 

[Whatchamacallit]

I believe when a user creates a new topic under "Front Page News & Rumors", it automatically gets posted under "The News" on the homepage.

But since this thread started a while ago, it got bumped down by other newer "News" threads to the point where it can't be seen on the homepage anymore.

Maybe the Admin has the ability to revive the thread back to the top, (kinda like making the entire thread a sticky).

 

[larchmont]

Thanks, Whatcham -- sounds right.

 

[Maurice]

Pics from the race.

Racing pics

 

[Maurice]

More pics

 

[Maurice]

pics

 

[Maurice]

4

 

[larchmont]

Fantastic, Maurice!

I wonder if Maurice or anybody knows exactly what all the mods were?

I figure that for starters, it's a given that they did "whatever" to increase the power and decrease the weight -- I imagine those are the basic things. But how, exactly?
And I imagine there were some other things too, like for the aerodynamics. When a race like this gets decided by 1.8 seconds, that shows how every little advantage can be critical, and of course they all went for all they could get.

The great pics from Maurice tell us quite a bit. And I imagine some people could tell a lot just from the pics. But I can only tell a little, besides the fact that they did more than what we'd call "light mods."

I can see that (among other things) there's a whole different control panel -- not being familiar with racing cars, to me it looks more like what you see on a plane than in a car.
And, there's this red pull-thing that seems to be marked "FIRE," which I imagine might control a fire extinguisher? I suppose it could also be for "firing up" the car, but its appearance seems to indicate the other.

Threads like this reveal one's ignorance. But I'm not embarrassed.
Not much anyway.

 

[Whatchamacallit]

Outstanding results! The TSX actually was the race leader for the first 8 laps. Can't wait to watch it on TV.

 

[Whatchamacallit]

Awesome pictures.

So much interior mods that I almost don't recognize it anymore.

LOL, I just noticed the stock side mirror controls on the new control panel.

 

[larchmont]

.....LOL, I just noticed the stock side mirror controls on the new control panel.

Neat get!

But the question is, are we supposed to think for a second that the side mirror is what it does?
(What DOES it do???.......)

 

[larchmont]

It was televised today at noon on the SPEED channel.

This was maybe the greatest publicity that the TSX has gotten. They kept making references like "the BMW's and that TSX" -- people had to notice. I don't normally watch auto racing -- in fact I never watched it before except when I was flipping channels and looked for a couple of seconds to try to understand why anybody would watch this. But I understand that a lot of people do. It is said that auto racing is the #1 spectator sport in the U.S.

Lots and lots of favorable mention of the TSX. About 15 minutes into the show, they had a brief interview with the driver, Pierre Kleinubing. BTW don't expect to find out how to pronounce these guys' names. There were two announcers, and they pronounced the top two drivers' names differently. The #1 guy was Bill Auberlen and I had no idea how to pronounce that either, so I listened close. The American announcer said "OWberlen" ("ow" as in bow-wow), the other announcer (probably British or Australian or something like that) said "Oberlin." As for Kleinubing, forget about it. I thought there were two main possible pronunciations, and, by golly, the two announcers gave us both of them. The American guy said "KLINE-ubing," the other guy said "klineUEbing" (the "UE" being like "U" with an umlaut).

At the beginning they talked about the cars in general. They had a big feature about the tires. All the cars use the same tire -- not just the same brand (Toyo) but the same kind, and it was a change from last year. They showed the tires and explained, but I didn't know enough to really understand. What I did get was that the tires are faster than last year's, and also that the tires are worn down quite a bit to give maximum speed.

They mentioned briefly about how the FWD cars ("like Kleinubing's TSX") would be at a disadvantage. I think they implied this would be both on the straight runs AND on the turns.
But the race itself didn't seem to bear that out.

The track was Sebring, Florida. I was struck by all the turns on the course, including hairpins. But the announcers said that actually this course is more of a straight-run course than most, while the next one (Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut, May 28-31) is more about turns.

I learned that the seemingly tiny margin between 1st and 2nd place -- 1.821 seconds -- somehow wasn't as small as it sounded. I'm not sure why, but it wasn't. Kleinubing led at the very beginning, but Auberlen took the lead pretty soon and it wasn't really close the rest of the way. The real battle was for 2nd place, and this was what got most of the attention -- and therefore, a lot of extra exposure for the TSX.
Once you have a certain position, it's hard for others to pass. They can come up right behind you, but it's much harder for them to get ahead. A very exciting moment was early in the race, when Kleinubing maneuvered between two other cars to race ahead to the lead. Toward the end, there were a couple of instances where guys in BMW's challenged him very closely for 2nd, and one of them (Sofronas) did pass, but only very briefly; a couple of turns later, Kleinubing whizzed right past him. The announcers talked about how Sofronas' "lack of experience" hurt him, how he didn't know how to keep the position; and then when another BMW guy (Jonsson) challenged for 2nd immediately after, they carried on about how THIS guy wouldn't make the same mistake, he had the experience to know how to overtake Kleinubing. But not only didn't he catch up, it wasn't more than a minute or two before he spun right off the track on one of those hairpins. So much for Jonsson. :donno:

As I said, it seemed like in general it wasn't that hard to find a chance to pull up right behind the guy in front of you; passing was the hard part. But, Kleinubing never challenged for the lead in the later stages, and unless I missed something, they never said why. And it's not like Auberlen was THAT far ahead. You might think this must mean that the BMW was just a faster car, but then, why didn't Auberlen pull way ahead? He never did that either. I would have loved to hear them explain it, or at least wonder out loud about it. Most of the coverage during the later stages was about the battle for 2nd.

They interviewed the top guys after the race. Kleinubing speaks very well, with one of those charming little accents, like maybe a mixture of French and German (or maybe Swiss or something). The accent made it sound extra-cool when he talked about how the TSX "kicked butt."

It was fun. :nod:

A great showing for the TSX. Of course it was the driver at least as much as the car.
But even so, the fact is, he and his team picked a TSX for the race. That says a lot.

 

[larchmont]

Cliff's Notes: We came, we saw, we conquered the other contenders for 2nd place.

And you can pronounce "Kleinubing" however you want.

 

[Whatchamacallit]

Some bio on Pierre Kleinubing:

http://www.realtimerl.com/drivers/pierre.htm

Born: October 24, 1974, Erexim, Brazil
Home: Miami, Florida
Occupation: Racer, Lead Instructor for RealTime Logistics

Racing Championships
SCCA Pro Racing Drivers’ Championships
• 2001 World Challenge Touring Car
• 2000 World Challenge Touring Car
• 1997 World Challenge Touring Car
Other Championships & Awards:
• 1997 World Challenge Rookie of the Year
• 1995 Brazilian Touring Cars
• 1992 Brazilian Touring Cars
Noteworthy Achievements:
• 27% winning ratio in SPEED World Challenge
• Tied for most SPEED World Challenge poles at 24

1995 - 2002 Career Record
Year Series Starts Wins Top-5 Top-10
1995 IMSA Endurance Championship 1 1 1
1996 IMSA Endurance Championship 6 5 6
1997 SCCA World Challenge 10 2 8 9
1998 SCCA World Challenge 9 3 6 6
1999 SCCA World Challenge 10 2 8 9
2000 SCCA World Challenge 9 3 8 8
2001 SCCA World Challenge 10 3 9 9
2002 SCCA World Challenge 11 3 7 9
Totals 66 16 52 57

No mention of how to pronounce his name. :donno:

Seeing how TSX only had the 6th fastest lap speed, it speaks volumes about how good a driver he is. And yes, the fact that he drove the TSX also is a great indication of how confident they feel about the TSX.