Beachman-McClure Racing 3rd Overall at 25 Hours of Thunderhill

[scannon]

This may be old news to some but I just heard about it today. Beachman-McClure Racing took 3rd overall driving a Caterham 7. The drivers were Bruce Beachman, Darren Dilley and Mark McClure.

 

They were the first non-professional team after two factory built racing Porsche's with professional drivers, crew chiefs and big financial backing. I'm assuming they took a class win as well as I doubt they were in the same class as the Porsches.

 

Congratulations to them and a Well Done. They have a blog at http://beachman-mcclureracing.blogspot.com/

[Alaskossie]

Any idea on what the engine/transmission specs are on this car?

 

A job well done, in any event!

[Hank]

Blog site says it's a Caterham Super 7 which is hayabusa powered, no?

[Kitcat]

They qualified 50th out of 80 and came in 3rd. Says a lot about their level of preparation and the Caterham's reliability. The drivers were pretty impressive too: 20 degree weather in an open Caterham, for hours, had to be challenging.

[Spaz]

Blog site says it's a Caterham Super 7 which is hayabusa powered, no?

 

You are correct. The Caterham Super 7 - GSX 1300R “Spec” Race Car uses the Suzuki Hayabusa motor, just like your Megabusa.

 

Standard Equipment for the Caterham Super 7 includes:

 

1300ccs Suzuki GSX1300R “Hayabusa” 185bhp power plant. “Sealed” (Spec race car)

Dry sump lubrication including 5ltr oil tank, oil cooler, electric water pump and stainless steel braided oil lines.

Digital Fuel Injection and ignition. “Sealed” (Spec race car)

Alloy large capacity radiator with electric cooling fan.

6-speed sequential manual shift gearbox with Digital gear indicator display.

Custom stainless steel exhaust & headers

“AP Racing” Alloy 4 pot front brake calipers with ventilated front brake rotors

13 x 6” Front and 13 x 8” Rear 8 spoke lightweight Alloy wheels & AVON CR500 tires.(Spec race car)

Dual circuit brake master cylinder with 4 wheel disc brakes and stainless steel brake lines.

Widetrack “Supersport” front suspension with Eibach linear springs, Bilstein shocks & anti-sway bar.

De Dion rear suspension, Watts linkage, with progressive Eibach springs, Bilstein shocks & adjustable anti-sway bar.

Limited Slip rear differential, 3.14 Ratio

Quick Change ratio drive system.

MOMO Quick release Steering Wheel, Rack and Pinion steering rack with 2.1 turns.

Full Roll over cage

6 point Racing seat belts

Alloy racing fuel filler

Fire extinguisher & Mirrors

Chrome lights & trim

Racing Lexan windscreen

Battery master switch

Cloth Adjustable drivers bucket Seat with head rest

Boot (trunk) Cover, upholstered tunnel top.

Full Electronic dash and gauge package, immobiliser, tools, jack etc

SUPER7 Badges, Stainless Steel sill & rear fender Protectors, “Super 7” grill and bug screen

Body comes in natural Aluminum with Yellow, Black, Red or Green Fenders & Nose cone

 

Super 7 road and race cars are manufactured for Super 7 Cars Inc. by Ennerdale Engineering on the West Coast of Canada. Super 7 Cars Inc. is licensed by Caterham Cars as the world manufacturer of left hand drive motorcycle power Caterham Super 7s.

 

Headed by British-born racer and automotive engineer David Saville Peck and his son Jolyon, Super 7 Cars Inc. is a cutting-edge, competition-tested manufacturer. Beginning his race career in the mid-1960s, David became closely involved in the design and manufacture of high-speed vehicles. After immigrating to Canada in 1972 to contest the Can-Am Championship, David located his company – Ennerdale Engineering – on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Continuing in his passion for peerless, performance horseless carriages, David became a Lotus distributor and operated his specialty sales, repair and restoration shop in the rolling countryside outside Chemainus, British Columbia.

 

In 2000, David began the design of the Caterham Super 7 GSX1300R Hayabusa, the fastest legal road car available in Canada. He continues to race actively. As internationally renowned specialists in automotive engineering and manufacture – and with four decades of track experience – David and Jolyon’s experience has allowed Super 7 Cars Inc. to produce some of the most magnificent, refined and exilerating vehicles available in the world today

Edited December 22, 2009 by Spaz

[scannon]

Blog site says it's a Caterham Super 7 which is hayabusa powered, no?

 

Not necessarily, my Caterham SV came with a nose badge that says Super 7 on it and many S3 type Caterhams are labeled Super 7s.

 

The picture below shows the car with the bonnet and nosecone removed and that is certainly not a Suzuki engine in the car.

 

Yes, there is a Canadian Caterham with the Suzuki engine and called a Super 7 but not all Super 7s come from that company.

[Alaskossie]

Spaz,

 

"Super 7" is a name for certain models of the Lotus 7 and Caterham 7 that has been used off and on since at least 1961.

 

The present Canadian "Super 7" company does not have a corner on the use of that name or the identification of its particular car as a "Super 7,", and from the photo posted of the Thunderhill car, I'd venture to say that it is not Hayabusa-powered.

[breezy7]

I think the engine is a Zetec SVT judging by the intake manifold. That engine uses a plastic manifold and the 4 runners are visable over the right front fender. Didn't Car & Driver Magazine run a Caterham in this event a few years back? I seem to remember Nathan Down(ex Caterham Cars and Rocky Mountain Sports Cars )being involved with that race. Mike

Edited December 22, 2009 by breezy7

[TheDingo8MyBaby]

This is the car and driver article you're referring to:

 

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/04q1/the_longest_night_of_thunderhill-sport

[Spaz]

Spaz,

 

"Super 7" is a name for certain models of the Lotus 7 and Caterham 7 that has been used off and on since at least 1961.

 

The present Canadian "Super 7" company does not have a corner on the use of that name or the identification of its particular car as a "Super 7,", and from the photo posted of the Thunderhill car, I'd venture to say that it is not Hayabusa-powered.

 

You are correct, this car is not Hayabusa-powered. Sorry for the bad info.

Edited December 22, 2009 by Spaz

[pierats]

My understanding is that the Canadian Hayabusa seven is a SV. The car in this picture looks like a std body.

 

I'm also guessing a Zetec of some kind since the exhaust is on the drivers side.

 

No matter what the specs, they were obviously very well organized to get this result. Well done!

[Kitcat]

I checked and, according to their web site, the Canadian Hayabusa Super Seven is based on the SV Caterham chassis. Seems strange that they wld choose the bigger, heavier version of the Caterham for a cycle engined car.

Edited December 23, 2009 by Kitcat

[Al N.]

@Kitcat...I think the Saville-Peck install of the 'busa requires the wider frame. I asked about this many years ago, when I was looking for my first Seven.

[Alaskossie]

I seem to recall reading or hearing somewhere that the Canadian company's arrangement with Caterham in UK required that they only offer the bigger SV chassis, so they would not be directly competing with Caterham's own bike-engined Series 3 Sevens.

[7evin]

Wow !!!! THAT IS AWESOME ! What a heroic effort My Hat is off to these guys...

I love it when our little cars Kick ass and take names...

 

Congrads Guys.

 

Cheers

7evin

[BruceBe]

Thank you for the well-wishes regarding our race result at the 25-hours of Thunderhill. I literally stumbled on this thread just today, and it brought back very exciting and recent memories.

 

The 2009 effort was a joint effort between Beachman Racing and McClure Racing. With a background in professional endurance racing (Grand Am Rolex GT , 2005-2007), Beachman Racing provided the engineering, vehicle preparation, team management, and race equipment. Mark McClure is the car owner, and provided additional crew.

 

The four-driver lineup comprised Mark McClure, Darren Dilley, Jeff Remfert, and myself. Everyone behind the wheel has at least a decade of racing experience. Mark is an accomplished endurance racer, and our collaboration started in 2007, when he joined us at Miller Motorsports Park for the Rolex season finale in our Corvette. The Thunderhill effort was a culmination of approximately 2 years of vehicle preparation and on-track tuning.

 

Since this *is* a USA 7 enthusiast site, I thought everyone might like to know the specifics of the vehicle, and a few of the necessary modifications to be competitive in a long format race.

 

The 7 started as a 2003 EP-spec car, with the wide-track suspension and the original 2.0L Ford Zetec engine (approximately 155HP) - original trans was a 5sp manual.

 

The fuel system capacity was substantially increased, allowing pit-stops every 2.5 hours. This involved a custom fuel cell that occupies all of the trunk area. An external, up-rated Bosch fuel pump is utilized. The fuel cell incorporates a double dry-break fill plate, allowing the use of a fast-fill overhead fueling rig. The car can be fueled in under 30 seconds.

 

The original 2.0L Zetec and 5-speed were removed, and replaced with the 2.0L Ford SVT engine, delivered as a kit from Caterham USA. We also upgraded to the close-ratio 6-speed transmission, also available from Caterham. This engine/transmission, combined with the diff-ratio, proved to be a favorable combination at T-Hill, allowing the drivers to leverage the good torque of this engine without needless shifting. Since Caterham USA delivers a used engine out of a donor Ford Focus, we had the engine professionally rebuilt by our engine partner, Loyning Engine Services of Portland. In the end, the package delivered 172 rwhp on a Mustang Dyno.

 

Brakes consisted of the AP racing setup (including the master cylinder), available from Caterham, at all four corners. Interestingly, the rear brakes wear faster than the fronts. Unlike all of the heavier, higher-horsepower competitors we faced, the Caterham easily completed the 25-hours on one set of pads!

 

Aero drag is a real issue with these cars at speed, so we opted to switch the entire nose of the car at dusk and dawn. During daylight hours, we would run without the big bug-catcher headlights. We experimented with smaller lights, but the intensity and beam pattern was not sufficient for the ink-black of Thunderhill at night. A straightforward and tidy wiring scheme made the nose switch simple and quick. Actually, there's a more "involved" story about the lights, but I'll spare the details here :-)

 

Another significant alteration involved oil-control. The PCV system, as installed in the SVT/Zetec engine, causes a *lot* of oil ingestion, and this can't be tolerated in a 25-hour race. We developed a closed-loop oil recovery system, that receives oil-air vapor from the valve cover into a catch-can, with a drain-back system to the Raceline oil pan through a one-way check valve. No oil on the cowl, and no oil going down the intake.

 

Tires are Goodyear racing slicks on 13 x 6 wheels. Since Mark already had 8-sets of these wheels, we decided to not further optimize the tire/wheel package.

 

As far as the race itself - we did not have a single unscheduled pit-stop, and each one of those pit-stops was executed with (almost) zero drama. Time in the pits is time lost - good fortune and planning helped us maximize the time on track. On the Friday before the race, we opted to not go out on track and practice - instead, we drilled our pit-stops in the paddock for several hours. The crew could do it in their sleep, and I think they did, during the race a few times :-) Another interesting what-if - The LF wheel bearing was failing toward the end of the race (in fact, it was starting to fail about 7-hours before the finish). If we had run the car on Friday, it would have probably failed, requiring a *very* lengthy pit-stop and costing us several positions. Our drivers put out a conscientious effort, avoiding contact throughout the race, and keeping the car on track. And since we had 25-hours to "get it done", short-shifting at 6800RPM was the norm. Nonetheless, a fast lap of 1:58.2xx, and consistent 2:00's and 2:01's allowed us to stay in the hunt. Oh, I almost forgot, it was UNBELIEVABLY cold during the overnight stints (25deg F at 5am). Everyone was wearing two layers of Nomex and an additional shirt under their driving suit, with taped-up helmet vents/visors.

 

Anyway - that is a "brief" synopsis of the car and the effort. The little Caterham took 3rd overall, surrounded by Porsche Cup Cars, and a V8 BMW M3. We also took home a first place award for highest-placed finisher under 2.0 liters.

 

Thanks again for the support and enthusiasm - it was a lot of work, but the result was worth it!

 

Best Regards,

-Bruce Beachman

Beachman Racing

[Kitcat]

Excellent info, thx! (Chance favors the prepared:)).

 

Mike

[rnr]

Congratulations on the race and thanks for the info.

 

Was there a classing reason why you didnt got for an R500 motor or just reliability concerns? I would actually be interested in your lights story if you can spare the time. Having driven a Lemons car for a 4 hour night stint at Thunderhill on really bad headlights I'm always curious as to what a "good" solution is.

[pierats]

Bruce,

 

Thanks for the details. It is a great result!

 

Tom

[BruceBe]

Congratulations on the race and thanks for the info.

 

Was there a classing reason why you didnt got for an R500 motor or just reliability concerns? I would actually be interested in your lights story if you can spare the time. Having driven a Lemons car for a 4 hour night stint at Thunderhill on really bad headlights I'm always curious as to what a "good" solution is.

 

In the 2003 chassis, fitting the R500 engine is a bit more involved. As a result, it was a budget-based decision. Reviewing the gap between us and 1st place, the incremental HP with a mildly tuned R500 engine would have probably resulted in an identical finishing position. And pushing the extremes of the lb/hp ratio in the Caterham would not have yielded the necessary longevity. We certainly headed down to Willows for the win, but when ALMS GT2 Porshes show up (with their equipment, crews, and drivers), it gets a lot more difficult. It will please everyone to know, however, that the Caterham could be placed anywhere on the track, and had consistently higher mid-turn speeds than the Porsches. Mark, the car owner, has asked me to help him explore a fresh car build that could take on all-comers. So we might sell his current car/spares to fund that effort.

 

Ahh...the lights. Well, we had a cunning plan that would remove the need to swap noses, by utilizing low-profile, tear-drop shaped driving lights. Utilizing the stock upper headlight brackets, we stacked two on each side. In addition, we also mounted two lights in the nose itself, as overheating was not an issue, and that placement would not contribute to overall Cd. In total, we had six lights, each with a 55w Halogen bulb.

 

Unfortunately, the size of the reflector compromised the beam focus, and we just couldn't get a concentrated pattern that would give us enough site-distance at Thunderhill, which is ink-black in several fast sections. I had the exquisite pleasure of discovering this in the qualifying session, which put us in P50 for the start :-(

 

For the race, we decided to go back to 2 standard 6-inch upper lights, in combination with the two grill-mounted driving lights. This would still avoid the nose-change, and *probably* give us enough light.

 

All was well, until the upper aluminum headlight bracket extensions (originally designed for the low-drag, low-profile lights), fatigued and broke (thankfully) during the day-time hours. We quickly formulated a plan to prepare the spare nose, which had the two lower lights already mounted on it. The pit-stop sequence would go as follows:

1) Cut-off the stock upper headlight brackets (interfered with spare nose, which had it's own self-contained brackets

2) Unbolt 6" lights from hacked-off bracket

3) Mount these two lights to the spare nose

4) Install nose and plug-in lights

5) Aim lights in pit-lane

 

The above was accomplished, along with a driver change, two new tires, and refueling in 4-minutes.

 

And with all of the concerns about aero-drag, we turned our fastest lap with the lights installed. Next time, we'll have a removable light bar, similar to many other cars in the race, and run four 6" headlights.

 

-Bruce