Class D Victory at the Sydney 300
The Viola Private Wealth Sydney 300 was always going to be a long night. Seventy six laps, more than fifty cars on track, six safety car periods and a forecast that kept everyone honest.
By the time the chequered flag fell, the #17 BMW E36 had climbed from the very back of the field to 11th outright and first in Class D. Our biggest result yet.
The numbers tell the story better than we can, so let's walk through them.
Started P41
It did not begin the way we wanted. We lined up 33rd, but a start mix up shuffled the #17 back to P41 and the rear of the field before the race had really settled.
That is a tough place to start a 300 from, but it also set up the climb that defined our night.
Rummler's first stint: P41 to P9
From P41, Marcus put his head down and went to work. The early laps were about clean, consistent pace and picking off cars as they came. By lap 14 the #17 had cracked the top 30.
The big move came through the middle of the stint, climbing from the high 20s into the teens across a run of strong, repeatable laps.
The car kept coming. By lap 38 the BMW was running as high as P9 outright, a remarkable position for a Class D car in a field that size.
That peak is the high point of the red line on the chart and the foundation of the whole result. Thirty something positions gained from the back of the grid in a single stint.
Stop and driver change
The Sydney 300 threw safety cars at the field all night, and one of them landed perfectly for us. With the safety car out around lap 41 the field was bunched and slowed, so the team brought Marcus in to take our compulsory five minute stop and driver change right when it cost us the least track position.
A green flag stop would have dropped us much further down the order. A clean 5:03 in pit lane, David swapped in and rejoined on a P19 out lap. Exactly the kind of tidy, undramatic stop that keeps a race on track.
Krusza's second stint: holding the class lead home
David's job was to bring it home, and he did it without a flaw. The blue line on the chart is the picture of a clean, controlled second stint.
No mistakes, no offs, just steady laps that nursed the car and the position through the back half of the race and the late safety car periods.
By the flag the #17 had worked back up to 11th outright and held first in Class D out of fifteen cars. Two drivers, two clean stints, one result.
The takeaway
This is what endurance racing rewards. Not one hero lap, but a full night of good decisions, clean driving and a crew that nailed the stop.
Marcus dug the result out of a P41 hole, David protected it to the line, and the team gave both of them a car that could do the job for the full distance.
Thank you
None of this happens without our partners and the people in the garage. Thank you to Pinnacle Automotive, Kelly+Partners Penrith, 7Chairs and everyone who backs the Project E36 program.
Thanks to Terry and the team at MRA for organising the event, and to our Class D sponsor Fastrack Experiences, who put up the prize money that saw us take home $1000 for the class win.
Thank you also to the ARDC and Sydney Motorsport Park, and to every volunteer and official who gave up their weekend to make the racing happen. Last but not least, thank you to every family member and friend who came out to cheer the #17 home.
Onto the next one.
Per lap positions traced manually from the Natsoft lap chart.
