So far everything is going to plan for One Motorsports and team owner Jeff Shafer at the 25 Hours of Thunderhill presented by Hawk Performance. One Motorsports was the overall leader as of 5 p.m., holding a 2-lap lead over ESR competitor Crowdstrike/Mosaic Motorsports.
Shafer is quick to credit his drivers who continue to run at a strong clip. “(Anthony Bullock) did great. He’s kept it out of trouble so far,” Shafer said. “Josh (Sarchet) is going to get in and hopefully goes for about three hours trouble-free.”
Bullock had a spinout on the back track at Thunderhill but quickly recovered and never lost the top position.
Shafter was planning to take over the driving duties starting about 8 p.m.
“It’s definitely past my bedtime,” he said with a laugh.
ES
Team Lowe Racing Group continued to maintain its lead at the 25 Hour of Thunderhill with the BMW holding a 9-lap lead over Stratus Racing, Sitting in third place is Three Thieves Racing with Modified Racing Inc. holding fourth place in the six-car field.
EM
The Team Entropy Racing EVSR car achieved a team milestone, running now continuously more than five hours straight at the 25 Hours of Thunderhill Presented by Hawk Performance. The first all-electric car to enter the endurance race has already logged 400 miles.
Because of a motor running hot, the team had to soft-pedal the car around the track for a couple of laps but the electric car is still running.
“It has nothing to do with the batteries. It just has to do with the motor temps have been running high,” said spokeswoman Jennifer Seraphin. “The ambient temperature that we run best at is about 63 Fahrenheit. It’s been a little more today and the car’s been in continuous use, so we expected this.
“We expect the overnight to be a lot better and we’re managing it, and we haven’t been off the road at all.”
E0
With its team of seven drivers, five of whom flew in from Japan just for the 2021 25 Hours of Thunderhill Presented by Hawk Performance, Team Spoon Sports increased its lead over second-place DIG Motorsports from one lap to seven by 5 p.m. The team’s Honda Civic Type R so far has been robust, staying out on track and clicking off laps. Team Steyn Motorsports and Team Dragonfly Motorsports were 28 and 111 laps down respectively.
E1
Team Funduro Racing jumped to a big lead over Team Tazio Ottis Racing since the 2 o’clock update. Team Tazio Ottis Racing suffered a failure that put them in the pits, which resulted in a 44-lap deficit, which will be difficult to overcome, even with 19 hours of racing left to go. But, then again, stranger things have happened at the 25.
E2
Team MooreWood Creative black is one half of a two-car team at this year’s race in E2, the largest class in this year’s event. E2 has emerged in recent years as one of the most competitive in NASA endurance racing in general and at the 25 Hour in particular. Seven E2 cars took the green flag at Thunderhill.
Team MooreWood Creative Black had built its lead to two laps over second-place Houston-based Slipstream Performance in its Mazda MX-5. The MooreWood sister car, MooreWood Creative White, was running two laps down in third place in E2. Both MooreWood cars are E46 BMWs prepped by Magic Performance.
E3
At 5 o’clock Team Silver Fern Racing Miata had increased the three-lap lead it had established by 2 p.m. to 10 laps by 5 p.m. over second-place Team Heyer Performance, which has an interesting practice at the 25 Hours of Thunderhill. Team Heyer parks the car when it gets dark, heads into town, the drivers have a nice hot meal and a good night’s sleep and return at dawn, so expect to see Team Heyer Performance fall back overnight as Team Silver Fern Racing Miata continues into the night.
E3S
Team Pink BMW with 3 Fast Drivers and One Porsche Driver and Team Black Swan Search are both racing Spec E30 cars in E3S. The team members know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and they enjoy a friendly rivalry.
Team Pink BMW was turning 2:09-second laps to Black Swan’s 2:07’s, but it was Team Pink BMW that was in the lead at 5 o’clock as the sun began to set. Team Jersey Boys + One had slipped in between them as did Team Lesher Motorsports, putting Team Black Swan search back to fourth after having led the class early on. Team Pink BMW was one lap up over Team Jersey Boys + One, and four laps up on Lesher and Black Swan at 5 p.m.
