The Tire Rack BMW CCA Club Racing Series ran at Pittsburgh International Race Complex in the first racing event of the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix, run on the weekend leading into the BMW CCA Oktoberfest in Pittsburgh. The huge pack of racers, drawn from across the U.S. and Canada, was divided into two groups, one for faster Modified and Prepared classes and the other for D-Modified, the remaining Prepared classes, and the Sport classes.
Each group ran a sprint on Saturday morning, a feature sprint on Sunday morning, and another sprint on Sunday afternoon. The groups also shared a no-points fun race and a one-hour enduro on Saturday afternoon.
Kermit Upton leads the pack in Mario Langsten’s historic 2002. (Brian Morgan photo)
Canadian racer Marshall Papadopoulus won the Group A feature sprint in a C-Modified E36 325is, finishing ahead of California-based B-Modified winner Ralph Warren in an E90 M3. Tyler Pappas rounded out the podium in a B-Modified M2. Jeff Quesenberry won I-Prepared, the largest class in the race, in an E36 M3. Sri Haputantri, who had resurrected his car after a crank sensor broke and damaged the engine in qualifying, won the Group B feature in a D-Modified E36 M3. I-Sport winner Dan March finished second overall in an E36 M3, and Than Orens, in a car with a front end that had been rebuilt after an incident in the Saturday enduro, finished third overall and first in H-Sport in an E46 M3.
Papadopoulus had won the Saturday-morning Group A sprint ahead of B-Mod winner Warren and C-Mod runner-up Gil Caravantes, another California racer, in an E36 M3. March had taken the overall win in the Saturday Group B sprint, and Caravantes was first overall in the Saturday fun race.
Dan March took one overall win and swept I-Sport at PIRC. (Brian Morgan photo)
Saturday’s enduro went to Peter Carroll, another Canadian racer, in a C-Mod E36 M3. He finished ahead of B-Mod winner Ralph Warren and C-Mod runner-up Kirk Olsen in an E36 M3.
Overall wins in the final BMW CCA races, run on Sunday afternoon, went to Carroll in Group A and Haputantri in Group B. Complete results are available here.
Sri Haputantri won the feature sprint in his D-Mod E36 M3. (Brian Morgan photo)
As always, the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix drew a number of 2002s; some raced with the Club Racing groups while others ran in a separate run group as part of the vintage event. Most of the 2002s will return to Pittsburgh for the vintage races in Schenley Park on the weekend of July 14–15.—Brian Morgan
Kirk Olsen, Ralph Warren, and Peter Carroll pose at the podium after the Saturday enduro. (Brian Morgan photo)
