Racing Lines: Three Winners in Four Races as BMW CCA Club Racing Returns to Roebling Road

Racers converged on Roebling Road Raceway in June for a Peachtree Chapter event. The 90-degree heat and the choice of tires were major factors in driving performance on the track, where a small group of thirteen racers fought intense battles in an enduro and three sprint races.

Mike Akard won the enduro and the first sprint race in his F82 M4 GT4, chased on both occasions by Robert Chang in his C-Modified E46 M3. In the Friday enduro, the balance of the field was made up of I-Prepared and Spec E46 cars; Chris Lindner finished third overall and first in I-Prepared in his E36 M3. Just behind him was Spec E46 winner Justin Bombard in a 330i.

On Saturday morning, Akard’s granddaughter, Camron Nipper joined the fray with her PWR3 M235iR. However, she was plagued by overheating issues all weekend, including her car overheating and her cool suit malfunctioning at times. Still, she managed a tenth-overall finish and a solo class win on Saturday morning. Akard and Chang were again first and second, with Jeff Bennett, running I-Prepared for the first time, winning his class and finishing on the podium. Bennett had just made the switch from Spec E46, where he had run for eight seasons, scoring national titles in 2020 and 2021. Brian Kohrman won Spec E46 in a 330Ci.

Tires made the difference in the Saturday-afternoon feature race. “For the feature race, newly scrubbed tires went on,” said Chang, “and once I took the lead at the start from the GT4 into Turn One, I pushed for the first eight laps to increase my lead, then maintained a pace to preserve my tires for the remaining fifteen minutes.”

Akard observed, “When Robert Chang installed his better set of slicks on his E46 M3 CM machine for the feature race on Saturday afternoon, he made quick work of outpacing everyone from his position on outside pole at the start. I actually turned my fastest laps of the weekend trying to keep sight of him; he had me covered by a significant margin, leaving me in second.”

Sri Haputantri, running with Akard in PWR4, finished second in class and third overall in his E36 M3. Bennett won I-Prepared again in the feature race, while Mike Rohrbaugh, who had struggled with a new but faulty fuel pump early in the weekend, won Spec E46 just ahead of class competitors Jose Gonzales (330Ci) and Brian Kohrman.

Haputantri would go on to take the overall win in Sunday’s final sprint, finishing ahead of C-Mod winner Chang and I-Prepared winner Bennett. Akard chased Chang, noting, “It was a great battle with Robert once again, but his slicks weren’t providing the grip that had him checking out on the field in the feature race on Saturday; I was able to stay right with him in the corners and under braking, unlike that previous race.” Alas, a cut tire abruptly ended Akard’s chase eight laps into the race.

Bennett, finishing third overall, took his third I-P win, and Nipper had her best race of the weekend, finishing fourth-overall behind Bennett and scoring another PWR3 win. Rohrbaugh started from the class pole and went on to win Spec E46.

Racer Matt Joos accepted the Spirit of Club Racing flag on behalf of the Peachtree Chapter for moving forward with the event even with low attendance.

Mark Connolly served as the competition steward, April Massagee served as the tech steward, and Larry Fletcher served as the timing-and-scoring steward.—Brian Morgan, Roundel motorsports editor, with input from racers

Lead photo from inside Brian Kohrman’s race car by Brian Kohrman, courtesy Mike Rohrbaugh