AR Motorsports & 3 Thieves Survive the 25 Hours of Thunderhill

When the 3 Thieves Racing Team purchased the Audi R8 LMS their goal was to take it to Willows, California to compete in NASA’s 25 Hours of Thunderhill. They have been competing in the event for the past four years in an E46 M3 going up against much faster machinery and wanted to increase their competitive edge. The GT3 R8 LMS has been a proven platform in professional endurance racing and at the 25 for nearly a decade. An R8 LMS fielded by Flying Lizard Motorsports has been an overall winner of this race in previous years, making it an easy choice.

We arrived at Thunderhill nearly a year after taking delivery of the car, with testing taking place throughout the season to sort the car and get the drivers acclimated. Leading up to the 25 Hour, we competed at the Cascade Festival of Endurance 8 Hour and won overall providing the drivers and crew with some valuable experience to take to Willows.

The small town of Willows, California was sunny but brisk when we pulled in to set up Wednesday. Thursday and Friday were optional test days which gave us the chance to make some set-up adjustments specific to Thunderhill. Ride height was a bit of an issue with bumps upsetting the car rather dramatically during practice. Working with the drivers to get their feedback, we were able to make positive changes to make the R8 more comfortable to drive. Outright pace is not the most important factor in a 25-hour-long race as consistency is the key ingredient in chasing success at this event.

Our driver lineup for the 25 included Rick Wright, Kevin Roggenbuck, Tom Burt, and Phil Fogg Jr. Rick, Kevin, and Tom all had completed test days in the car throughout the season. Phil joined them with lots of experience in GT cars, spending time in Porsche Cup and Pirelli World Challenge over the years. Phil typically competes at this event in a Norma M20F supported by the crew from Flatout Racing, but he took the year off from running his operation and joined 3 Thieves Racing to drive an R8 for the first time.

Both Thursday and Friday ended up being mostly sunny giving all of the drivers a chance to get reacquainted with the three-mile circuit. Thursday’s main drama was sound as our exhaust collector elbow and Supertrapp fell off on track. Thunderhill has strict sound requirements for this event so both are necessary. The additional weight out the back broke the rivets holding the collector on. We also found one of the factory exhaust mounts was broken. John Grant welded that up trackside Thursday night and we headed into Friday with more testing on the agenda.

On Friday, we made some final adjustments in the morning to prepare for qualifying which took place at dusk. Kevin qualified the car and put down a 1:51.4 which put us 6th overall on the grid. That evening we checked fluids, gave the car a thorough cleaning, replaced brake pads, and conducted a solid nut and bolt check inside and out. The next time the car would take to the track it would be for 25 hours straight.

Race day brought rain so we elected to have Rick start in the car as he generally feels the most comfortable driving in wet conditions. Entering the race our team was aiming for an overall podium finish. With an LMP3 car run by Riley Motorsports, a Radical SR3, and multiple other ESR NP01s, the game plan was to click off laps, avoid contact, and stay steady in comparison to the sometimes more fragile prototypes.

Rick did a great job and moved up from 6th to 3rd near the end of his stint but ran out of fuel shortly before we were going to have him pit. During the first few test days, we did our best to calculate a fuel burn rate to determine how far we could go on a stint. We were closely monitoring that throughout Rick’s stint and figured we still had roughly 10 liters of expected fuel onboard. Frustratingly, we were a little off on how far we could stretch our fuel. As a result, we fell back a bit in the order while getting towed back to the pits.

Nightfall had come and by 6:00 pm (7 hours in) we had clawed our way back to 2nd overall with great stints by Kevin and Tom in the wet. The track was slowly starting to dry and we put Phil out on Intermediates at 6:30 pm. While avoiding a spinning car Phil was forced to take evasive action and went off track. The engine died in the spin but wouldn’t refire. After a tow-in, we checked the voltage. We concluded the starter might have failed so we gave him a bump and it re-fired which was a nice relief for everyone.

We continued clicking off laps running P3 into the wee hours of Sunday. At around 1:00 am Kevin went off and got stuck deep in the mud. It was so thick out there, it required multiple safety trucks to get him out. After what felt like an eternity the car arrived back in the paddock. We drove it straight over to the garage buildings where a nearby hose was found to help spray off all the mud. We even brought the nitrogen tanks over in a truck to get the car in the air and get the tires off so we could get into the fender wells where the mud was really packed in.

Everyone had to get their hands dirty pulling out globs of mud from nearly every nook and cranny. We figured it was nearly 80 pounds we scooped out. One could have filmed a music video to the song “Car Wash” of our crew going at it for 25 minutes or so. Martin hopped in after we got it clean enough to take it for a loop through the pits to make sure nothing felt damaged or broken in the suspension. We looked it over and didn’t see anything noticeably wrong. We got Kevin back in the car and away he went for a few test laps. Kevin reported no issues and was able to run out the remainder of his stint before passing off the car to Tom.

Then came the fog delay at 5:45 am. As per usual with December weather in Willows, it's a bit unpredictable. The fog started thickening and eventually, the race was red-flagged due to poor visibility. The crew enjoyed some much-needed rest with some sleeping in the trailer, others in rental cars, and for the lucky ones, the RV.

The race resumed at 9:40 am or so with the race getting extended to 3:00 pm instead of the planned noon finish time. We had fallen back to 11th at one point after the mud excursion in the middle of the night so we had time to make up. Phil got back in and started making up positions quickly as we got laps back on our competitors. He drove a triple stint with a massive effort to get us back to third overall with second in sight only a few laps ahead. Unfortunately, after a long run on tires, the rears finally gave out resulting in a spin exiting 1. The car died and we had to get towed back in again and received our third NASA safety truck magnet as a momento. The delay resulted in a few positions lost on top of some penalties we were unable to fight.

Rick got in to finish out the last two hours and drove the car across the line for a 7th-place overall finish and 1st in ES. It wasn’t what we wanted, but we were close to achieving the target we came in with. We even had it in sight with just hours remaining. After 25 hours of on-track abuse in a variety of conditions, the drivers brought it home in one piece. As the motto goes, sometimes just “Surviving the 25” is a win. It brings a sense of accomplishment to our team that we can still be proud of. We left Thunderhill with our heads high and an R8 that, although tired and dirty, will be ready to fight another day at more endurance races in the future.

This race wouldn’t be possible without our crew. The group of 14 worked tirelessly throughout the race making over 15 pit stops. With little to no sleep for some, it’s a grind that takes its toll on everyone physically and mentally. We’re grateful for each and every person that made up our team. Each person had their role while working alongside one another to keep the car and our operation moving forward. It’s the people and the teamwork that makes these races memorable and those are the memories we will carry with us until next year’s event.

AR Motorsports & 3 Thieves Survive the 25 Hours of Thunderhill

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