Sitting on the pit wall, frustrated with my lap times, I watched the crew scramble to change the car's setup for Oswaldo, tweaking ride height and shock settings for maximum speed. "We set you up to fail," the crew chief said, trying to comfort my bruised ego. I had expected the car's setup to start at conservative and move toward competitive over the course of the day. Instead, we started at idiot-proof and progressed toward conservative.
The gigantic 11-gal. fuel cell carries enough gas for two races, and I started with a full tank and its ballast, which is also not the fastest way to go.
A ride in the car would ordinarily be the end of the story, but with Formula BMW it is literally only the beginning. That's why I had to relinquish the car; BMW puts its test driver on the track to produce benchmark data for participants' information. The idea is to help young drivers fresh out of karts to maximize their potential in as little time as possible. They might not yet be able to give their engineers the feedback needed to nail the setup, so if a team is lost on setup or a driver is struggling with a particular part of the track, they need only check the information from their car's 2D Datarecording system with that gathered by the series' own drivers.
"Our drivers set baseline lap times and baseline setups in terms of engineering," said Louis D'Agostino, the series coordinator/engineer. "We are able to give them a reference point, so any team member, any driver, any coach, any engineer can come and obtain our data in its entirety. We also make available all the setup data, all the engineering data that that works-the springs, shock settings-to help shorten the development time of the driver. Typically, a team runs two young drivers who don't have enough experience to know when a car is good or bad. Half the time they don't even know if they are in the right seating position. We try to train them in how to talk to an engineer. We try to teach them how to become a race-car driver."
The cars are all inspected before they're allowed on track, and officials from the U.S. series communicate with those from Germany, Japan and the UK, so they already know the likely cheats. Even the wiring harness itself is checked in case teams try to trick the computer. Seemingly everything but the nuts and bolts on the car bears a holographic sticker indicating its legality.
Entry to the series costs $20,000, in addition to the purchase or lease price of the car. Most of the sales so far have been to prep shops, so most competitors are leasing their cars and having them professionally prepared. BMW also provides a truckload of spares at all races and series-sanctioned test days, relieving teams of the burden of buying and transporting parts. The company even allows $15,000 in free parts so drivers don't have to worry so much about the consequences of knocking the nose off the car.
Testing outside the sanctioned test days is prohibited as a cost-saving measure, and testing at tracks where the series races in any formula car, not just the FBMW, is banned. Racers under age 18 are eligible to win one of six $40,000 scholarships to compete in the series, based on participation in the BMW school in Valencia, Spain.
The Formula BMW USA championship-winning driver earns a $50,000 scholarship, applicable toward participation in the Formula BMW Germany series next season, along with $20,000 in cash prize money. A separate Rookie Cup, for drivers who have never driven a formula car with as much power as the FB2, compete for an $8,000 top prize.
FBMW is not only the most comprehensive young driver training program available, it is the most comprehensive such program imaginable. That's why Bobby Rahal and Prototype Technology Group team boss Tom Milner have both entered their sons in the series. "I think this is the right series to be in, because BMW is going to support it and promote it," said Rahal. "That's why I picked it for Graham."
Said James Hinchcliffe, a 17-year-old competitor from Toronto, "There are so many series out there that you really want to pick one that's got everything, and this is one of those series."
If only I fit in the age range for the series, I'd be digging out the bandages and aspirin to get back in the car right now.