‘Another World’ - Report from 2020 BMW 318ti cup Series Test
Frankfurt, DE / 23 Feb 2020
As I begin to write this on a 12 hour flight back to San Diego, my first trip to Germany has come to a close. Meeting my new team JAS Rennsport, lapping the Hockenheimring, and the culture shock that comes with seeing Europe in person. One of those cultural aspects struggles to leave me; sparkling water in Germany. It was like the national beverage, closely behind beer! While this was rather amusing, let’s dive into das Fleisch (the meat) of the report!
Intro
For those unfamiliar, here is a quick introduction to myself and the season. I’m Matt Million, a 19-year-old racing driver and college student from San Marcos, California. I began in karts at age 5 where I competed around the state for the following 8 years. At 13, I transitioned to car racing in the popular grassroots category of Spec Miata. The next 4 seasons were spent primarily in the Teen Mazda Challenge West, along with various NASA/SCCA club events. In 2017, I finished runner-up in the series capstoned by a podium at the Western NASA Nationals, helping me to a Mazda Road to 24 Shootout invite. In 2018 I transitioned to the emerging national Spec MX-5 Challenge series with 2 wins on the season. 2019 saw a shift toward college studies, but became a 25 Hours of Thunderhill E2 class winner in December. For 2020, I’m competing in the DMV BMW 318ti Cup in Germany, a growing touring car series in the region.
Back in 2018, I began my ‘Weekend Reflection’ reports to chronicle my results and thoughts from each event. It’s been a fun way to reflect on my races, and reach out to new and old friends through storytelling my tales as an aspiring professional driver. If you’d like to receive my updates for this season (or continue to), let me know and tell a friend! If not, that’s fine too!
To Germany
The title ‘Another World’ comes as a combination of all the unknowns I face traversing the Atlantic this year. Searching for a viable and unique option to keep me in the seat for 2020, I came across the BMW 318ti Cup. Everything I’ve done in motorsport has been with Europe in mind. To come across an emerging series of spec touring cars, with a bumper grid of 25 cars that visited major circuits across Germany, I had my target! It followed a 6 race, 6 weekend calendar of 2-hour long races with a 2 driver format. Months of logistics, costs, and feasibility research led to the realization that I had to go for it. As an American, it was a tough sell convincing a team I’d be a better choice than a native European. However, stars aligned after receiving one vital response. One from a fellow young driver, excited at the prospect of getting me onboard as his teammate.
JAS Rennsport was excited and adamant that I become a part of their group for the season. They’re a small auto and race shop located near Berlin and transition into the BMW 318ti Cup after years of regional club racing. Luca Alpert, my now teammate, responded quickly after my request was received. Laying out the details and translating for team owner Lars, they expressed a serious desire to work together, and we bonded through a common passion. Luca and I shared many traits and desires, making for a strong pairing. JAS Rennsport is very much a family-style operation instead of an outright motorsport business; a fun and honest group with a big heart. After our successful series test though, I know now they’re brutally competitive and quick as well. They were the only team to take my request seriously, and looking back I wouldn’t have gone anywhere else!
The Task
With the first race at the Hockenheimring in March, the championship organized an official test for Saturday, February 22nd. JAS and I agreed this would be the best option for me to acclimate myself with the lay of the German lands before returning to compete. I’d meet Luca and the team, settle into the car and circuit, and have a better grasp of the unknowns.
Right then, take-off from San Diego to land in Frankfurt on Friday morning, receive a lift to Hockenheim with our mechanic, spend Saturday testing and fly back early Sunday. These were the ‘hard’ details of the trip, set and planned. But the rest? I’d be going to figure those out! Hours spent building a digital ‘phrasebook’ of German might be of good use, or have little effect. Doing my best to study videos and drive simulator laps of the circuit, when it could feel totally foreign. Only way to know was to go!
Friday
The first challenge to tackle was travel time. Getting myself there came courtesy of a Lufthansa, direct to Frankfurt. Turns out February is a great month to score on nonstop flights! Surreal moments to be greeted with ‘guten Tag’ as I boarded as well. Quite a pleasant flight it ended up being, especially with an unoccupied passenger seat. But those lingering unknowns kept my mind running laps and sleep was difficult. The most important note headed into March; maximize sleep!
Gazing out during the landing, winter was very much still the season draping over the German state of Hesse. The landscape expansively grey, but it did little to damper my smile! We boarded a Mercedes bendy bus to baggage and customs, my body clock not having a clue what hour it was. Passport stamped, welcome to Germany! My hands working feverishly to translate messages of location, I connected with my mechanic Kai. The magnitude of this pursuit this was quickly felt as my German was more fluent than Kai’s english! No big worries though, as hand motions and expressions speak a common language (and so does Google Translate). My first autobahn experience was a fast one, reaching Hockenheim within the hour. Sitting passenger in a mid-90s Mercedes C-Class, doing well to showcase how these sedans were made for 160+ KPH!
We met Lars in the paddock thereafter, another surreal occasion! Turns out Hockenheim’s fancy pit garages didn’t open until evening, so we were the only people there! I took the 318ti Cup for a quick spin through the paddock getting a taste of what to expect, as well as taking plenty of track and group photos with my new German extended family! We stayed in Hockenheimring’s small hotel located on the backside of the main grandstands and I took advantage of my quaint room early to nap away some jet lag!
Waking up in a daze like I was in a foreign country, reality hit harder than dreams realizing I was! Helping JAS unload just beyond dusk, Luca and his father arrived at the circuit for their first time. Funny to think I saw Hockenheim in person before him! With the best English of the group, Luca and I had a great chat. All eyes forward to tomorrow!
Saturday
From a day where everything felt new to one that felt more familiar. Saturday was the single-day official test for the 2020 DMV NES 500 endurance series, of which BMW 318ti Cup runs with. 19 of the 24 confirmed teams opted to test, meaning we had plenty of competition to compare with.
With an obvious hurdle of quick and clear team communication, we decided it was best to focus on the larger picture that day and dissect smaller details during the lead-up into the first race. Lots of track time, make sure we’ve got plenty of video and mental data, and sort it out after!
The driver’s briefing was quick, essentially telling us it was a test day and we knew the rules. My kind of efficiency! Good thing it was quick because we had lots to do. Maximizing our track running, we entered in two run groups with Luca and I taking one each. With only three groups, 40 minutes of every hour was spent driving and the other 20 minutes was for fuel and a quick debrief! Other rival teams did the same, giving both of us time to run with competitors while also learning the circuit and car.
It took me two sessions to wrap my head around the dynamics of the 318ti Cup! Being similar in speed to Spec Miata was about the only commonality. First to note was driving with the windows up, which seems to be more common in Europe, making it oddly quiet as I’m used to wind and engine revs behind the wheel! Power steering and mild ABS gave a sensation I was accustomed to from Spec MX-5, but managing consistency with an open differential was all new! It demanded quick inputs to pivot the front on turn in, yet required a fine balance on corner exit to plant the rear down into the asphalt and gather a jump of traction! Expecting to wrangle an oversteer-happy car, the BMW 318’s slight length disadvantage (to a regular 3 Series) did little to unseat my confidence! I was faced with the opposite; an abundance of grip pushed my trust of the platform deeper into corners, still feeling I’ve got more to find. The Goodyear semi slicks are fantastic. I learned so much, and have plenty to gain!
Hockenheimring, for being an F1-grade circuit, surprised me in a positive way. Mixing high-speed, high commitment zones like the kerb hopping T1 and blind T12 with sequences of left-right flicks like the tricky T8-11 section or balancing the banked Sachs Kurve down and around to start-finish. At 4.5 kilometers (2.8 miles) in length, it’s inline with many US circuits I’m accustomed to. Instead of being obstacles, the kerbs here play a key part in lap times. Exit kerbing in T6 and T16 enable a nice ‘hook’ to plant the car for throttle down as well as settling the rear. Entrance kerbs on the high speeds are a big deal in front rotation, setting up bigger speed on the long straights!
Luca and I found our driving styles to be similar with small differences in how we found lap times. He’s a major reason why I decided to join JAS; a similarly passionate teenager with quick hands, speed on tap, and a desire to learn. After nonstop running from 9am to 4pm, our fastest laps were separated by a mere two tenths and each session followed a consistent pattern in our gains! We collected up our onboard footage and the day was done.
Ending the day, I spoke with series marketing manager Alex to do an interview for their social media (which you watch on their Instagram and Facebook pages!) Humbling to speak about the origins of this endeavor and my racing journey thus far on the pitwall at Hockenheimring. I can hardly imagine telling 5-year-old Matt, on the Kid Kart grid at Apex Racing Center near Lake Perris, what dream would be realized in 15 years! I’d like to think I would’ve believed myself, a driven little kid I was back then!
Sunday
Dark and early on Sunday morning, I had myself a complementary kaffee was back flying down the autobahn to Frankfurt with Kai. Arriving before sunrise gave me ample time to reflect on a rapid, yet truly important few days of self-growth - as well as how exhausted I was!
An international journey of just 70 hours from takeoff to final descent in San Diego. It’s a humbling taste of what the professionals do multiple times per month! With my ‘day job’ as a global business student, It’s rather amusing that I didn’t miss a single class in the 12,000 mile scramble. Greeted with plenty of coursework on return however!
Reflecting
It’s been about two weeks since, now grasping the challenges and motivations for the year ahead. I can’t say enough good things about JAS Rennsport, their drive to put Luca and I in the best possible position to fight for top spots has been well noticed. I’ll be doing everything possible to trade results for the opportunity they’ve given me! It’s been a seriously fun exchange of cultures already, and I’m loving it.
In total honesty, this trip was always going to be less about the driving and more facing culture shock learning from all the small nuances. It was fantastic diving into the unknown to extract a more complete perspective of how to better prepare for March’s first round. Sleep and proper nutrition are vital for racing drivers, and the challenge of them is exaggerated driving overseas. Combined with a better grasp of language obstacles, team bonding, and track knowledge, the upcoming race should now feel more similar to my past weekends.
The theme was to cut down unknown variables for March and I feel well achieved!
Looking ahead
In two weeks, I (hope) to return for the first race on March 29th. Amidst the escalating virus containment efforts, the likelihood of this is fast changing. It would be disappointing but understandable being forced to miss the race, or the event be abandoned altogether. Whatever happens, when that first race and reunion for myself and Luca to put JAS Rennsport on the map as title contenders, it will be even more special.
I’ve planned to be there with two familiar faces - my parents! As I continue making more of my own racing and career choices, their trust and support has been incredible. I still remember their reactions as I delivered the “you’ll never believe what I just found” spiel for this season to happen… and while it must’ve felt far out of their comfort zone as my parents, their faith in me has meant the world. I’ve just promised that I won’t scare them as autobahn passengers!
Sitting in the hotel bar following the test, Luca and I sat aching with ideas. Realizing smoother ways to attack a corner, carry more speed through a section, as well as fun discussions on the strange differences between German and American life. Since returning, our team group chat has been alive with positivity and plans for a strong, memorable season. This next chapter in my motorsport journey might become an important building block of my life for years to come. But for now, I’m focused on writing the first German pages!
Thank you so much for reading.
Cheers, Matt Million