RACE: Hahn MotorSports 12 Hours at the Point

Making most of reliability, Hahn MotorSports team takes ITA win

The Speeds Indoor Racing Mazda RX7 of the Hahn MotorSports Team took the ITA-class win at the 5th Annual Kumho Tires 12 Hours at the Point in true endurance racing fashion. The team was not the fastest car in its class and, at one point during the race, fell many laps behind the class leader. But the Hahn MotorSports Team realized that victory does not always go to the fastest car, it goes to the car that gets there first. Relying on reliability, the team moved into the class lead as darkness approached and when midnight came, the team took the victory by covering 712 miles during the rain-soaked event.

Hahn MotorSports of Whitehall, Ohio relied on the driving talents of E.B. Lunken of Cincinnatti, Ohio, Brian Roesser of Columbus, Ohio and team owner Roland Hahn of Whitehall, Ohio. Lunken, at the young age of 62, has a vast amount of racing experience. E.B. has driven in CanAm, IMSA and SCCA Pro Racing, and is a member of the Cincinnati Region of the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). Roesser, a member of the Ohio Valley Region of SCCA and racing on his novice permit, made an excellent showing on his first competitive event. Not allowing the competion to intimidate him, Brian ran competitive lap times and left the car without a scratch. Hahn, with years of endurance experience and car construction, qualified the car with a time of 1:33.504 that was good for 2nd in class. Driving the final leg of the race, Roland, a member of the Ohio Valley Region of SCCA, was turning lap times within tenths of the team's fastest lap.

"We could not have done it without the support from Speeds Indoor Racing of Columbus, Ohio, Koni of North America and Acu-Tech Automotive of Columbus, Ohio," said Hahn. According to Hahn, good pit work was essentially in keeping the car in contention until their strategy bore fruit. "The crew of the Hahn MotorSports RX7, Dieter and Nancy Hahn (Roland's parents) and Jim Roesser (Brian's father). It just goes to show that a parent's job is never done."

The Hahn Motorsports 1983 Mazda RX7 is a one-year old race car and saw its rebirth from street to racing machine in Spring, 2002. The car is required to be fitted with standard safety equipment and is only allowed a few minor performance options. Despite top speeds around 130-mph mark and the constant cornering, the team only used a total of 8 BFG Comp T/A DOT tires for the entire race.

-hms/jj-