If you ever wondered what it takes to follow your passion, the answer may very well lie before you in the following lines. BMW started a whole new campaign a couple of years ago, aimed at saying thank you to its most loyal fans. Today, we’re taking a look at how a simple man from Jakarta managed to win over 120 races with a modest BMW E30 316i.
Yes, the 316i model was the basis for the car we’re about to see in the video below and that’s as modest as possible, back in 1985 being the cheapest 3 Series you could get new. It used a 1.6-liter 4-cylinder engine making just 99 PS and, as you can imagine, it wasn’t the fastest kid on the block.
That didn’t matter for Gerry Naution from Jakarta, who just wanted the brilliant chassis of the thing. He bought and modified a standard model and then he not only tried but made a racing car out of it. Over the years, since 2008 when he initially bought it, our good man won over 120 races.
He started with the suspension and aerodynamics of the car, continuing with the engine which, of course, had to be replaced, the 4 banger barely being capable of handling a track day.
Unfortunately, Gerry didn’t spill the beans on what he’s using under the hood right now, but he did mention that his ride now has 250 HP to rely on, which should be enough for the E30 chassis, especially since the original M3 version had just 192 PS.
Of course, an interesting question is why didn’t he just go for the M car in the first place, and his answer is as sincere as they come: he personally believes that he’s capable of doing much better things with the 316i than with the M3.
While it may seem like an absurd thing to say, we have to mention that he does have 30 years of motorsport behind him, as he claims, so he might just be on to something here.
Either way, his dedication to the sport and the transformation that the car went through under his supervision clearly speak of a passion taken to a whole new level. What’s your BMW story?
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