Vendor Introducing the Model 3 Challenge – North America’s First EV Racing Series!

[MountainPass]

Introducing the Model 3 Challenge – North America’s First EV Racing Series!​

Hello TMC Fam – we are extremely excited to share with you all the launch of the Model 3 Challenge! We’ve partnered with Gridlife – bringing together electric vehicle racing and some of the most epic motorsport festivals in North America! It’s going to be nothing short of historic watching a pack of Model 3’s battling one another for position in front of thousands of spectators.

The Model 3 Challenge concept was born out of a desire to do more than just lapping days or one-lap competitions. By utilizing a common platform with a limited configuration, we hope to bring you the excitement of wheel-to-wheel racing without the risk, expense, and impracticality of a caged race car.

Using power-limited Model 3’s, almost every version is eligible to compete on a similar playing field, from Standard Range Plus’s to Performance models! This also allows us to run longer sprints without the worry of significant power reduction.

As a participant, you can expect plenty of overtaking, tight racing, and mega fun!

The Official 2023 Event Schedule is as follows:​

AUG 18 – 20 | Lime Rock Park – CT at Gridlife Circuit Legends

SEP 30 – OCT 1| Willow Springs – CA at Gridlife Streets Special

OCT 20 – 22 | Laguna Seca – CA at Gridlife Laguna Seca

In addition to the official events, we will be running some non-competitive warmup events at the following Gridlife events. These warmups will run with other Gridlife sessions, sharing the concept of the Model 3 Challenge before our official events kick off later in the season.

APR 28 – 30 | Watkins Glen International – NY at Gridlife At The Glen

AUG 4 – 6 | Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course – OH at Gridlife Mid-Ohio Meet

Assetto Corsa Model 3 Challenge Online:​

In an effort to get everyone into a “seat” as soon as possible, we are also announcing the launch of our Assetto Corsa online Model 3 Challenge. We hope that this can give you all something fun to do during the off-season, and familiarize yourself with the overall concept, passing rules, etc. The series is very casual, totally for fun, and not all that competitive. So, we welcome you to join and have some fun!

Tentatively, events will take place bi-weekly on Saturday’s at 2:30PM EST starting January 28th, 2022, and will run for around two hours. More details will be posted a week prior to each event. For more information, view MPP’s Assetto Corsa Cup Webpage!

You can find our official Press Release attached to this post. If you have any questions, or want more information on the series, don’t hesitate to reach out to us!

Visit the website at www.Model3Challenge.Racing to get started now!

 

[tm1v2]

This is awesome, and power limiting the series is a great idea.

I'll have to experience this vicariously for now, but this sounds next level fun for anyone doing track days in their Model 3, without getting too racecar intense about it.

 

[TheDriveway]

Would be nice to finally meet the MPP team at one of these events! (looking at Laguna Seca)

 

[MasterC17]

As some of you may have guessed, I've been working with Sasha over at Mountain Pass to bring our dream of a Model 3 racing series to life! It's been more than six months of hard work, car preparation, testing, and many discussions to make this a reality for you all. I can't understate how thrilled I am to mesh the motorsport festival experience of Gridlife with my passion for high performance driving in electric vehicles! Just to provide you all with some answers to FAQ's, here's some notes below.

What Vehicles are Eligible?

• 2018 - 2023 Tesla Model 3 Performance (Dual Motor, 78-82kWh Battery Pack)
• 2018 – 2023 Tesla Model 3 Dual Motor (Dual Motor, 78k-82Wh Battery Pack)
• 2017 – 2019 Tesla Model 3 Long Range RWD (Single Motor, 78kWh Battery Pack)
• 2018 – 2019 Tesla Model 3 Mid Range RWD (Single Motor, 62kWh Battery Pack)
• 2019 – 2021 Tesla Model 3 Standard Range RWD (Single Motor, 54kWh NCA Battery Pack ONLY)

What is the Minimum Build?

• MPP Sports Coilovers
• MPP Front Upper Control Arms
• MPP Cooling Party Controller
• Racing Brake Pads
• Front Rotor Upgrade (Non-Performance Brakes)
• MPP Party Box (Non-Performance)

What Tires are Allowed?

Any 200TW Tire - 285mm or Narrower

What is the Risk?

The series is specifically designed to allow you to take your daily driver - yes that car you drop your kids off to school in - to the racetrack, and back home in one piece. The Challenge format is a bit of a hybrid between HPDE and Time Attack with some W2W racing flair. Think of it as Time Attack but every lap counts instead of just one. We are working to partner with a track insurance company so that you can purchase some peace of mind as well. It will be important that competitors practice clean and respectful driving - we want to create a fun and positive environment!

Why Model 3 Challenge?

After years of lapping the Model 3 and participating in Time Attack events, I was getting a bit bored! Lapping days are fun, but it's a lot more fun when you can do it with friends and in similarly fast cars. Time Attack is great competition, but the Model 3's inherit weaknesses (power at high speeds and thermal limiting) really put a damper on what you can do. By limiting maximum power output, we can not only run with consistent power for many laps, we can also incorporate many different variants of the Model 3. Pit a bunch of similarly prepared Model 3's together, and I guarantee this will be the most fun track experience you've had in an EV!

If you're interested in competing I would encourage you to fill out our pre-signup form to secure your spot! I look forward to meeting you all at the events. If you have any questions, post here! If you happen to be in the North East and need help building a car for the series, reach out to me!

 

[Clover]

Wish I could make it to one of the events. Sounds awesome to me. A little surprised by the minimum build specs but I guess your race, your rules. More a hopeful request for future years, how about a Colorado day at High Plains Raceway? Not nearly as big or prestigious as your other tracks, but it is a fun track and is readable for those of us not living on a coast and it gives those who travel a chance to enjoy some mountain passes. There are a lot of Tesla already out here with the state tax rebates we have had as well.

P.s. How about we get a legit trophy that can be passed around from year to year to the winners?

 

[MasterC17]

Wish I could make it to one of the events. Sounds awesome to me. A little surprised by the minimum build specs but I guess your race, your rules. More a hopeful request for future years, how about a Colorado day at High Plains Raceway? Not nearly as big or prestigious as your other tracks, but it is a fun track and is readable for those of us not living on a coast and it gives those who travel a chance to enjoy some mountain passes. There are a lot of Tesla already out here with the state tax rebates we have had as well.

P.s. How about we get a legit trophy that can be passed around from year to year to the winners?

A trophy is a cool idea! Something to think about for sure

Right now we're partnering with Gridlife, which is incredible - and we are super fortunate and thankful to be paired up with them as these events are basically the best-case scenario for exposure and sharing with the world that EV's are fun and can party just like ICE cars. So if Gridlife goes to High Plains, and there is enough demand for a Model 3 Challenge event, then who knows, let's do it!

In racing, one thing I've learned is that it doesn't matter what you do, you'll always make some people unhappy. The build spec was designed around something that is affordable, with the goal of all cars being equal. Since MPP is the main sponsor at this time, it's only logical that the "control" parts will be MPP. The dampers and FUCAs are matched together and selected for good reason - it prevents competitors from feeling like they need to have un-driveable race suspension on a car they may well use on a daily basis. The FUCA is matched with the suspension travel of that suspension, ensuring contact between the arm and the chassis cannot happen, and ensuring no one puts together a sketchy setup to try to eek out a bit more front camber. Obviously, we don't want to see cars having suspension failures in the corkscrew at Laguna Seca, that wouldn't be a good look!

Finally, MPP is the only company that has a solution for power limiting which is what allows all specs of cars to run with each other, and be able to go for 10+ minutes with consistent power output.

Originally the build spec was more defined, but we opened it up a lot to make it easier for everyone to give the series a try. The intention is for all cars to be equal in the coming seasons, so that it really is just down to driver versus driver - the same concept you've seen done with so many other series out there such as GT3 Cup, Spec Miata, or BoP controlled GT4/GT3 (although BoP controlled different cars are a mess IMO).

In all our years of racing, the "open" classes where competitors can do whatever they want are usually dominated by whoever has the most money and time to spend on their car. That is something we absolutely wanted to avoid. Our goal is to keep costs down, and fun up!

That being said, as we run at Gridlife events, those that have "open" modified Model 3's can join us and hang out with the Model 3 Challenge paddock, and run in the Gridlife Time Attack classes - so it's actually best of both worlds!

 

[MoreAgain]

This is going to be epic! Thank you so much for all the effort you've put in to make it a reality. I see that Grid Life is opening registration for Streets tomorrow. Will there be a Model 3 Challenge option on their site, or will it be done separately or at a later date?

 

[MasterC17]

This is going to be epic! Thank you so much for all the effort you've put in to make it a reality. I see that Grid Life is opening registration for Streets tomorrow. Will there be a Model 3 Challenge option on their site, or will it be done separately or at a later date?

Official Sign-Up's will be completed through Gridlife's website. I don't have an exact date yet, but we will update everyone as soon as it goes live! In the meantime, you can reserve your spot here!

Spots are filling quickly, and are limited, so if you're interested don't hesitate to fill out the form!

 

[Moeb]

Just registered for the laguna Seca event! Who’s going?

 

[MoreAgain]

Just registered for the laguna Seca event! Who’s going?

Should be the largest field yet. I'll be there.

 

[MasterC17]

Just registered for the laguna Seca event! Who’s going?

Nearly everyone from our Streets of Willow event will be in attendance, including Steven, who took P1 overall for the event!

Watch him move from P5 to P2 throughout a race in this awesome video!

 

[Moeb]

Nearly everyone from our Streets of Willow event will be in attendance, including Steven, who took P1 overall for the event!

Watch him move from P5 to P2 throughout a race in this awesome video!

Awesome I’m really looking forward to this event, specially since it’s at laguna seca!

 

[Moeb]

Are you guys camping or staying at a hotel/motel?

 

[MasterC17]

Are you guys camping or staying at a hotel/motel?

Hotel for me!

 

[Moeb]

Hotel for me!

Ya I was thinking the same haha any good suggestions? I’ve never been around that area.