Under Power and Overweight: Milburn Motorsports Acura RSX Struggles in Round Two

Thunderhill was a rough start to the season for Milburn Motorsports, who ended up coming up

short due to issues with a newly installed shifter in their car. For round two, the team had high

hopes at Sonoma Raceway, lead driver Sean Milburn’s home track. I spoke with Sean early in

the weekend about what changes they had made since Thunderhill, and how they planned to

come out on top this weekend. Sean explained, “We made some setup adjustments to the car

after round one, trying to figure out the most optimal way to get the car to rotate reliably. After

going out in the car for practice and qualifying, I am confident that the changes we made have

put us in the right direction."

Sean ended up qualifying in second position within his class, putting Milburn Motorsports in a

good spot for a potential win. However, the team quickly came to realize a major shortcoming

with the car. I found Tom Milburn working on the car after qualifying on Sunday, just a few hours

before the race started. “We have made a discovery that the motor in the car is producing far

less horsepower than what it is supposed to be making. It has lost over forty horsepower, and

we have already declared the amount of power the car is supposed to be at for the weekend.

That means we cannot pull any weight out of the car to compensate, and we will have to run the

car way underpowered and overweight for the race this weekend” Tom Milburn stated, frustrated

with such a late and damning discovery.

Sean drove the car to the limit of what it would provide him in the race, but ultimately it was not

enough to keep the other cars within the class from passing him. I spoke with Sean after the

race to see how he felt about it. “I did the best I could and ran a great race, and got a great

understanding of what the setup changes we made to the car will provide us under racing

conditions. The brakes were working better than they ever have as well. Once we resolve the

issues with the motor, we will be back to show the rest of the field what the Milburn Motorsports

Acura RSX can really do!”

We will check in with Milburn Motorsports again at round three, set to be at Fontana Raceway in

southern California.