Three seniors in a race to graduate

Students in driver’ seat of modified BMW


HOT WHEELS—Oaks Christian Students Adam Ferla, Nick Matta and Marius Jatulis reworked this 1997 BMW 328i into a race car for their senior project in AP physics. Adam and Nick drove the car in the recent Bimmerfest at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.

HOT WHEELS—Oaks Christian Students Adam Ferla, Nick Matta and Marius Jatulis reworked this 1997 BMW 328i into a race car for their senior project in AP physics. Adam and Nick drove the car in the recent Bimmerfest at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.

Adam Ferla of Calabasas, Nick Matta of Malibu and Marius Jatulis of Oak Park put a little pizzazz into their senior year at high school.

The three Oaks Christian students rolled up their sleeves and transformed a stock, 1997 BMW 328i with 170,000 miles into a machine capable of serious track driving.

The students presented the car as their senior project in Advanced Placement physics at Oaks Christian.

According to Mario Ferla, Adam’s father, the souped-up Bimmer includes an overhauled suspension complete with new shocks, springs, sway bars and bushings. New slotted and drilled brake rotors were installed as well as racing brake pads. The cooling system was also overhauled and contains a low-temperature thermostat, a new water pump and a clutch fan delete with a full temperaturecontrolled electric fan conversion to keep the car cool on the track.

Lastly, the vehicle was completely stripped of extra weight. The entire stock interior was removed and replaced with two racing bucket seats with fourpoint harnesses.

The boys worked on the car at Adam’s house daily and completed all of the work themselves. They came up with a name for their team, Rivazza Racing, modeled after a corner of a famous Italian circuit.

Capping things off, Adam and Nick drove the car at the May 28 Bimmerfest at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., one week before graduation.

All three plan to study mechanical engineering in college this fall. Adam will attend the University of Colorado at Boulder, Nick will go to Southern Methodist University in Dallas and Marius will be at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Acorn staff report


 

 

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