Primm 300: Great win after 300 hot miles

The start. From here it's all or nothing

Dear Friends, Partners and Sponsors,

This year's Primm 300 was hot! And the heat was on shortly after I checked into my hotel in Nevada. First I felt really hot, then I began to shake badly. I'd picked up a bad cold somewhere along the way from Europe to the States. Before the start of the race I spoke to Martin Christensen: “Martin, it could be that I'll fall out of the car after the first lap. Then you have to take over.” Martin replied with good humourt: “Okay, after what we've coped with during this last week, that sounds quite easy to me.”

What Martin meant was that the US customs had taken a very close look at our cars after they returned from the Baja 300 Powerdays Germany. And when the US customs take a good look that can take some time. Only on the Friday before the race week our Buggys were released. Our team had just four days (including the weekend) to get the cars ready to race. The crew's performance was simply stunning. They reminded me of a perfectly running gearbox. Everything ran perfectly. For this I want to thank you all at AGM!

Desert express, bound for class victory

The day of the start: A healthy 42 degrees centigrade in the Nevada desert – my body temperature wasn't much less than that. I drove the start and had almost an entire Grand Prix distance to tackle on Nevada's most brutal desert tracks. And friends, I can tell you it was tough! Above all, I'll never forget the “Powerline Service Road”. That is a dirt track used by a power company to check on the power lines in the desert. The rest of the time the wind, sun and torrential rains play havoc on the track. These 25 miles of the worst jumps and hardest landings almost made me give up. It took my breath away. I saw many competitors sidelined at this early stage of the race. The route was hard, and I have the feeling some of the guys were too hard on the accelerator.

But during the second lap I felt much better. I'd found my rhythm. The organiser had banned any pre-running, so we had to improvise. And that was obviously to our advantage. Our navigator Bryan Lyttle again did a super job. I finished the second lap leading our class. Martin leapt in the car and brought victory home after the second half of the distance of almost 280 miles in his unique way: ultra fast and unbelievably smooth.

Our class win was super. Third in the overall classification caused a furore. We were only 11 minutes behind overall winner Robby Gordon in his 800 hp Trophy-Truck. Again we proved that with a good handling racer you can beat most of the horsepower monsters. I strongly believe, that Class 1 Buggys are potential overall winners at the Primm. I hope we can prove this in 2010.

The winning three: Martin, Bryan, and me (l-r)

One thing became clear again on those tough miles. You can only succeed in an event like the Primm 300 if you have the best partners. It's unbelievable what the BF Goodrich tyres withstood, and what the Bilstein shocks and Eibach springs can take. The exhaust system from Remus worked perfectly without problems, just like the K&N Filters in the thickest dust. And with Liqui Moly we have a partner onboard that supplies only the best quality when it comes to everything from cleaning products to gearbox oil. Ingo Bender, the boss of Stammcut, brought 20 guests to Las Vegas and into the desert. And it was brilliant how their enthusiasm and fun were contagious. Several of them asked if we could organise something at the Baja 1000...

Now we rank second in the championship, just five points behind the leader Hurley Letner. Ronnie Wilson is breathing down our necks. One of us three will be Class 1 champion after the Baja 1000 (19 to 22 November).

Back here in two weeks with all the news from our preparations for the highlight of the year.



Until then
Best regards,
Armin Schwarz

Andreas Aigner: World Champion and AGM join forces

Andreas Aigner: World Champion and AGM join forces
Welcome, World Champion!
Welcome, World Champion!

Great news for us all: The reigning Production WRC World Champion joins us at AGM. Andreas Aigner (24) contests the Baja 500 with Armin Kremer, which takes off (5-7 June) on the dusty stage in three weeks. Andreas is hugely talented. We saw that years ago at our junior selection programme and then he went on to brilliantly clinch his world championship title. And he has the guts to take on a duel man to man at high speed in thick dust. That’s more the exception than
the rule.
SCORE Buggy Class 1
And that's waiting for Andreas Aigner: One of the last great automobile dventures

Now Andreas swaps his 280 hp production car for the 640 hp Buggy. This heavy monster handles totally differently but it won’t be a problem for Andreas. I can imagine for a young sprinter like him, it’ll not be easy to pace himself for the long way through the desert and conserve the car. And he has to, because the Buggy can withstand huge knocks, but if you’re too rough with it, you destroy it.

Andreas will share the AGM cockpit with Armin Kremer, who does the first stint, before handing the Buggy over to Andreas for the second 250 mile stretch. I’m sharing the AGM Buggy with Martin Christensen, with me doing the first stint. For this reason, Martin and Andreas will drive the prerun together, which is a real blessing for Andreas. There’s no better tutor of desert racing in the world than Martin. And Armin is delighted to receive support from such a hungry, fast and fit young driver. Armin is aiming for the podium. Last year he narrowly missed out on a top three result at the Primm 300.
Armin Kremer
At the Baja 500 Armin Kremer wants a
podium result

Sal Fish, the boss of SCORE International, is also keen to welcome Andreas with open arms. A World Champion from Austria in the Mexican desert. That’s very new – the fans will love it.

Okay, we’re ready and roaring to go! Not only do we have a new driver for the Baja 500 but also a new sponsor partner. The fine wire manufacturer Stamm from Germany produces fine and super fine wires as well as high performance wire electrodes and is known under the name of “StammCut” in Europe and in the USA: www.stammcut.de

While we are working at full revs for the Baja 500, preparations for the Baja 300 Powerdays Germany, to be held in the Lausitz region of Germany not far from Berlin, is also moving along at high speed. Take a look at our website: www.baja300-powerdays.com

Best wishes, Armin Schwarz

Primm 300 to appear on German TV

From the Armin Schwarz newsletter.
Countdown to Primm 300 is on – Martin Christensen on US-German Combo

Dear Friends,

I dictated the lines you read right now in a hotel room in New Zealand. Together with Europe's biggest private TV station, RTL TV, I came here to cover the World Rally Championship round on this remote and beautiful island with its incredibly smooth and fast gravel roads.

Please read my short preview to the upcoming Terrible's Primm 300 and an interview we made earlier this week with my boss, driver colleague and friend, Martin Christensen.

From New Zealand it's only an eleven hours flight to LA and then I'll be back with the All German Motorsports team to tackle the SCORE Terrible's Primm 300 on 5 and 6 September held close to Las Vegas, Nevada. It will be great to see all my friends back in Escondido again. And it will be an exciting race: At the fourth of five rounds counting towards the SCORE Series, my team boss and driver colleague Martin Christensen and I want nothing less than grab the points lead of the world's toughest off-road championship with a top result.

Last year we just missed the Class 1 Podium here. This year we are #101 and the first Class 1 Buggy on the road behind the Trophy Trucks. So let's see what we can do. I'll drive the start and the first to laps of 72 miles each, Martin does the second two laps.


Primm 300 premieres on European TV thanks to RTL TV and Anchor Nazan Eckes


We at AGM enjoy very special support at the Primm 300: Nazan Eckes, star anchor at Europe's biggest private TV station, RTL TV, swaps her normal working field of Formula 1 for the world's most popular desert racing series. Nazan will report on her off-road experiences in a special 30-minute programme within the RTL coverage of the Italian Formula One Grand Prix on 13 September from 15.20 hrs Central European Summer Time. That's a great chance for us and gives us tons of extra motivation. We've got to be there at the front with millions of people watching in Europe!


Nazan Eckes, top anchor of RTL TV, Europe's biggest private TV station will report from the Primm 300

So keep your fingers crossed, we'll be out there and do our very best for a great performance and a great show!

Best wishes,

Armin