The first round of the most anticipated series the club runs annually began with ten anxious racers and a wreck in the first turn. Let’s hope that’s not an omen.
It was a balmy 56 degrees in the club room with humidity about the same at 59%. The track temp was 56 degrees as well. With the cooler temps it will be interesting to see what tire strategy is used. The F22’s and N22’s might be a better choice for the cooler temps over the tried and true F30’s. Let see how it all worked out
Russell set the early pace with a fast lap time of 3.984 and a total of 213 laps. This was good but some fast cars were going to run in later heats. Running a Porsche 962 IMSA
Stephen was unable to get his Nissan running any quicker than 4.1 laps and finished with 207 total laps. I’m sure his slow times had nothing to do with the fact his chassis was cracked. Some might think that’s an issue but Steve is a drivers driver and will not let that hold him back. Gota love a racer. Running a Nissan R89C
Randy had his BF Goodrich tires hooked up and ran great race with a total of 209 laps. Great run for Randy. Running a custom BF Goodrich livery Porsche 962 IMSA
Ary was able to find some speed out of his “never been touched since 2011” Lancia LC2. Its funny how the car that started off so slow finished with a total of 222 laps and a fast lap of 3.866. Very well done. Thank goodness he does not have a fast motor in that car. Running a Lancia LC2.
Erik, the club’s newest racer, finished with a total of 201 laps. His first race was not the fastest, but he was very smooth and will be running with the faster cars very soon. He is one to watch out for. Running a Lancia LC2
Marty finished with 223 laps and just edged out Ary. He was not as smooth and had more de-slots but was able to just hang on. He also set the fast lap with a time of 3.835. Good but no where near the 3.7’s that were run in last years series. Running a Porsche 956KH
Shawn finished with 219 laps and could not get the Toyota to move any quicker in the turns. He, like Ary, had not touched his car for many years and was running re-treaded tires that did not give the same grip as any of the newer tires from this century. He will be running faster next round as he always does. Running a custom livery Toyota 88c
Alejandro finished with 209 laps and was very fast, as usual, but was having some issues with keeping his car in the slot. If Alejandro gets his car sorted out he will be at the front of the field fighting for the top spot. Running a custom livery Lancia LC2/85
John had one of his best runs ever. He had a fast lap that was 3.951 and his lap total was 213. That was some fast driving. He was less that 0.4 of a lap behind the fourth placed racer and was not much farther behind a spot on the podium. Running a Lancia LC2/85.
Mark was having a tough race after not passing tech and having to scramble to get a car put together for the race. Luckily, he had a spare chassis and could get his car up to tech just in time to run. It’s difficult for anyone to run fast when you are having to do last minute changes. This is to say nothing about starting a race with a car that you have no practice time with. Mark finished with 196 laps. Running a Porsche 962 IMSA
Almost everyone had a good day of racing and there was talk about all the improvements to be made for the next round. As fast as everyone was running we were missing last years champion – David. Not that we missed running against his 3.7 second Lancia. I’m sure we will see him at the next round.
Can’t wait to see what happens in the next round.
