Lowes
Motor Speedway in Charlotte
World
Challenge GT 2000
Our first World Challenge race at Charlotte was very disappointing.
We
discovered our first problem attempting to start the RSR to warm it up for the
Thursday morning practice. It refused to start, then after some quick
diagnosing, we realized that the fuel was contaminated. That problem was
somewhat remedied, and we had a reasonable practice session. As a result of the
contaminated fuel, the fuel injection software that was just developed at
Autothority with ten hours dyno time was way too rich. Additionally, the idle
speed ended up at 4000 rpm resulting in a wild ride for Cory and cooking a set
of front brake pads. Added to that were high tire pressures. In spite of all that, Cory was only
off the fastest time by about 2 seconds, putting him 11th position
after the first session. The next Thursday practice session was ended after one
and a half laps because of a Black Flag incident. There were a lot of problems
with the "Moving Chicane;" the officials kept moving it because the
drivers kept hitting it. There were many incidents at the chicane that resulted
in Black Flags. Qualifying on Friday was no exception. After only one and a half
laps, it was Black Flagged. The qualifying session was now reduced to only five
minutes. After coming into the pits and lining up again, Cory found himself
stuck in between slower cars resulting in a disappointing mid-pack 21st position. We were still optimistic for the race, looking for a top ten finish.
This was the first ever World Challenge standing start and Cory got a good jump
gaining four or five positions immediately. Then the car got loose in turn one,
went sideways and was slammed by another Porsche and then a Lotus, ending our
top ten hopes.
This was
truly the most disappointing and expensive race weekend we have ever
experienced. We are in the process of rebuilding the car and looking for Sponsors with the intention of running the Lime Rock race. I would like to thank
Jerry, Doug, Mike, Rick and Hank for the personal donations. I would also like to thank all
of you for your concern and support.
Gordon
Friedman
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