Roebling
Road PCA Club Race
December
3-5, 2005
The last race on our calendar is one we always
look forward to. Roebling Road is essentially our home track, and
the PCA Club Race the first week in December always has a good turn-out
of Autometrics Motorsports customers.
This year we had rookie racer Erik Brownyard
running in an I class 944, and his father Rick returning to his E class
944 Turbo S. Mike Branning came back to defend his overall win
last year in his 944 S2, and Bill Martin hoped to follow up his dominant
performance at CMP.
In the GTC3 class, Anthony Jernigan and Kim
Linville competed in their 2002 model cars, and Mac McGehee ran his 2005
car. Cory Friedman was driving the #27 Rolex Series car in GTA,
and Leh Keen was back in his GT3RS.
Qualifying
conditions were very bad, with tire selection being a toss-up for all
groups. Drivers on rains had the advantage in the stock class
groups, but slicks we faster on the drying track for the GT cars.
Erik had a great start to the weekend, topping the timesheet in the
first practice. He was caught on dry tires for qualifying, so he
had some ground to make up during the race. He finished a strong
5th place. Rick Brownyard sat on the overall pole in the yellow
group. Bill was first in his class, 4th overall, and Mike Branning
would start 4th in class. The race was dry, and Rick fell back a
few positions, but still won his class convincingly. Bill was the
fastest of the stock class cars, and finished on the overall
podium. Mike picked up a spot and rounded out the F class podium.
Green
group qualifying started after all the rain had stopped, but the track
was still very wet. Most cars elected to start on rain tires, but
after just a few laps, it became apparent that faster times could be had
on drys. Anthony, Mac and Leh made a stop during the session for a
switch and it paid off for all of them. Leh started on the overall
pole, and Anthony and Mac were top 2 in GTC3, respectively. Cory
would start 5th overall, and Kim was 6th in class when the green flag
dropped. Leh ran up front with only mild pressure from Andy McNiel
early on. Cory was running a strong pace 3rd overall. GTC3
was hotly contested with Mac and Anthony fighting with Tim Rosengrant
and Gary Pennington for the top spots. Anthony had to retire from
a cutch failure, but Mac wound up just off the podium in 4th. Kim
retained his starting position, finishing in 6th. Cory moved up to
2nd overall when McNiel spun, and Leh was not likely going to be
challenged for the win until his left rear tire failed at the end of the
front straight. Friedman inherited the overall lead, but could not
keep the two twin-turbo monsters behind him on the straight, and
finished 3rd overall, 1st in GTA.
This was a
fun weekend, and a great way to end a great year for Autometrics
Motorsports. As always, we are very proud of our customers, and we
thank them for their continued support. Daytona Testing opens up
the new season in just a few weeks, but until then, Happy Holidays. |
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