Results :

Grand Am VIR 400 and PCA Club Race

October 8-9, 2005

The 2005 Grand Am Season is narrowing to a close, and our opportunities to move back into the 3rd place position in the Championship are just about up.  Going into this race, we trailed the #73 Porsche in 4th by only 4 points, and we were 15 points from taking 3rd from the #16 BMW.  Cory Friedman and Leh Keen returned to VIR, where we scored our first podium last season, with hopes of a similar performance.  This race also marked the return of our second car, with a new graphics scheme and a new number.  Joining Patrick Small this event was Mac McGehee, who was pulling double duty, running both the PCA and Grand Am races.

There was a test day prior to the usual 3-day event, so we expected to have plenty of time to get the cars tuned in.  For the first practice, the track was very damp, but had a good dry line.  Cars on the dry surface could go nearly full-speed, but deviating just a little was dangerous.  Patrick quickly got up to speed, and Cory was turning some very fast out-of-the-box times, so we were optimistic going into the first official practice.

Friday and Saturday had similar weather conditions.  Brief periods where the track would start to dry were followed by consistent rain, which varied from sprinkles to heave down-pour.  In the first official practice, neither of our cars completed a lap.  The rain was so bad that pace car speeds were tricky, and it was not worth the risk this early in the weekend.  Only 10 cars attempted to run a full lap in these conditions.  In the afternoon practice, conditions were still very wet, but it was reasonable to run and start to develop a rain set-up.  Apparently, we were pretty close, as the 14 car ran 5th and 27 sat 12th.

The poor conditions continued, making it very difficult to try to improve the cars.  When qualifying time rolled around, conditions were getting temporarily better, but it was still a toss-up as to whether Rains or Dry tires would be best.  Grand Am helped us out with this decision by canceling qualifying.  The starting grid would be set by team championship points.

In the final practice on Sunday morning, the rain had essentially stopped, but the ground and track were so saturated that the track was not able to dry out.  Through the majority of the session, the top 5 GT cars, including our 14 car, all ran within 0.1 seconds of each other.  Assuming the track stayed wet, we were in pretty good shape for the race.  Of course that did not happen, as the race ran entirely on dry track, rendering all of our practice time useless.

The PCA cars were facing the same challenges as the Rolex Series cars, with the constant question of which tires to use and whether it was worth while to run.  There was 2 qualifying sessions, so the starting grid was not totally random.  Bill Martin started at the front of D class, well ahead of any of his competitors and ahead of all but one stock class car.  Mac adapted well to the changes in car, tire and conditions and was running a strong 4th in the competitive GTC3 class.

Track condition was as good as it was all weekend for the sprint race, which isn't saying much.  Bill won without any issues, and Mac brought it home 3rd for his first GTC3 podium.  The enduro on Sunday morning didn't quite go as well.  Track conditions were the same as for the Grand Am final practice, and cars were sliding off dangerously at the start of the race.  Bill elected to start on Hoosiers but was unable to get any heat in them.  Couple that with cars leaving and crossing the circuit uncontrollably, and he decided that it wasn't worth continuing.  Mac was procrastinating on his stop hoping to switch to dry tires.  Just over half-way into the race, it went yellow, and would not go back green.  Consequently, a majority of the field, including Mac, was not able to make a stop.  As of now, it is undecided how the official results will be decided, as failure to stop should result in disqualification.

All of the BMW's failed to turn in qualifying driver nominations, so they were al required to start at the back of the pack.  Cory started the race in 4th, and Patrick started 15th.  The weather at the start was dry, and the radar did not show anything to be worried about, but given how the rest of the weekend we ran a set-up somewhere in between wet and dry.  Unfortunately, this cost us as there was not a drop of rain all race.  Small lost a few positions to the BMWs coming up through the field on the first lap, and the first yellow came out on the third race lap.  If the track stayed dry, it was unlikely to make the race with only one-stop, but this was still too early for our window.  When we went back to racing, Cory engaged in constant battles with GT cars.  Ultimately, he ended up 5th, losing position to a Porsche and BMW, and overtaking the #65 GTO.R.  

When the second caution came, it was within our fuel window, so we planned to stop once Cory caught the field for a splash of fuel.  Unfortunately, the 27 car developed a hydraulic issue with the clutch.  We came in hoping it was a tire issue, but it was not.  A clutch can not be repaired in the time left in the race, so the 27 had to retire.  Friedman made a quick stop, which dropped us to 13th position.  That did not last long as in the next 20 minutes before the next yellow, Cory consistently moved through the field and into 9th.  We looked to be in good shape, as two cars ahead of us had not stopped for fuel and the overall leaders had lapped the whole field.

Caution #3 came out right at the 1:00 mark, and the top 7 DP cars all stopped.  This became a big problem, as the new DP leader was right in the middle of the GT field.  The top 5 GT cars received the benefit of a full lap lead over the field.  The race progressed uneventfully until the next caution with just over one hour to go.  This was well within every GT car's final stop window, so there was significant position change.  Fortunate position with the overall leader and a well timed and executed stop moved us up into 6th position.  The top 2 GT cars still had the benefit of the early wave-by, but the 3rd-7th place cars were all grouped together.

Into the last half-hour of the race, Leh was running 7th, but was trailing the 3rd place car by only 5 seconds.  At this point, both the 73 and 16 cars were ahead of us.  The 73 Tafel entry fell off the pace and Keen made the pass to move into 6th.  Presumably an overheating issue, the 73 car slowed significantly a few laps later, and was not a threat.  Leh reported the car was sporadically cutting-out.  Just ahead of Leh were the 36 and 38 TPC Porsches in an intense battle with the #65 GTO.  They ran regularly two-wide for a number of laps when the #38 car went off due to a transmission or clutch failure.  With this, we inherited 5th position but were 20 seconds behind the 3rd place Pontiac, and the cutting-out problem had escalated significantly.  Switching to reserve seemed to remedy the problem, so it seems the main fuel pump was failing.  The race went to time just a few laps short of the 400KM distance, and Keen finished comfortably in 5th, a full lap ahead of the 6th place car.

Despite starting from the back of the grid and using the smaller 3.2ltr engine, BMW easily took the top two spots in GT.  They even managed to stay on the DP lead lap, finishing in the top 10 overall.  Unfortunately for us, the #16 BMW was on the second step on the podium, so they increased their lead over us to 21 points.  The overheating issue with #73 worked in our favor, as it dropped them back to 10th, allowing us to regain our 4th place position.

Going into La Gran Final de la Serie Rolex Sports Car in Mexico City, there is much talk and speculation about who would and would not be running.  Both of our cars will be there.  If the #16 BMW opts out of this event, our 14 car needs only finish 9th in GT to move into the 3rd place position in the team championship.  Leh and Cory maintain 6th in driver points, with a good possibility to move into the top 5 in Mexico.