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Road Atlanta PCA 2018 Photo Gallery
The Bar Was Raised Again in 2017
2016 was a record-breaking season for us in a number of ways, and our momentum carried into the 2017 season. The goal for every year is to surpass the previous. We worked toward and expected to see improvement in a few areas, but when we left Daytona in October, we could not have been more proud of the season’s accomplishments. By nearly every metric of performance, the numbers for 2017 were more positive than in 2016.
Our 2017 PCA calendar included 11 events, and our drivers collected a staggering 55 class wins (up from 46 in 2016). The P1’s drove our podium total up by 14 to 122. Our top trophy collector was Charlie Craig with 20, followed by fellow Clubsport East competitor David Baum (16), and Jimmy Martin with 15. 12 of Jimmy’s 15 were wins, the most of any of our drivers.
Jimmy crushed track records at nearly every circuit last season, leading our 10 new records set in 2016. This was the number we anticipated being untouchable, as Jimmy was competing with his own impressive laps. In the end, Jimmy only bested one of his records, but 6 other drivers stepped up to keep the total at 10. Chris Brown knocked down 2 TR in C6, and Scott Daiger, Price Ford, Stuart Fain and David Baum claimed the top spot in the records at one track each. Cory drove a variety of cars this season and added 3 more track records to his resume.
We had a couple season points champions again in 2017. Jimmy repeated in I, Charlie won the Masters division in the GT4 series, and Cory lead points again, this time in GTA3 (though he did not meet the minimum points races requirement). In the GT4 Championship division, deja vu as David finished second like he did in 2016. Price Ford also took the runner-up position in K-class points.
PCA continues to be the focus of our track support program, but we also saw success at HSR events. Cory and Charlie narrowly missed out on an overall group win at the Classic 24, and Mac may have had to leave some luggage in Daytona to make room for all the trophies he took home that weekend.
Add all this to the Pirelli World Challenge Sprint-X Championship with 9 class wins, and the 2017 racing season was one that we will not forget and will likely not surpass without massive effort. The PCA schedule leaves us with no off-season to speak of, and we have been full-throttle with engine rebuilds and preparing cars for Sebring in just a few weeks time.
Watkins Glen PCA 2016 Video
Ride along as Cory tries to find a way around the Flying Lizard 2016 GT3 R at Watkins Glen.
900 Pounds of Ice: VIR PCA 2015
The VIRginia International Raceway PCA Club Race in June has traditionally been the hottest weekend on the calendar, and 2015 regrettably did not break that trend with heat indices over 100F every day. We did indeed use a staggering 900 pounds of ice between set-up on Thursday and pack-up on Sunday. The intense heat takes its toll on people and race cars alike, and unfortunately, not even we were immune from the effects. One transmission did not survive the weekend, and on a few occasions, we had shifter cable ends pop-off the transmission. Still that did not keep us from producing very impressive results.
David Baum ran our World Challenge Cayman, and though it does not really have a class that fits, David was consistently in podium contention despite being out-gunned by early 911s built for the class. In H-class, Bob Hahn and Jimmy Martin were dicing for podium positions in the sprint races. Jimmy also won the fun race, and he and Cory finished 1st overall in the Enduro. Chris Lewis was running respectably in the huge GTB1 class in the sprint races. He and Cory co-drove the enduro, and in the warm-up, Cory took down the B1 track record by a comfortable margin. Chris took the checkered flag for the enduro in 2nd place.
In the “Cup” race group, Cory, Joe, Chris, Gary and Mac were consistently among the top-5 cars overall. Mac McGehee moved up from C4 to C5 class this weekend, and he adapted very well to the new car, winning the fun race and finishing 1st and 2nd in the two sprint races. The only C5 car quicker than Mac was Gary Pennington who reset his own C5 track record from last season. Chris Brown did not have much competition in C6, but a 4.0 liter RSR offered some challenge. Chris swept class wins and track record, always finishing 3rd overall behind Joe and Cory. Joe Toussaint had a strong weekend, consistently turning laps under the previous track record. In the enduro, Joe had such a massive lead, that even when a tire let go with a few minutes remaining, he still ended up 3rd overall. Cory Friedman also completed the sweep on the weekend, topping every practice and sprint race, beating the old overall track record, then kept raising the bar from there.
With every driver earning a podium and no less than 7 class wins and 4 class track records, we are certainly happy with the results. Add no rain and no crashes to that list, and you end up with a weekend that’s pretty hard to beat.
Please see gallery below for more photos.
No Rain Tires Needed: PCA Road Atlanta 2015
The weather at this year’s Road Atlanta PCA race was a massive departure from previous years. It was unusually cold, but the absence of torrential rain, which had become the trademark of this race weekend, was the big surprise. The Autometrics crew rolled in with 11 cars, and our results were as fantastic as the weather.
Chris Lewis chose to bump his Cayman S up to GTB1 class, and despite being a bit overweight, continually moved up the timesheets, ultimately scoring a class podium in the enduro. Jimmy ran his Cayman in H class, and was on the podium in both sprint races. He and Cory teamed up for the enduro, and despite their near class-record pace, they couldn’t quite catch the leader, who had the fortune of a caution during his pit stop. We debuted a new H class 997 build for Bob Hahn this weekend, and both he and the car ran excellent with a 2nd place finish in each of the Saturday sprints. In I class, Charles Price consistently challenged for the lead, but ultimately took home 2nd in all 3 races. The last letter-class car was Duncan McPherson, and he took a sweep of J class wins.
In the GT race group, we had similar results. In the Points Sprint Race, Autometrics drivers took 4 of the top-5 positions overall, with the last spot filled by the GTA2 car of Normand Houle, who was hauling thanks, in part, to his new Autometrics-built 4.0 liter engine. David Baum easily outclassed the GTC4 in the sprints, but fell just a little behind (factory Falken RSR driver) Bryan Sellars in the enduro. Chris Brown earned the overall Pole position for sprint race 1, and he went on to win both sprints in GTC5. Just behind him in GTC5 was Gary Pennington. Bruce McPherson spent the whole weekend on the bumper of the GTC3 leader, and Mac McGehee ran a good pace, but was sidelined with engine troubles. We just completed some massive upgrades on Cory’s RSR, but without time to sort the car, it suffered from a few component failures and sub-optimal handling. Still, it was enough to start from pole and comfortably win overall in the second sprint.
Overall, it was a fun and successful, if not perfect, weekend at the always awesome Road Atlanta. Follow us on Facebook for the most up-to-date photos and updates on races and project cars.
