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Road Atlanta PCA 2019 Photo Gallery
Barber PCA 2018 Photo Gallery
Barber PCA 2018 Video
Road Atlanta PCA 2018 Video
Road Atlanta PCA 2018 Photo Gallery
2016 Was a Great Year for Autometrics PCA Racers
In 2016, Autometrics Motorsports drivers enjoyed the most rewarded season in the team’s history.
We brought entries to 10 events on the PCA calendar, and our racers took home a total of 108 podium finishes. An astounding 45 of those podiums were class wins. A percentage held back by frequent 1-2 finishes when we had multiple drivers competing in the same class.
Track records were especially vulnerable this season with 10 falling. The top record-breaker was Jimmy Martin in his new I-class build, knocking down long-standing records at nearly every venue he attended. Chris Lewis’ “killer bee” claimed a pair in the highly competitive GTB1 category. Cory Friedman’s quick lap at Summit Point is the quickest lap ever recorded in PCA Club Racing.
In the PCA National Championships, we had contenders in many classes, and 2 claimed the top spot in their classes: Jimmy Martin in I, and Cory Friedman in GTA2. 2016 was also the inaugural year for the Cayman GT4 Clubsport Trophy East series, and David Baum took home a shelf full of trophies along with 2nd place in the National Championship.
2017 Kicks off at Sebring in February, and we will be there with full canopies of racers, many returning and a few new faces, striving to continue the success.
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.
2014 PCA Season by the Numbers
The PCA calendar traditionally starts at Sebring, and around 8 months and just short of 100 podium finishes later, our 2014 PCA season ended at Daytona.
Summary:
9 Races (Sebring, Atlanta, Roebling, COTA, Watkins Glen, VIR, Summit Point, Road America, Daytona)
26 cars driven by 23 drivers – 14 drivers earned class wins, and 17 had podium finishes
3 drivers finished top-3 in the PCA national points championship (Joe Toussaint, Charles Price, Jim Leslie)
1 National Points Champion, Jim Leslie GTC3
8 New Track Records set
45 Class Wins
92 Class Podium Finishes
The 2015 Season should be similar with the only notable addition being the Charlotte Motor Speedway event to close out the year. It may be too much to ask to improve on these numbers this season, but we will be rolling into Sebring with a dozen cars. Perhaps 100-podiums in a season is achievable.
