Another IT driver making a debut in SCCA Pro Racing - World Challenge TC style!

[StephenB]

Kirk, thanks for posting an update!

It was an interesting weekend for sure. I did learn that the RX8 just isn't the car for that class at all. We were about 8-10MPH slower on the back straight. Lost a solid 2.5+ seconds just on the straight which was SO frustrating! I did find it interesting that to do well in WC you just need to finish and not get a DQ or crash out! I ended up 9th in the first race, 5th in the second race and 6th in the 3rd race.

In race 1 I had an awesome start and went up the inside of the row of cars in front. Saw Tristian way on the outside making it three wide and said... nope not me, I am not getting on TV this way! I backed off and let them battle it out. In my own car at a track I was more familier with, with people I now I would have made up a few spots for sure. Just not a smart move to commit to given the circumstances. I ended up battling with the other RX8 which was driven by a driver that races an RX8 in the Canadian Touring car series. I was very excited to be able to stay up and battle with him since it was his home track and he does very well in his home series.

In race 2 I again battled with the other RX8 back and forth until I lost power and Blew the engine on the last lap. Coasted for as long as I could and then as I got about 2 turns away I said what the hell, the engine is toast, I might as well try and get to the finish! I popped the clutch, it started and with a TON of smoke I made it to the finish in 6th place! With the winner getting a DQ for weight I moved up to 5th!

Race 3 was sunday and since I blew the engien my car was done BUT the other driver had an RX8 that they using in the Canadian Touring car series so we begged and SCCA allowed us to use it as a back up car! So I switched cars and had the chance to run sunday! During qualifying a shift fork broke destroying the transmission and again I was bummed. My crew along with the team crew that owned the cars quickly jumped on pulling the transmission out of the car that I blew the engine in. As I was signing autographs they finished it up and it was ready to go. I had an awesome standing start, much faster than the rows in front but just not enough room to make anything happen without pushing my way up through. Again just not a good idea givin my funding . The race went on and I was battling with VW that was running a grand-Am flash rather than the WC flash. He was faster down the straight but only by about a second. I was faster through the high speed turns so we went lap after lap like a yo-yo but I just couldn't make it happen. I found it very interesting how much slower his car was with the Grand-Am MAP verses the WC MAP... But needless to say it was a ton of fun and I ended up 6th.

Overall the weekend was a blast and I got to meet a bunch of great people. Officials all came to me and said Hi and invited me back, other drivers invited me back as well and told me to get into a VW or Honda! The RX-8's had some mechanical issues throughout the weekend but the team I was renting the car from worked hard to keep the cars on track. By the end of the weekend I was as fast as anyone through the high speed corners and just lacked down that back straight. In the end I am just happy that I got to go to race on one of the funnest and certainly the fastest tracks in North America!

Stephen

PS: Tristian I am sure has some stories as they both withdrew from Sundays race. They were packed and gone almost by the time we got off track. To bad as they had some great cars and certainly had podium potential!