NASA Pro Racing 2011 Round 7 - #75 GTS-2 RS BARN Porsche 968 at Pocono Raceway Double Infield - Sept 3, 2011
Full Race Video Posted.
http://youtu.be/51t2UzY5Yuw?hd=1
Back at Pocono Raceway for the 2011 NASA Pro Racing Round 7 running the Double Infield track configuration. The #75 RS BARN Porsche 968 driven by yours truly was running strong again. The track was terribly bumpy, not any better than earlier in the year, with all transitions in and out of the NASCAR Course a complete mess with uneven surfaces and huge bumps. I was hoping for the South Course to be nice as it had been recently "re-paved", but it was not really much better than the North Course at all. Bracing for more blown shocks and broken suspension pieces, all the racers looked forward to another exciting NASA racing weekend.
This being my 1st time ever racing the Double Infield, I set out to practice, cautiously, and dial in the race car. Needless to say, while I was able to work on the racing line a bit, it was obvious that there was no way we could chase adjusting the suspension settings to handle the rough track conditions throughout. We were literally catching some air in 2 different places and bottoming out in another 2 places. The splitter and even the diffuser where taking a beating. I just hoped that my Moton Clubsports Shocks, other suspension pieces, and the rest of the beloved race car could take the beating.
After an exciting qualifying session we found ourselves well in front with a record pace qualifying time set for the race. We also found ourselves re-attaching the front left section of the splitter and adjusting suspension settings again to try and keep the car planted. I had finally started to get comfortable with the line and the funky South Course infield section.
We took the checkered flag in the Top 8 and albeit the faster classed cars that started around us (Vettes and the such), we managed to keep the position into infamous Turn 1 with everyone getting through cleanly. The middle of the race came down to managing the gap to the two GTS3 cars behind fighting for the lead in their class. Ultimately with a few laps to go, the move in front of me and we watch the exciting GTS3 battle to the checkered from the best seat in the house!
I take the checkered to bring home the Class Win, 7th overall, and a New GTS2 Track Record. Our 4th new track record in as many visits to different tracks Since Octobe3 2010.
At this point, with 5 races to go, we had the lead in the NASA Pro Racing Northeast GTS2 Championship Points Race, but closely followed by a pair of hard charging BMWs.
