Opening a thread for VIR, the last race of the 2009 season. We race on Sunday at noon in the longest race of the year . . . 4 hours. http://www.grand-am.com/assets/2009VIROctofficialSchedule1.pdf Drivers: Owen Trinkler Randy Smalley Jade Buford Joe Toussaint Adam Burrows Trevor Hopwood Andy Bentinck-Smith
Tar Heel MINI Motoring Club is going to bring a contingent to this race to cheer you guys on, thanks to BlimeyCabrio's organizing. Can't wait!
I'm jealous. This one isn't scheduled to be televised so anyone who attends needs to report back here!!!! Please!
VIR Wrap up The season 's last race started on a high note with Owen earning the pole in the 197. It was eventful because the car had been withdrawn Saturday morning. Jade ran off at turn 3 into the tire wall and it looked like the car was done for the weekend. At the very last minute, Joe Toussaint called in sick with a possible case of the Swine Flu so we were one driver short. The original plan was 3, 2, 2 for drivers. We still had 6 drivers and 3 cars so it was easy to realign the assignments and put two drivers on each car for the 4 hour race. In the mean time, we went to work repairing the car and had it ready to go before qualifing so we re-entered it. Owen then cut a 2:10.1 for the pole. The race did not go quite so well. The Intercooler on the pole Car (197) split a seam at about the 2 hour mark cutting the boost to 3 or 4 lbs. The car soldiered on but was down on power. It was nursed home to 15th. Adam, Trevor and Andy drove the 198 to 8th. Randy and Jade drove the 196 to 20th. The car quit at about 3 hours with an unknown mechanical problem. The Oil pressure was dropping so we parked it rather than take the chance of a major failure. The new engine package has shown the cars are competitive. We are looking forward to next year. We will be announcing our 2010 plans in the near future. We will be back! Randy