6 replies to this topic

[Qik Nip]

It was a great weekend for Chris Williams and John Guthrie (who podiumed both days)and Greg Stasiowski who came back to SM with a vengance with a fine P2 on Sunday but not so well for Brian Murdick Silver #17 or me.

Ironically we were both running in P2 (me on Saturday and he on Sunday) when mechanicals took us out. I broke my motor in lap six Saturday and he fell victum to overheating on Sunday at lap 8.

That unpleasantness aside, it was a great first Mid Ohio weekend free of serious issues and everyone seemed happy, fast and pleased with Dave Royce's new procedures.
Rick

[Kyle Burkhardt]

It was a great weekend for Chris Williams and John Guthrie (who podiumed both days)and Greg Stasiowski who came back to SM with a vengance with a fine P2 on Sunday but not so well for Brian Murdick Silver #17 or me.

Ironically we were both running in P2 (me on Saturday and he on Sunday) when mechanicals took us out. I broke my motor in lap six Saturday and he fell victum to overheating on Sunday at lap 8.

That unpleasantness aside, it was a great first Mid Ohio weekend free of serious issues and everyone seemed happy, fast and pleased with Dave Royce's new procedures.
Rick

By Dave's procedures, are you referring to the new body contact procedures?

[Speedycrw]

Adding a little body to Rick's description of the weekend!

NASA Great Lakes Mid-Ohio Spec Miata Season Opener, April 9&10, 2011

After the winter layoff, NASA Great Lakes set up a great stage for the season’s first Spec Miata battles. Saturday’s race was kept interesting by the addition of standing water in the chicane, and a very damp turn in at turn one. The Saturday race saw twenty three cars take the green led by the front row of #55 Chris Williams and #175 Justin Hille. Hille took an early lead at the start, and a pack of eight cars jumped out to a quick break away after an incident left the #614 car of Bob Keller sideways in Turn eight causing the rest of the field to scramble to find a way through the course.

Williams took the lead back in the second lap, followed closely by the #60 of Rick Deerwester and the #21 of John Guthrie. Deerwester lost his motor in a ball of smoke coming out of the keyhole a few laps later and Guthrie continued to mount a charge on the leading car of Williams. Williams was able to hang on for the win over second place Guthrie and the #17 car of Brian Murdick in third. Hard charger award goes to #32 Greg Stasiowski who sliced through the field from P23 to finish fourth, challenging Murdick for third place. Keller finished an impressive ninth after spending some idle time in madness! Battles in the lead pack allowed for some interesting race footage that showed a hard fought race between the #87 car of David Spencer, the #3 car of Chris Price, #22 of T.J. Graven, #47 of Team Tedlar(driven by Dan Fargo), and Hille. Spencer held on for the fifth spot, followed by Price in sixth, Hille in seventh, and Team Tedlar in eighth.

The “Is that all you got” award goes to the #9 of Mike Novak after being spun off the track in the opening melee in Turn 8, making multiple cosmetic adjustments to the car during the excursion, then actually finishing the race! Saturday’s contest included the debut of four newcomers, all of whom finished their first Spec Miata race without incident, welcome to the class #07 Jon Lawrence, #187 Chris Adams, #56 Jonathan Davis, and #77 Scott Berlin!

Sunday’s race started much differently with Chris Price and John Guthrie leading the way at the front, as twenty two Spec Miatas took the green. While race conditions were better than Saturday, the chicane was still hosting puddles at the first apex. Price set the pace on pole after an excellent qualifying session in the challenging morning conditions. Saturday’s front runners, Williams and Stasiowski were less fortunate and started much farther back in positions 10 and 16, while rookie Chris Adams drove well in the morning qualifying session to start an impressive fifth in just his second Spec Miata race.

Price took advantage at the start and was able to hold off the charge of Gurtrie and Murdick for several laps until engine overheating caused him to fall back and eventually retire. Guthrie settled in to the lead followed closely by Murdick and Williams for the first half of the race, with Stasiowski picking off spots heading to the front pack. Murdick was gaining steam, but it only turned out to be coming from the radiator, and he was forced to park the car without any more coolant. Out of class traffic figured heavily in Sunday’s race as several pass/repasses occurred while the leaders encountered traffic.
The biggest incident of the race came towards the end, when Stasiowski, who had briefly grabbed the lead from a closely following Guthrie, encountered out of class traffic in turn one. Guthrie and Stasiowski went inside/outside sandwiching the out of class vehicle through turn one, however Stasiowski and the out of class car came together spinning Stasiowski. Guthrie sped through to regain the lead and never looked back, capturing the win. Williams, with Hille right behind, attempted to reel in Guthrie, but found it difficult to work through traffic. Stasiowski quickly recovered and finished his second hard charger award of the weekend by passing Williams and finishing second. Williams rounded out the podium in third, while Hille earned a fourth place spot, just three tenths of a second off Williams bumper. Dan Fargo driving for Team Tedlar finished in the fifth spot, while Graven, Keller, and the #28 Bill Biel, completed the six, seven and eight spots.

Although Stasiowski completed the “hard charger” weekend sweep moving from P16-P2, several racers jumped six or more spots from their starting positions including: Williams from P10-P3, Keller from P14-P7, #40 David Pintaric from P15-P9, Novak from P17-P11, rookie Jon Lawrence from P19-P12, and the #56 of Jonathan Davis from P21-P15. That’s a whole of racing going on! Next up....Putnam Park!

[Chris Adams]

Very cool write-up, Chris. Thanks for posting!

I'll see you guys at Mid-Ohio in August... maybe it will rain again?!

[Qik Nip]

By Dave's procedures, are you referring to the new body contact procedures?

Kyle:
Yes, as well as the split Lightening qualifying sessions. The trade off of shorter qual sessions, but with reduced car counts appears to have given most drivers more clear (albeit shorter)track qualifying time.
Rick

[Kyle Burkhardt]

Good to hear it went well. Who cares about shorter qualifying sessions--you only need 3 laps.

[Chris Adams]

It was interesting, I think everyone ran their fastest lap on their last flying lap, lap 5 IIRC. The track was drying up each minute we stayed out.