MARRS VII and VIII - Summit Point Race Report
The seventh race of the season saw us back at the top of the podium. Starting out a long, roller-coaster of a race weekend the big double race weekend event brought much consternation, joy, and disappointment. Going into the weekend leading the championship with three races to go, we had the opportunity to lock up the top rung of the championship with two race wins.
Let's go back to the beginning, with 3 race wins in the first 6 races the Team Sisu Racing Nissan 240sx and driver Kirk Dohne were leading the championship BUT with the point system allowing drivers to drop the lowest two finishing positions in a 9 race season the gap to second place Chris McClary (Honda CRX) was not comfortable. Still left with a mathematical chance at the championship were Gregg Ginsberg in a Honda CRX and Nathan Brasz in a Nissan 240sx. The forecast was for clear skies, sunny, and maybe a bit unseasonably cool. We were set for a charge to the Championship.
Consternation. The first qualifying session brought a huge dose. We were ready to go, the car was set up, the weather was nice for qualifying. With a full field of cars there was lapped traffic after 3 laps. This caused problems in getting a clean lap so qualifying results were an unknown until the results sheet came out. With the sheet came a surprise, our main competition for the Championship - Chris McClary - had qualified at 1:27.78 almost half a second below the track record (not a new track record since track records must be set in a race but impressive nonetheless). The Sisu Racing Nissan was 3rd but with a slower time of 1:29.1. Still a good qualifying time on older tires. Saving the good rubber for the race turned out to be a good thing - but how could we possibly make up for over a second per lap?
More consternation. The second qualifying session (this one for the Monday race) was equally disconcerting. This time qualifying fourth behind the two CRXs and Payton Wilson in a Mazda Miata. At least, this was closer with only 0.5 seconds separating the main contenders for the Championship. The session was delayed by a "black flag all" due to a car barrel-rolling through the third turn and ending up center track with a debris field scattered the full width of the track. We did successfully pass both lead CRXs under braking into turn 1 on successive laps which showed some hope for the race.
Joy. The first race occurred in perfect weather and we were ready. With his terrific qualifying effort, McClary had two rows between Ginsberg and Dohne - the start would be critical to success. With a seeming record crowd of spectators, we had a perfect start. Going down the middle between some ITS cars (that are in a different class). The Team Sisu Racing Nissan was beside McClary's CRX by the first turn. We came out of Turn 2 side by side with Ginsberg's CRX and then we touched causing some separation as we both gathered up our cars. Continuing on, we found ourselves in the lead followed by Ginsberg and McClary. Another few laps saw additional contact made as Ginsberg attempted an outside pass in Turn 1 that ended with contact to the rear of the Nissan and the front of the Honda. Again, both cars escaped critical damage and continued in sync. Passing some of the ITS cars added an element of complexity to the effort, as those cars had different strengths and weaknesses. After passing Jay Frye in an ITS Acura Integra, Ginsberg managed to lose time as he fell off the track and maybe three seconds back. When we started to pass lapped traffic Ginsberg had the great benefit of moving closer through the luck of getting to these cars on the straights after we hit them in the carousel - thus, forcing us to take more time to pass. The penultimate lap saw us make the one mistake of the race. With a 3 second lead, we came into turn 5 and had some oversteer at turn-in which almost threw us off the track. Quickly gathering it up, we were lucky to stay in front of Ginsberg's charging CRX. Apparently, when he saw our mistake he pushed a little too hard and had his own trouble negotiating turn 5. The last lap was uneventful and saw us collect our 4th win of the season, Ginsberg was second, followed by McClary and Brasz. We finished with the fastest lap of the race for the third consecutive time at Summit Point to match our three wins at the track this year. With the win we seized the opportunity to clinch the championship by finishing in front of McClary in the next race while we eliminated Ginsberg and Brasz from contention.
Disappointment (Opportunity Lost). The following day began cool and dry - perfect weather for a fast race. Unfortunately the clouds started to leak and made for a wet race. Under clearing skies the Sisu Racing Team took a "hero or zero" decision and went with dry tires while others remained on wet tires. That was shown to be a mistake from the first lap as we eventually dropped enough positions to finish 11th on a very slick track. The first time in two years that we have finished in a worse position than we started. The "highlight" of the race was perhaps the saving grace of the season. We started directly behind McClary's CRX with Ginsberg to his left. Ginsberg crowded over on McClary so the opening up the middle was gone. The only option, and one with little room for error was between the treacherously wet grass and McClary. We took our only option and charged for the hole making it half past McClary before he took up the 3 inches between our cars and then a few more as he pushed the rear of the Nissan into extreme oversteer at 100mph with 40 cars of similar speed coming fast. I had always heard that people had moments of extreme clarity in the split second that it takes for disaster to occur. I can now verify that this is possible with thoughts of impending doom solidifying in my head as I crossed track in front of the CRX. Reflexes and subconscious took over. As my conscious brain said, "I have seen this before and nobody ever catches it, they end up in the trees or gathered by the field in a big wreck, this is going to hurt"; the subconscious mind took over, feathered the throttle and countersteered with speed and precision. We ended up losing very little distance on the leaders while moving from extreme right to extreme left of the track in the blink of an eye.
So we move on to the last race of the year. We are fifty points ahead of McClary for the MARRS Championship with the tie-breaker in hand. If we win the final race of the year or finish ahead of McClary on October 10, we will win the Championship. If we finish second to McClary's first, then we tie on points and win on the tie-breaker. It'll be fun, check back here after that event or better yet come out to see us!
MARRS VII Race Results
Overall Class Car# Class Name Car Laps Fast Race Lap 1 1 56 ITS York - Ed BMW 325is 16 01:25.3 2 2 28 ITS Samuel - Asinugo BMW 325IS 16 01:26.2 3 3 46 ITS Giovanis - Ted BMW 325i 16 01:27.7 4 4 64 ITS Lytle - Marshall BMW 16 01:28.0 5 5 99 ITS Linton - Scott BMW 325 is 16 01:27.6 6 6 44 ITS Frye - Jay Acura Integra 16 01:27.9 7 7 8 ITS Cummings - Jim Datsun 280Z 16 01:28.4 8 1 9 ITA Dohne - Kirk Nissan 240sx 16 01:28.7 9 2 72 ITA Ginsberg - Gregg Honda CRX Si 16 01:28.9 10 3 8 ITA McClary - Chris Honda CRX si 16 01:29.0 11 8 13 ITS Gibson - Mark Datsun 240 Z 16 01:27.8 12 9 1 ITS Patterson - Nigel Mazda RX7 16 01:29.1 13 10 66 ITS Rupert - Eric Porsche 944 16 01:29.5 14 11 87 ITS Coch - Robert Mercedes 190 16 01:29.9 15 4 37 ITA Brasz - Nathan Nissan 16 01:30.1 16 5 32 ITA Schiro - Lawrence VW Scirocco 16V 16 01:30.9 17 12 3 ITS Hromin - Richard Porsche 944 16 01:29.5 18 6 36 ITA DiMeo - Nick Mazda RX3 16 01:30.4 19 7 33 ITA HollingerIII - William Mazda Miata 16 01:30.7 20 13 4 ITS Christian - Matthew Mazda RX-7 15 01:29.8 21 14 50 ITS Allard - Chuck Mercedes Benz 15 01:31.7 22 8 88 ITA Christie - Sean Honda Civic Si 15 01:31.4 23 9 41 ITA Simonson - Brent Mazda RX7 15 01:31.8 24 10 61 ITA HollingerJr - William Mazda Miata 15 01:31.4 25 11 1 ITA Yip - Matthew VW GTi 16v 15 01:31.5 26 12 91 ITA Ford - Kez Mazda RX7 15 01:31.9 27 15 40 ITS Counts - John P BMW 325i 15 01:32.4 28 16 63 ITS Craft - Nick Porsche 944 15 01:32.3 29 13 77 ITA Cummins - John Mazda RX3 15 01:32.0 30 14 97 ITA Hart - Roderick Mazda RX7 15 01:32.4 31 17 52 ITS Hughes - John BMW 325is 15 01:32.8 32 15 55 ITA Jaso - Art Toyota MR2 15 01:34.1 33 16 96 ITA Rowe - Matthew Dodge/ShelbyChr 15 01:33.6 34 17 93 ITA Burgee - Wade Toyota FX16 15 01:34.9 35 18 57 ITA Genatowski - Kurt BMW 2002 Tii 15 01:35.2 36 19 18 ITA Schefer - Owen Mazda RX7 15 01:34.4 37 20 6 ITA Harlow - Jonathan Mazda Miata 15 01:33.4 38 21 7 ITA Humphrey - Christopher Mazda RX7 15 01:34.8 39 22 2 ITA Williams - Tom Mazda Miata 15 01:35.3 40 23 17 ITA Johnston - Mark Nissan 240sx 15 01:34.4 41 24 21 ITA Fields - Jason Nissan 240sx 14 01:34.7 42 25 76 ITA McFadden - Gerry Mazda RX7 14 01:36.0 43 26 5 ITA Asman - Michael MAZDA RX7 14 01:38.4 44 27 4 ITA Ratcliffe - Kim Honda Civic si 14 01:39.1 45 28 38 ITA Boutzale - Christine Mazda Miata 14 01:38.6 46 18 10 ITS Burstein - Wayne Datsun 240Z *10 01:28.0 47 29 47 ITA Doane - Peter Toyota MR2 *10 01:33.6 DNF 94 ITS Dodd Jr - Donald MazdaRX7 GSL-SE *6 01:32.0 DNF 67 ITA Truszkowski - Kevin Honda CRX si *5 01:30.8 DNF 58 ITA Linkenauger - Jim VW GTI 16v *0 No-Time DNF 71 ITS Hutchins - Bill Mazda Miata *0 No-Time MARRS VII Race Results
Overall Class Car# Class Name Car Laps Race 1 1 61 ITA Wilson - Payton Mazda Miata 16 01:39.8 2 1 28 ITS Asinugo - Samuel BMW325IS 16 01:39.9 3 2 56 ITS York - Ed BMW 325is 16 01:40.4 4 2 8 ITA McClary - Chris Honda CRX si 16 01:41.1 5 3 37 ITA Brasz - Nathan Nissan 16 01:41.9 6 3 46 ITS Giovanis - Ted BMW 325i 16 01:41.7 7 4 13 ITS Gibson - Mark Datsun 240 Z 16 01:41.0 8 4 32 ITA Schiro - Lawrence VW Scirocco 16V 16 01:42.5 9 5 4 ITS Christian - Matthew Mazda RX-7 16 01:42.4 10 6 64 ITS Lytle - Marshall BMW 16 01:41.4 11 7 87 ITS Coch - Robert Mercedes 190 16 01:43.0 12 8 99 ITS Linton - Scott BMW 325 is 16 01:39.9 13 9 3 ITS Hromin - Richard Porsche 944 16 01:41.5 14 10 44 ITS Frye - Jay Acura Integra 16 01:43.6 15 5 77 ITA Cummins - John Mazda RX3 16 01:45.2 16 6 72 ITA Ginsberg - Gregg Honda CRX Si 15 01:44.8 17 11 50 ITS Allard - Chuck Mercedes Benz 15 01:43.0 18 7 1 ITA Yip - Matthew VW GTi 16v 15 01:45.3 19 8 36 ITA DiMeo - Nick Mazda RX3 15 01:45.7 20 9 67 ITA Truszkowski - Kevin Honda CRX si 15 01:45.4 21 12 8 ITS Cummings - Jim Datsun 280Z 15 01:44.1 22 10 47 ITA Doane - Peter Toyota MR2 15 01:46.4 23 13 40 ITS Counts - John P BMW 325i 15 01:44.2 24 11 41 ITA Simonson - Brent Mazda RX7 15 01:45.0 25 12 9 ITA Dohne - Kirk Nissan 240sx 15 01:47.0 26 13 21 ITA Fields - Jason Nissan 240sx 15 01:46.2 27 14 5 ITA Asman - Michael Mazda RX7 15 01:47.7 28 14 10 ITS Burstein - Wayne Datsun 240Z 15 01:45.7 29 15 88 ITA Christie - Sean Honda Civic Si 15 01:48.8 30 16 35 ITA Schefer - Owen Mazda RX7 15 01:46.4 31 17 17 ITA Johnston - Mark Nissan 240sx 15 01:46.4 32 18 93 ITA Johnston - Andrew Toyota FX16 15 01:47.3 33 15 63 ITS Craft - Nick Porsche 944 15 01:47.9 34 19 57 ITA Genatowski - Kurt BMW 2002 Tii 15 01:49.0 35 20 55 ITA Jaso - Art Toyota MR2 14 01:50.0 36 16 52 ITS Hughes - John BMW 325is 14 01:52.3 37 21 7 ITA Humphrey - Christopher Mazda RX7 14 01:52.1 38 22 4 ITA Ratcliffe - Kim Honda Civic si 14 01:51.8 39 23 97 ITA Hart - Roderick Mazda RX7 14 01:53.2 40 17 94 ITS Dodd Jr - Donald MazdaRX7 GSL-SE 13 02:02.1 41 24 76 ITA McFadden - Gerry Mazda RX7 *9 01:51.0 DNF 66 ITS Rupert - Eric Porsche 944 *2 02:03.2 DNF 96 ITA Rowe - Matthew Dodge/ShelbyChr *1 02:16.0 DNS 1 ITS Patterson - Nigel Mazda RX7 *0 No-Time DNS 2 ITA Williams - Tom Mazda Miata *0 No-Time DNS 58 ITA Linkenauger - Jim VW GTI 16v *0 No-Time DNS 33 ITA HollingerIII - William Mazda Miata *0 No-Time DNS 91 ITA Ford - Kez Mazda RX7 *0 No-Time