MARRS VIII and XI - 2005 - Summit Point Race Report
The biggest race weekend approached with our last chance to repeat as ITA Champion. We slipped into second place for the 2005 season and with the points system not favoring consistency (dropping the two lowest placed races) we had to win both races to give ourselves a chance at the Mid Atlantic Road Racing Series (MARRS) Championship for the year. The competition would be stiff for this weekend - our season-long nemesis Bret DePedro (Mazda Miata) was looking faster than ever, Gregg Ginsberg (Honda CRX) looked determined to get his season back on track, and Sean Christie (Honda Civic Si) was faster than ever. There were also a fast newcomer to Summit Point Raceway, Ray Lee Chee (Acura Integra). The four of us would have a very competitive weekend.
Saturday has two qualifying sessions, the first sets the grid for the Sunday race and the second sets the grid for the Monday race. Both qualifying sessions were uneventful. The lineup for the Sunday race would be DePedro, Ginsberg, Dohne, Christie, and Chee . The lineup for the Monday race would be DePedro, Ginsberg, Chee, and Dohne.
The race on Sunday was a barnburner. The start of the race saw the Sisu Racing Nissan 240sx of Kirk Dohne split the front row to make it three wide down the front straight. Braking in unison the DePedro Miata took the lead with the inside line. Dohne moved to second going into turn three with Ginsberg taking third just ahead of Christie. DePedro used a touch too much gas on the exit of turn three and the rear came around to a point beyond saving, he went shooting off track to drivers left (returning in last place). Dohne was in the lead with Ginsberg close behind. Chee passed Christie for third place coming out of 10 with an awesome show of power. Ginsberg passed Dohne under braking into turn 1. On lap two the race seemed to settle down: Ginsberg, Dohne, Chee. That would not last long. Lap 6 saw Dohne with a run down the inside of Ginsberg into turn 1 and completing the pass on the outside of turn 3. The battling between Ginsberg and Dohne allowed Chee to maintain pace. Under the starter stand at half distance it was Dohne, Ginsberg, and Chee running away from the rest of the field. Dohne and Ginsberg go through the carousel and up the hill, thru turn 10 and down the front straight side by side. Ginsberg retakes the lead coming out of the turn 1-2 complex. Two laps more and Dohne pushes Ginsberg into an error as he locks up a right front and then misses a gear. Fortunately this lets Dohne's Sisu Racing Nissan by but not without some significant damage to the front and side of the car. Dohne grabbed a 3 second lead in the incident but the damage slowed the Nissan. Ginsberg caught and passed Dohne when the Nissan got uncharacteristically loose in the carousel. At that point Chee passed Dohne as well. Luckily Dohne repassed for second on the front straight and held on to the position for the last lap. The top four would be Ginsberg, Dohne, Chee, and DePedro who had fought his way past the remainder of the field. We did not get the win we needed due to the damage on the car. Our fast lap was our fastest race lap ever at 1:28.326 but that was not good enough. We had lost the Championship but solidified 2nd place through our consistent second place finishes (one win and 6 second place finishes so far).
The Monday would see some early excitement but the damage from the previous day would slow the Sisu Racing Nissan 240sx and leave it less competitive than the day before. Starting from the outside of the second row, Dohne decided to try a new tactic. At the drop of the green flag, Dohne stayed behind Ginsberg and pushed him past DePedro's Miata. The tactic worked so well that Dohne also got past DePedro. Exiting the turn 1-2 complex, it was Ginsberg, Dohne, DePedro and Chee. Unfortunately, Dohne's Nissan was not handling as it should and he was quickly passed by DePedro on the second lap. Two more laps and DePedro was past into a lead that would endure the entire race. Dohne would not challenge for second and would be passed towards the end of the race for third by Chee. Settling for fourth place guaranteed a second place finish in the MARRS Championship. This Nissan has brought great success for Team Sisu Racing. Our three full seasons in the car have resulted in one third, one second, and one Championship. We have plans over the off-season to measurably improve the car to seize another Championship.
MARRS VIII Results:
Finishing Position Name Car Laps Fast-Lap 1 Gregg Ginsberg Honda CRX Si 16 1:28.379 2 Kirk Dohne Nissan 240sx 16 1:28.326 3 Ray Lee Chee Acura Integra 16 1:28.545 4 Bret DePedro Mazda Miata 16 1:27.792 5 Sean Christie Honda CRX Si 16 1:30.532 6 Mark Carpenter Acura Integra 16 1:29.680 7 Mike Asman Mazda RX-7 16 1:30.938 8 John Cummins Mazda RX-3 16 1:31.639 9 Owen Shefer Mazda RX-7 16 1:31.094 10 Brad Barnhouse Honda Civic Si 16 1:30.505 11 Kurt Genatowski BMW 2002 tii 16 1:31.777 12 Kez Ford Mazda RX-7 16 1:31.553 13 Matthew Yip VW GTI 16 1:32.251 14 Mark Johnston Nissan 240sx 16 1:32.297 15 Brent Simonson Mazda RX-7 16 1:32.170 16 David Youngren Mazda RX-7 16 1:32.425 17 Richard Ay Mazda RX-7 16 1:32.781 18 Matthew Rowe Shelby Charger 16 1:33.906 19 Art Jaso Toyota MR2 15 1:33.931 20 Donald Wenner Jr Chevy Monza 15 1:34.100 21 Peter Doane Toyota MR2 15 1:34.160 22 Jake Fisher Toyota MR2 15 1:33.968 23 Joe Veselak Mazda Miata 15 1:34.640 24 Robert Morgan Mazda RX-7 15 1:31.953 25 Bob Cage Mazda RX-7 15 1:34.827 26 Lauren Robison Dodge Neon 15 1:36.376 27 Chris Humphrey Mazda RX-7 15 1:35.088 28 Thomas Thompson Chrysler Neon 15 1:38.918 DNF John Martin Honda CRX Si 5 1:33.978 DNF Larry Sciro VW Scirocco 4 1:33.445 MARRS IX Results:
Finishing Position Name Car Laps Fast-Lap 1 Bret DePedro Mazda Miata 16 1:28.073 2 Gregg Ginsberg Honda CRX Si 16 1:28.212 3 Ray Lee Chee Acura Integra 16 1:28.151 4 Kirk Dohne Nissan 240sx 16 1:28.956 5 Mark Carpenter Acura Integra 16 1:30.323 6 John Cummins Mazda RX-3 16 1:31.630 7 Mike Asman Mazda RX-7 16 1:31.093 8 Brad Barnhouse Honda Civic Si 16 1:30.787 9 Kurt Genatowski BMW 2002 tii 16 1:31.519 10 David Youngren Mazda RX-7 16 1:32.308 11 Gerry Walsh Honda Civic Si 16 1:31.889 12 Peter Doane Toyota MR2 16 1:32.096 13 Jake Fisher Toyota MR2 16 1:32.341 14 Owen Shefer Mazda RX-7 16 1:31.045 15 Brent Simonson Mazda RX-7 16 1:32.029 16 Mark Johnston Nissan 240sx 15 1:33.316 17 Richard Ay Mazda RX-7 15 1:33.276 18 Art Jaso Toyota MR2 15 1:33.934 19 Donald Wenner Jr Chevy Monza 15 1:33.693 20 John Martin Honda CRX Si 15 1:33.650 21 Matthew Rowe Shelby Charger 15 1:34.448 22 Joe Veselak Mazda Miata 15 1:33.491 23 Kyle Robison Dodge Neon 15 1:35.547 24 Chris Humphrey Mazda RX-7 15 1:35.296 25 Bob Cage Mazda RX-7 15 1:35.205 26 Robert Morgan Mazda RX-7 14 1:33.143 27 Kez Ford Mazda RX-7 11 1:31.189 DNS Thomas Thompson Chrysler Neon 0 DNS Matthew Yip VW GTI 0 DNS Chris Humphrey Mazda RX-7 0