MARRS I - 2006 - Summit Point Race Report
The first race of the year was hard work from beginning to end. It really began last year. The car was getting beat up physically and mechanically. There was a lot of work to do over the off season. The Team Sisu Nissan 240sx was given a fresh coat of paint, new clutch, new head gasket, new wheel bearings, new brake rotors, and a new driveshaft. These changes were primarily to maintain our record of high reliability (and good looks) with little to impact performance. The first rule of racing is that to win, you must first finish.
The first of two qualifying sessions saw us with only one real goal. Shake down the car and bed in the brakes. We stayed out on the track for only 3 laps – one to get up to speed, one to bed in the brakes, and one to get a decent speed to set up a good qualifying spot for the second qualifying session which is based on the fastest speed from the first session. Amazingly, the Team Sisu Nissan would finish that session with the third fastest time. It became obvious that there would be three challengers on this weekend – Eric Benazic in an 2nd Generation Acura Integra, Jon Kofod in a 3rd Generation Acura Integra, and Gregg Ginsberg in a Honda CRX. In fact, that would be the qualifying order after the first session. Benazic, Kofod, Dohne/Team Sisu, and Ginsberg.
Team Sisu’s goal for the second qualifying session was to get out front and put some distance between us and the others so that we did not bring their speed up like we thought ours would be when we tried for speed. The gambit worked as we ran out to the front as the others warmed their tires and began to battle amongst themselves. We all had to deal with slower ‘lapped’ traffic but the few clean laps. The starting grid for the race is set by the fastest single lap of the two qualifying sessions, the results were:
1) Dohne – Team Sisu – 1:29.5
2) Benazic – 1:29.7
3) Kofod – 1:29.9
4) Ginsberg – 1:29.9Prior to the race the starter stopped by and said that it would be a late flag. He was telling as many people as possible so that there would be an orderly start for a very large field of 47 cars. We had no real idea what that meant – when the flag drops is one of the true unknown variable in racing. Leading the field from the pole we had two pace laps to lead and we brought the field on to the front straight at the speed of the pace car. One of the strengths of the Team Sisu Nissan is torque. That torque combined with our ability to set the pace put us in a good position to take the lead into and out of the first turn. As it turned out we got a very good start and led the field into the first turn. We always have good first lap speed and we led the race at the end of the first lap by 1.368 seconds over Kofod and Benazic. However, we could not maintain that lead over a hard charging Benazic who slowly caught the Team Sisu Nissan. By the end of lap three he was caught up and passed us going into past start finish to lead the lap. However, we had a good run out of turn 10 and passed the red Integra for the lead. A couple more swaps of the lead occurred over the next few laps. Never with the two of us more than 0.5 seconds apart. This tussle for the lead allowed Ginsberg and Kofod back into the picture after having dropped back to 3.5 seconds behind. The struggle also had the other impact of forcing our tires to go away and the Team Sisu Nissan started to have a large amount of understeer. Luckily, Benazic made a small error in turn one and that allowed us some breathing room – just in time for lapped traffic. The first lapped cars were well behaved and watching the flags but trouble was on its way. On the 14th of 16 laps we encountered traffic in the carousel complex. Unfortunately, one of the two cars missed a shift and slowed, forcing the second car to drivers left. That left a very slow car directly in front of us and to the left. With the rest of the lead group breathing down our neck we took to the inside and hoped the middle car would not turn in. Our hopes were not met and we took to the grass – a rough ride through the ruts and over the backside of a very high curb. Coming back on track we were miraculously able to get the car back under control and pointed in the right direction – all without losing the lead. We took off up the hill and maintained the lead, all be it much smaller. Ginsberg was now breathing down our necks but he slid off the track and back to 4th on the track. Benazic would now take his last shot on the final lap. Coming out of the last turn, he was right on our rear bumper (literally) and making a final run to the flag. Fortunately, we held on for the first win of the season. The final order was Dohne/Team Sisu, Benazic (.124 seconds back), Kofod (5.755 seconds back), and Ginsberg (6.844 seconds back). This should be a very competitive season. The next race is at Virginia International Raceway on Mother’s Day Weekend.
Finishing Position Name Car Laps Fast-Lap 1 Kirk Dohne/Team Sisu Nissan 240sx 16 1:28.981 2 Erik Benazik Acura Integra 16 1:28.721 3 Jon Kofod Acura Integra 16 1:29.214 4 Gregg Ginsberg Honda CRX 16 1:28.783 5 Rick Jarrett Honda Civic 16 1:29.702 6 Andrew Zimmerman Acura Integra 16 1:30.838 7 Mark Johnston Nissan 240sx 16 1:31.989 8 Bill Hutchins Mazda Miata 16 1:31.522 9 Brent Simonson Mazda Miata 16 1:31.955 10 Douglas Kinser Toyota MR2 16 1:33.128 11 Dennis Courtney Mazda Miata 16 1:32.989 12 Matthew Yip VW GTI 16 1:32.905 13 Jason Fields Nissan 240sx 15 1:32.823 14 Art Jaso Toyota MR2 15 1:33.400 15 Earl Richards Nissan 240sx 15 1:33.140 16 Thomas Thompson Chrysler Neon 15 1:33.414 17 Michael Schwartz Nissan Pulsar 15 1:36.408 18 A.R. Dick Hummel Toyota MR2 14 1:40.913 19 John Cummins Mazda RX3 10 1:31.803 20 Kurt Genatowski BMW 2002 Tii DNF 21 Brian Pritt Acura Integra DNF 22 Chris Humphrey Mazda RX7 DNF