MARRS V - 2006 - Summit Point Race Report
Hot, hot, hot. The theme of the weekend was hot. Even when it was cool, it was hot. The July race weekend is always hot and the lap times are the slowest of the year. Team Sisu was almost ready to go...
MARRS 4 took some recovery time. Our first loss of the year was accompanied by engine damage. The missed shift after the deer incident had hurt the cylinder head which came off. Unfortunately, the head was beyond legal repair and we had to build up a new head. We were cautioned by the machine shop that this might not yield the same horsepower as the previous one but would be reliable. The time constraints were too difficult to overcome and do everything right. The head went on the car with three days to spare.
Qualifying would be in some random order and the Team Sisu Nissan 240sx would start 41st for the first qualifying session. This was not a concern as we needed to season some new front rotors and test out the head. We had one goal in mind, get a decent time to allow us to get a better starting position for the second qualifying session which is ordered by the qualifying time of the first session. We ended the session early with the rotors ready to go. Our times were about 2 seconds slower than usual - and we were on the provisional pole. I guess it was hotter than we thought. We would take the lead for the second session with an unchanged setup but more willingness to push hard. The weather had turned hotter and most of the competitors went slower. We improved our time by 0.4 seconds but the second place qualifier dropped more and would sit on the pole for the race. However, we held onto a front row spot. Jon Kofod, our chief competition for the season championship sat on the pole in his Acura Integra with Gregg Ginsberg in third.
Race day was just as hot as qualifying day. The Team Sisu driver was on strict orders to stay hydrated and be ready to go. The race would be at about 11am. Not the hottest part of the day but we could not tell teh difference. Two pace laps for the large group of cars. Apparently, Kofod and Ginsberg had strategized before the race to find a speed that would be perfect for them to maintain the lead into the first turn. Gearing plays a huge roll in where the torque (speed) is available to the car. If a competitor is caught between gears, he will not accelerate as fast and will be slower than another competitor. At the drop of the green flag the Acura sped away by a car length. Ginsberg's CRX followed and was side-by-side with the Team Sisu Nissan. Going into the turn 1 braking zone, we decided to attempt a low percentage move - an outside pass. Braking heavily we got alongside Kofod's Acura. We were able to hang on to the edge of the track and stay alongside through the turn. Arriving at the exit we found that Kofod's Acura was a little wider than it needed to be to give us racing room. A small nudge in the side of the Acura kept us minimally on the pavement. The superior torque of the 2.4 liter Nissan allowed us to lead the field into turn 3. From there, the Team Sisu Nissan and the Kofod Acura pulled away from the field. The Acura stayed close, getting alongside a few times. Each advance was successfully fended off. As the tires started to go away due to the miserable heat the driving was more difficult but the conditions were the same for everyone so we stayed ahead. Towards the end of the race the Kofod Acura dropped back about 2 seconds due to lapped traffic and worsening conditions. This race there was no last lap deer excitement and we won with a comfortable margin of 2.864 seconds. The podium finishers were Kirk Dohne (Team Sisu Nissan 240sx), Jon Kofod (Acura Integra), adn Gregg Ginsberg (Honda CRX Si). The next race is the big Labor Day Double race, it is our first chance to wrap up the Championship for the year.
Finishing Position Name Car Laps Fast-Lap 1 Kirk Dohne (Team Sisu) Nissan 240sx 16 1:29.874 2 Jon Kofod Acura Integra 16 1:29.521 3 Gregg Ginsberg Honda CRX 16 1:30.446 4 John Martin Honda CRX 16 1:31.491 5 Larry Schiro VW Scirocco 16 1:31.430 6 Bill Hutchins Mazda Miata 16 1:31.851 7 David Alvarado Acura Integra 16 1:32.093 8 Mark Johnston Nissan 240sx 16 1:32.696 9 Brent Simonson Mazda Miata 16 1:32.928 10 John Cummins Mazda RX3 16 1:33.023 11 Art Jaso Toyota MR2 16 1:33.889 12 Matthew Yip VW GTI 16 1:33.746 13 Thomas Thompson Dodge Neon 16 1:34.102 14 Sam Shaver Mazda Miata 15 1:34.779 15 Michael Schwartz Nissan Pulsar 15 1:35.758 16 Carolyn Bayer-Broring Nissan Sentra 15 1:37.080 17 Bill Griffith Toyota MR2 15 1:38.206 18 Carlos Schooler Toyota MR2 14 1:42.964 19 Dick Hummel Toyota MR2 14 1:40.800 DNF Bryan Pritt Acura Integra 3 1:33.185