MARRS VII and VIII - 2006 - Summit Point Race Report
Due to the success of the Team Sisu ITA Nissan 240sx success so far in the season, we entered the weekend with a single mission - WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP. Our lead in the championship was such that two third place finishes would allow us to walk away with the 2006 MARRS ITA Championship without participating in the final scheduled race. So the goal was simple, push hard but don't hurt anything.
There was only one qualifying session for each of the two races (as opposed to the two sessions for a normal race) so there was only one opportunity to qualify well for each race. For the first session we had a wet race track. When the track becomes slick we have an inherent disadvantage compared to the front drivers of our main competition. No traction control, no anti-lock brakes, and no windshield wipers (at least they did not want to work this weekend) makes for an interesting experience. Racers are a bit of a strange lot, they'll do anything to get in a car in any conditions. We pressed on. Having not been out in the wet in more than a year, we took off out of the pits fast to get a feel for the track and the rain tires. We finished the session only 5-thousandths (.005 seconds) out of second place - about one second adrift of the pole position. So we would only need to maintain position in the race to satisfy the first half of the challenge. Of course, a better finish would lower the requirement of the second race in our quest for the Championship.
The rain played a nasty trick on our plans for the weekend. New dry tires perform better when heat-cycled for one session prior to race use and then given 24-hours to sit unused. The confines of the schedule did not allow this so we decided to keep using our older set of tires which were quickly getting old. They were good enough for the second qualifying session as we grabbed the pole. Unfortunately, one of the characteristics of the older tires is that they do not maintain adhesion through the course of the race so that would be a more difficult pursuit. We would need to get in the lead before the tires went away and then maintain that lead for the remainder of the race. The big question then became - how long would our tires last.
Race 1 - starting in 3rd position - perfect weather. The pole position was occupied by our last remaining competitor for the title - Jon Kofod in an Acura Integra - and second was occupied by Sean Christie in a Honda Civic Si. We needed to get to the front fast and try to stay there. Kofod chose to take the outside pole - thus swapping the inside and the outside row. He hoped that Sean would be able to maintain the inside line and he would be able to gain the advantage on the outside. The Team Sisu Nissan 240sx would lead into turn 1, relying on a torque advantage and a good jump at the start to move by both front row qualifiers. We quickly gained an advantage of about 1-second on the first lap. Unfortuantely, the driving could not overcome the tires and as they faded after 4 laps, Kofod quickly caught us. We maintained position for another 4 laps, fending off his attacks. Finally, he got by us going through turn 1. What was usually an easy repass for our Nissan fell flat on dead tires. We held on to second position for the remainder of the race and pressed as much we could, hoping for a Kofod mistake that never came. Our second place finish made our championship task for the second race much easier. 5th or better and we would be the Champ.
Race 2 - starting on pole - perfect weather. Advanced start position, same bad old tires. The goal was to take the lead and stay in front. The tires were one more heat cycle older and did not hold much promise. We led the field around to the start and again led the first laps. Unfortunately, the tires never had anything in them. Our lead lasted a miniscule 4 laps of the race when Kofod got by, followed closely by Gregg Ginsberg in a Honda CRX Si. Acknowledging that we only needed 5th place we settled into 3rd place and decided to cruise. The tires would treat us to one last race in that position for sure. We cruised for a few laps, keeping the leaders in sight and 4th position well behind. Then we were gifted 2nd place by Ginsberg as he spun alone in turn 5. The race ended anticlimatically, the race was lost but the Championship was won. Our second MARRS Championship in 3 years gives us quite the history with the car. We'll defend the Championship next year...
MARRS 7 Results
Position Name Car Fast-Lap 1 Jon Kofod Acura Integra 1:28.788 2 Kirk Dohne (Team Sisu) Nissan 240sx 1:28.885 3 Gregg Ginsberg Honda CRX Si 1:30.339 4 Sean Christie Honda Civic Si 1:31.221 5 Bryan Pritt Acura Integra 1:30.776 6 John Cummins Mazda RX-3 1:32.002 7 Bill Hutchins Mazda Miata 1:31.573 8 David Alvarado Acura Integra 1:32.691 9 Brent Simonson Mazda Miata 1:32.116 10 Mark Johnston Nissan 240sx 1:32.446 11 Matthew Yip VW GTI 1:32.233 12 Douglas Kinser Toyota MR2 1:32.644 13 Earl Richards Nissan 240sx 1:32.098 14 Larry Schiro VW Shirocco 1:31.461 15 Art Jaso Toyota MR2 1:33433 16 Michael Schwartz Nissan Pulsar 1:35.447 17 Bill Griffith Toyota MR2 1:39.419 18 Carlos Schooler Toyota MR2 1:39.916 19 Matthew Rowe Dodge Shelby 1:37.502 MARRS 8 Results
Position Name Car Fast-Lap 1 Jon Kofod Acura Integra 1:29.158 2 Kirk Dohne (Team Sisu) Nissan 240sx 1:30.090 3 Gregg Ginsberg Honda CRX Si 1:29.412 4 Bryan Pritt Acura Integra 1:30.712 5 John Cummins Mazda RX-3 1:30.946 6 Bill Hutchins Mazda Miata 1:31.410 7 Sean Christie Honda Civic Si 1:31.961 8 Brent Simonson Mazda Miata 1:31.471 9 Mark Johnston Nissan 240sx 1:32.138 10 Douglas Kinser Toyota MR2 1:32.484 11 Matthew Yip VW GTI 1:32.739 12 Art Jaso Toyota MR2 1:33.088 13 Matthew Rowe Dodge Shelby 1:32.892 14 David Alvarado Acura Integra 1:32.650 15 Earl Richards Nissan 240sx 1:32.974 16 Michael Schwartz Nissan Pulsar 1:34.293 17 Bill Griffith Toyota MR2 1:37.949 18 Carlos Schooler Toyota MR2 1:39.758