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Infineon - April 2008 PDF Print E-mail
Written by Ken Huey   
Monday, 14 April 2008
Article Index
Infineon - April 2008
Saturday race
Sunday race
Wrap
 

Sunday

Most of us decided to sleep in and skip  the morning warm-up with a gazzillion cars Smile

Jerry was our sole 944-SPEC representative at the morning warm-up and said everyone else must have been thinking of the same thing because there weren't  that many cars out there.

Tom bled off some air in his tires.  We all qualified with faster times than yesterday.  Rick took pole followed by Steve, Sid, Tom, Ken, Jerry.

We talked before hand if the green flag drops before we turn the kink to see the control stand to just go even if it's single file.  In the actual race on Sunday the pole setter in our green flag group was able to control the pace to allow all of us to line up in formation before the green.

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I had a good start and was going up the steep hill into Turn 2  when I saw a car just over the crest crawling about 30 mph towards the Turn 2 apex.  I was on the inside commited to apex already and had to brake hard.  Jerry was on the outside and got around him.  In hindsight I should have gone two wheels off or even four wheels off because if there was a car behind me I would have got rear ended.  For the reminder of the race it was me trying to get past Jerry with him defending and controlling the pace.

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I felt I was faster than Jerry in the back section of the track especially in the 7, 8 transitions but that means a drag race thru 9 into Turn 10 where I crashed coming out of Turn 10 last June.  I still curl up in a fetal position when I think about it. Smile

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We were pretty much nose to tail throughout the entire race.  On the last lap of the last turn I was waiting to see which line he'll defend against.  This is the big U-turn and after the midpoint, he went for the outside line to defend against me from accellerating out.  I was trying to hug the inside line and the tire stacks as much as possible and accelerate out without drifting into him.  I knew if I can just track out and exit 2 mph faster than him I can beat him to the finish line.  It really was a photo finish for us and I just inch him out by the length of the front bumper.

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Rick ran another great race.  Rick had a tank slapper which allowed Steve to get to close.  On the last lap of the race a RX7 got involved in Steve and Tom's race forcing Steve to go four wheels off.  Tom was able to capitalize and took 2nd, Steve 3rd, Ken 4th, Jerry 5th and Sid had engine problems and was not able to finish.

Here's Sid's Sunday race report:

On Sunday, I was able to get the 3rd pole position and thought I would have a great race.  The start was near perfect and we all were grouped together.  I was right behind Steve and Rick with Tom right on my back.  After the 1st lap, coming out of Turn 6, I felt a sudden loss of power and Tom quickly passed me like I was standing still. 

I was shocked and pissed at the same time.  I knew I didn't blow my engine but couldn't figure out what is causing my loss of power.  I pushed it as hard as my car would go and was hoping I could at least finish the race but I was holding up traffic really bad and just driving off line so I decided to pull off on the front straights where it was safe and just sat there, hot and angry, watching the race. 

At the end of the race, the tow trucks came out but I motioned that I was ok and could drive off so they followed me off the track and I was able to get the car back on the trailer and home. 
 
Rick, Steve and Tom had a great race as they were all battling it out.  At one time Rick and Steve were side to side after turn 11 but he was able to pull away from Steve and maintain his lead.  Tom was pretty much right behind Steve's bumper the entire race and Steve had Rick in his sites too.

They looked like it would have finished in that position but on the final lap, a RX7 which was not even racing in his own group, decided to stick his nose into ours and dive bombed Steve in Turn 4 which took away his line and Steve ended up going 4 wheels off and Tom took advantage of that and finished 2nd behind Rick.  Steve was able to get back on track and finished in 3rd. 

Of course Ken and Jerry probably had the best race.  I saw Ken were right on Jerry's butt the entire race and I knew Ken had to do something soon in order to beat him.  Taking him on turn 11 and edging him out on the finish line was classic and the most rewarding win.  Great job Ken. 



 
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