After a long off season Josemanuel and I had our second race of the season this past weekend at Virginia International Raceway. The cars all looked like new and had all been practicly re-built since the Daytona 24hr.
Last season in Koni Challenge I had a good result at VIR so I had high expectations coming into the weekend. Josemanuel (my co-driver) had not been there; however, he did some laping sessions with the Audi club to learn the track.
Unfortunaly, the weekend did not go as planned. Josemanuel and I only got a handfull of laps each prior to the race due to a re-occuring radiatior issue which was caused by a small off track excursion that Josemanuel had early during the weekend.
So come the green flag of the race both Josemanuel and I did not have the valuable practice and set-up time the competitors did. Starting at the back due to lack of practice time Josemanuel did a great job and kept the car on the track and out of trouble and handed the car over to me around the 1hr mark. During the race we caught some lucky breaks and ran as high as 7th. However, I could not keep the pace of the leaders due to an ill handeling car and at the end of the 2hr 45min race we were 11th. Although, we should have had a better finish, givin the circumstances 11th was not too bad.
The next race is in two weeks at Laguna Seca in Monterey California. Both Josemaunel and I have had plently of laps at Laguna Seca so we look forward to a better result.
Below is the press TRG press realease:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 25, 2009
TRG Puts Three in top 11 at VIR
Alton,VA — Alton, Virginia, (April 25, 2009) - TRG put three Porsches in the top 11 in today’s running of the Grand-Am Rolex Series Bosch Engineering 250 at Virginia International Raceway.
Ted Ballou and Spencer Pumpelly in the No. 66 AXA/Mitchell Rubber/Wealth Management Strategies/TRG Porsche GT3 led the TRG charge with a sixth place finish. Pumpelly had a fourth place heading into the last handful of turns when his Porsche stumbled on fuel causing him to relinquish two places.
“I didn’t realize we were that close on fuel, so I wasn’t ready for the car to stumble,” Pumpelly said. “When the car bobbled, in the time that I had to reach down and hit the reserve Henzler went by me. The car was excellent today. I had a little bad luck in traffic. I would get pushed back by the DPs and then move back forward. Not a really lucky day for us, but I am really happy with how the car performed today. Ted did a great job early to keep us up front early.”
John Potter and Craig Stanton finished in a strong ninth in their No. 65 Riegel/Stanton/Cystic Fibrosis Foundation/65 Roses/Magnus Racing/TRG Porsche GT3. Potter started the race and was able to run in the top ten before turning the wheel over to Stanton.
“The race was great,” Stanton said. “We had a pretty good car, although not great on the long runs. We could do 54s and 55s pushing it right along and then end with 56 and 57s. I think some of the lighter cars would roll past us at the end of stints. Jeff Braun, team engineer, came onboard recently and gave us a format to follow – the house rules. He has helped organize our technical side. John Potter did a great job this weekend. All of our partners Road Source Supply and TRG have done a great job for us. We really had a nice crowd here this weekend. I am Looking forward to New Jersey in another six days.”
Josemanuel Gutierrez and Scott Schroeder finished their No. 68 Cohen Financial/TRG Porsche in 11th. The pair was able to spend several laps in the top ten during the race.
“We had a tough weekend,” Schroeder said. “We missed some practice time yesterday so we were using today to do some setup, learning as we went. All things considered we finished 11th which is pretty good for the day we had. Josemanuel did a good job, he handed the car over clean and in excellent shape. He and I will be back next month at Laguna Seca.”
Justin Marks and Andy Lally had a difficult day in the No. 67 Construct Corp/No Fear Energy Drinks/Voodoo Ride/Kartel Motorsports/K1 Speed/Gemstone Winery/TRG Porsche GT3. Marks started the race and was starting to get his rhythm when a spinning Mazda in turn 17 collected him causing severe frontend damage to his Porsche. The team was able to get him back in the race about an hour later to make as many laps as possible.
“I was starting to get the feel of the race when I came into 17 and the Mazda was sitting in the middle of the track,” Marks said. “I really had nowhere to go. We had a good warm-up session and made some adjustments to the car which seemed to be the way to go. It was too bad our race pretty much ended on lap seven.”
Team owner Kevin Buckler is looking for some performance help.
“We are really down to the Pontiacs and the Mazdas on power,” Buckler said. “It is not really even fun to race because there isn’t any way to win. They are running one to two seconds a lap faster than us in race trim and just cruising. Our guys did the best they could today. Justin got caught up in someone else’s mistake early. Ted and Spencer had a good day, but we gave a couple of positions away when the car stumbled for fuel. Potter and Stanton ran a good solid race and Josemanuel and Scott had a strong day finishing in 11th even with all of the challenges. This was a big race for Josemanuel and John as they really had their work cut out for them and mixed it up big time with all of the pro drivers. We have our work cut-out for us for New Jersey, but we are the defending GT winners there.”
Round three of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series will be run at New Jersey Motorsports Park on May 3.
TRG was founded in 1993 and has been competing at the top level of motor racing ever since. The team has the most wins of any team in the Grand-Am Rolex Series with 26, including the 2005 and 2006 Rolex Series GT championship trophy to go along with wins at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
TRG is a manufacturer and distributor of high-performance racing parts. The group specializes in engine and chassis tuning as well as full service professional race car preparation. The company also provides electrical and mechanical engineering services, driver development and arrive-and-drive opportunities. TRG is based in Petaluma, Calif., near its home track of Infineon Raceway in Sonoma. The company’s NASCAR operation is based in Mooresville, North Carolina and a new state-of-the-art facility is coming on-line at New Jersey Motorsports Park in late 2009.