As many of you know from my previous
blogs, Watkins Glen International (WGI) is a great track and was, at one
time, a place Americans could enjoy watching Formula 1 races. You truly feel
like you are going somewhere plus the track is much smoother than most
tracks within the United States. The weekend went quite well, with the weather
prediction being a good chance of rain. As such, geared the car for headwind
and as luck would have it the sun was out the entire weekend and the wind
was relatively calm. Therefore my choice for 4th gear was not appropriate.
This cost me perhaps 1.5 seconds in slower lap times. As you can see in the
video (click here), the engine is all out
as i first get onto the back straight.
The car was very reliable and even with the
gearing choice my lap times were my personal best to date. Qualification saw
my lap times at a still relatively slow 2:02.436, which placed me second out
of a field of 12 drivers. While coming in third in classification for both
races, my best lap time during the second race was 2:01.087. If we subtract
the 1.5 seconds due to gear choice, that would place me within the ballpark of
where the car's best capabilities would then be nibbled upon to lower lap
times. There is still work to do on my end to achieve the very best lap
times, yet steady progress was made during this event and am sorting out the
best line to achieve maximum speed while also attacking the brake points. Please
note that i have made various changes to the line and brake points that are
seen within the video. At this point i feel it best to stop posting
videos plus i never post my best F2000 laps anyway so as not to tip off
the competition. Enjoy the Track sponsors
will be able to see videos from each event on secure pages. If you would
like to continue seeing video from each event, now would be the perfect time
to become a sponsor.
PDF
of qualification and race results.
Appreciation And Thanks
Thanks goes out to my race engineer
Glenn Philips at GTP Motorsports as were able to quickly diagnose and solve
the transmission problem from the previous event. Naturally everyone at SCCA
deserve a special thanks, especially the workers and organizers for putting
on wonderful event. My appreciation also extends to the Enjoy the Track's
sponsors for showing their support so early in my racing career. If you are
reading this, please visit the Sponsors page
and learn about each company's excellent products and services! They truly
offer outstanding items you really should consider before making your next
home audio purchase. As always, in the end what really matters is that
we all...
Enjoy the Track,
Steven R. Rochlin
