Downeast Machine USA nGT

1 driver penalized 2 laps for not serving mandatory drive-through for first lap punts.

With no practice laps in the rain I had to pretty much relearn the track. Took hard wets, could never get them up to temp, but they lasted forever so I said screw it and did a no tire change.

I actually had alot of fun for this is my first full finish in the wet and for once my starting spot saved me from the carnage in the rear.

Next time I need to pay attention and put more laps in the wet.

Congrats Kent, always you showed up prepared.

See yaw at the Nurburgring.

This was my 1st wet race & what a race. I was doing a consistent lap time holding the rear until mid-race when I was lapped by 3 cars. One of them threw me fenceways & I lost my left rear tire. Trying to get back to the pits in order to avoid a DNF I spun out of control & got into Arno's way. I apologize for the mishap. The only thing I've got to say is boy this racing stuff is intense.

Congrats to the finishers, hope I can be one next time.

Qual was pretty decent considering it was a bit warm and I didn't check before exiting the pits. First lap was pretty good, 2nd lap I caught a slower car and thought he was letting me past when we had minor contact. About that time I saw that my temps were off the chart and slowed back to the pits. Second timed lap was really pretty crappy but good enough to be .001 off the pole.

Warm up session told us it was raining, so I threw on soft wets and did a installation lap, rear temps were already too high after just a lap so I opted for soft wet/hard wet. Then while waiting for the grid I saw the track was damp and really began second guessing myself, but I made no further changes.

Lights went green and Barry and I left about the same pace, then suddenly Barry slowed a lot and I just went for the apex on T1. Drove a steady lap 1 and soon found myself completing lap 1 with over 3 seconds in hand.

Drove fairly aggressively the first 10 laps until I caught traffic. By now I had 16 seconds and started thinking about what to do for the stop. When I pitted I just decided to take only fuel since I had plenty of tread left. Me and the crew chief argued about it while and he even stuck an AI in the car while I fiddled with the board. Finally we got the stop figured out and the crew started putting fuel in.

Somehow I came out still with the lead even after a horribly long stop.

2nd half of the race was really cruise mode and the last 4-5 laps were pretty scary with a lot of slower cars going off track and rejoining but fortunately no incidents.

Grats all and cya next time.

I was actually dreading racing in the wet this series, but it wasnt nearly as bad as what I thought.
I qualified in 12th and got an ok jump off the line, only to find AP mid slide through T2. I had nowhere to go and we made contact which forced me into the infield. I sure hope he didnt run those inters he was talking about... especially since the pre race chat was leaning heavily towards WETS.
I rejoined in 17th, and made quite a few places back in the first 5 laps, and ended up running in 6th, chasing down Aaron. After the pitstop I rejoined in exactly the same spot and started again.
Eventually John M. and Barry H. caught me and I couldnt really put up a fight as my rear were a bit worse for wear.The car was very nervous under braking.
Again, the slower cars came into play, and I managed to get caught behind a few of them, which didnt help my cause either.
Overall I was happy with 8th, considering the qual 12th, and the incident at the start.
Congrats to the podium, especially Kent for doing it so easy!
Well done to Rob too, you looked as though you were struggling a bit out there, and your pit entry looked painful! So a T10 is great.

The driver penalized was me, sorry guys. With all the issues on lap 1 I obviously messed up two drivers's race.

Did also not see the penalty from server. Will get used to it and better at it in future.

My apologies,
Arno

More of the same for me, my first race ...it rains (i knew it was gonna!) i even raced some wet laps practicing but it was in a different car but helped some.

I qualified 19th and think i got up to like 12th or something, i thought for sure i was going to be in the back, so im happy with that.

Blew a tire on the 3rd lap and had to limp it back to the pits, only to find out my ing. switch and starter buttons arnt working, different profile, i swear i changed them , but i guess not.. for 3 mins i pushed every key i had when the steward told me to move out i just hit esc.

Aww well lessons learned, it was good while it lasted, ill be more prepared for the next one and look forward to it!

thanks guys!
MikeR

Man, after that post-race report, Kent, I feel pretty crappy about not being closer to you :) I think I'm a curse to this series. I've done 2 races, and both of them have wound up wet. Either way, it was fun. I guess this weather was fitting...after all, it was Dongington.

I came in with about 30 minutes to practice and tested the TVR first, then the Ferrari, then the Porsche. I decided it was safe to drive the Porsche because, although I was faster in the Ferrari, the Porsche was more stable and I would have a better chance at conserving tires. Qualifying was decent, I set a new PB. I got caught sleeping on the start and got set wayyy back. But for some reason, everyone was really timid in the rain and I was in 2nd by the chicane on lap 1. Heinz was right with me the whole first stint, and he pitted one lap before me. I figured he wouldn't take tires (just a guess, cuz he's European and they're crazy on tire wear like that ;] hehe) so I chose to take tires and see how it went. It wound up going really well, I caught him and passed fairly easily, and drove off without too much fuss. My last few laps were stressful, I got the word I was running low on fuel. I had 2 laps worth of fuel with about 3 minutes to go. I thought I'd be ok, but I didn't know how fast Kent was going. I finished on fumes, with .3 gallons of fuel left at the line.

Awesome drive Kent, and great race Heinz. Maybe I'll try again next week for a go at a hopefully not-so-wet Nurburgring.

Very cool of you Arno. I was one of them. I had to go change tires anyway cause I made the wrong choice.

Grats Kent on your win and the podium.

I also wanted to add that on the pre race lap i spun out and got a little mixed up with someone, i was on intermediates but felt like ice skates, i think no real damage happened but i am sorry. luckly i was able to gets some wets on before the start.

MikeR