Minis at Bridgehampton

SuperMinis at Bridgehampton Race Data

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Combined Points Championship
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Seniors Combined Points

I finally put together a solid effort for this season, and finished in 10th. Ralph, what a great race, you kept me honest the whole race, and took advantage of a couple of wide entries into the last turn to get by me for the Seniors win. Great racing with you tonight! But slow down just a touch next time? :)

Nice race everyone.

What a good nigth we all had yesterday, fantastic circuit that gaves as a lot of to remember excelents drafts in the downhills with a super exciting mod. Great competition put me in P7 for the start, greta first 4 laps with Mark Karty, Paul, Garret D., until I did a mistake in the fast left downhuill at the end and when out for some dunes luky me I didnt jump the first smal dune..., I came in in P10, from there reagrupe and start to drive fast plus the guys in front were having some battles...lol, I arrived to the group again and in lap 15 I was P5, following the 2 Marks, Urban and Carty, I was trying to scape from a wild group of minism with Lusky, Garret (our lead points), Paul, Barry, so in lap 21 I pass Mark Carty, but I was not alone, from that group Garret came with me, so he did the same, I was in P4 and thnx to a draft with Garret and a small mistake last turn that our great Mark Urban did, there we were last lap all of three figthing for the PODIUM, Garret pas me in the long strigth and when arriving to the rigth corner after the long left downhill, Garret open the door for em I came in and we tuch 2 times that put me out in the dunes..., a very bad acceleration to try to protect the top 5 from Mark Carty that was coming, made me spiiiin, so I saw him going and me in P6...,I miss to had a good photofinish end with Garret, but was imposible...thnx all for a very fun fun race Iv enjoy the most..., and that P3 was for a temmate at least...lol, Congrast winner Ryan and Maciej and Mark U., for the rest of the podium. Thanxs Paul for a great admin and a great race..., I CANT WAIT FOR NEXT ONE..., this is geting HOT!!!

Every time I change my paint scheme, performance improves!

I never start the night with a thought of winning, but halfway through practice I could sniff pole position. I had it for 2 sectors too.

But starting 2nd is better here and I drafted past Kane on the first race lap. Maciej was in my draft and started battling for 2nd, which gave me just enough space to break their draft and I could pull away, about 1/10th of a sec a sector. One of my best races, my mistakes last night cost me 10th instead of positions. That's a nice feeling. Maciej was tough though, when I was fast, he was fast, it was hard to judge how the gap would move by laptime alone.

CanAm Racing is 1-2-3 in the points too. The big Can-am's are a blast here, quite a handful, here's hoping for a podium!

Funny night for me.

Didn't get home from work in time to qual, so I gridded P27 with a good setup and was ready to hope for the best.

The start was good, and I was up to P15 or so in 5 laps, strongly knocking on the door to the Top 10. Then I got caught up in a spin which caused me about 20 seconds, dropping me back to P19. Started coming forward again, still hoping to get to the Top 10, but knowing I really had to push hard to do so. Made some progress, but then slightly pushed wide exiting from the valley, resulting in a spin into the dunes and bushes. Got the car stuck and hi-sided trying to get out. Not wanting to admit defeat, I kept trying to get out... 9 minutes later, my car emerges from the woods ready for some more laps. My off-course excursion relegated me to P24 for the evening. Ugh.

Moral of the night... avoid 11 minute laps!

Great stuff up front, and see you all next round!

Rob

Prerace:
The Bridghampton Motorplex was a great venue for the Z-MINI and without many setup options, I got right into working on some reference points and lines for this fast undulating circuit. After a couple of exits I was starting to get into the groove enjoying the Z-MINI's zippy engine and good handling.

Practice:
A few laps with the Casanova's and Mark Carty early in the practice session helped out quite a bit in understanding how good the draft was and set the tone for a great race. I was feeling confident with the car and was able to put in consistent fast laps, riding around in formation was good fun. Thanks Mark, Sergio, and José!

Qualifying:
I knew I had a good shot for the poll as with low fuel in practice I had been able to do sub 34 times. I had a really good lap going on my second flyer, but a tiny mistake in the last sector meant I had to sweat it out for the last three or four minutes to see if I was going to be pipped for the top spot. I actually was a bit surprised to hang on. I was happy with my race pace, set up, and looking forward to the race.

Race:
My car was definitely working good. I knew if I could get off well and tag along with the lead group I had a good shot for the top of the box. I knew from practice to be very difficult to get away even if you are faster because of the long straights. I was expecting a front pack of 3 to 5 in a race long formation flying event.

My good start didn't amount to much as the long run into turn one ment Ryan and Maciej were able to draft by me easily into T1. I decided to just stay tucked in to see if us three could pull away from the rest of the pack, as there was a bit of a gap behind me. Maciej got into the grass on the exit of the last corner on the next lap losing some of the draft to Ryan up ahead and allowing the chasing pack to get a sniff of our draft. José caught up to us just after the turn one bridge with a head of steam and contacted my rear quarter on the entry into T2 spinning me around. I was watching the field stream by as I was spinning to the grass just praying I wouldn't contact anything too hard.

Back on the track in P17 I realized early on my car took a bit of damage in the spin cycle. The handling was straight but my top speed was down as my pace was almost a second slower. Had a great fight with Garrett as we both were moving back up through the field. I was pushing to the absolute limit in the corners to try to keep him out of my draft. Eventually he did and made a nice move to sneak by. It was better to have Garrett in front, by staying in his draft I was able to increase my top speed. I tucked in behind as I could see we were catching Mark and Sergio. Then I made a costly mistake touching that funny corner of grass on the outside of the track in the braking zone for turn 4, almost spinning, and losing contact with Garrett.
My punishment was to do consistent laps by myself to the end to take 7th.

I really had a great time driving the Z-MINI car. This was a great car/track combination and I enjoyed the peppy little minis that will spin the tires if you mash the gas!

I want to say thanks to Norm for letting me in the Monday Night Racing League! I had big fun and look forward to driving with all you guys at the next event!

Ugh. Picture is worth a thousand words.......

'Grats to Ryan, Maciej and Mark U.

Sorry I missed the fun last night. Got home from work at 9:20 EDT; too late to get in.

I havent done enough laps going into this one and at the begining of the race i wasnt feeling confident with the car. The begining of the race was a lot of fun with Ryan Kane and myself fighting for the lead.
After Kane went off the track it was me chasing Ryan and we were slightly pulling away from the rest.
I was trying to push hard to stay with Ryan but i was driving on the limit and did few mistakes here and there allowing Ryan to pull a nice gap.
I think i was missing some speed setting up my gear ratio too long and i was loosing time on the straigh running without draft.
Ryan was driving fast and with no mistake and at the end
won the race . Congr Ryan nice driving and also Mark for third.
See you!

I met a car four wheeling through the dunes. Severe damage - probably should have retired. But I said, "I practiced too much for this one" and pitted. Moved up some places through attrition. Congratulations to Ryan and the rest of the podium.