BuckeyeZ06

Lime Rock Park was the site of Round Three of the 2013 Trans Am season.

The northeast was cold and wet all weekend long, so the weekend lost much of its "fun" factor. But racing continues on...

I was told a long time ago that racing a GT1 car in the rain is like surfing on an alligator...you know you're going to get wet, and you're likely going to get bit. True words.

We gridded by season points because of the rained out qualifying session, so I started fifth.

I was concerned about the race because of the wet conditions, but eventually sucked it up figuring if the other guys (and girl) can do it, so can I.

By lap two I was in second, and held that spot for a few laps. Paul Fix started at the back of the pack in Tony Ave's car and caught me fairly fast. I made the conscious decision to let him go. My whole focus of this race was survival. We have Watkins Glen in two weeks and Road America two weeks after that, so busting up the car would not be a good thing.

I settled into a nice conservative pace in third place. Simon Gregg, the 2012 Trans Am season champion was a few seconds behind me, and would stay there for most of the race. He'd make an attempt at a pass every once in a while, but I was able to keep him behind me. Until the second to last lap.

Simon made a move on the outside of Turn One and was able to make it stick. There's a reason he won the championship last year: he's good and he doesn't quit.

I made him work for the position, and he earned it. Kudos to him.

For me the weekend was Mission Accomplished. Get through the race and now we can focus on racing. The first three races were "get through" events for me. Sebring was the first time in the car, and breaking an axle on Lap One put my learning curve on hold. Mosport was a new track for me, so I took a cautious approach to the race. Lime Rock was wet. So now we go to places I know and I'm feeling comfortable in the car.

fcarga

Survival instinct is necessary to be successful in the long term. Congrats on a well earned 4th place and that feeling of starting to know the beast.

Subfixer

It was good to meet you on Pit Lane just before the race. The rain really helped the TA2 guys at this little track. You did the right thing to survive. There were a few guys and gal who pushed the envelope and got bit.

Either way, it was a fun race to watch!

Good luck at the Glen.

BuckeyeZ06

Driving a GT1/Trans Am car on a wet track is like surfing on an alligator: you will get wet and you likely will get bit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgN23...ature=youtu.be

I felt pretty good about going into the race IF it was on a dry surface. The only dry session of the weekend was the second practice period. I was either third or fourth fastest (I could tell because the track has a scoreboard at the end of the front straight that is visible to the drivers on-track). I came in to make two adjustments (tire pressure and rear sway bar) when I was relegated to fourth in scoring. One fast lap after the adjustments put me back to third, and it was an easy lap.

The rain put everything on hold, so the race was a game of survival. 67 laps around that track in the wet is very "edgy." But I like to fight another day.

Next race Watkins Glen, then Road America and Mid Ohio. I'm tired of getting my butt kicked, so now we can start racing this car.

dvandentop

damn i bet handling that beast in the wet was alot more tiring then a full race!

BuckeyeZ06

Here's a video from the Lime Rock race. Pretty cool production, IMO...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...=Xz8PuxfNn5s#!