We had a great turnout for this weekend’s SCCA Regional race at Sonoma, in our Group 1 of FA/F4/FM we had 29 cars! This being a Formula Car Challenge event certainly help build the interest. Friday was a test day that helped out as this weekend’s schedule had no practice sessions, just Quals and Races.
Saturday Qual went well with no real set-up changes needed after Friday’s test, I ended up in row 4. Unfortunately a bonehead move by your’s truly saw my race end in Lap 1. I overcooked the downhill Turn 4 entry trying to stay ahead of a car that I passed in Turn 3, and rear ended the car ahead of me hard enough to bend my front wing into the track. The worse part was that the car I tagged was also unable to continue due the damage done to his left rear suspension components. The Chief Steward deemed it a ‘racing incident’, but I felt bad for the young F4 driver trying to impress his team. Thankfully we both had our cars repaired by the end of the day.
Sunday’s race started off better with me holding my third row starting position for a few laps. I got passed by a couple of the fast locals, but was doing okay until I overshoot the exit of T4 and did a little mid-race dirt sampling. Got back on the track pretty quick, but two more cars got by me. I ended up midpack for the day, but learned a lot more about the car’s (and my) capabilities.
Thanks for the track support from Rich and Steve at Auto Spa.
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