Another
Close Battle
07/01/01
The July 1st race
at the Hallett Motor Racing Circuit was another fan favorite between the Formula
Atlantics. The times posted in the
morning’s qualifying session placed the always fast Bill Pratt on the pole position
with a blistering 1:13.14, and myself nipping at the heels with a 1:13.41. Shane Stevens, posted a deceptive 1:15.01 while
trying to work out the cobwebs from not competing in almost a year. Sounds like an exciting lineup for a trilling
start. Well, it gets better.
Being the first group after lunch caught
several teams, including ours off guard. I
guess when they say they are sticking to the schedule we should listen. We were one of several teams to show up to the
grid after the one-minute warning had sounded, putting us at the back of the pack. Lucky for us, Shane did not show up on time either
which put him just a few cars in front of us. Sounds
like the Topeka race all over again.
When the green flag dropped, both
trailing Atlantics charged through the field quickly in order to not lose sight of Bill
Pratt. After just a couple of laps, Shane had
placed himself in second with about four seconds separating Himself and Bill. I still had a few cars to go and started to feel a
sense of desperation as I could see myself losing ground to the leaders. One or two laps later, Bill slowed tremendously
allowing Shane and myself to pass and Shane to move into the lead. We later found out that Bill had fuel pressure
problems.
With about eight seconds separating Shane
and I, I had my work cut out for me. I just
put the pedal to the metal and tried to relax and drive.
It paid off. I caught Shane about six
to eight laps later with about fifteen left in the race.
It was a constant battle from there. I
was able to challenge Shane in several places on the track.
Turn nine produced most of the action where I was able to dive underneath him
several times, leading to a drag race to turn ten. I
even led for a brief period when I was able to pass into turn nine and make it stick. I drove a defensive line into turn ten, but the
Mazda was able to pull me out of the last turn onto the front straight away. It was another drag race to the first turn;
unfortunately Shane had the hole shot. I
wasn’t about to let him take away what I had worked so hard for so I hung in there
sending both Atlantics into turn one two abreast. We
were side by side all the way down into the first gear turn 3 where he was finally able to
shake me (you just don’t go into turn three side by side). The rest of the race produced much the same
result. I could smell his exhaust we were so
close, with my front wing often tucked under his rear one like we were one car. It was much the same as the earlier Hallett race
with Dave Vande Berge. I haven’t been
that close since the days of Karting. The
race ended with Shane taking the checkered flag with me, of course, closely behind.
Obviously nothing compares to a win, but if there’s any way to
have to accept second, that is the way. I
was happy with the fast lap of the race at a 1:13.77 as compare to Shane’s 1:14.25. We will be heading to Mid-Ohio at the end of the
month to test for the Runoffs and I am looking forward to driving what is a new track for
me. It should be an interesting rest of the
season, so stay tuned.
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