Road Atlanta - April 6-7, 2002

The second race of the season for me was Road Atlanta.  Similar to Sebring, it was a brand-new track for me.  Amazing elevation changes and a track that really requires concentration.  There are at least 5 places where the track can really "bite" you as at least 5 participants found out this weekend. 

It was a great weekend for me.  I participated in the optional test-n-tune day on Friday to get some extra track time.  It was worth it as Saturday I was able to qualify the car 5th in class with a very experienced and competitive group in front of me.  Unfortunately, the 4th place qualifier had back trouble and didn't race.  So, I started 4th on the grid.  At the start, the car in front of me and myself were able to get the jump on the 2nd place F car.  We ran 2-3-4 for almost the entire race, nose-tail.  Around lap 12 of the 15 lap race, we started getting into lapped traffic.  As I thought prior to the race, lapped cars would play a factor in the outcome.  As we came upon a lapped car in turn 3, he spun.  the car in front of me spun to the right to avoid him.  I guessed that he would stay on track and ditched to the left.  The car behind guessed that he would go off track and therefore went straight up the middle getting the opportunity to pass me.  (see the "spin" video below).  I tried for two laps to pass him, but just couldn't get quite close enough to make it work.  So, I finished 3rd.  Not too bad considering 2nd was a guy from the Atlanta area with lots of seat time there.

Here's some videos from the race.

Spin in Practice (740K) - Find out what happens when you get in late and hot.  I was trying to let the guy behind slide through and cut under him.

1st Race Lap (2MB)

Tight Racing in the Esses (132K) - here's what happens when you let the door open

Spin in the Race (836K) - It's never too late for things to change.  This happened in lap 12 of a 15 lapper.