Entertaining myself is a nice way to say I was racing all by myself at the National Corvette Museum. At least, that is how I felt in Super Touring 6 at the NASA Great Lakes season opener. And my loneliness wasn’t due to a lack of competition either. Instead, the competition was so spread out in ST6 that there simply wasn’t any racing.
I spent the weekend running solidly in third place with zero chance of catching the top two, who were faster than almost the entire ST5 field. And although the racing was spread out and generally uneventful, at least the combined race starts were exciting.
TREC Race (Safety First)
But first, I was invited to drive a 944 Spec in the 3-hour TREC race on Friday. This would be a 1-hour stint at the end of the endurance race. I was looking forward to driving a 944 but had to decline the seat during the race as my neck restraint would not engage with the harness system in this car. The team still managed third, and we are planning a seat fitting before the next endurance race.
Even though I didn’t race, I bring this up as it is always better to err on the side of safety when racing. I have been racing a long time and this is one of only a couple times I’ve had to say no.
The Lightning Races (Super Touring 6)
As I mentioned previously, these races weren’t that eventful. The equipment level was to spread out for any relevant racing in ST6. I did get to mix it up with some out-of-class drivers, though, and watched Michael Morris take his first win of the season in 944 Spec. The following video shows the race starts from each race. Even with 3 really good starts, you can see how quickly the field spread out.
Entertaining Myself
I did find something to do during race 1 however and that was play camera car for the 944 Spec field. This isn’t the first time I’ve done this to give myself something to do during Super Touring races. However, these experiences are quickly turning into an itch to return to spec racing. Namely where there is closer parity in equipment. (Think 944 Spec and Spec E30 as I still find it difficult to fathom a 35k plus Miata to run at the front in Spec Miata.)
What’s Next
The race season is officially underway, and I will head to New Orleans next. In the meantime, I have a few weeks to prep the racecar and work on a couple new project for Driftopia. More coming soon.
