Happy Monday, Race Fans!
THE SET UP:
We have reached that part of the season where the events are piled all on top of each other. We were home long enough to do the laundry after the trip to California and repack for the this event in Ohio.
This brings us to the SCCA Hoosier Super Tour at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. Morgan raced with Mike Amy and Dog Gone Racing in the red and black #02 Apple Motorsports SRF3. Weather for Friday’s practice and qualifying sessions was warm, around 80, with clouds that come and go. It’s quite dramatic how much a little cloud can affect the grip between tire and track. The tires prefer the cloud cover because it's a bit cooler.
Morgan was relaxed and ready for the weekend. He picked up good info about the track during his coaching time yesterday and he'll put it to use when he's in the cockpit today. Turn 4 China Beach, at the end of the long straight has been re-profiled and re-paved since last year. The brand new pavement there has 2 degrees less camber, making it a bit flatter, and the gravel trap runoff area doesn’t fall away as much. That all makes the approach to the turn under braking and the flow through it quite different. The new pavement put down last year for the whole circuit is still evolving as well. We see a lot of controlled sliding in the turns across most of the groups. We also hear the tires squealing here more than at other tracks.
FRIDAY NOTES:
Practice went well this morning. Morgan found a good partner to work with in drafting. Together, they were first and second and about a half second ahead of third.
Qualifying: The drivers had 25 minutes to set their best lap. You can watch on YouTube. Fingers crossed for continued strong pace!
Just a quick update for you here at Friday’s close. The qualifying session was a warm one and the sun was playing hide-and-seek with the clouds. That has a big effect on how hot the tires get.
Even so, Morgan laid down lots of good laps and got progressively quicker as the time wound down. By the end of the session, he was in 4th, just 0.2 seconds off the top time. Nine cars are within one second at the top of the sheet. Afterward, there was lots of video and data review in the trailer. That thoughtful analysis often reveals areas where a bit of time can be gained by changing a brake or turn in point or adjusting the line by a few inches.
Tomorrow morning, we are scheduled for a 15-minute qualifying session at 8:50 am. The temperatures have already started to fall and the wind is picking up. The forecast for Saturday shows 15 degrees cooler tomorrow (only 64) and blowing 20+ mph, again with variable clouds. There is also a possibility it might rain about the time we go out. I suppose we will know tomorrow just what that session will bring.
In the afternoon, SRF3 gets their 25-minute race at 1:25 pm. That will go rain or shine. Here’s your YouTube link for the Saturday broadcast.
SATURDAY NOTES:
Good blustery morning, race fans! Saturday presented itself very differently from the last two days. The clouds hustled across the skies like they were late for a party somewhere. Little blue sky “sucker holes” opened up and closed just as quickly - ha ha, no sun for you! While the forecast did not include further rainfall, the clouds remain, pushed along by stout winds all day.
Qualifying: The final qualifying session is done. About 2/3 of the racers took the opportunity to go out, including Morgan. As expected, the track was slippery, wet, and a bit dirty in places after last night’s downpour. Nobody was faster than yesterday, with everyone staying a couple seconds off those qualifying times. Still, it was a good opportunity to check the final set up and run around with the playmates they’ll be starting the race with this afternoon.
As for that, race 1 is scheduled for 1:25 today. Morgan will start the red/black Apple Motorsports #02 in 4th position. Watch on YouTube.
The Race: It’s Saturday afternoon. It’s cloudy and windy and that makes it quite chilly! While that means the air is good for power, it’s tricky to get things up to operating temperatures quickly.
Mid-Ohio is a bit odd for the green flag. The Starting point is mid way down the long straight between Turn 2 Keyhole and Turn 4 China Beach. (But they finish on the short pit straight between Turn 13 and Turn 1.) On their first approach, the field did not get the green flag because a car had pulled off in Turn 12 Carousel and needed to be picked up.
On the second pass, they did get the green flag the inside line got a very strong jump. Morgan moved into that line in 4th. By the end of the first lap, the top 6 hooked up together and put a bit of a gap between them and 7th. Gradually, Bobby Sak in the #19 picked up spots until he had taken the lead. The battle continued to be quite spicy with Morgan settled into 5th for much of the race. The top three managed to separate themselves from the others, but 4th was hotly contested right up to the end. At the checker, Morgan found himself in 5th. It was a tight race with really talented drivers. Tomorrow promises to be just as entertaining.
We go out at 9:50 am for 20 laps or 35 minutes for Race 2. It looks like another chilly start, but it will be interesting! Here’s your link for the YouTube feed.
SUNDAY NOTES:
Hello, Race Fans! It’s a gorgeous, cool, afternoon with big puffy white clouds in a blue spring sky. It was excellent weather for racing today!
At race time this morning, it was barely 60 degrees and the clouds hadn’t rolled in to watch the races yet. Today, Morgan started in 5th, putting him on the desirable inside line for the first turn. Like yesterday, that line got a good start and they pulled ahead just a bit. By the time they flow through China Beach and Madness (Turns 4-6), Morgan was solidly in 4th.
This was a longer race today, 20 laps, so the strategy differed. You want to get to the front, but not too soon. In SRFs, the draft is super important. Two or more cars in a line close together can go faster together than one can alone. As expected, the top 6 hooked up and ran nose-to-tail only a few feet (sometimes inches) apart for most of the first half. Gradually, the top three separated from the next four (led by Morgan), to be followed by another pack of three to round out the top ten.
About half way through, positions in Morgan's pack switched around a bit, but he regained the 4th spot within a couple laps with a good move in Turn 4 China Beach.
The last few laps is when it gets spicy throughout the field. The ones in the back of the top two packs leading the race started to poke out of line and peek into the best passing zones to see if they were close enough and fast enough to keep a position coming out of the turn. Positions changed up a few times in both groups. When the checkered flag fell, Morgan was ahead in his pack, taking 4th place today. Races like this are exciting (and a bit tense) for us to watch, but also super fun to drive. It was a great race today!
WHAT'S NEXT?
This was good practice this weekend as we will be back in 3 weeks for IMSA's Michelin Pilot Challenge Race, June 6-8 for a 4-hour race on Sunday from 12:00 to 4:00 Eastern. See you then!