Race Report: Virginia International Raceway

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

As Brumos Racing returned to VIR, the scene of some of our significant victories, we went with the goal of making a return trip to victory lane. Our cars even carried the traditional flash of Porsche’s tangerine orange in a practice instituted years ago by Bob Snodgrass. Unfortunately, even our traditional orange was not able to help deliver the hoped-for success this year, as both our #58 and #59 cars encountered serious difficulties.

The #58 car showed great promise with good outings in all of the practice sessions, topped off with another strong performance by David Donohue in qualifying. David had captured 5th place on the starting grid, and was later moved up into the 3rd starting spot after a disqualification of the top two teams, which took them to the back of the pack. He had moved up into second place within the first few laps, but soon began to encounter gearbox problems, bringing the car to the pits for assessment. It was determined that the ring and pinion gear had failed, which took the car back to the garage. While the crew was able to get the car back on track to finish the race, the lengthy repairs took it completely out of contention.

It returned to the track on lap 48 with Donohue driving for three more laps to get his required thirty minutes for points. Then a driver change was made to allow Darren Law enough time in the car to also qualify for points. When the checkered flag dropped, the #58 car finished 19th in class and 44th overall, having completed 43 laps of the 77 lap race. Law commented after the race, “We’ve been pretty quick at every track we’ve been to this year, but we’re having a hard time putting the whole thing together. We just have to roll with it right now, and hopefully, some of the speed we’ve been able to show will translate into some solid finishes and maybe even a win this year.”

The #59 car started the race from 13th position, with JC France as qualifying and starting driver. The first full course caution of the race occurred on lap 8, allowing a quick pit stop for fuel, as France worked on improving position. However, after contact was made with another car in Turn 5, a stop-and-go penalty was assessed. When crew contact with the car was made in the pit area during that penalty, a repeat stop and go was required. On lap 31, the #99 car made contact with France, resulting in significant damage to the #59. The car was able to get back on track, and assessments were made by engineers as France continued to drive. It was determined that the car was drivable, so JC stayed out on track for several laps despite the severe body damage, with a large part of the right side pod destroyed.

When the car fell off the lead lap, it was brought in for a driver change, and Joao Barbosa once again faced a major challenge. He was starting from 18th position, and dealing with alignment and aerodynamics problems resulting from the damage to the car. He turned in a stellar performance despite the obstacles, steadily gaining ground in the field. Near the end of the race, there were reports of smoke coming from the rear of the car, but it was determined that it was likely caused by tire rub from the damaged body work, and the car stayed out on track to take the checkered flag in 13th position. “We had a difficult race”, Barbosa said. “We lost a few positions in the beginning due to contact with another competitor that damaged the car. The handling was very difficult when I got in the car, but I still pushed as hard as I could. Even though the car was far from perfect, we managed to make up some positions, which is always a positive. I think when luck turns our way, we will be right there in a fight for the top position. Our team never gives up and no matter what, they make sure we always bring the car back to finish the race, as every point is important for us.”

Our crew will be busy the next two weeks preparing the cars for our upcoming race in California, and working towards our goal of a long awaited victory. The sixth event on the Grand-Am schedule will take Brumos to the Monterey Festival of Speed at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. That 250 mile race will be held on Saturday, May 17th at 1:45 PM ET.

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