2000 SCCA PRO SPEEDVISION
World Challenge GT
Las
Vegas, Nevada
October
27-29, 2000 |
|
RACE REPORT - We went to Las Vegas with a new
car. This is the "same car" we crashed at Sears, but on a new tub.
Shortly after the Sears crash we got a new GT3 tub from the Porsche factory
and started rebuilding the car. In testing the day before the event,
the car, in the hands of Randy Pobst was the fastest in the field.
A real testament to David Moore. Building a new car from scratch
is never easy and he got it right the first time. Randy is a great
driver and our hats are off to him. He probably would have had little
difficutly being on the podium. I, (Peter) was another story.
With no real racing since the crash at Sears 3 months ago, I was as Alwin
Sprenger from Porsche Motorsports, characterized it, "a little bit rusty."
But, we set our goals for the weekend to be in the top 10, and we just
made it. But, in this field, 10th is no easy task. We qualified 16th
and finished 10. The racing was great the entire way.
I had a good start and spent the first 1/2 of the race battling with Phil
McClure in a Corvette. I would catch him in the back and he would
pull me on the long front straight and I just couldn't get by. Finally
I did and got a little room, but just for a lap or two and then a full
course caution brought the entire field back together. From then
on, I had a lengthy battle with Joe Varde in his 8 liter Viper. Same story,
Porsche faster in the back of the course and the Viper faster on the long
straights. Braking was the real difference with the Porsche able to stop
in much less distance. Finally he got by me and with three laps to
go we got another full course yellow. We got a restart with only one lap
to go and I had a great one. I went from 14th to 10th on the last lap.
Mostly luck, but it is at least as important to be lucky as good.
So we were satisfied. It was good to be back although we still have
a way to go to bet the driver back in shape and get the rust sanded off.
But don't count us out. We will be trying hard for a top 5 finish
at the season finale at San Diego next weekend,