Hello from a rather wet and subdued Road Atlanta, where we will witness the last race in the glorious history of the ALMS. Fittingly, this is where it all began, all the way back in 1998. As a personal tribute, I’ve managed to dig up a hat from my first time at Petit, way back in 2001. It’s rather stained and worn, quite like me, but it too deserved to return for one last time.
A breakfast at Vanessa’s this morning started the day off well, bringing home another indication of what we’ve been missing through most of the year. It’s good to have a home away from home… (No cookies yet Russell…)
The week thus far has been very uneventful. The cars go out on track, they go fast and then they mostly come back off the track the same way they had entered. Now that we’re into the “official” sessions, we’re seeing wet conditions – it appeared as if it was improving before the session started, but just before the green flag, fog like conditions appear to have settled in. Not a great way to kick things off.
The first cars through were the Corvettes, kicking up spray entering the front straight, but as soon as they went through the track went red – the CORE PC entry was in the gravel outside of turn 10. In the doom and gloom, it looked like Jon was in the car at the time.
Green again and we had a bit of a groundhogs day moment – it was the Corvettes again kicking up rooster tails down the front straight, as the first cars through yet again.
As the session continues, the gloom continues, literally and figuratively. Less than 15 minutes into the session the second red flag comes out, this time for multiple cars off. This is becoming to feel like a Monday morning in the office after a rough weekend…
To be honest, the session is pretty much a mess, the rain is heavy and the cars are essentially tip-toeing through the corners. The on track “action” brings to mind some old lame cartoon where some female like character pulls up their bloomers and is seen literally walking on her toes through the puddles. Yes, this action is riveting here…
Unfortunately, it is critical for the teams to get used to the possibility of rain, as the wet stuff is in the forecast off and on for the rest of the weekend, at least until Sunday, which is forecast to be clear and nice. Figures.
For those of you that remember ‘70’s bad TV shows, this session brings back a longing for “The Gong Show”, which was very much like a current reality talent show, only in the old non-politically correct days back then, the contestants were greeted with a resounding bang on the gong when they sucked. There are moments in life when a giant gong is appropriate…
Oh joy – red again with 15 minutes to go. For those that actually are keeping score, the fastest in the session is Lucas Luhr. He set a 1:26.407 on his third lap. His last timed lap was a 1:51.575. The red this time was for Stefan Johansson, who lost his BAR1PC Oreca at the bottom of the esses. The hit was pretty heavy, as it actually dislodged and moved some of the barriers.
With 6 minutes to, the session went green once more, with about a dozen cars going back on track. These final minutes went without incident, thankfully and the appearance of the checkered flag was a great relief to all involved.
One note about the weekend – a Friday tradition has been the State of the Series address. Well no more. As the ALMS will be no more Saturday night, there isn’t much need for the annual “if you knew what I knew” address. Yet another tradition down the drain…
Gary Horrocks
