Race Series Results: VIR SFB/MX5 Summer Series Champ Opener

[TJR News Bot]

Event Name: VIR SFB/MX5 Summer Series Champ Opener. Organization: Skip Barber Racing School LLC.

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[Gerardo]

Congrats to Dr. Mike Edwards for winning his first ever Skip Barber race after 10 years of entertaining us and plenty of battles in Regional Championship and Masters National Championship races! I had not seen arm pumps as passionate as his in a long time. He stood atop his car with arms high in the air. And yes, he got the cold water dunk! Dr. Mike then cemented his perfect weekend by winning the aptly named Dr. Mike Losing Streak Memorial race in a straight fight over current superstars like Ashley Freiberg, and for the first time, his superfast son John Edwards (a Star Mazda and Atlantics champion). The results online will not show Dr. Mike winning, because nearly everyone in the lead pack could not help themsleves and drive without incidental racing contact, so P4 to P8 in the results was the real lead pack including time penalties. ;-)

Plenty of other great stories from VIR, including dominant wins by Ms. Freiberg, a well sold out weekend with five groups (3 formula, 2 MX-5), as well as tons of Virginia red clay all over the track after drivers began to realize the MX-5's (and formulas for some drivers) could be driven inside the apex curbs.

But one of the most awesome stories in my eyes was the drive of physically challenged driver in a formula car convereted with hand controls. The brakes are applied by pushing the steering wheel forward, and trail braking is done by gradualling releasing that pressure. The shifter is unchanged. The throttle is a paddle on the left side of the steering wheel, pulled with the left hand. The clutch is a bar on the left side of the cockpit, only used to leave pit lane. Can you imagine braking with both hands pushing the wheel forward, then trailing off with the left hand while downshifting with the right hand? Oh, and that left hand must not only trail off the brake pressure, but must also blip the throttle controller with the fingertips. What an awesome sight that was to see.

Hope to see you all again soon.

[GregS]

Originally Posted by Gerardo

Congrats to Dr. Mike Edwards for winning his first ever Skip Barber race after 10 years of entertaining us and plenty of battles in Regional Championship and Masters National Championship races! I had not seen arm pumps as passionate as his in a long time. He stood atop his car with arms high in the air. And yes, he got the cold water dunk! Dr. Mike then cemented his perfect weekend by winning the aptly named Dr. Mike Losing Streak Memorial race in a straight fight over current superstars like Ashley Freiberg, and for the first time, his superfast son John Edwards (a Star Mazda and Atlantics champion). The results online will not show Dr. Mike winning, because nearly everyone in the lead pack could not help themsleves and drive without incidental racing contact, so P4 to P8 in the results was the real lead pack including time penalties. ;-)

Plenty of other great stories from VIR, including dominant wins by Ms. Freiberg, a well sold out weekend with five groups (3 formula, 2 MX-5), as well as tons of Virginia red clay all over the track after drivers began to realize the MX-5's (and formulas for some drivers) could be driven inside the apex curbs.

But one of the most awesome stories in my eyes was the drive of physically challenged driver in a formula car convereted with hand controls. The brakes are applied by pushing the steering wheel forward, and trail braking is done by gradualling releasing that pressure. The shifter is unchanged. The throttle is a paddle on the left side of the steering wheel, pulled with the left hand. The clutch is a bar on the left side of the cockpit, only used to leave pit lane. Can you imagine braking with both hands pushing the wheel forward, then trailing off with the left hand while downshifting with the right hand? Oh, and that left hand must not only trail off the brake pressure, but must also blip the throttle controller with the fingertips. What an awesome sight that was to see.

Hope to see you all again soon.

Great seeing you too.

I had a paradoxical weekend which I may write up about later.

I barely made my flight with 5 minutes to spare. It was an epic 2.5 hour drive to the airport with traffic jams and delays and detours on the freeway.

What happened to the physically challenged driver ?Mike? in race 5? I think he went off in 10.
Also - what happened to Pat Daly in race 5?

[Tireman]

Originally Posted by GregS

It was an epic 2.5 hour drive to the airport with traffic jams and delays and detours on the freeway.

Greg, you have to ask MHP about his epic drivefrom Mt Tremblant to Montreal a few years back. I've heard it made a Memorial Race look tame :-)

Viz

[dalyduo]

Originally Posted by GregS

what happened to Pat Daly in race 5?

Started with the lead pack and on about lap 2 going into turn 14 someone came flying up from behind, tires on fire, in terminal late brake mode. I delayed turn-in long enough for him to pass by on my right and slide completely off the track, but this delay allowed the lead pack to gap me. The lead group stayed in line gradually increasing that gap using the draft.

Late in the race was still trying to maintain contact with the lead pack and overdrove the badly deteriorating conditions in turn 5. With a hot greasy track and lots of clay on line the car stepped out. Had flung it through there 100 times before but this time I got behind and the back end came around. Locked the brakes early but not early enough to prevent it from backing gently into the tire wall. Was able to drive away leaving a disconnected rear wing sitting in the tire wall. The exhaust pipe wasn't even bent. After a safety check was sent back out to finish the race wingless. The car was a bit quicker down the straights without the wing but my race was pretty much over so I wasn't challenging the brake zones.

Hats off to the parts guy who had the wing brought in before preparing the modest CDR and after confirming it wasn't damaged and re-attachable, didn't charge me for it. A bit of solace after an ultimately disappointing run.

[GregS]

Originally Posted by dalyduo

Started with the lead pack and on about lap 2 going into turn 14 someone came flying up from behind, tires on fire, in terminal late brake mode. I delayed turn-in long enough for him to pass by on my right and slide completely off the track, but this delay allowed the lead pack to gap me. The lead group stayed in line gradually increasing that gap using the draft.

Late in the race was still trying to maintain contact with the lead pack and overdrove the badly deteriorating conditions in turn 5. With a hot greasy track and lots of clay on line the car stepped out. Had flung it through there 100 times before but this time I got behind and the back end came around. Locked the brakes early but not early enough to prevent it from backing gently into the tire wall. Was able to drive away leaving a disconnected rear wing sitting in the tire wall. The exhaust pipe wasn't even bent. After a safety check was sent back out to finish the race wingless. The car was a bit quicker down the straights without the wing but my race was pretty much over so I wasn't challenging the brake zones.

Hats off to the parts guy who had the wing brought in before preparing the modest CDR and after confirming it wasn't damaged and re-attachable, didn't charge me for it. A bit of solace after an ultimately disappointing run.

There was some crazy action in 14. And once you fell out of the 'draft pack' it was impossible to catch up. Drafting was worth 2 seconds a lap easy.

Wish I coulda made it up to you. We could have worked back up to the kids and rejoined the battle.

Instead I found myself in a lovely battle with Dom (a new driver) whom I battled perfectly. I let him pass me on the last lap going up the esses, only to snake him back going to 14 :P

I love VIR. I wish we were going back again. Cannot wait till 2011. I think its my fav track - even more than road america now.

[dalyduo]

Agreed on all counts Greg, a great road course. We'll look forward to lots of fun next year... When we'll be calling you "dad".

Originally Posted by GregS

There was some crazy action in 14. And once you fell out of the 'draft pack' it was impossible to catch up. Drafting was worth 2 seconds a lap easy.

Wish I coulda made it up to you. We could have worked back up to the kids and rejoined the battle.

Instead I found myself in a lovely battle with Dom (a new driver) whom I battled perfectly. I let him pass me on the last lap going up the esses, only to snake him back going to 14 :P

I love VIR. I wish we were going back again. Cannot wait till 2011. I think its my fav track - even more than road america now.

[mn1028]

Hey guys.

I was at VIR doing my first official race weekend and I cannot thank everyone enough for making me feel so welcomed. I really was blown away by the hospitality of everyone and how people were so willing to help. It really made my experience so much easier than I thought it was going to be. Even though I was a new driver, because of how everyone acted, I felt like I was part of the Skip Barber family.

Special thanks to Greg for taking an interest and offering some great advice that really helped. Glad you made your flight on time! And to Paul Subject who was so kind and gracious to me even though I punted him of the track in Turn 1. (Paul is one of the nicest guys on the planet) Sorry again Paul.

I have to say that I really like doing the School days, but the knowledge that I gained from one race weekend was enormous! I have taken a 3-day & two 2-day advance courses, and I learned a lot in those courses, but it was as if someone poured information that I did not know existed into my brain this weekend. It was so great to watch and race with really talented drivers and to pick their brain for information.

Although I did not do as well as I would have liked, I did improve drastically over the weekend, with faster and more consistent lap times, and that was encouraging.

The best part was getting to meet all of the great people who participated in the weekend, the drivers, the instructors, the mechanics, the support staff, and family members of the drivers, everyone was so incredibly nice. Thanks to everyone for a great first race weekend! Looking forward to more!

-Michael Nichol

[dalyduo]

Welcome Michael,

Nice meeting you at VIR and great to hear your experience was so positive. Paul and Greg are without a doubt two of the most enthusiastic supporters of SBRS and great guys. When's your next race weekend?

Pat

[Michael Edwards]

Michael , great to meet you. Glad to know you had a great time.

[GregS]

Originally Posted by Michael Edwards

Michael , great to meet you. Glad to know you had a great time.

Michael (Nichol) hope to see you again soon.

Michael (Edwards) it was great talking to you as well

Pat, there are too many Michaels around :P

[mn1028]

Originally Posted by dalyduo

Welcome Michael,

Nice meeting you at VIR and great to hear your experience was so positive. Paul and Greg are without a doubt two of the most enthusiastic supporters of SBRS and great guys. When's your next race weekend?

Pat

It was great to meet you to Pat. Hopefully, if I can come up with the money, I will be at Road Atlanta in July for my next event.

Originally Posted by Michael Edwards

Michael , great to meet you. Glad to know you had a great time.

Thanks Dr. Edwards, it was really nice meeting you and your son. I hope John has continued success in his racing career.

Originally Posted by GregS

Michael (Nichol) hope to see you again soon.

Michael (Edwards) it was great talking to you as well

Pat, there are too many Michaels around :P

Hey Greg, hope to see you soon as well. Good luck with the new addition on the way!

...there are a lot of Michaels around…even I got confused over the weekend.

[ra64t]

hey guys,

I know I'm late, just wanted to say I also had a great time at my first weekend too, and it was nice to meet everyone. Yeah, there were a lot of Michaels. I'll be back for another weekend... eventually!

-Mike Wu

[dalyduo]

Great having you with us Mike... Keep contributing here and we'll look forward to seeing you at the track when you're able.
Thanks,
Pat

Originally Posted by ra64t

hey guys,

I know I'm late, just wanted to say I also had a great time at my first weekend too, and it was nice to meet everyone. Yeah, there were a lot of Michaels. I'll be back for another weekend... eventually!

-Mike Wu

[GT-Subject]

Originally Posted by mn1028

Hey guys.


Special thanks to Greg for taking an interest and offering some great advice that really helped. Glad you made your flight on time! And to Paul Subject who was so kind and gracious to me even though I punted him of the track in Turn 1. (Paul is one of the nicest guys on the planet) Sorry again Paul.


-Michael Nichol

Michael - it was pleasure to see you progress through your first race weekend - you really grew over the course of the weekend. All of us us are looking forward to seeing you at your next event - hopefully sometime this year.