The 5th and 6th Rounds of the Pacific F2000 Championship were underway this past Friday, with the teams practicing and honing in on the race day set up for Saturday and Sunday.
Qualifying one took place at 8:00am Saturday morning, where local favorite Robert Podlesni set the pace early only to be challenged every lap by points leader Jeff Westphal. With 3 minutes to run, Westphal had quickest time, but ran into traffic on all three of his final chances to better his time, leaving a window of opportunity for Robert Podlesni to snag pole position.
“Buttonwillow is Robert’s track, so I knew it was going to be very tough to out qualify him, and unfortunately slower traffic thwarted any effort I put together, so we’ll settle for the outside front row today”
Race one got started with some confusion with the starter who was unfamiliar with the rules of the Pacific F2000 series and threw the green a bit early.
“I saw green so I went, but we were no where near the punch off cone for our rolling start, so I hesitated. That little bit of lift was enough to drop from the front row to the second before turn 1” said Westphal. “It wasn’t ideal, but we made the best of it, passing for second by turn 10.”
Over the next 14 laps, Westphal began closing the 2 second advantage that Podlesni had gained after clearing the field in turn 1. However it was not enough to get the job done, the race ended with a .3 second gap between winner Podlesni and Westphal, but with Westphal claiming fastest lap of the race.
Qualifying two on Sunday morning was even closer with Westphal and Podlesni swapping pole position every lap, and with 2 laps to go Westphal had pole by .1 sec. Both drivers made a last bid for the top spot on the final lap of the session, but again it was Podlesni who came out on top.
“I knew I had to put down the perfect lap, so I did and crossed the line with a 1.44.385 bettering my time by two tenths, but as soon as I radioed my team they said we’d have to wait and see the print out, as it was too close to call for even a stopwatch. Apparently Robert came by and ran the exact same time on his last lap as well” exclaimed Westphal.
Race two was set to go with the top two drivers separated by .030 of a second, Podlesni’s 1.44.345 to Westphal’s 1.44.385, and the rest of the field eager to close the gap between the leaders.
“We came onto the front straight and knew that this race would be won on the start, so I made the run at the best start I could and it payed off!”
Westphal got just enough advantage at the start to clear pole sitter Podlesni at turn one, and then ran the remainder of the race with no more than a .4 second advantage. The gap between first and second opened and closed on the front half and back half of the track, as the two cars showed strengths and weaknesses every lap. But it was Westphal who crossed the line in front today, and Podlesni narrowly claiming fast lap by .030 seconds while following in Westphal’s draft.
“It was a great race, I don’t think Robert even gave me a chance to breathe, but we stayed consistent and got good runs out of the important places to fend off any attempts from Robert to overtake” said Westphal.
Overall, it is Westphal who has won 4 of the 6 races so far, and Podlesni with the remaining two, thus the standings between the two are as follows Westphal - 163, Podlesni – 162, heading into Rounds 7 & 8 at Infineon Raceway July 4th – 6th.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment