Hey there boys and girls,

Here is a summary report of the first race of the 2002 SCCA
season for the GNA race car and team.

Worked on the car during the week preceeding the race with
(brother) Norm and managed to receive necessary parts and
local support from machinists in time to load the car in the trailer
and leave Thursday evening at 7:30 PM. 1.5 hours later than
originally planned. Drove to Summit Point arriving at 1:00 PM
Friday afternoon. Chris Kopley was already there and saved us
a good paddock spot.

Car was presented to technical inspection for annual inspection
and was approved except for faulty brake lights. It turned out to
be a problem with the brake light switch diagnosed and repaired
by Norm (brother). (Note for Charlie Pollet; we were
congratulated by the tech inspector for the fuel test port
installation...THANKS CHARLIE) We were ready for the first
practice session on Saturday. The weather was cold and windy
so we taped over part of the grill to restrict airflow to the radiator.
First practice went well. Temperature and pressures were
normal and the car felt a little twitchy...(perhaps it was the driver
who was twitchy). The engine pulled strong reaching 8700RPM
in 4th gear at the end of the front straight. The session was
timed and we turned the 2nd best time, about 1 second slower
than Chris Fox (lap record holder at this track) in her Nissan.
Car seemed OK except for darting about in high speed corners.

Checked over car after practice session and everything seemed
OK. Cleaned and fueled ready for qualifying. The track was a
little warmer and there were about 50 cars on the grid for
qualifying. We were race group 7 (scheduled late in ther
afternoon) and the low sun presented some visibility problems
in certain corners. Off to qualifying. The times were relatively the
same as the morning with Bob Dowie and Chris Kopley
improving slightly over their morning times. GT5 grid was Fox,
Phenix 1 second behind, Dowie next to Phenix, Kopley 2 rows
back of us, Knox in a Nissan Sentra, Chris Vohl in a beautiful
new RWD Mini and Dan Pattleson in his Nissan 1200. A
reasonable showing for GT5 cars.

During qualifying, I lost the left outer CV joint just at the outlet of a
fast left hander (7000+RPM in 3rd), turn 3 I think and the car
snapped to the right like a whip. I spun violently and went up on
two wheels just missing a FP Sprite that was close behind. I
limped into the pits with a feeling of being lucky I didn't go over
on my roof. The car was examined and repaired for the race on
Suday.

Race day was a little warmer and not so windy. I started 17th
(2nd in GT5) next to Dowie. Bob beat me into turn 1 and
managed to get a car between us. He began to slowly pull away
as I struggled with the EP RX7 between us. The race settled
down and the lap times were generally slower than practice and
qualifying times. Lots of action though and then a major incident
in the corner entering the pit straight involving Andre Zawislak in
a GT4 Nissan. Safety car came out and I had just been lapped
by the leader so Bob Dowie and Chris Fox came all the way
around behind me. There was now no way I would ever even
see an opportunity to go after Bob for 2nd place.

On the re-start, I got involved with a couple of GT4 and E and F
Prods, I disposed of the E and F prods and then backed off from
the GT4 (Rabbit) who was slowing me down. There was nothing
for me to gain and a 3rd place to lose if I tangled with the Rabbit.

Race order at the finish (GT5): Fox, Dowie, Phenix, Knox, Kopley,
Pattleson, Vohl.

Next race is at NHIS in May.

Ted