2 days of racing at the Glen 10/1 - 10/2

2 days of racing at the GlenHi to All! I continue to make a brief reports on my racing ventures. I had some reservations going to the Glen, being there only once before, and knowing the track just enough to know where to go, not more... On my only day prior to the race I got down to 2:15s, which was still 5 to 10 seconds slower, than the leaders. I expected to be in the middle of the pack, if would manage to shave few seconds. The weather at the Glen in the beginning of October may be very tricky to say the least. In addition, I couldnt make there for a day of practice on Friday. Saturday was overcast with air temperatures in high 30  low 40s (!). in the afternoon and warmed up a little to mid 50s. Rain was on and off  we practiced on slicks, switched to rains for the qualifying and back to slicks for the sprint. The day went pretty uneventful  with no accidents or big surprises  fast guys stayed fast  and slow ones  slow. I managed to get down to 2:12.2 and finished 16th overall in the field of 70 cars. On Sunday we were scheduled to run qualifying race in the morning and 1 hour enduro in the afternoon. Qualifying race started with a big pile up going into the first turn, which I barely missed by a hair (my neighbor lined up with me was in the middle of the mess locking up and sliding into the cars spinning in front). Most of the race went under yellow, and we only got few laps in before the checkered flag. I was placed 19th for the enduro to start. Enduro went well with a lot of interesting battles going on, managed to escape couple of pile ups again, came to pits to refuel in 35 minutes. Refueling went well  exactly 5 minutes and no violation of the fire safety rules (learned the hard way from Summit Point). But again  missed an important point in rules  speeding in the pits! We were penalized 1 lap for going above 35 mph  another lesson to remember for the future! The race went well until the last lap! The skies were getting darker and the wind started to pick up. Going into the last lap I was somewhere around 13-14 place overall  noticed a little sprinkle on the windshield  thought not a big deal will be fine to finish. Going through the back straight, approaching the Bus Stop, was told on the radio  the Checkered is out. So I just need to finish! Overtook one more car going down into the left hander, at which point skies literally opened and it felt like a bucket of water poured on the car. The storm came immediately and violently  you couldnt see a 10 feet in front of the car. No yellow flag, no slippery flag from the station at the left hander going downhill into the hairpin. The moment I made the turn going downhill I realized Im in trouble  4 or 5 cars parked across the track in all different spots practically blocking the way. Being on full slicks, going at least 80+ mph finding yourself in a middle of river streaming down the hill, no visibility and no place to go  is not a good combination. In a moment I realized  Im a passenger, since the car lost all the traction at the spot. Whats left is hope and pray for the best. It probably could be worse (I could be not in a position to type now) - I clipped one car on the right with the drivers door (thank you to the door bars!), continued straight in to the tire wall, but found another car parked on my way and planted my nose into his front right wheel area, pushing him and myself into the tire wall. The next few moments I dont remember very well, but remember unhooking myself and getting out of the car (or may be I just think I remember, since was watching the video later). Actually, I was amazed looking at the video, how heavy the rain was and no visibility what so ever. I guess, while driving the mind is processing the info differently, otherwise I probably should just stop? Ambulance brought us all back to the pits and luckily we were all OK. The car sustained a heavy front end damage, but seems like no damage to the shell beyond the fire wall  the cage didnt move, doors, trunk, quarter panels, roof  all aligned well. Still, considering, that I have another shell ready to be used  I probably will choose to transfer all the parts to another shell over the winter. I was a little sore (head, shoulders, etc.), but can swore now by the HANS device (seeing how much shaking happened on the tape), and 7 points belts with the good cage. I walked away from the collision, could be deadly counting the speed and velocity of the impact. So, its another great learning experience turned to be. Being penalized for the speed at pits and not completing the last lap, I found myself 2 laps down and on the 30 spot out of 60, which is OK, considering Im still alive. The car will be fixed and will hopefully be even better. Michael.
Michael Gershanok
MotorSports North East Club
mgershanok@motorsporsne.com
 

July 14/Lime Rock BMW Club Race report

BY

Michael Gershanok
The M Club

The 2nd day was even more interesting than the first. First of
all, I decided not to stay overnight, but drive home to help Olga with the
baby, which put additional pressure to say the least. Tuesday was definitely
much warmer and somewhat humid, so the track felt slower. We had 2 20
minutes warm up sessions with a 20 minutes short brake in between. After a
few laps on my first practice I found the gas pedal detached from the floor,
had to come in and spent some time to repair. Was able to go for the second
session, but could only get to 1,02.106. We were staged on results of the
Monday race, so I was 11th to start (in the field of 18) with 2 of my main
rivals in front of me. The Tuesday race was 40 - minutes long (Monday was 25
- min sprint). As we started I lost couple of spots again and now was 13th!
On lap 9 managed to gain one spot and gave it back 2 laps later! At that
point, I decided to calm down and just concentrate on my line instead of
chasing guys in front following their mistakes. Surprisingly, all that
wisdom that comes from experience racer does help. I was saying to myself,
that sooner or later someone will make a mistake - I just have to be ready
for that. On lap 23 I caught one guy to wide going into Big Bend, and on lap
24 - one more. Now I'm back at 11th place with one more of my Monday's
rivals still ahead. I notice his line was quickly deteriorating and knew, he
was getting tired. On lap 34 I caught him braking late at the end of the
straight, and knew - there is no return! Unfortunately, checkered came on
the next lap, otherwise, I was aiming for couple more tired guys! Somewhere
at lap 26 I managed 1,00.690(!) braking into 1 minute mark, which seemed so
difficult to achieve not long ago. Now, it's a question how to be consistent
with 1 minute lap time. The difference was, that winners were doing 58-59-60
seconds laps all the time, not just once or twice. But I'm still happy, to
be alive, with no damages and with the feeling of some accomplishment even.
I finished 10th overall and 2nd in class, which is actually secondary to the
feeling you get surviving the first race. I also wanted to thank everyone
here for support and moments of shared wisdom I received from all of you,
especially to Bob S. for slapping on my wrists and the helmet 7 years ago!
The official results should be in the next Roundel magazine.

Thank you
again! Michael.