Sometimes things just get busy. It kind of drives me nuts, but I guess it's better to be busy than the converse, which is to have nothing going on at all. So with that, here we are finally visiting the May 23rd Grand-Am Koni Challenge race at Lime Rock Park.
I'm not sure if it's because I've had to go to events for work for so many years, but car shows really drive me mad. I get it on one level...lots of nice cars you would not typically see while driving down Main Street in Your Town, USA, share ideas and hang out with like minded people. That I love. It's the lack of visceral experience on the car end that make them a little boring. Sure that 'bagged Mk'XYZ' might look awesome sitting there in a parking lot, but that's about all it's doing at that ride height. Cars are (in my mind) modified to be better to drive first, look cool second. I'm just not thrilled by a car sitting still, no matter what the horsepower under the hood or potential speed it might possess.
So the Koni Challenge ST (Street Tuner) race was exactly my kind of event. Real world cars turned into track machines, fender to fender racing, no holds barred, all out for over two hours. One of my many "I should have done that" careers involves being a race car driver, just like the rest of the male population out there, so I was very, very, VERY excited to get a chance to participate in the VW owners corral in Lime Rock. The owners corral is a way for VW to get their car owners out to the track and maybe get a taste of just how much fun real motorsport events are. APR Motorsport, being the most serious (and successful) VW race team in the USA in a long time, is also there to give out shirts, answer questions, and give away signed race tires. Cool stuff like that.
One of the real highlights of the day were the parade laps. Included in your owner's Corral ticket was the chance to drive two laps of Lime Rock. Sure it was in a group behind a pace car, but the speeds still got up there a bit. (I think the WRS-mobile got up to 70mph at one point) Things were kept to a minimum down the front stretch, but once the pace car dipped into turn one and kit the esses, it took off, allowing the cars top single file it through the turns and really get a taste of the track. It. Was. Awesome. Leaving turn one at the top of second, hitting 3rd for just a bit before going through the esses, and so on... Even the future Mrs WRS had a blast, and she's not one for the speedy driving to say the least. Everyone was relatively well behaved, no one broke down or wrecked, and I'd imagine it gave a few other people the urge to get back out there again.
The most intense section of the track has to be the dip going-into the uphill right-hander after the no-name straight. We weren't going super fast at this point, as the organizers weren't under any illusions as to what would happen if they let Joe-VW in his street car blast through that section flat out. I was still at about 45-50mph though, so it was fast enough to be fun, and let me tell you, you can't appreciate that section of track until you drive it. As the track surface falls away you get roller-coaster stomach, which quickly changes to the sensation of you being slammed down into your seat as you blast up the hill. I would have done parade laps all day if I had the chance!
As you can see, this is a steep grade. Whatever lies over this hill is completely out of view of the driver until you are up over the top.
By the way, the race itself was awesome. APR scored pole position with the 171 car, and 181 was not too far behind. APR invited everyone from the corral to their garage area to see the cars up close and get an idea of the technical specs and rules of the series, plus meet and greet the drivers.
The threat of rain loomed all day, but it never did, and we had excellent conditions for the full 2.5 hour event. There were a good number of spins and incidents, including a very heavy wreck involving the Turner Motorsport BMW at the very beginning of the event. This was a real shame as it was a contender and would have only made the event that much more exciting.
As it was, the first three to four cars were no further than a few car lengths from each other for the entire race. It was that close. The 171 lead for what seemed like the entire race, and even when the caution came out for the 181, which died on the track right next to us with a fueling problem, they stayed out front. A win looked to be a sure thing.
Winning is anything but a sure thing however, and when the 181 went out of commission for a second time it allowed the field to group back up. The 171 battled to stay out front, but a little bit of contact with Compass360 allowed the Civic to slip by. A major shunt down the front stretch involving the other bright-orange Compass360 Civic and one of the Flat Out Mazda MX5's brought the caution out again, which is how the race ended. A second consecutive second-place finish. The team is, as Stephen said, just knocking on the door of their first win.
You would think that the guys from APR would be upset about this turn of events, considering they had the field behind them for almost the entire race, but they were anything but. In such a competitive series were the leader can be sent to the back of the pack with the smallest mistake, placing anywhere in the top 5 is a huge accomplishment. It's easy to be biased when you know a lot of the people involved, and when it's the team you're routing for to win, but Stephen, Keith and the rest of the crew are really great people, and are doing a great job of being ambassadors of the VW scene.
So with a few more races left in the season, I suggest everyone get out their calenders, go to the Koni Challenge website, and get out there to an event. I've been to a lot of much higher level (i.e. higher dollar) events in my day, but these guys lay it on the line for every lap of every race, and it's as good a show as any I've been to, if not even better. Be sure to check out the APR Lime Rock Park gallery for a TON of awesome shots from the weekend._WRS
(PS: APR did in fact score their first win just two weeks later, with the 181 car making up for the problems at Lime Rock and scoring first in class at Watkin's Glenn!)
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