The first NASA Rocky Mountain event is in the books for 2014, and what a great event it was!
We added a few new faces and cars to GTS during this event. Collin Oelkers joined us in his white E46 No. 14 in GTS2. The comp school going on that weekend brought us two more. Rob Hickman in his blue No. 106 E36 in GTS2 and Zung Tran in his silver No. 609 E46 in GTS3. Additionally, we saw the return of Matt Mandino in his No. 11 maroon Porsche in GTS4. Welcome and welcome-back to GTS friends!
This event was interesting for the drivers because they had to get comfortable and setup for two different tracks. The course was run counterclockwise on Saturday and clockwise on Sunday. Each configuration has its own unique set of challenges for driver and car.
But changing directions didn’t hold back our GTS drivers. They were eager to shake off the long winter. We saw five-car battles for podium spots all weekend in GTS2. Clearly a harbinger for things to come throughout this season. In addition to close racing, track records were renewed and eclipsed in both directions in GTS2.
On Saturday, Doug Young clocked a 1:04.839 to beat Lee Bohning’s counterclockwise record of 1:05.415. On Sunday, Rob Hickman ticked a 1:04.794, which beats Gene Dackonish’s clockwise record of 1:05.167
Matt Mandino was easily the fastest car in Blitz during the weekend, turning quick 1:02s until a stumbling stock car’s gravitational pull put a dent in his front end. Doug Young in his blue No. 43 GTS2 car was constantly on offense and defense with threats from Christina Werley, Lee Bohning and Rob Hickman. Doug held the hungry pack at bay for most of the weekend and managed to take home three top-spots, yielding to Lee on the other. Just great racing all around from everyone.
See all Rocky Mountain GTS track records here:Â http://gsw.dhs.org/gts/trackrecords.php
Season points are tabulated and posted here:Â http://gsw.dhs.org/gts/seasonpoints.php
