It was a classic showdown in wine country for race five of the Ferrari Challenge Series season at Infineon Raceway. With rain coming down until 45 minutes before the green flag dropped, the slick track continued to wreak havoc on the F430 field, just as it had throughout the practice and qualifying sessions. Tucker overcame the tough conditions on what is already considered one of the toughest tracks in America to take second place (02:02.245) in today's race.
Leading the field in position one, Ferrari of Houston's Mark McKenzie was entering turn one on the outlap, which forced Tucker, who had started in position two, onto the dry line, spinning the No. 55 Boardwalk Ferrari Supercar Life F430 as he went up a hill. Tucker went from second to last place before the green flag flew. As the field continued to pull away, a quick call to Grand-Am officials confirmed that Tucker would be allowed to rejoin the field in position two, but he would have to advance there on his own. Tucker worked his way back up to the front, catching up and regaining his position just before the pace car left the field.
With so much action before the official start, tension was high when the race went green. The No. 55 F430 forged ahead, leading McKenzie's No. 27 by half a car length as the two entered turn one. It was in turn two that the slick track again entered into play. Tucker spun a perfect 180 degrees, breaking his lead position and taking him to the back of field. Just 30 feet later, McKenzie spun off track, careening backwards down the hill and landed in a deep hole. Inching his way back on the track, McKenzie reentered still on the lead lap-just 100 feet in front of the safety car that had collected the field during the incident.
On the ensuing restart, Zak Brown, who had qualified in fifth position (02:21.262), took over the lead in the No. 99 F430. Henri Richard and and The Collection's Mike Zoi, who were now in second and third positions respectively, shadowed Brown, each looking for an opportunity to advance.
Tucker wasted no time moving aggressively up the field, passing Mike Zoi in the No. 8 position and Boardwalk Ferrari teammate Ted Skokos in the No. 9 position by lap 10. Between laps 10 and 13, McKenzie relentlessly pursued the No. 55 Boardwalk Ferrari Supercar Life F430, as Tucker made his way up to fourth position behind Richard Fant in the No. 42 car.
It was at this point that Brown's lead came to an end, as he overcooked the No. 99 car in turn seven; Ferrari of Silicon Valley's Henri Richard made a pass and took over the lead on lap 14. Tucker, riding Richard's back bumper, passed Richard on the inside with just enough room for the No. 55 machine to squeeze by. Tucker was on his way to controlling the rest of the race when McKenzie, who had picked up third position with his sights set on Richard, took over second. Tucker maintained a defensive line on McKenzie during lap 17, controlling the gap between the No. 55 and McKenzie's No. 27.
But McKenzie never gave up. Tucker's No. 55 rain tires were running too hot; the track's dry line had literally ruined them, which caused an inevitable break in his momentum in the remaining four laps. This was the last chance McKenzie had been looking for. He was able to pass Tucker in turn 11 with just three laps to go, breaking into the lead. Though Tucker wisely dialed back a bit to conserve his lead in the Series standings, he still crossed the finish line just 1.861 seconds behind McKenzie (02:01.819). Fant, clocking in at 02:01.146, filled the remaining podium position.
Drivers Brown (02:03.811) and Richard 02:03.806) rounded out the Top Five for the race.
Following this afternoon's race, Tucker continues to hold the lead in the Series standings with a total of 975 points. McKenzie follows in second with 805 points.
"Where do I start?", said Brian Weaver, CEO of Team Sponsor Supercar Life. "This was the most action-packed Ferrari Challenge race I have ever seen. The No. 55 was extremely quick in regaining its position and continued to drive full force ahead no matter what the conditions."
"Today was a tough race," Tucker said. "We had an unexpected start, but fortunately we were able to move ahead of the field and regain our position. Running a race in rainy conditions is always difficult, but the team really came together to give me a car that performed so well under the adverse circumstances and I can't thank them enough for that."
Qualifying for race six will take place Sunday, May 3 at 9:30 a.m. with the race scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. PST.
No comments:
Post a Comment