The Supercar Life Racing team's astounding success in the 2009 Ferrari Challenge Series season continued today, as Tucker and his No. 55 Boardwalk Ferrari Supercar Life F430 Challenge car took the field by storm in race seven of the Series at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. Tucker, after qualifying on pole and setting a new track record, led every lap of the race and took the checkered flag.
"What an incredible way to start the weekend," Tucker said. "Here we are at our home track and we already have a first-place finish for the weekend. We still have one more race to go; I'm hopeful for a good result in tomorrow's race."
After qualifying in first position with a time of 02:24.133 and besting the official track record (02:24.610) that he had set during this morning's fifth practice session, Tucker took a strong lead on the field as soon as the green flag dropped at 2:25 p.m. CST.
The No. 55 was already six car lengths ahead of second position Zak Brown by lap three when the first caution flag waved: Ferrari of Ontario teammates Martin Burrowes and John Farano had collided.
During the next 15 minutes, the field was collected by the Ferrari California Spider safety car under the yellow. This was advantageous for Ferrari of Houston's Mark McKenzie, who had qualified in third but was penalized for missing a mandatory driver's meeting. First in the Series standings going into race seven with 980 points, he had been forced to begin his assault from last position. Mike Zoi in the No. 8 F430 was also taking advantage of the yellow; like McKenzie, he had also started from the back after failing a post-qualifying technical inspection and was working his way towards the middle of the field.
Tucker once again forged ahead on the restart, widening his lead to 10 car lengths over Brown. Things were a little tighter further back in the pack; Franceso Piovanetti and Bruce Gingrich made contact on lap seven; both cars were forced to retire from the race early. The race continued under green despite the incident; Tucker maintained his lead.
By lap 12, McKenzie had made his way within reach of the Top Five. The Texan was intent on passing Zoi, who had found his way to seventh position. At the same time, James Henley in the No. 9 car, who had been sitting in third position behind Brown, fell back to fifth, allowing Henri Richard to move into third. Zoi then advanced to sixth with McKenzie still hot on his heels.
It was a down-to-the-wire race in the final seconds-for everyone but Tucker, that is. The No. 55 Boardwalk Ferrari Supercar Life F430 obliterated the rest of the field, as Tucker stretched his lead to 30 car lengths and crossed the finish line with a time of 02:26.811. A last-minute pass over Zoi rocketed McKenzie ahead of Henley, as well, putting the Texan in fourth position as the checkered flag dropped.
Drivers Brown (02:27.007) and Richard (02:26.409) trailed behind Tucker in second and third, with McKenzie (02:25.934) and Henley (02:26.878) rounding out the Top Five.
"We've had a long break in between Series races," Team Manager Jeff Stone said. "To come off of an eight-week break and score a podium finish right off the bat is fantastic. We ran a very consistent race today despite hot track conditions that allowed us to finish as strong as we did. Overnight, we will make some minor adjustments to the car so that we are just as prepared for Sunday's race."
Following this afternoon's race, Tucker narrowed the gap in the Series standings. Though McKenzie is still in first with 1120 points, Tucker is only 120 points behind in third (1000). Brown is in second with 1015 points. The Boardwalk Ferrari Supercar Life team is certainly poised to regain the lead in the championship battle. Qualifying for race eight takes place at 9:30 a.m. CST, with the race scheduled to begin at 1:25 p.m. CST.
No comments:
Post a Comment