SCC: VIR: Darren Law race report
Law Finishes Busy Weekend of Racing at VIR Grand American Event (Alton, Virginia) - Porsche endurance specialist Darren Law finished an action packed weekend of racing at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia as he competed ...
Law Finishes Busy Weekend of Racing at VIR Grand American Event
(Alton, Virginia) - Porsche endurance specialist Darren Law finished an action packed weekend of racing at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia as he competed in the Grand Am Cup and Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series events. Darren took an 8th place in the Rolex series qualifying race followed by a 12th place in the next day's 400 mile endurance race. The Grand Am Cup race saw Law finish in 12th despite a drive through penalty.
Rainy conditions throughout the weekend and full fields combined with one of the most challenging circuits on the Grand American schedule provided those fans that were lucky enough to attend the event with intense race action punctuated by several yellow flag caution periods. The VIR event marked the fifth round of Rolex Series competition and the second Grand Am Cup race of the 2006 schedule.
Daytona Prototype Action
Darren's first race of the weekend was scheduled for Saturday and was a one hour qualifying race for the Daytona Prototype class where he piloted the #58 Brumos Porsche Fabcar. Darren got a strong start for the one-hour sprint race, but as the rain began to fall more intensely the windshield wiper system in the #58 entry failed, leaving Darren with poor visibility. Darren struggled with the rain blurred view despite maintaining an aggressive pace that saw him reaching 165 mph down the front and back straights. Darren finished the qualifying race in a well-earned 8th position, placing the Brumos machine in the top third of the DP field for the headline VIR 400 event on Sunday.
The VIR 400 Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series Presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve race started at 1 pm EST Sunday, and Darren's teammate David Donohue drove the first stint of the 2 hour 45 minute endurance event in a field of 26 Daytona Prototypes and 20 GT class machines. The start of the race saw some aggressive action with the Red Bull Brumos Porsche getting caught in a minor scuffle, but despite the contact the car continued to run a strong pace.
Law took the wheel of the #58 car during a full course caution stop for tires and fuel some 1 hour and 10 minutes into the event on lap 32. Darren was able to run the Red Bull machine as high as 6th place before having to take on a late race splash of fuel, with the stop dropping the car back to 12th overall.
Grand Am Cup
The Grand Am Cup race was held Saturday afternoon amidst rain threatening skies and boasted an 85-car field. Law was scheduled to take over from teammate and starting driver Brian Cunningham in the #50 Marcus Motorsports Porsche 997. Rain started to fall shortly after the start of the race with many teams scrambling to develop a proper tire strategy for the constantly changing conditions. Five yellow flag caution periods punctuated the race, and as Law climbed aboard the #50 machine, just surviving the carnage of the race was a prime objective. During the limited green flag racing, Darren was able to turn competitive laps and steadily worked his way forward in the field. However, a late race drive through penalty cost Law a strong finish, and he was forced to settle for 12th position at the checkered flag.
Darren Law Quote
The (Rolex) qualifying race was interesting and we ran fairly well finishing in 8th. I feel this was good considering my wiper quit working on about the third lap. I had a real hard time seeing anything. The best thing for me to do during that race was to have a car in front of me so I had something to follow and see where I was going.
We took a gamble at the end of the Rolex race, and tried to make it on fuel. While running 6th with 2 laps to go, I ran out of gas and had to come in for a splash, so we ended 12th. All we needed was one more yellow and we could have made it. The team did a great job and we were happy with the performance of the car.
I had a good run in the (Grand Am Cup) race. I got in on the 2nd stint on one of the many yellows, and was back somewhere in the 30th position range. I got with my team car and we both worked our way into the top ten, but a drive through penalty moved us back. I am very suspicious of the drive through because I was one of four different white Porsches that got called in, so I wonder if they weren't sure which white Porsche caused the penalty -- they seemed to call all of them in.
The car is getting there, but we still have some work to do. The crew is working hard though, and I think it will come together.
Coming Up
Darren will again pull double duty as the Grand American Series heads to northern California for the U.S. Sports Car Invitational at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca the weekend of May 5-7. Log onto www.grand-am.com for comprehensive info on the Grand American series. Www.Darrenlaw.com will give you racing updates and info on Darren Law.
-JMS
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