Mid-Ohio: Randy Pobst race report

A Hard Charge at Mid-Ohio

Lexington, Ohio (August 9, 2009) - A weekend of frustration turned to hard-charging fun Sunday, as Randy drove his #1 K-PAX/3R Racing Volvo S60 from the rear of the field to finish fourth in the SCCA SPEED World Challenge GT Championship race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Randy was only able to make a few laps during the test day practice before his car developed shifting problems, and later failed to qualify after breaking the transmission. The crew worked feverishly to replace the transmission and Randy was forced to start from the back of the field, as per the rules. In true Randy fashion, he picked off cars, lap after lap during the caution-free race until he finished in fourth, earning him the Sunoco Hard Charger of the Race Award and the AutoWeek Move of the Race Award for his passing ability. Unfortunately teammate Andy Pilgrim also had transmission problems after a promising start and finished fifteenth

"Practice...we don't need no stinkin' practice. Our Volvos are so competitive rolling off the trailer that we were able to race towards the front with very little track time. Our transmissions continue to undergo development woes. These are custom-built racing transmissions and not just something you can go to the local Walmart to buy. We knew going into this development year that there would be problems to solve before we could be at the top of our game and our guys are working hard to fix the problem. This is just a normal part of racing."

"It looked like a long way to the front when I started the race and I knew I had to be patient. It was hard to pass with the Volvo but so much fun. We have great handling and traction but way less power due to the rules, which are made to keep all cars competitive. When you are passing with handling instead of power, you have to use strategy and cloak-and-dagger spy work to pull off a pass which is much more fun. Our Mahle engine ran great and I'd like to thank our engine builders Mark and Josh for their hard work. This was an enjoyable race to run and I am very happy with fourth, considering there were no yellows to bunch up the field. If there were, we might have won it. I feel sorry that Andy was not able to continue after such a great start. I would also like to thank my personal sponsors Team Janica Racing, WeatherTech, Prairie Hills Motorsport Club, ChaseCam, and saferacer.com for their continued support."

The Mid-Ohio World Challenge GT race will be broadcast Tuesday, September 1st at 2 PM EST on SPEED. Randy's next SPEED World Challenge GT race will be August 14-16 at Road America. The next race for Randy in the KONI Challenge will be September 18-20 at Miller Motorsports Park.

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-credit: randypobst.com