Sun 4.17

On Sunday, April 17, the last day of racing at NJMP, the Hi Speed Motorsports team was eager to go out on the track.  Hugh, Cecil, Luiz, and Mike had their game faces on as the sun gleamed down on the pits and the paddock.  No rain was in the forecast. Finally!

Since nobody from the team ran on Saturday due to weather, Sunday's race schedule was packed.  Both practice and qualifying sessions were merged into one 20 minute session.  For the Lightning race group, Mike Miller started 1st in PTC class with a moderate 1:19.824.  Not the fastest he's run, but he said he was conserving a bit of the car's performance for the actual race.

The practice and qualifying session for the Thunder race group was action packed. The fastest GTS3 car was once again the #205 BMW of John Cloutier with a 1:13.790. Hugh paced himself and settled for a 3rd place starting spot with a 1:15 flat. Rookie Cecil Ramotar started just 2 spots behind Hugh with a 1:15.491 and Luiz Serva seemed to have been stuck in traffic the whole session and had to settle for 9th in class with a slower 1:16.817.                

The Lightning race group was led by the usual suspects: Frank Celenza, Spencer Anderson, Michael Fries and others with Mike Miller not far behind placing 1st in class once again in his #81 Hi Speed Motorsports Mazda RX-7. The real action happened when it was time for the Thunder race group to run.

 

They lined up in the pits with Hugh just ahead of Cecil on the grid with Luiz not too far behind. The Subaru STI Pace Car led the cars out for their warmup lap and then returned to pit lane as the green flag was waved. Hugh got a great start and immediately tucked to the inside lane. Cecil chose to play it safe and stay on the outside. Luiz was following them both as he battled with one of the American Iron Ford Mustangs.

 

Cecil stayed with Hugh for quite a few laps until he got stuck in traffic and Hugh pulled a good distance on him. Cecil seemed to get into a good rhythm and was only passed by two other Porsches in GTS3. Luiz started off ok but really seemed to reel Cecil in towards the end but never quite got to him in time.

Cloutier's #205 BMW was extremely fast on the straights, with his Euro M3 motor producing high horsepower numbers. Unfortunately, with that much power, he had much more weight, which seemed to hurt him towards the end of the race as his tires began to show signs of giving up.

Having less power and less weight, Hugh was able to catch both Cloutier and Lounsbury and when entering the first turn he made the move. Cloutier had gotten stuck behind a slower car allowing both Lounsbury and Hugh to pass him. Upon coming across the finish line, Hugh had passed Lounsbury for the lead in GTS3. From there on, Hugh led the rest of the way to the checkered flag, making him the winner. Lounsbury lost 2nd to Cloutier, but the winner was clear. Hugh passed the finish line with great excitement as the team saw him shake his fist in delight. The Hi Speed Motorsports team was ecstatic, as it was a great start to the season and one hell of a race.

Hugh gaining ground on Lounsbury and Cloutier.

Cecil Ramotar ran an excellent race in his #999 BMW, consistently clocking laptimes of low 1:15's which after Hugh's disqualification, landed him in 6th position out of 12 cars in class. Not a bad start for the rookie. "Man that was awesome," Cecil said. "The car was fantastic then I sort of slowed towards the end of the race."

Cecil Ramotar's placed his #999 BMW M3 in 6th place in his first ever NASA Race.

Luiz Serva was glad to be back in the driver's seat for 2011. Plagued still with clutch issues, Luiz was happy to finish the race, and actually was closing in on Cecil's BMW before the checkered. The gap between them was just over a second.

Luiz Serva stayed smooth and steady and placed 7th in class.

Hugh Stewart brought his #22 Green Monster to the track with a new outlook and strategy for 2011. There were no issues reliability-wise with the car and the car ran smoothly the entire race. The #22 car lacked some top end grunt that made Cloutier especially fast on the straights, but with his skill, Hugh gained that lost time in the turns. The team noticed as the race went on that he was getting closer and closer to Mark Lounsbury and John Cloutier, as in the beginning Hugh would still be in the "Light Bulb" while the 1st and 2nd place runners were already entering the 1st turn. With diligent driving, he overcame his lack of power and gained the top spot in GTS3.

Hugh and his #22 Green Monster on the way to the top.

After several DQ's last year due to being slightly under weight for GTS3, Hugh stated that he was going to be more cautious and add weight to the car.  Before coming to the race weekend, he got his car dynoed and he made 238 wheel hp.  After he took the checkered flag, Hugh was pointed towards the dyno area for his car to be measured for power.

The #22 Green Monster showing it's post-race attire (mud and more mud).

When strapped to the dyno, the #22 BMW made 253whp on it's 3rd and final run. Mind you this was with no fan in front of the car and the hood was closed. The car actually overheated on the dyno and was spewing water out as engine temps soared near 250 degrees. The previous dyno run of 238whp was with the hood open and a fan blowing cold air into the radiator. The new-for-2011 "Black Box" was placed in all the HSM cars to monitor the car's performance, and it read a very high 268 wheel horsepower for the #22 car.

Unfortunately, the 253whp dyno sheet was used to determine if Hugh was legal or not. Weighing in at 2679 lbs. made him too light, and disqualified him.  The 238whp and weight would've put Hugh at 11.2x lbs. per horsepower, which is legal in GTS3. With such a discrepancy in numbers, there will hopefully be a resolution to all this in the future.

-GG