WE'LL DO IT LIVE, BLOG! SPRING KICKOFF
LIVE UPDATES FROM THE PADDOCK AT GINGERMAN RACEWAY
TIME ATTACK RESULTS
Event Podium
Overall Results
2020.06.07 15:00 - End of Heat 6
31 drivers made their way to the grid for the last session for the weekend. At the front, Feras continued to get familiar with Gingerman Raceway, and shaved another hundredth off of his previous best time. Finishing with a 1:30.548, improves on the previous The sub 1:30 wall continues to give pressure to the entire Track Modified Field. Both Alex Moss and Ronnie Soliman of RS Motors tried to improve, but couldn’t quite get there. With Jackie Ding not far behind, these 3 represent your Street Modified podium. Coby Shield lead the Street GT field one last time, but wasn’t able to improve his best. Halka too, failed to improve in the final heat.
2020.06.07 13:00 - End of Heat 5
As the track began to warm up, many drivers found it difficult to improve on their incredible times from Sunday morning’s session. Feras didn’t seem to have trouble, as he continued to dominate the Track Mod group. Resetting the overall TM record with a 1:30.557, it seems like everyone is hoping he’ll be the first to dip into the 29s. Not far behind, Alex Moss was on pace for another record lap in the Street Mod group before a differential failure caused him to pull into the pits and end his session early. Josh Halka improved in Street class to a 1:37.770. It looks like his competition is going to have to think of new ways to catch him at future events. Quietly, Chad Meeks and reigning Spec Fit champion Matt Williams have been battling back and forth all weekend. Trading positions and reseting Spec Fit records all weekend, Meeks appears to built an insurmountable lead with a 1:53.459, besting William’s 1:52.822.
2020.06.07 09:00 - End of Heat 4
Only a few drivers came out swinging on Sunday morning, with Ronnie Soliman setting a personal best 1:33.140 in Street Mod, and Coby Shield 1:37.313 in Street GT. Ronnie’s time is now only 0.05s away from the top of the leader board in SM. Coby seems to be running away from competition in SGT, but continues to improve with each session on this unfamiliar circuit.
2020.06.06 20:00 - End of Heat 3
Feras continues to drop time as he gets familiar with the track. Now the first Track Mod car ever to break into the 1:30s, he’s now reclaimed the record with a 1:30.820. Alex Moss finally got everything going the right way, and was able claim the Street Mod record with an incredible 1:33.095. Now 0.4s behind Alex, Jackie is going to have to turn it up in the morning if he wants to close the gap. In Street GT, Coby Shield was able string a very respectable 1:37.587 together on his way to a class record. Finally, in street class, Josh Halka was able to achieve what many thought was inevitable and break Spaz’s standing 1:38 record and dip down to 1:37.964. The track’s cold for the night, but we’ll be back in the morning an early start for the final day of time attack. Let’s take a minute to appreciate some awesome rollers by longtime #GRIDLIFE photographer Chris Sullivan.
2020.06.06 18:48 - End of Heat 2
Feras Qartoumy continued to improve his pace, setting a new Track Modified record in his turbo C6 Corvette with a 1:31.641. Hot on his heels in Street Modified, Jackie ding set a new Street Modified record with a 1:33.509. #GRIDLIFE newcomer Ryan Mathews dropped a ton of time in SM, and is now 1.3 seconds behind Jackie. Josh Halka is knocking on the door for a record in Street class, needing to improve by about 0.2s. In Street GT, Alex Artayet was able to set a new record with a 1:38.315.
2020.06.06 14:23 - End of Heat 1
Fresh off a brand new car build Feras Qartoumy wasted no time making his way to the top of the leader board, despite having never driven at Gingerman Raceway. Putting down a 1:32.402 he’s only about 0.5 seconds off a class record in the Track Modified Group. Jackie Ding is running well, with a new turbo swap in his TA90 and not far off his personal best here at Gingerman. With 1 heat in the books, there’s still plenty of time left to get that perfect lap in the books.
GLTC RESULTS
GLTC Overall Results
2020.06.07 16:20 - End of GLTC Race 4
With 6 cars inverted at the front of Race 4, Luke McGrew took pole position and it was his to defend during a wild final race. Eric Kutil started in 29th, and made his way up to 3rd overall before an illegal pass under yellow resulted in a race DNF. Incredibly, Luke McGrew was able to hold off a late charge by Winning Formula K-Miata drivers Robert Manouchehri and Aaron Leichty to take his first ever GLTC win. It’s been an uphill battle for him since his first GLTC some months ago, while he continues to dial in his setup and improve his pace.
2020.06.07 11:20 - End of GLTC Race 3
Another great start for Kutil and Leichty ultimately lead to a DNF after Kutil suffered a mechanical failure a few laps into the race. Emile Tabb seized the opportunity to fight against Leichty, going door to door in the later half of race. Ultimately Leichty won out again, taking even more rewards weight into race 4. With the top 6 finishers being inverted for race 4, it’s going to be a real battle to see who comes out on top.
2020.06.06 20:28 - End of GLTC Race 2
Another clean start in the #GRIDLIFE Touring Cup. Despite taking pole, Aaron Leichty gave up the lead by turn 2. Eric Kutil was finding is rhythm in his recently K-swapped EG Civic Hatchback, on his way to a race lap record (1:38.448) and a spot in victory lane. Emile Tabb and Robert Manouchehri were neck and neck for almost the full race, with Tabb just barely taking 3rd place. Race 3 grids based on Race 2 Finish order, so look for Kutil and Leichty to battle it out again tomorrow at 10:40EST.
2020.06.06 16:28 - End of GLTC Race 1
A wild start to race 1 as Leichty, Smedegard, and Kutil went three wide into turn 1. Smedegard was able to take a brief lead, before giving back several positions by the end of the first lap. Kutil was able to take advantage and work his way to 2nd position. Halfway through the race, a motor failure in the #0 Miata driven by Erik Meadows ended the race early for drivers. It’s unusual to see a red flag in a W2W race here, but many spun off the tarmac after coming into contact with an oil patch on the racing surface. Race 2 will be gridded based on fastest times recorded for race 1, so stay tuned.
2020.06.06 14:41 - End of GLTC Qualifying
Plenty of new builds for our GLTC W2W drivers at the Spring Kickoff. GLTC veteran Aaron Leichty in his Winning Formula K-swapped Miata continued to dominate the competition setting a personal best and new GLTC track record 1:38.372 on his way to pole position. Time attack driver Andy Smedegard is a rookie for GLTC in 2020, but that didn’t stop him from being right on Leichty’s heels with a 1:38.490. Let’s see if Andy can keep up is performance in race pace.