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May 2 , 2008
A shifting issue on Jason Saini's qualifying
lap meant the No.74 MAZDA6 would have to start from the back
of the grid, though he would pass five cars during the race
and land just outside the top-10 in 11th place. "Everyone worked hard and got the car much better for qualifying, and then I followed Peter [Cunningham] around on our flying lap,” Espenlaub said. “He bobbled a couple of times and I was able to stay in his draft. I"ve got to tell you, I was really surprised; I was hoping for a fifth, but second was really nice!” Espenlaub’s elation with qualifying would be short lived, as contact on the first lap knocked the alignment on his MAZDA6 out and left him struggling to maintain position. “I was able to get along side Chip and tried to box in Kuno [Wittmer] going into Turn One,” Espenlaub continued. “Chip got knocked in front of me and we all got tangled up and went off to the outside. I had a little bit of contact with the back of Kuno at that point; my car smoked for a little bit and then stopped. I guess I wore off the part that was rubbing! After that Cunningham and I had a great battle for most of the race with good, clean racing. It was enjoyable; I just wish it had been for the lead.” Meanwhile, 2007 series champion Jeff Altenburg was having a fight of his own, as a misstep in qualifying meant he would have some ground to make up during the race. “I had a pretty good qualifying lap going and I made a mistake at the end of the back straight. With this class as tight as it is, that small mistake cost me big. During the race I battled with the SRT-4 that would pull me on the straight and I would close that gap within a couple of corners, and it took me a while to get by him. When I did, I’d pretty much used up my car and any chances of advancing.” Overhead, the ominous storm clouds that had been threatening to swamp the Touring Car field throughout the race finally produced a half-hearted shower with a few laps to go. Altenburg wisely kept the No. 1 MAZDA6 out of harm’s way. “A couple of slippery spots got my attention, but with little pressure from behind it would have been silly to throw it off at that point, so I just took it down a notch and brought it home.” Jason Saini and his No. 74 continued to have some tough luck in qualifying in the second race of his debut World Challenge Season. “Qualifying was a disappointment; we had a transmission problem on the out lap and had to start from the back. When the lights went out I had a pretty decent start - almost jumped it – practice has helped my launch a lot.” After making up a couple of spots on the opening lap, Saini had his hands full as he advanced forward. “We had made some changes right before the race that didn’t really work like we’d hoped, so I was kind of mired down where I was. I had a little battle with Curran; I took a stab at him in Turn One and over-cooked it a bit and went wide with four wheels off. I probably lost about six seconds. Though I caught back up to him by the end of the race, it was too late for another try. I think I had something for him if I hadn’t botched that first attempt.” As the team heads west to Utah, Saini looks
to position himself a bit further up the grid. “I’ve
been to Miller the past two years in the MX-5 and I have a lot
of laps there. I’m excited to go to another track I know
and hopefully qualify up in the top six and have THAT view of
one of these standing starts!” Saturday’s SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car race from VIR airs Wednesday, April 30th at 1 pm Eastern on SPEED. The series now heads to Tooele, Utah for the third round at Miller Motorsports Park, May 16-18. Sponsors The Tri-Point team is proudly supported by the following sponsors whose involvement is critical to the team’s 2008 efforts and continued success.
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