Rotax Max Challenge
Northeast Regional Series
New Jersey Motorsports Park
Millville, NJ
May 17th, Race #5
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The race weekend started of great for Julian Garfield and his new "crew" of Greg Obadia, Danny Kao, and the usual Dad. With a volunteer crew helping with driver coaching and mechanic duties, it was sure to be a less stressful competition. Saturday was the practice day and Julian's first time back to the track since November, as well as the first track laps in the Rotax for the season. From the start the motor was running well and the driver's skills weren't rusty since he has been driving SCCA Solo and practicing in his 80cc shifter. By the end of the practice day, we saw some of the best revs yet from the motor, but the track still hadn't come in so there were no impressive times by anyone. Judging by the times we had seen, we thought Julian might be one of the faster drivers of the field.
Come Sunday morning, the rain was falling and it was likely going to be wet for a while. We were prepared for the weather with a couple of sets of rain tires and got used to the conditions with a couple of practice sessions. What we didn't remember was a change in the Rotax ruling for wet tires, they would now need to be Mojo (same as the slicks) and not the Bridgestones we had. While we could have bought a new set of Mojo rains and mount them at the last minute, we opted to stay on the Bridgestones and take the penalty to the back of the grid for the Heat Race, knowing that Julian could work his way forward and gain great experience from the challenge. In qualifying (on illegal wets) he was fastest by a large margin and although some say it was the tires, we weren't buying that that was the entire margin.
Halfway through Qualifying for the entire group, the track began drying too much for wet tires so the second half of the classes qualified on slicks.
As the Heat races got underway, there were a few slick spots on the track, but it was mostly dry. Julian started in 9th position and gained a spot right off the start. The leader was not driving away from the field so the group stayed tight enough that Julian was able to make many passes in the first laps. By the beginning of Lap 3, Julian was pulling up on 2nd place! While trying to be carefully aggressive, he made a move on a tight left hand turn but the kart he was attempting to overtake didn't see him and there was contact. Julian got the worst of it as it bent his axle and he was immediately retired from the race. This left him with some time on the infield to think about how much work he would have in the Feature race to come.
With the new crew ready to work, the kart got an axle change quicker than ever for Julian and we were ready to go with plenty of time before the Feature. Again, this allowed for a much more relaxed crew and a driver with a clear head (and a sound diet thanks to Coach Obadia). The Feature mirrored the Heat race in the beginning with Julian starting in the back and getting one position just after the green flag. This time the leader started walking away from the group making Julian's hopes for a win fade earlier. But like the Heat race again, Julian made quick work of the back of the field and a few laps into the race he had a crucial pass getting by the 2nd and 3rd place drivers in one turn by setting up for a fast exit. Now the dog has to hunt the rabbit down from about 10 seconds back with about 6 laps to go. It takes him a few laps to get to the back of the leader (Austin McCusker) as the leader has trouble with lapped traffic. It ends up being that lapped traffic that gives Julian the moment he needs to get by Austin when they get split by a lapped driver just before the back straight. Exiting the banked turn and going through the S's, Austin goes to the outside and Julian sets up his exit by carrying more speed and squeezing by on the inside putting them wheel to wheel (watch the video). There's a slight left kink coming and Julian has just enough edge on speed to force McCusker to back off. Once Julian gets in front he continues to run fast laps and increase his lead to six seconds by the end.
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