SCCA Pro Solo Finale
Heartland Park
Topeka, KS
Formula Junior B
September 12th and 13th
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Two Pro Solos earlier in the season are now only considered practice as we begin the Pro Solo Finale for the Championship. Topeka, Kansas is known for it's wacky and quick changing weather. For this Finale, it was rain in the forecast and it wasn't changing...for several days. As it was clear that a rain setup was necessary, we made the changes first thing after we arrived.
Day 1
The first day was a little bit of a disaster as the rain was falling so hard that the morning runs were canceled due to the timing equipment having problems. Drivers were allowed to take their runs as practice, using a simple green flag as a start, and no times recorded. We elected to pass on the practice as we had seen plenty of rain throughout the season and wanted to stay as dry as possible. Before the afternoon runs, everything was back up and running.
The afternoon runs were sufficient as safe runs but Julian knew he left time out there. The courses were fairly similar but Julian left more time on the left course than the right. Sections of the courses were open, but even with the karts geared fairly low in the wet, we never topped out the gear. At this point in the day, we were hearing a chance of drier conditions for Day 2, so improvements were going to be made anyway.
Day 2
The Junior drivers were running in the fourth heat, which turned out to be a good thing on Saturday as the conditions were continuing to improve. The courses never dried out, but it was only the spray off the pavement and small puddles that the competitors had to deal with. Julian ran only slightly faster on the second day, considering the conditions were better, but did manage to run the fastest right side of all the Junior karts. It seemed that although it was raining less, there was more sand present on the course keeping the grip to a minimum. With some solid runs on both left and right, Julian was able to capture the 2008 Pro Solo Championship for Formula Junior B.
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