KINETIC'S HAS SOLID RUN AT LIME ROCK
May 28, 2008
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Atlanta based Kinetic Motorsports had a solid run at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, CT racing in Grand-Am's Series KONI Challenge. Kinetic's showed up in force running three BMW's in the GS class and one BMW in the ST class.
In the GS class, the #80 car drivers, Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood qualified 15th. After having a great start and reaching a 7th place spot, a hit to the right front on pit lane set the Shock Doctor sponsored BMW never recovered and finished 21st.
The RBR Construction sponsored #87 of Rafy Betances and Kinetic co-owner Russell Smith qualified 33rd and finished 26th. They did a great job staying out of trouble considering Smith ran the last hour without water and a cool suit.
The #79 car of Ducote Chapman and Kinetic co-owner and pro-driver Nic Jonsson finished 24th. The Total Merchant Services sponsored BMW reached 11th position before it was hit on multiple corners and finished 5 laps down.
The ST class race of Lee Davis and Russell Smith had its fair share of challenges as well. During the final practice, the engine was a bit irregular so not to take any chances, the team decided to change out the motor which forced them to skip qualifying. After the engine change and a great recovery by Kinetic crew, the #33 had a solid performance. Starting 42nd due to not qualifying, drivers Davis and Smith gained 19 spots to finish 23rd.
Despite encountering hits and mechanical issues, the drivers and crew bounced back with a great performance overall.
"We had higher hopes for the GS cars but unfortunately all three cars had some sort of contact at different stages of the race.", continued Jonsson. "This resulted in blown tires which forced us to pit and on such a short track as Lime Rock is, you lose a lap real quick if you are pitting under green flag conditions. We had a disappointing weekend from a result stand point but on the bright side, we are making head way with everything from race prep to reliability to faster pit stops so we have a very positive outlook on the future and can't wait for the next race."
Kinetic Motorsports next race will be in KOINI Challenge ST class at Mosport International Raceway on June 13-14 with #33 drivers Davis and Smith. This will be the first race north of the border with the Grand-Am Series for both drivers.
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