Here is Ann from ZONC with a report from last weekend’s Grand Prix at Laguna Seca:
Saturday’s SportsCar Challenge race was really interesting – cars that we can all relate to. BMW M3 placed first, a Camaro Z28R placed second, and an Aston Martin Vantage finished third. The unsung heros placing 4th, 5th and 6th were all 370Z’s. And this is amazing because there was zero visible corporate support. No Nissan tent, and not even a Nissan ad in the program. At one point the #14 370Z was in second, but because of mandatory driver changes/pit stops, it finished 5th.
And also in this race in the ST class were two Altimas, placing 16th and 19th in the class and ahead of the two Hyundais, but sadly behind three Honda Civics! Mazda’s MX-5 Miatas ran away with this division, placing 1st, 2nd and 3rd, and ahead of the following BMW 128i and two 328i’s. Of course, we’re talking rear wheel drive cars competing against front wheel drive cars so things got a little funny with this division.
Sunday’s race was very exciting with OAK Racing in the #42 Morgan Nissan Nismo jumping to a close second with its nose on the leading #90 Corvette’s tail. There was contact between the two early on when they went side by side at the Corkscrew with the Corvette leaving a small body piece behind. Then 45 minutes into the race, #42 was hit and needed repairs to its suspension. Once back on the track, there was speculation it would be penalized for causing a serious dust-up. In Paul’s photo, you can see the blue #90 Corvette in the foreground, with the #42 Morgan Nissan next to it on the bump strips, and a Mazda and a Corvette in the swirling dirt. Looks like they just got pushed off the road at the turn. Can you imagine that? But even without a penalty, #42 was 14 laps behind at the end of the race, even though it posted a new race lap record of 1:19.747 in lap 40.
-Ann
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