From Qualifying Frustrations To A 2nd Place Finish, Followed By Total Domination

Formula Pro USA races 3 & 4 recently took place at Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca. Prior to the weekend, I spent the whole week working with Allen Berg Racing Schools before meeting the World Speed Motorsports crew on Thursday evening.

Friday Practice:

We had 3 sessions to get used to the car again, and learn how to navigate our way through Laguna Seca. Session 1 was extremely cold, and we went out on the same tires we used at Thunderhill for races 1 & 2. I struggled to come to grips with the track & tires, posting a 1:32.0s lap. The 2nd & 3rd sessions went more smoothly as I got up to speed quickly, and did my best to adapt to the car as much as I can. We ended the day as the quickest car in both remaining sessions, posting 1:26.0s & 1:25.7s lap times.

Saturday Qualifying:

The qualifier was a rough session for the World Speed team. Early on during the outlap, a couple cars spun off track, causing the corner workers to bring everyone back to pit lane so that the staff can push the cars out of the gravel traps. We never saw an opportunity to get a clean lap in, while our closest competitors managed to get an extra lap before the first black flag. We waited in pit lane for approximately 8 minutes, which meant that we’d have half the amount of time to set a proper lap time. Cars were sent out for the second time, and then another driver lost control on the outlap, this time at the bottom of the Corkscrew. We were called in again, which ultimately ended our session. Fortunately, we managed to qualify P2 in our class.

Sunday Race 3:

Missing out on pole through no fault of our own was a brand new challenge that I had to face. I was starting a place below where I felt like I should have been on a track where it’s so incredibly hard to execute overtakes. I got my tires up to temperature quickly on the formation lap, and attempted to dive down around the outside of the race leader at the first brake zone, my best shot of taking the lead early on. However, a car from a different class made the same move, but on the inside of the other car, and we found ourselves barreling 3-wide into the Andretti Hairpin. I had no choice but to back out, and avoid contact with the car I was trying to overtake, and fell back to fourth overall behind another car from a different class. I spent 2 laps regaining lost ground, and reclaiming track position, but never saw another opportunity to challenge for the win. The 20-minute race got cut short by a safety car later on. Despite the frustrations, we still brought home a good chunk of championship points with our 2nd place finish, and it was time to focus on Race 4.

Sunday Race 4:

For this race, we qualified to start 3rd overall, and 2nd in F3. The race start was very tricky. The overall polesitter lacked lower end torque in his car, which meant that starting directly behind him immediately put me at a disadvantage. We watched the same scenario unfold as the F3 polesitter drove off at the initial green flag, and the overall polesitter once again dives incredibly late down the inside at the Andretti Hairpin. This time, I took the inside line, which made for a safer race start, but a third F3 car came from out of nowhere and snatched 2nd place away from me, the same way I intended to overtake the leader the race before. It was a 3-way battle for the lead, all the way up to the Corkscrew where the 2 cars ahead of me were side-by-side coming out of Turn 6. I quickly chose a car to follow behind, and the split-second decision paid off as I was able to reclaim 2nd place down the hill at Turns 9-10. Six laps into the race, the leader and I caught up to lapped traffic, which I used to my advantage to position myself properly, and take the lead. Throughout the rest of the race, I built a 10-second gap on the F3 car in 2nd, who ended up spinning out on the exit on Turn 11 in an effort to try and increase their pace. I crossed the finish line in 1st overall with a 33-second gap to 2nd place.

It was rewarding to see the hard work over the past 9 weeks finally pay off, especially after coming out victorious despite the difficult setbacks on Saturday. I felt like I showed up to the track as a completely different driver from the first two races, with some newfound motivation to maximize every chance I get to be one step closer to winning this year’s championship. I’d like to thank Jan & Adrian for pushing me beyond my limit on and off the track, Exclusive Racing for allowing me to have a shot in this title fight with their F3 car, and an honorable mention to Dakota for coming out to help the team with his experience throughout the weekend.