,
The race itself again saw Edo start out strong and never relinquish his lead, though for slightly different reasons this time around. Patris exited the first lap without even making it back to the finish line, cutting through the infield bypass, with the motor breaking up even worse than before. The problem was later traced to a faulty ECU and perhaps an internal engine problem.
Project G20’s ignition issue reared its ugly head again, but it turned out to be much more permanent this time as it was accompanied by a completely pegged Autometer temperature gauge (somewhere north of 260°F). Remember the coolant on the distributor? Turns out coolant kept leaking out of the reservoir because it kept getting forced out of the engine by the pistons and overflowing the reservoir, not because it was accidentally spilling out as we’d initially thought. Project G20’s SR20, which had been strong like bull for six or seven seasons now, had finally ate its headgasket.
With his only remaining competitor exiting after just three laps, Edo cruised to the finish. The final finishing order would be Edo Stepanyan in first, Steve Rockwood in second, and Patris Issaei bringing up third. Edo’s best lap of the race was a blistering 1:58.693 (second fastest in the entire field). With no one in his field left to race, Edo decided to flex the MPTCC muscles and finished P1 for the entire field, despite MPTCC TU starting behind the seven car USTCC – Touring field and the two car USTCC – GT field. Project G20 did show some promise before its early retirement: despite suffering from a wet ignition system that cut out completely (as in zero power) on every hard right hander, we still turned in a 2:02.699.
Patris' issues turned out to be worse than originally expected and would have to retire the car from the weekend's competition. With Project G20 out for the count, Edo would have a clear way to the checkered on race 2 and a commanding points lead for the 2014 MPTCC Championship.With both of Edo’s competitor’s out for Sunday’s race, it would appear that nabbing two first place victories (and pulling a large margin in the points race) would be a piece of cake, but in a fit of good sportsmanship, Edo graciously loaned his car out to Patris so that he could go out and compete for some points. Turning consistent lap times in the 2:03-2:04 range, Patris turned competitive lap times, but also showed how good a driver Edo really is (not to mention how comfortable he is in the #78 DA Integra). During the race, Patris started in the midst of the Performance Touring (PT) field.
Patris takes control of the Edo Motorsports DA Integra and starts race 2 in the middle of the NASA Performance Touring field.
Edo Stepanyan and family watching over Patris during race #2. The gracious gesture would allow the possibility of each of the three drivers to collect race points for the weekend. Which meant that all Patris had to do was complete half of the race laps and all three drivers would still be in the hunt for the 2014 Championship!Trying to make a race of it, Patris locked up badly attempting to make a pass going into Sunset and went off track. After working his way back on track and putting himself back into fourth place overall after passing the Radical, Patris had a pretty exciting farming excursion after a spin in Talledega (easily over 100mph). Figuring enough was enough and not wanting to wad up Edo’s car, Patris called it quits and collected first place points. Bravo to Edo for coming through for a competitor, giving up seat time in his own car (and possibly passing on some car setup secrets to Patris). Hopefully, Patris offered to vacuum the amazingly persistent Buttonwillow dust out of #78.
After race #2 Edo and Patris discuss the details of their “rental agreement” and the set-up of their DA Integras. If this level of camaraderie and sportsmanship doesn't make you want to come out and race with the MPTCC…we don't know what will. So get in your garages, finish your builds and come join us at the next race! With the first round of the MPTCC presented by Motul 2014 season completed, we saw an unusually high amount of attrition when compared to previous seasons (where maybe one car retired every other race). Of course, it isn’t likely to be a coincidence that the two cars that experienced problems were also huffing boost (albeit fairly low levels). Will the turbo reign supreme on the long straights at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch, or will it again prove to be a curse for longevity? Will Justin get the Rockstar Garage S2000 out on track for its 2014 debut? Only time will tell.
For all MPTCC related info, be sure to check out the MPTCC Homepage.
