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GTM, PDG, the year in Review
When you think you have about as fun as one could have with a project, the hits just keep coming! The race season brought many changes and discoveries as we concentrated on endurance racing only this year. Missing another championship by only 5 points was a small disappointment and hardly shows up on the progress and friendships made along the way. A recap of the season, March took us to Washington where it rained 2 inches in forty minutes and a bad rain tire pit stop yielded a 2nd overall and class finish. Mike Holland and Rod Powell were the pilots in this one. It was an IRDC sanctioned race and met Denny Olson along the way and got a real treat using his shop for some pre race set up. Denny got a chance to drive the GTM through his neighborhood! We made lots of new friends in the IRDC! We learned that the GTM doesn't like rain very much and went home to prove otherwise. Season opener took us to Buttonwillow where Mike and Keith Drake finished 3rd in class to a lack luster event while we had trouble with plug wires and unusual timing issues. We traced it down to incorrect plugs, not enough air exchange in the engine bay, and solid motor mounts and shifting the gearbox causing a vibration picked up by the knock sensors. We had made some areo changes and it took away a large portion of our engine cooling and found that using the clutch with the sequential gearbox fixed the timing. (easy stuff). Returning veteran, Chris Durbin came out and ran at Thunderhill. The radar showing rain in the area and dark clouds hovering all around us, I made a last minute choice of rain tires. The storm stalled and we were going real slow! Changed tires early enough and Chris worked overtime and placed 2nd in class and 5th overall. The team learned a lot about gambling, internet trust, and tire choosing! The team traveled to Buttonwillow with a day/night race. Along the way, we met some interesting people and new fans. Max Hyatt comes to mind as we invited him to try the car out. Max is a veteran of the ALMS and Rolex series. After his brief time in the car, we couldn't get him out! It has become the norm for this car, "he who enters has a hard time getting out of it". Max was so excited about his adventure with the car and team, he became a co driver with Mike. Max opened the show and took the GTM to the front in about 8 laps and stayed there for awhile. Mike finished at night completing the event with a 2nd in class and 3rd overall. Max made his second appearance with us at Thunderhill where he drove solo. Starting 14th on the grid, quickly settled in at 4th for about an hour and then took the GTM to the front. Building a commanding 2 lap lead over the field with 14 minutes left, the GTM gets a rear flat down the straight. Max's final position left him at 4th in class and 23 overall. The team learned that the car handles very well at 130+ while the tire is trying to jump off the rim! It is safe to say that flat tires are not an issue of ever losing control of your GTM in this case. Two months pass and Chris decides to run the 3 hour race at Buttonwillow alone. Chris arrives and puts the GTM on the front row with the ever potent, Norma. It was a 2 car race and Chris finished 1st in class and 2nd overall to the Norma. Checking the WERC scoreboard and that season long chase for the larger bowing trophy, the team finds ourselves chasing points once again in the 11th hour. The final race is the 6 hour ran within the 25 hour race. 25 points out of another championship, it was a tough one to call. GTM supporters from around the world stepped up to help pay the entry fee and rooted us on! Without all this support, we would not be doing this and able to share the new ideas and discoveries that come along with racing. We stayed with the 25 hour strategy which was the same as last year (it was the ticket), except while analyzing this year's competition, we stepped up our lap times by 2 seconds. 1:58's were our target and it was! Darrell Anderson, Chris Durbin,and Mike Holland, in a team effort finished the 6 hour race 1st overall and 1st in class! What a ride! Troy finished behind us in 2nd and maintained the points lead and crowned the WERC champion by 5 points. Continuing into the 25 hour race, we made our way to the front and found it difficult to maintain the target lap times as all drivers were laying down some of the fastest laps the car has ever logged. Capturing the lead for the first time in our history of participating in this race, back luck struck and retired early with terminal contact with another competitor. Out of all this, the team is proud to announce that the GTM can take a pretty good hit from the rear and the chassis stays intact with slight damage that anyone could fix at home. The fiberglass body sustained a good hit and is repairable. We have had more contact this year and the body held up very good! Thanks to FFR making sure the bodies are layed up with a consistent thickness. The Mendeola proved to be the gearbox of the future for this car as it performed flawless throughout our season and a very special thanks to Mike Mendeola and Ian Kirkland for taking a chance on us with the development of their product for road racing. Although we did not finish the 25 this year, I could say that 2010 was measured not by the shelf of bowling trophies that were acquired along the way but the journey, new friends, old friends, and contributing the small discoveries that make this community the best it can be. 2011, is our year of evaluation. It marks our 5th year of competition with the GTM. We will continue to compete in the endurance races where we can find them. I could proudly say that FFR did do the right thing in using an over the counter suspension package as we have seen others fail to finish with race specific components. The corvette parts are very strong and I have never lost any sleep over them. This year, we have teamed up with Factory Five and Jim S. and honored to run the Gen II body in endurance competition!
I want to thank the forum and all its support for the 2010 season. It has been a real wave to catch and hope that more of you can join in the fun and hang out with us. Other sponsors that helped out this year include:
Kennedy Auto Wrecking, The Holland Group, BajaDesigns, Mendeola, RM Contractor, Quick Products, Hawk Brakes, TEL TAC, MM Commercial Properties, Alan Yordy Equipment, Bill Hopper Paint Co., America's Tire, Hoosier Tire West (and Indiana), Don Vaught, Steven Migliori, David Borden, Yvonne Migliori, and Streetrods by Denny.
2011: SEE YOU AT THE RACES
Team PDG
