Norman Wins VIR Saturday Round
Alton, VA - From pole, Ryan Norman, in the No. 48 Swift 016/Mazda from K-Hill Motorsports, held off an early challenge from Polestar's David Grant in turn one on lap one, and then led the rest of the race to take the win at VIR. Keith Grant would finish second while John Burke took a hard-fought victory in Atlantic Challenge.
Championship leader Norman quickly opened a gap from the first lap over Grant, in the No. 29 Swift 016/Mazda, and managed his pace to take the eventual victory. Meanwhile, Grant, in his first Atlantic race since 2012, dropped out with a mechanical issue on lap four, promoting brother Keith into second.
"K-Hill has given me a great car all year. I stayed consistent in the first few laps and was able to get a gap," said Norman.
"It was hot. The car handled well after problems in qualifying. I ran right there with Ryan the entire race. I came up on a lapped car that backed us up and I made a mistake two laps later," said Grant.
A bit behind the pace at the front, there was a great battle for third between Rich Zober, Chris Ash and Lewis Cooper Jr. Ash would eventually get past for the final podium spot but couldn't clear the group. For Zober, it was the result of a tremendous effort by Comprent to prepare a backup car that arrived overnight at the track. Zober ended up fourth while Cooper Jr. rounded out the top five.
In Atlantic Challenge, points leader Bruce Hamilton led early before slowing and pitting with an issue. That mechanical issue handed the lead to Comprent's Bob Corliss, who led a near race-long over John Burke, in the No. 55 from Company Motorsports. Corliss then had his own problems, going off and slowing in turn 17 on lap 15 and handing the lead in Challenge to Burke, who would go on to take the class win.
Full results are available on www.F1600Series.com, www.F2000Series.com, and www.AtlanticChampionshipSeries.com. The weekend continues on Sunday with two F1600 races and single races for both F2000 and Atlantic.