VIR Weekend Notebook
Engine Change – R-Sport data traces after the race showed a “soft motor” in Scarallo’s R-Sport Van Diemen. He’ll have a fresh Zetec for Road Atlanta, and despite the curves on the data, still set the fastest two races laps on Sunday at VIR.
Video Video Video – Jump onboard for both races with Jonathan Scarallo by clicking the videos tab on the F2000 website.
AcceleRace Motorsports also has multiple cameras from their car, along with a roaming track camera with footage – click here.
Fact Checking – With no time to dig through the series archives over the VIR weekend, Victor Carbone may be the youngest F2000 winner to date.
Shameless Plug – Could VIR have gone any better? The series produced 33 cars for both races, no cautions – and battles for the lead. Not to mention two perfect rolling starts with 16 rows of formula cars. Pack racing everywhere, a new track record and none of this spec car stuff.
SMR – Hats off to the SMR team. For a rookie squad moving over from the spring car ranks, they managed to survive the weekend with little drama. Team driver Tim Paul stayed out of harm’s way for four days in the CellMark Paper #06
The second car, the #14 was set to be piloted by returning diver Blake Teeter, but when the Zetec blew up on Thursday, it was sidelined for the weekend. Expect Teeter to be back in the-very-uniquely-painted entry for Road Atlanta.
Odds – Series Managing Director Michael Rand had the odds stacked against him when he rolled into the VIR paddock with a new-to-him pit scooter. The question wasn’t if he would crash or tip it, but when. Rand survived until Sunday afternoon, when after the second race, Bob Knox (Alegra Motorsports engineer) backed his rental car, by accident, into an unsuspecting Rand. No damage to report.
Wing of the Month Club – The wing of the month club was back in action at VIR, with the latest Radon kits on all GTP and SMR cars. New rear wing extensions and a diffuser were the hot new bits.
The Van Diemens running at the front of the field were relatively untouched, including the R-Sport cars, featuring the “moustache” front-wings.
Not in the Van Diemen/Zetec Club – Jesse Yorio’s brand new Piper’s debut went off without a hitch, with Yorio running solidly in the top fifteen for most of the weekend. The white paint job is to be replaced by Ferrari Blue, according to sources familiar with the situation, in time for Road Atlanta.
Weitzenhof’s Citation went quick too, with solid runs in both races. Paul Farmer contested the weekend in his MyGale and Chris Livengood made his series debut in a Van Diemen/Pinto.
Livengood’s Pinto was the first to show up at an F2000 race since 2008, and the rookie, driving for Work Racing had John Walko engineering the car. A top-ten run in race one, and a top-ten effort tin race two before a spin sent Livengood home in 21st.
Fashion Police – 2010 also saw the debut of new team swag up and down pit lane. ADSA/Wright Racing, Alegra Motorsports, AcceleRace Motorsports, Z-Sports, Audette Racing, Work Racing, SMR and Liberty Motorsports were all looking very coordinated.