The season opener for the San Francisco region of SCCA was held at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, March 18-20, 2016. With more Spec Racer Fords converting to Generation 3 there were only about 12 SRFs. This seasons new Hoosier tyres were fantastic with lots of grip, most of the field saw 2 seconds or more improvements in lap times. This was the first time I had ever purchased brand new tyres and I was amazed at how I could go deeper into the braking zone and carry more speed through the corners.
Race 1
The cool March weather meant that there were early fog delays on Friday and Saturday. The first race was held early on Saturday morning and after several out laps under the pace car there was a stoppage for viability due to fog on the backside of the track. After the fog cleared the race started but we only ended up getting 8 laps due to the delay. An early turn in error on lap 2 resulted in me going off wide in turn 6 and losing 3 positions. I spent the remaining laps chasing down the position lost, gaining two of them back in quick succession. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to pass the third car and ended up finish right on his tail in 8th place.
Race 2
Sunday morning brought clear sunny skies and we were able to get started right on time. I qualified 7th and got a decent start but got love tapped a couple of times on the opening lap as the pack sorted out. Apparently rubbing is racing. Trying to recover the car I lost momentum and consequently a few positions when. But end up having a quick pace and combined with some attrition worked my way up to 5th place. Unfortunately an incident in turn 10 on the later laps meant that we finished under the pace car.
Overall a fantastic weekend, I improved my own personal best lap time by over 5 seconds from 1:49.980 to 1:44.943.
Other Race Reports
After a long time away from the track we return to the Historic WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca with SCCA San Francisco Region. A fantastic weekend with great friends and lots of close racing.