Saturday
This weekend had a four car GTi field running the "Short 7" track configuration.... Carlos Suarez , Dan Pina, Scott Neville  and rookie Donnie Bailey Jr. for his first sprint race (he first drove in the 2003 25-hour for Team German Sport).  The weather for Sonoma was going to be hot...in the low-mid 90's and cooling to the 80's on Sunday.  For Saturday's race Carlos grabbed pole with a 1:53.59.  Dan was second with a 1:54.19, Scott turned a 1:56.32 and Donnie turned a 1:59.61.   Scott thought his car was down on power and with the help of Carlos made some engine adjustments.  He later discovered Sunday morning that his driver's side rear sway bar bracket was broken.  More about the sway bar repair below.  Dan was driving his Dad David's GTi.  David Pina was out-of-town and could not make the race.  As usual the GTis were in Race Group A and were grouped with the Spec Miatas, Honda Challenge, SU's, RSR's, & Pro7s, P7s and PS1 through PS3 cars.  The total grid for Group A was 34 cars.  Schedule for the day was Practice at 9:00 AM, Qualifying at 11:30 AM with our Race at 4:40 PM.  The GTis were gridded in the back of the pack (which is how we like it) and when the green flag dropped Carlos grabbed the lead followed closely by Dan then Scott then Donnie.  For the first lap and 1/2 Dan was pressuring Carlos for 1st place with Scott trying to keep them both in his windshield.  Donnie was not keeping pace as this was his first sprint race and had not driven Infineon for over a year.  On lap 2 an accident occurred at Turn 5 when Brad Leabo's RX7 got punched by a SU Porsche after he got sideways on the track after being blinded by dust from another car that had gotten off track ahead of him.  Luckily Brad and the Porsche driver were OK but both the RX7 and the Porsche were both heavily damaged.  Racing tough luck.

Initially we just had a local yellow flag for this incident and continued racing from Turn 6.  This went on for one lap until Race Central called a full course yellow just when Carlos, Dan and Scott were exiting Turn 9...Carlos and Dan (plus the two Pro7's in front of them)  caught the yellows and were slowing down as they completed Turn 10...Scott however didn't see the full course yellows and passed all four cars on the approach to Turn 11...his glee quickly turn to gloom as: 1) he suspected that pass was too easy and was thinking that he missed a full course yellow and 2)  had it confirmed when he saw the double yellows at the starter's stand.   Bummer...he might get a DQ and no points for passing under yellow...always a big no-no!  We had four laps under full course yellow then continued continued racing on lap 7.  With Scott in his ill-gotten lead, Dan passed Carlos just before Turn 2.  Dan now had his sights on Scott.  Scott held on to the lead for about 3/4's of a lap until Dan got by him on Turn 1, the same place he passed Carlos on the previous lap.  Carlos then passed Scott and was now chasing Dan for 1st.  Carlos got by Dan on Turn 9 and held on to the lead until the checkered flag  .  Scott took 3rd place and Donnie 4th.  NASA didn't penalize Scott for his yellow flag pass.  Carlos' clutch was acting up...he decided to take his car to his shop and put a new one in for Sunday's race.  He would miss qualifying but would make it for Sunday's race.  Carlos' fastest race lap was a 1:54.77....Dan was able to turn a 1:54.83.  Scott had a 1:55.83 and Donnie's fastest lap was a 1:58.63.

Sunday
While Carlos was busy changing his clutch, before Sunday's qualifying, Scott discovered that his rear sway bar mount had broken....not having a spare one he improvised with a cargo ratchet strap (Click here for a photo).  He wasn't sure it would hold up to the forces but it did...through qualifying as well as the entire race!  Dan and Scott were the only GTis in qualifying as Carlos was changing his clutch and Donnie apparently was late getting to the track.  Dan qualified with a pole sitting 1:53.74 (some good improvement from Saturday) and Scott turned a 1:55.73.  Carlos made it to the track around 2:00 PM after a successful clutch R&R.  Donnie showed up too and Don Bailey Sr. was on hand to test for his provisional racing license (which he successfully did...good show Don!).  As before we were gridded in the back of Race Group A.  At the drop of the green flag Carlos grabbed the lead by passing Dan on the inside approach to Turn 2.  Dan was on Carlos' tail and Scott was glued to Dan's bumper.  Donnie was in forth place.  We were a three GTi freight train for most of the race.  On lap 2 Dan pulled a pass on Carlos in the hairpin at Turn 11 and lead for 1 1/2 laps until Carlos returned the passing favor in Turn 7 (the short 7).  Scott was still glued to the pack as his car was performing much better with the temporary sway bar fix.  Carlos led one lap when Dan passed him on the inside approach to Turn 2.  Dan lead for four laps during which he had a spectacular two-wheel balance act after bouncing off the apex berm at Turn 4.   It was caught on Carlos' in-car camera....Dan said everything got "real quiet" while he was on two wheels....check out the video clip by clicking here.  Dan's lead ended on Lap 8 when he couldn't get his car into fourth gear on the main straight....the shift linkage had apparently broke.  Carlos was right on his bumper when it happened and ended up tapping Dan's bumper as he was not expecting the sudden slow down.  Scott took advantage of the situation and passed both Carlos and Dan in Turn 1.  Carlos was then chasing Scott and managed an inside outbraking pass on the short 7 bypass and held on to the lead for the remaining lap and a half of the race.  Carlos took first place, Scott second, Dan third and Donnie forth place.  This was a hard fought and close road race as evident by the close laps times, all within 0.38 of a second!  Carlos' fastest race lap was a 1:53.58....Scott turned a 1:53.82.  Dan had a 1:53.96 and Donnie's fastest lap was a 1:57.19.