Hi Nic here again!
Laguna Seca Raceway is one of those places that make you love racing if you have a good weekend. On the other hand, if you don't have good race, it also makes you feel miserable. This track is famous for its steep elevation changes, low grip and the single most famous corner, the "corkscrew". This past weekend, this corner made my experience at Laguna miserable after I made a mistake upon entry in the corkscrew. I came in slightly too deep and missed the apex about one hour into the race. The corkscrew is unforgiving so there is no room for error...you miss this bad boy and you are well....screwed! Unfortunately for me and the Krohn Racing team, this ended our race in Laguna because the impact broke the front splitter of the car as it landed very hard at the steepest point of the track.
We had struggled the entire week to really get any speed out of the car in comparison to our competitors and it didn't help matters that we were experiencing handling issues as well. The race, for us, was more of a "hang on" and try to not make any mistakes. After fighting the car in every corner, my mistake happened and this ended our race. BUT, as they say, when life hands you a bunch of grapes...make wine! (usually lemons/lemonade but with corkscrew ...thought the grape/wine approach a little more fitting, HA!) So now it's time to put this behind us and look forward to Watkins Glen where we had a win a few years ago.
On a little more positive note, my Kinetic Motorsports team had a very good weekend with 2nd and 8th place finishes in the KONI Challenge race Saturday afternoon. I did not race in KONI this weekend since we decided not bring the new BMW M3 V8 to Laguna. Reason being, we did not have enough time to fix the suspension issue we have been fighting the last two races. The good news is we have the fix, now we just need to make the parts and hopefully that will take care of the problem. Our plan is to bring that car back into competition for the Watkins Glen race weekend in early June.
The Kinetic team is heading next to Lime Rock for the next KONI race. For the first time in many years, I will not be heading for Lime Rock. Instead, I will be home during the Memorial Day weekend and watching my brother Matt's team, Penske, race the INDY 500 on Sunday (Matt is Crew Chief for the team). Reason I will not be making Lime Rock is so I can recharge my batteries before leaving on a four-week stretch starting with the 6 hours of Watkins Glen race, then off to Paris for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, then back to the States for the Mid-Ohio race. Whew! It's going to be difficult not being at Lime Rock and very nerve racking for me to not be at the race with my team but I know the Kinetic crew and drivers will do a great job.
I've had several people come up to me the last few races saying they enjoy reading my blog. I really appreciate that and to all the fans that continue to watch, attend races and support the series. I had one fan come up to me this past weekend with pictures from back when I ran Indy cars that he wanted me to autograph. I really admire race fans that travel to races year after year, come to the autograph sessions and visit us. I just can't tell you how much fun it is to see all the kids and parents, fans asking questions about how the car is, etc. and just to have that interaction makes my experience as a driver all that more special as well...so thanks again!
Until next week, be safe and have a good one.
Your friend,
Nic
