Ayer Match Tour 2013

Black Halo Racing in the house!

This weekend there was a Match Tour over in Ayer! It wasn't only great because it was a national level event, but I even got a visit to give some support by my good friends and sponsor, Black Halo Racing (BHR)! Charles and his wife helped me keep my head in the game, and got to hang out with everyone afterwards. Can't say the weekend could have gone any better. If you're unsure of the difference between a normal National Tour, and a Match Tour, check out the rules here on SCCA's official website.

Getting ready to head out

A very interesting course was awaiting John and I this weekend, as it required you to really look ahead and setup as early as possible for upcoming turns. Thankfully, I had a similar style of course last weekend at Renegade Miata, so I felt a bit more confident with what I was about to deal with.

Lining up to the start

On the first day, John had won the class win (it was only him and I in the class) with a '62.791 clean, while I was right behind him with a '62.993 clean. That was done on both of our 3rd runs. That placed John 11th in PAX, while I placed 15th. Not bad for a national level event, but I still wish I got that class win as a cherry ontop! For the next day, John and I were both in the A bracket, and pitted against some top-notch drivers.

Photo by Chang Ho Kim - FunPhotos

Unfortunately, we both did not get to progress forward in our brackets, but we still improved on our times compared to Saturday. If we were clean (and/or I didn't spin on my second run...), we would have come 8th and 9th in PAX on the second day! The results from the event are located on SCCA's website, here. Overall, it was an awesome event, with a nice change of pace on the second day with the whole bracket elimination race. The best part though was having BHR with me and hanging out together the whole weekend. I really can't thank them enough for everything, and am looking forward to seeing them soon!

Below are John and I's Sunday runs, back to back as we couldn't stop when taking our two runs. The YouTube playlist for all the runs is here. Stay tuned for next week's Renegade Miata race! I need to step it up since I'm going to Nationals, so here comes more practice!