Team & Driver Features
Driver Diary: Adam Pecorari - Mid Ohio
By
Sep 6, 2005, 21:04

Going to Mid-Ohio is always an enjoyable time for me. In 2004 I won 3 out of 4 races in the U.S. Formula Ford Zetec Championship, as well as setting the track record, so I know the way around the track. Also, it is only an 8 hour ride, so I can stay in my Winnebago for the weekend. There are many advantages of having your own food to eat and ability to shower after practices if needed.
It was also a good weekend to debut our 2005 Mustang GT, as we had the most test time at Mid-Ohio. Starting out the weekend we were still working hard on the setup problems typical with a new car, but the guys at Rehagen Racing built an incredible car. As the weekend went on, we were getting quicker and quicker each session as we were working on the car.

As qualifying came around we had a lot of confidence in the car. As we had in the last two races, I would qualify and start, because of the difference in height between Romeo and I, driver changes would be much quicker. Within the first few laps in qualifying I had put the car in 4th, but would soon be pushed back to 9th with a few minutes to go. Pulling in the pits to cool off the tires, the team informed me I would have 1 flying lap to put the car in the top 5, which is where I would put the car for the beginning of the race. Unfortunately, the 5th place would not stand as we failed technical scrutinizing because of a safety bar placed under the fuel cell did not clear ride height.

We would start the race in 39th position, which at Mid-Ohio is no easy feat being such a tight track. Working our way up, I was able to get the car up to 13th position setting quick laps in the top 5 when we began to have fuel pick-up problems. Not sure what was going on, the car was quickly loosing power, and within 10 laps, we were six seconds a lap slower and loosing position.

We decided to make a pit stop a few laps earlier than originally planned to determine the problem, which would be a clogged fuel filter. Having to pit under green, we would loose 2 laps and essentially put us out of the race. With Romeo in the car, we were able to pick-up 1 lap under yellow, but we were still far back in positions. With the cars handling steadily getting worse and worse, Romeo slipped in a difficult high-speed part of the track and went into a tire wall, ending our gloomy day.

Again, as in Trois-Rivieres, we went from low lows to high highs, but the day would end too soon again. We will travel to Phoenix with high expectations again, as we will now have experience with the new car.

Stay Tuned!!

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