NASA Pro Racing 2011 Round 9 & 10 - #75 GTS2 Porsche 968 at Watkins Glen Friday Practice - Sept 30

My favorite track. Watkins Glen during the NASA Pro Racing Round 9 and 10 of the 2011 Season. Yours truly, Pablo Crespo, driving the #75 GTS-2 Porsche 968. While leading the championship we come to the penultimate even of the 2011 Season with much motivation and excellent competition.

Friday practice was for the most part uneventful. We worked hard to dial-in the suspension as we really wanted the GTS-2 Track record here at The Glen. The day went fairly smooth and we found ourselves indeed running record times in the last sessions.

Saturday came around and brough torrential rain, almost freezing, windy conditions, fog, and everything in between. Time to put in the 3 year old rain tires, and go out for my first rain race event, EVER!. Practice and qualifying went smooth as I got faster and faster helped by the advice of many on the line but especially my good friend and competitor-nemesis, Jonathan Vasquez. His advice was spot-on. Qualified on Pole, 1st in class and 1st overall. Sweet! A great start and race had me still on the lead halfway through the race. With weather and visibility getting worse by the second, and Mike Sousa's AWD Subaru simply MUCH faster up the esses than my tail-happy RWD front engined Porsche, I finally gave up the overall lead on the back straight in the very last lap of the race as it ended short under caution and due to conditions that were simply too unsafe for racing with the fog and unyielding rain.

Sunday was more of the same weather early on. Practice went well and aside of a scary spin coming off the busstop, I managed to place the 968 on the outside front row with the Class Pole Position but 2nd Overall behind Mike's Subaru. About an hour before the race, clouds started dissipating, a glimpse of sun was sighted, and the dash to a dry setup was ON. Jonathan Vasquez had made the trek to The Glen to help out on Sunday and showed up unexpectedly. Thanks to him I had dry Hoosiers to use and first class Radio Spotting for the race as well as some good advice to dial out a nagging push in a few areas. The checkered flew, and with a rocking start I grabbed 1st overall by Turn 1 and never looked back. Midway through the race we backed off a little after we built a good margin. Late in the race though, a yellow yielded a one-lap-to-go restart sprint to the finish. After a strong restart and solid final lap, we took the checkered 1st overall and 1st in class fending off a strong late charge by the competition.

With several areas on the track still wet, the GTS2 Track record eluded us this weekend. With 2 wins we move on to the Season Finale at NJMP during Halloween Weekend holding the GTS-2 Championship Points Lead.

Category:

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[spidracer]

@gko1966 Thanks. Time to get another 968...

[gko1966]

hello

great vid!

cool is the spin of the white 911.

(i drive porsche 968 ten years)