Summit Point, June 11

Racing can be a roller coaster sometimes. This past weekend the Flatoutracing/iCarp.net team sponsored by Hankook Tires and Guident Technologies had a complete reversal of fortune after suffering a set back at VIR only a few weeks prior.

Saturday’s morning qualifying looked similar to MARRS I with Kirk Dohne (89 240SX) setting fastest time, nearly 4/10th of a second faster than Kofod in the #4 Acura Integra. Greg Ginsberg (#72 CRX) had overheating problems leaving Dohne and Kofod at the top of the time sheets. Ginsberg had to sit out the weekend.

After some tire pressure adjustments before the second qualifying run, Kofod set a fastest lap of 1:28.772 besting Dohne’s morning time by less than 1/10th of a second to take pole for Sunday’s sixteen lap race. Dohne was stuck in traffic most of the second session, unable to improve his time.

Sunday’s race turned out to be a closely fought match. On the start, Dohne got by Kofod at start finish and Kofod tucked in behind the 240SX into turn one. For the next three to four laps Dohne seemed to have the measure of Kofod opening up a three-car gap and keeping that gap constant. On lap four Kofod reeled in Dohne and the two were now running inches apart with Dohne appearing faster in the fastest sections of the track but Kofod significantly faster in the slower sections.

On lap eight Kofod drafted Dohne into turn one and was able to get past the 240SX as Dohne slid wide of turn two. Dohne was able to recover in short time and the two went side by side through turn three before Dohne was able to inch by Kofod going down Summit Point’s famous turn four “chute”. Kofod appeared to have Dohne passed again in turn seven but Dohne closed the door and Kofod had to back off.

With one lap to go both competitors came upon a group of six cars in turn one. Both Dohne and Kofod got through the traffic until turn eight where both competitors had to split an ITB car. Dohne got by cleanly but Kofod struck the outside birm and missed a shift allowing for a small gap coming out of turn nine with one corner to go.

Then it all went wrong for Dohne, who lost considerable exit speed coming out of turn ten onto the main straight. Kofod got a good run and Dohne attempted to take the inside line but it was too late as Kofod had already gotten along side the 240SX.

Both cars crossed the finish line side by side with Kofod taking the win by 0.151 seconds for Hankook Tires first win in ITA for the 2006 season.

“What a race Kirk and I had. I kept waiting for him to make mistake but he ran a near flawless race. We were evenly matched overall but he was fast where it counted until late in the race where he appeared to be struggling with grip” noted Kofod. “I have to really thank Hankook Tires for the Ventus Z214’s they provided us this weekend. The tires were consistent throughout the entire weekend and I set the fastest lap of the race (1:28.552) two laps before the end. That’s how good they performed. We were very encouraged at the speed we showed at VIR and were confident we would have the fastest tire for this weekend’s race.”

In addition to support from Hankook Tires, the team wished to thank Curry’s Auto Service of Northern Virginia, Guident Technologies, Inc. and JE Import Performance.