Summit Point , WV June 17

This past weekend’s Round 4 of SCCA’s MARRS Series (Mid Atlantic Road Racing Series) at Summit Point Raceway saw the first win of the season for the Flatoutracing/Hankook Tires team. This past weekend presented a huge unknown for principle team driver Jon Kofod, as the team made the decision only weeks before the race to switch from the popular ITA class to the faster ITS class.

The team encountered two consecutive race weekends in Round 1 at Summit Point and Rounds 2 and 3 at VIR with terminal engine failures. This unfortunate luck was especially cruel at the season opening MARRS round where Flatoutracing/Hankook driver Kofod had a dominant lead with only a few laps to go before the motor failed. A similar occurrence meant two DNS’s at VIR only weeks later.

After realistically assessing the chances of an ITA title, the team decided to move up a class to the faster ITS group where title chances could still prevail. “After looking at our chances in ITA it became apparent that we had more of a chance in ITS. While it certainly won’t be easy we felt that we would have the pace to possibly win a lot of races in ITS and have a realistic shot for the title,” stated Kofod before Sunday’s first ITS race.

“We had no way of knowing for sure what our pace would be and how we would stack up against the ITS field,” noted Kofod. It didn’t help matters that the team qualified second in the morning session a full half second behind the pole sitting Datsun 240Z of Jeffrey Lucas. A few adjustments and a new set of Hankook Ventus Z214’s put all matters to rest in afternoon qualifying when Kofod shaved that half second and slightly more to take pole with a 1:27.55, less than one tenth ahead of the Datsun’s morning time. Kofod would line up on the front row with the faster ITR class Bimmerworld BMW driven by Marshall Lytle. Jeffrey Lucas would line up on the second row beside ITA front-runner Chris Perera.

The race started with Lytle’s ITR BMW pulling a quick two car lengths on Kofod and Lucas down the front straight. Kofod was able to get a better start than Lucas’ 240Z and took the first corner with Lucas tucked in behind for second place in ITS. Lucas hounded the Flatoutracing/Hankook Tires #44 Integra for much of the next three laps and on lap four was able to make the inside pass in turn 1 for the ITS lead.

Kofod then spent the next five to six laps glued to the 240Z’s bumper providing constant pressure to Lucas. It was clear that Kofod was driving the faster car and merely attempting to pressure Lucas into using up his tires and brakes. On lap 11 Lucas got into a lurid tail slide at the exit of turn 10 and Kofod was immediately side by side going down the front straight. The Integra’s superior brakes meant Kofod could brake much deeper on the inside of turn 1 to retake the lead.

Lucas was never more than a car length behind but with three laps to go he lost his brakes on the front straight and careened into the sand trap. Kofod was now more than 20 seconds up on the second place Datsun 240Z of Martin Jeter. Except for a scary moment at the final corner when an ITA BMW nearly spun in turn 10, Kofod cruised home for the win.

“It was a great race and proved that we have the pace we need to win races in ITS. I knew Jeff was struggling with his tires and brakes so it was a matter of waiting for the right moment to make the pass,” according to Kofod. “First and foremost I want to thank Hankook Tires for some awesome race rubber. We had so many variables to worry about coming to a new class, but one thing we didn’t need to worry about was the Ventus Z214’s new compound. We knew we would have the fastest tire. I would also like to thank my chief mechanic at Curry’s Auto Service, Brian Curry, who spent the better part of last week prepping the car and changing the motor for this upcoming race and also John and Sean my crew members who made all the right adjustments during the weekend.”

The team now has well over a month to prepare for the end of June regional double race weekend at Nelson Ledges and hopes to continue the momentum gained this weekend.