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Top Lap Times of the DAY Junior Driving School |
Team LMK News
October 12 2008 - Two for Two!Once again Andy Chittum's Mad Man Motorsports scores a second-step podium finish equaling his best result, and cementing his position as a top finisher in the USTCC. The weekend saw the most exciting race of the season with the two top finishers less than two seconds apart at the finish line.
As the car rolled out of the trailer Saturday morning for practice, the other competitors were surprised to see the BTM Motorwerks modified car sporting a new aero package. The car looked great, with components from APR, Bimmerworld and Omnifab but would it improve the laptimes on Buttonwillows fast, twisty, and altogether bumpy surface? Saturday practice saw Chittum put the car on pace with the leaders, and nearly 7 seconds a lap faster than the previous trip to Buttonwillow in 2007. But NASA SoCal kept the competitors on their toes by reversing the track for Sunday's event, a configuration even the some local drivers hadn't done in years.
Sunday qualifying saw Chittum first on the grid, and within three laps, he'd put down a time of 2:02.3 in the challenging reverse direction, good for 2nd on the grid ahead of the defending 2007 USTCC Champion Kurt Simmons, but the previous round's winner Andrie Hartanto had lowered his best time to a 2:00.6 in the sesson throwing down the gauntlet.
The race started with Chittum's BTM Motorwerks powered BMW launching ahead of the front-wheel drive cars and leading the first two laps. Hartanto and Simmons pressured Chittum constantly. Just at the end of the next lap, however, Chittum slid slightly wide in Buttonwillow's off-ramp corner and the Hartanto-Simmons Express Train came shooting by. For many laps, the three cars put in fast laps, and Chittum recovered, waited, then when he judged Simmon's SRT-4 to be hot, he attacked. It was to be short battle though, for Simmon's SRT-4 lost power on the straight between Sweeper and Lost Hill, and Chittum moved into second. For many laps Chittum battled to make progress on the few seconds that Hartanto had built up, and finally, as he began to close, Hartanto make a mistake and locked his brakes going into sweeper, going off into the dirt. Chittum put his pedal down and motored back into the lead. However Hartanto was determined to not give up, and the battled resumed, this time Chittum leading. Finally, after a few inopportune moments with backmarkers, Hartanto was able to catch Chittum once again. Choosing a perfect time to pass coming out of Lost Hill, the two cars went side by side into Riverside, Buttonwillow's huge sweeping bend. But it was Hartanto that had better position at the exit, and Chittum had to cede position or face a trip into the dirt himself. Next lap, the competitors were shown a white flag, and Chittum attacked like a Madman putting in his best lap time of the race on the very last lap.
"We came very close today to the top step of the podium" Chittum said. "Conditions were very difficult with the bumpy track, there were a lot of offs and lots of dirt out there to contend with. We've shown we can match Hartanto's pace, with just a little more consistancy, we have our first victory in sight."
Join Andy's team with BTM Motorwerks at Infineon Raceway on November 8th and 9th for the final USTCC race of the season where the underdog team gives its all to grab its elusive first top-podium spot. Contact MMM Crew Chief Jennifer Grossman at jenn.grossmann@gmail.com for details, or to volunteer for crew duty.
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