Great Lakes News
By Joe Sullivan
Published: April 29, 2010
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Mid Ohio Sports Car Course, April 10-11, 2010. NASA Great Lakes Time Trials.
It’s April again and that can only mean one thing, the start of another NASA Great Lakes Time Trial season. The weather was cool and clear and 30+ Time Trial drivers came out to compete at the Mid-Ohio season opener. There was a lot of great driving and it looked like everyone was having a blast.
Saturday saw the Corvettes up front in TTU competition, with Michael Edmondson and Todd Rumpke taking first and second place, respectively. Jim Avery rounded out the podium in third in his Dodge Viper ACR. Edmondson had a few engine woes on Sunday, allowing Rumpke to move to first and Avery to second in the second day of competition. This also allowed Ron Williams to come and take third place in his Mazda Miata.
In TTS, James Forbis was able to run away with the win on both Saturday and Sunday in his Chevy Corvette, setting a new track record in the process. Second place went to Aaron Byram in his Honda Civic both days. Third place on Saturday went to Greg Dansbury and Tony Calabrese rounded out the podium on Sunday.
TTA competition through the weekend was all about the Corvettes. A combined 5 cars competed between Saturday and Sunday, with every single one sporting the Chevy bowtie. Saturday saw Chris Herrick sneaking in for one session to take first place, followed by Brian Ahmer in second and Jon Cisler in third. On Sunday, Matt Carlyle took a break from wheel to wheel competition and came back to TT for a victory. Brian Ahmer finished in second again, followed by Greg Dansbury, who decided to switch classes for the day.
Saturday in TTB competition saw Bryan Johnson bring his HART Honda Civic Si down to take a TT win, for the first class to not have a Corvette out front. John Cece took second in his Pontiac Firebird with Jon Cindric taking third in his Porsche Caymen S. Cece returned to AI on Sunday, allowing Cindric to move up to second and John Dougherty to take third in his Chevy Impala SS. In TTC, newcomer Terry Leroux took the unopposed win both Saturday and Sunday. We need to get this guy some competition!
TTD at Mid-Ohio saw carbon copy results both days. Benjamin Kirkbride took first place in his Mazdaspeed 3. He was followed by Jet Hawthorne in second with a Mazda Miata and Rebecca Roth in third driving a Honda Civic.
For the weekend, TTE saw the largest and most diverse class. 9 cars took to the track, representing 8 different car manufacturers. Brian Makse took the class win on both days, driving the Team Pakistan Express Honda Civic. He was able to set a regional TTE track record on Saturday. Second on Saturday went to Jonathan Davis in his Nissan Sentra with third place going to David Kutney in his Pontiac Solstice. Mechanical woes slowed Davis down on Sunday allowing Kutney to move up to second with another newcomer, Jeffrey Preston, taking third place in his BMW 325i.
TTF saw two cars on Saturday with Andrew Locke taking the win in his Honda Civic, followed by Joe Hayes in his Plymouth Neon. On Sunday, Melissa Davis joined the fray in her Dodge Neon. The finishing order on Sunday saw Locke in first again, with Davis in second and Hayes taking third.
Of special note for the season opener, we saw five new drivers join the ranks of NASA Time Trials. I would like to congratulate Terry Leroux, David Buscher, Jeffrey Preston, Melissa Davis, and Andrew Locke. All five drivers successfully completed their first weekend in TT and are all now licensed drivers. I’m looking forward to a successful season from all of them.
Thank you to all our sponsors for the continued support of the NASA Time Trial program. (Hoosier Tires, Hawk Brakes, AST Suspension, Treadzone, Mazda, and Pfadt).
Up next is our cross over at Putnam Park with the Midwest Region. We should see more cars there, so the competition should be good. I hope to see everyone there to show our sister region that the Great Lakes drivers can come out on top!
Joe Sullivan
NASA Great Lakes TT Director
