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Great Lakes News
By Joe Sullivan
Published: April 28, 2011
Updated: April 28, 2011
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NASA Great Lakes TT Drivers Start the Season with a Bang! April 9-10 saw the Time Trial season opener for the 2011 season and wow, was I ever impressed. With a week of on and off rain and a completely green track, I figured all TT classes would be a bit off the pace for the weekend. All the drivers proved me wrong when they got out for laps on Mid-Ohio’s Club Course. By the end of the weekend, new track records were set in 5 different classes! The number would have been 6, but a late session spin resulted in the loss of the last record setting lap. Starting with TTA, Nathan Pitcher was the dominant force this weekend, taking the win both days in his Mitsubishi Evolution. He was followed closely by Brian Ahmer and David Ziegler, both driving Chevrolet Corvettes. Ahmer barely squeaked by Ziegler on Saturday taking second place by a margin of 0.046 seconds, with Ziegler managing to take second place on Sunday. In TTB, it was a battle of the Nissans for the top two positions. Saturday saw Dominic Cervi taking the top spot in his 350Z followed closely by Rob Symonds in his 240SX. Symonds was able to claim the top position over Cervi on Sunday in a very close finish. The two Nissans were followed very closely on both days by Jon Cidric in his Porsche Cayman S. TTC saw three cars hitting the track for the weekend. David Proudfoot dominated the class on both days in his Honda S2000. For those following the off-season chatter, he even did it with a legal factory hardtop on the car! The TTC field for the weekend was rounded out with Kyle Brewer taking second place on Saturday in his Toyota Supra and Jim Ginter taking third in his BMW 325is. Ginter was able to get ahead of Brewer on Sunday taking second place in the process. TTD competition was a great battle to watch this weekend. Of the 6 starters, David Buschur was the winner both days in his Mitsubishi Eclipse. On Saturday, positions 2-5 were separated by just over 0.5 seconds. In the end, it was Mark Domo that took second place driving his Mazda RX8 and Tom Todaro followed in third in his Mazda Miata. Todaro was able to move up to second place on Sunday, bumping Domo back to third place. TTE saw an 8 car field for the weekend, but the top three were Brian Makse, David Kutney and Kyle Webb. Saturday say Kutney out front in his Pontac Solstice, followed by Makse in second and Webb taking third in his Mazda Miata. On Sunday, Makse moved up to the top podium position in his Honda Civic, with Webb moving to second, followed very closely by Kutney in third. TTF had a two car field for the weekend, but the two cars really put on a show. Lowell Marx, driving his Ford SVT Focus, and Melissa Davis in her Dodge Neon both shattered the previous track record pace by nearly 4 seconds. The two were very evenly matched on the track with Davis managing to keep in front for the win on both days. These two were fun to watch as the finishing margin on Saturday was just under a half second. Moving on to TTS, Saturday saw Danny Popp out in front driving a borrowed Chevrolet Corvette. He was followed by Aaron Byram in second and Tony Calabrese took third driving his Subaru STi. Sunday saw Byram moving up to first place in his Honda Civic. Greg Vannucci took second place in his Lotus Exige while Calabrese took the third place finish for the second day in a row. TTU competition was almost a purely Corvette affair. Michael Edmondson took the top spot, followed by Dean Martin, driving the one Ford Mustang in the field. Todd Rumpke took third right on Martin’s heels. Sunday saw Danny Popp taking first place, driving another borrowed Corvette. He was followed by Edmondson in second while Matt Carlyle got out on track following some mechanical problems to take the third place position. Not to leave out TTR, newcomer Kyle Musch took the unopposed win on both days driving his Lotus Exige S240. Your’s truly had tow vehicle problems, but even if I had gotten my car to the track, I highly doubt I could have given Kyle a run for his money the way he was driving this weekend. Congratulations go out to all of the new track record holders: Nathan Pitcher TTA 1:37.691 Rob Symonds TTB 1:41.491 David Buschur TTD 1:44.197 Brian Makse TTE 1:44.772 Melissa Davis TTF 1:53.462 I would also like to welcome our three newest TT license holders, Kyle Musch, Gary Ellis, and Dominic Cervi. Thanks to all of the drivers that made it out to the first Great Lakes event of 2011. As always, thank you to all of our sponsors for the continued support of the NASA Time Trial program. (Hoosier Tires, HawkBrakes, AST Suspension, Treadzone, Mazda, and Pfadt). Next up is Putnam Park on May 13-15 for our crossover event with the Midwest Region. This event is always a full event and always a great time. I hope to see everyone out there! For complete results and lap records, please see www.nasagreatlakes.com Joe SullivanTime Trial Series DirectorNASA Great Lakes
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