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PARTNERS
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News For May 17th, 2008
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Great Weather and Great Racing in Central Indiana |
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Mt Meridian, IN – The second race weekend for Co-op Racing was at the Putnam Park
Road Course located between Terre Haute and Indianapolis Indiana. Driver Andy Berberich and the Eurosport 944 had another
successful race weekend. With a little more competition in NASA’s
944 Cup class, Berberich earned two first place finishes.
Prior to venturing to Putnam Park, Co-op Racing took the Eurosport 944 to race partner Kauth&Mayeur’s shop. There, Berberich and K&M mechanic Derek Downy checked the alignment and made some minor changes. Mostly to bring the setup back into spec, but other changes were made in order to optimize tire wear and on track performance. The alignment was not far off, but |
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enough that could have impacted the on track performance at the Gateway race three weeks earlier.
Entering the Putnam race, five 944 Cup cars were registered. It seemed that the low class count was not going to be an issue for this weekend. The five cars also qualified the field for contingency awards from area and national series sponsors. Unfortunately, the class of five ended up being a class of two due to various reasons. “I was a little disappointed.” remarked Berberich “I was hoping for a larger class and a shot at contingency awards. Even though the class was small, it was still good racing.” The other 944 Cup car was driven by Steven Philipson from Michigan in his 1987 Porsche 924S. For Saturday’s race, Berberich qualified the Eurosport 944 first with a time of 1:24.0 and Philipson qualified with a time of 1:24.4. Philipson’s time was very good considering this was his first visit to Putnam Park. The Eurosport 944 would not have qualified as well if it wasn’t for the coercion of Michael Benet and Tim Johnson to put on fresher tires. Without the fresher tires, Berberich may not have been able to qualify in front of Philipson. On the start of the race, a BMW got between Berberich and Philipson. This allowed Philipson to gain a 2 second lead before Berberich could get around the higher horsepower BMW. It took Berberich about five laps before he could catch Philipson and eventually pass for the lead. Lap traffic kept Philipson within striking distance to pass, but was eventually held up for the same reason. Sunday’s activities started with an early morning warm up session. Prior to the warm up, Berberich and data guy Collin Mizeur discussed opportunities for lowering lap times. This discussion aided Berberich in improving his best lap time by 8/10th of a second to 1:23.198. Making this kind of improvement in lap time is tremendous and the data gathered will be evaluated for future races. Due to an off track event in the second race group where the driver was taken by life flight to the hospital, Sunday qualifying was cancelled. Sunday’s race starting order was determined by Saturday’s qualifying times. Sunday’s race also resulted in a first for Berberich and the Eurosport 944. Other Co-op Racing members and supporters at Putnam were Collin Mizeur in his TTE BMW M3 and Michael Benet in his Spec Miata. Mizeur finished second in class on Saturday and first in class on Sunday. In a class of 25 NASA Spec Miata’s in the group, Benet qualified 3rd and started there each day. He had a fourth place finish on Saturday, which was taken away by the NASA officials due to an exhaust infraction. Benet then came back with a third in Sunday’s race, which is still pending due to on track contact by other racers. The weekend concluded with another safe and successful race logged for Co-op Racing. The reduction in lap times, close racing, and safe completion creates the ideal environment for fun and rewarding racing. Special thanks to Sean Benet who took most of the pictures posted from this event. |
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SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR RACING PARTNERSEurosport Racing is a premiere Midwest Porsche street and race specialist. They specialize in Porsche service, track support and transport, engine design and rebuilding, dyno tuning, and suspension setup and alignment. They also offer a full line of OEM, aftermarket, and high performance parts and accessories. More information on Eurosport Racing can be found at www.midwesteurosport.comKauth and Mayeur provides the finest import services in Peoria, IL. They offer a wide range of maintenance and repair services for import cars. Specializing in high performance streetcars. Kauth and Mayeur can be reached at (309) 673-1412 or http://www.kauthmayeur.com. |
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