Posted (11/27/2005) -
When I started racing, almost all of my races were at Mid-Ohio and Nelson Ledges. Hardly any of my evens were outside of the Ohio Border.
So what a strange twist that 14 seasons later, I would find myself venturing all the way to Mexico City for the finale of the Grand American ROLEX season.
Although I was rather cautious about going, the trip down was rather uneventful and a bit enjoyable.
For the first time in my Driving Career, I found myself in the odd position of driving for another team outside of Phoenix Promotions. Synergy Racing was in the hunt for the Driver and Team Championship in the GT class, and invited me to offer them support in the #81 Porsche GT3 Cup.
This was an excellent opportunity, and offered me the chance to continue to pursue the Bob Akin Sportsman Award in GT.
Arriving at the Mexico City Airport Customs, we amazingly flew through all stages. Our prearranged limo driver was there with a placard saying "Nonnamaker Party". Again this was a bit strange, but it was recommended by Grand American to not take Public Taxis, so the luxury of a limo was a justifiable precaution to consequences. (can you imagine trying to save a few bucks, and then getting kidnapped, that extra $80 would seem rather trivial)
Our Hotel Nikko was amazing, rivaling any place we have stayed in the states. All of the restaurants we ate during the weekend were great. And guess what, they were not all Mexican Foods. We had Mexican one night, but then we had French, and then Italian the following nights.
The track provided official buses to and from the track each day. This took a lot of pressure off worries of travel in a big town. You were on the bus by 5:30 am each day. Traffic was usually pretty good except for Friday night. It took us a hour and half to go 10 miles that night, but you would probably have that problem in New York City on a Friday night as well.
The Temperature was a comfortable 80 degrees during the day. But the mornings and evenings got quite chilly, with long pants and sweatshirts barely able to keep you warm.
The altitude also effected things. Climbing stairs had you winded. And driving the race car, your throat would get so dry after only a few laps.
Onto the actual racing, the track was great. The best way I can describe the track is relating it to one of the Gran Turismo games, where they have some mock up track that you question if it would ever really exist. Although it was completely flat, it was still very challenging. The front straight was over a mile,,,that is right,,,,over a mile. In the back section, there were four right / left sequences that made you dizzy until you got the hang of the pattern. And then you would drive straight into a baseball stadium, surrounded by the grand stands.
The #81 Synergy Racing Porsche was seeing the track for the first time since it was wrecked at Mid-Ohio. The crew was very dedicated to working through all the problems that comes with putting a rebuilt car back on the track.
This list included the typical items: ABS sensors, Fenders Rubbing, Radiators Rubbing, Leaking Fuel Tank and Fuel Pump failures...but through it all, the crew and I worked through each problem as it arouse.
No ABS in qualifying was interesting, Yet the most interesting fun came on the reconnaissance laps, when the fuel pump gave up. Somehow switching back and for between the reserve and main, we made it back to the pits. Then the crew took the leads off the main pump and switched them to the reserve. Meaning that we would run the race on the reserve pump with no back up. But we would be able to race.
Starting from the pits put us at bit of disadvantage. The long front straightaway with the GT field at full boar, and us at a standstill meant we were a bit behind.
When it was time to get out, Marc Bunting had already got out of the #65. Thus, unless he got back in, I was ensured of winning the Bob Akin Sportsman A
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