Posted (06/01/2008) -
Team Sahlen came into the KONI Challenge Lime Rock park weekend after a long lay off from the 1st event of the season at Daytona.
"The Mazda RX-8 ran flawlessly all weekend long. We were able to get track time in every session. With over 50 cars in the Street Tuner field, it was difficult to find an open track to run on. Almost every lap you were around somebody in practice." - stated Joe Sahlen
Qualifying was cut short when two cars hit in turn one. With only 3 laps timed, the #43 Team Sahlen Mazda was positioned in mid-pack 30th place.
At the start of the race, Joe Sahlen made a charge for the front, rising as high as 22nd place. His lap times were running equal to the front runners; a key indicator of where the team could have been had the qualifying session not ended early.
At the 1 hour mark, Will Nonnamaker replaced Joe in the driver's seat. Will was only 5 laps into his stint, when chaos ensued coming onto the front straightaway.
"I was passing two cars on the right, when the 2nd one in line decided to pass the 1st car. I had left plenty room to my left for this pass to occur, except for the factor that the BMW decided to swerve over two lanes instead of one. It was just a bad situation to be in, that unfortunately was complicated with a rather sloopy move by a driver in the back of the field. Unfortunately, the result was our #43 going backwards into the pit wall. Good thing that our next event at Mid-Ohio is 4 weeks away so that we have time to fix it." - states Will Nonnamaker
The 2008 Team Sahlen KONI ST Campaign is support by HRPWorld.com, MAZDASPEED, HAWK Performance, TheRaceSite.com, TheRaceMarket.com, Grassroots Motorsports Magazine, Holliday Canopies, & CM Racing
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