I just got wrapped up with the opening round of the SRO World Challenge season in Sonoma, California. Sonoma is such a beautiful place, especially at this time of year, with the springtime rain bringing green grass to all the rolling hills.
For the drivers and teams I was working with, it certainly was a steep learning curve, as none of them had been to Sonoma Raceway before. That track has unique challenges, with not only its curvy nature but also blind hills that make the track so much fun as well as very technical. The layout is a busy one, too: there is zero rest around the track! It’s constantly curving, which can make learning it even more difficult.
To compound the steep learning curve, the freshly repaved track surface had some issues during the test day, which canceled practice and all other on-track activity up through Saturday morning. Throw limited track time on top of learning a new track, and getting up to speed became a real challenge.
Track officials jumped right on it, and pavement crews fixed the trouble areas over a 48-hour span, missing Thursday testing and Friday practice.
There were literally drivers who didn’t go on track for the first time until qualifying. It was important for everyone to really manage expectations: you didn’t want to push too hard, but you were being “graded” on your performance since it was qualifying.
At the same time, drivers had to remember they would make huge gains every time they went out on track. Our drivers persevered, and by race time, they were prepared. We had identified what our strengths were and gradually continued to increase pace and refine the car’s setup.
The Krugspeed team got a terrific result, coming away with a top-five class finish in race two, which was a great way to start the season before heading to Sebring. (Thankfully, all the drivers know that track well and have had prior success there!)
This was a weekend to remember, including the “hurry up and wait” experience as the track underwent a complete facelift in the span of 48 hours. Kudos to the Sonoma Raceway staff for getting the situation rectified so we could still race throughout the weekend.