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TAKE ME TO...
Grand Am
IN THE COCKPIT: Adam Burrows, Monterey CTSCC
50th start with co-driver Trevor Hopwood doesn't get the right start in qualifying...
Adam Burrows  |  Posted July 14, 2011  
Trevor Hopwood, left, and Adam Burrows, right, celebrated their 50th race as co-drivers last weekend in Monterey. (Photo: Wes Duenkel)
I imagine that we all have moments where we wish for a real life rewind button. Just to go back a bit, make a slight adjustment to your recent history . . . just a tweak really.

During this past weekend’s Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race at Laguna Seca, that moment, for me, came at the close of qualifying. Not while passing under the checkered flag after 15 minutes of intense concentration, trying to piece together a perfect lap and find those extra tenths of a second, in order to claw up the increasingly competitive starting grid. No, my moment came while sitting in pit lane . . . when the ST qualifying timed out under black flag conditions.

You see, there are a couple of ways to approach qualifying. You can show up for the session early and line up at the front so you can charge right out on the clear track ahead. Or, you can line up at the back, take the time to warm up the car and lay back to create your own space from the cars in front. I prefer the latter . . . and never, ever, want to start in the middle.

I paid the price for that preference during Friday’s qualifying session. After methodically getting some temperature into the brakes and the fresh sticker Continentals on the No. 12 Forte Koup, I launched out of Laguna’s final corner onto the front straight to cross the timing stripe and begin my first full qualifying lap. But, it was a lap I’d never finish.

As I exited turn five and began the long climb up the hill towards the famous Corkscrew, it would only be seconds later that my Delphi light would flash on the dash indicating a full course caution (or in this case a black flag since we weren’t under race conditions). I maintained pace up the hill, but as I turned down from the summit and looked towards turn nine, waving yellow flags indicated that I had arrived at the incident . . .a MINI buried in the gravel trap at the exit of the corner, minus one wheel.

In situations like this, the field returns to pit lane and waits while the safety team works to clear the incident. Critically though, the clock keeps ticking. In this case, the time required to extricate the diminutive MINI from the gravel trap exceeded the session’s 15 minutes. So now, I would fire the engine only to make a u-turn and return to the paddock and park the car.

As my out lap would be our only timed lap, we would, unsurprisingly, find ourselves gridded second to last . . . just ahead of the Mini that had found the gravel trap moments earlier. In the ultimate display of sportsmanship, Randy Smalley, the driver and owner of said MINI, came over to apologize for thwarting our qualifying efforts. A wheel failure was to blame, as the wheel center had sheared from the rim, causing the car to veer into the gravel trap. Regardless, it was super cool of Randy to come over to speak with us personally about what happened.

I know that I’ve spoken previously about how competitive this series has become over the past few years. But, sitting last on the grid and looking up at the mountain that you have to climb really puts it into perspective.

Beyond that, this weekend had additional importance to us and thus extra impetus for a strong showing. This race was a bit of a milestone from Trev and I - our 50th start as a driving duo. In this category of racing, it’s unusual that you find driver pairings with that kind of longevity, and Trevor and I were particularly proud to have reached that mark.

Additionally, a massive contingent of team members from Kia Motors America’s Irvine, CA headquarters had come to see THEIR Forte Koups
race for the first time. It’s hard to put into words what a fantastic group of people came up for this race. All of them engaging and curious about their race team, great to speak with and, above all, new fans. If only all of them could come to every race.

Trevor and I spent a lot of time discussing strategy with team manager, Ed Hall, and Christian Rushforth, our Chief Engineer, about our strategy for the race. We felt like we had to get pretty aggressive with our game plan in order to leapfrog the field and move us towards the front . . . even to the extent of me forgoing championship points by stopping before the half hour mark. This was an important weekend and we wanted a strong result.

Starting in the back of the field on Saturday morning, I had one thing on my mind: stay out of trouble. That was it. Deep in the grid, anything and everything can, and will, happen. Stay clean. Keep the car safe. Stick to our strategy and hand the car over to Trev in good order.

As I took the green flag, I did just that. Carefully working my way through the field . . . aggressively, but not taking any major risks. The field would catch a very early yellow . . . maybe around the seven to ten minute mark. This was a little too early for the strategy that we had outlined for the No. 12, so we didn’t pit for a driver change.

As luck would have it, that next yellow didn’t come before the 30 minute mark. And when the yellow did come, priority fell to the No. 10 because it fit perfectly into their strategy. So, I would stay on track eventually making my way up to third before coming into the pits under green to turn the car over to Trev and get some fresh rubber and fuel. Not the ideal strategy by any means.

We would fall back to 23rd, leaving Trevor with a tremendous amount of work to do. Unfortunately, our Koup would be fighting him all the way to the checkered. At first, gear changes became difficult, with particular notchiness between third, fourth and fifth gears. Later, Trev would radio in that he had lost fifth gear entirely. You can imagine, accelerating hard up to fourth gear, and then skipping into sixth that we were slipping, ever so slowly, down the running order. To add insult to injury, the transmission began popping out of gear, forcing Trev to drive one handed while he held the leaver in place. In case you were wondering, this is not a recipe for setting lightning fast lap times.

In a final crescendo moment, while taking evasive action off-track to avoid a pair of spinning MINIs that had tangled with each other, Trev cut a tire, forcing a return to the pits.

So, a dream weekend this was not. We managed to salvage 14th, but of course wished for more. Despite the result, our best encouragement came from our new friends from KMA. Excited about the race, thrilled to be close to the cars, we often heard, “Awesome job!”, “You’ll get ‘em at the next race!” Both Trev and I mentioned to each other how cool it was to get that kind of support from the rest of the Kia Team that we don’t get to see every weekend.

So, off to New Jersey Motorsports Park in a little over a week’s time. The Forte Koups are back at the Kinetic shop getting torn down and prepped with care. Nic’s (Jonsson) fourth place finish at Laguna extends his lead in the championship and, with two races to go, we are ready to continue our support of his charge. We are pumped for another track that should suit the Koup, and are looking forward to spending a little time in Atlantic City.

Until next time,

AB

Adam Burrows won the Continental Tire Sports Car Championship with co-driver Trevor Hopwood in his rookie season. After making the move to front wheel drive machinery in 2008, his race wins made him a threat in the championship battle as he closed out the year second in the year-end standings. The 2011 season will see him once again partner with Hopwood at Kinetic Motorsports in ST competition as part of the factory Kia Forte Koup campaign.

Learn more about Adam at http://konichamps.wordpress.com/
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