April 4, 2004-
Infineon Raceway- Sonoma, Ca
Instinct
Racing's Shows Promise @ Regional Season Opener........
Instinct Racing showed at the SCCA San Francisco Regional Season Opener with 3 drivers. Ricardo (Flat Out) Garcia, Mike Miller and Dan Phipps. This was the first race for Ricardo and the first race for Mike after a 4 year hiatus.
After the first practice the 3 drivers met with driving coaches Colin Cross & Jim Petrek to review the tricky 12 corner course of Infineon Raceway. During the teams debriefing, Colin and Jim made notes regarding the drivers feedback about the car and track knowledge. Several things were done to each car to enhance the performance.
The second practice of the day went along fine until Mike Miller had a motor go sour towards the end of the session. Mike called in a favor from Alumni driver Orrin Cross, to borrow a motor for the qualifying which was to be held in a few hours.
After a mad thrash to install the motor in Mikes car, and to make final adjustments to all cars, the team was set. The 3 drivers toured the circuit for the allotted 25 minuets. Mike Miller was the fastest of the team, putting his car 5th on the grid, with Ricardo right next to him. Dan was able to improve on his time and qualified 14th.
Sunday afternoon the green fell, Mike charged up to 4th with Ricardo right with him, only to see Mike lose it in turn 2, falling back to last. As the race progressed Ricardo was running a strong 5th closing on Don Manthe, until an electrical problem sidelined Ricardo on the last lap. Mike carving up through the field was able to get his car back to 6th at the checkered. Dan improving through the entire race, was able to better his starting position by 2 spots.
The next stop for the team will be April 24-25 at Thunderhill Raceway.
Photo Credits-Jim Petrek
Colin, Mike & Orrin Cross
