While 2008 continues to present it's share of challenges, Andreas Wirth meets each race weekend with his usual optimisim. Attitude and determination on the part of this young racer and his crew has been rewarded with relatively consistent results and top ten finishes in each of the first three rounds of 2008 Atlantic Championship competition for the #88 WIRSOL Solar Energy/SUEBA USA Development entry.
Going into the weekend, Wirth was eager to acquaint himself with a track he'd never set wheels on before, and even inclement weather couldn't dampen his enthusiasm. Unfortunately however, his positive attitude and passion to race and win couldn't overcome all of the obstacles that would present themselves at Tremblant.
Recounting the events of the weekend, Wirth explained, "We had a test day at Tremblant on Friday and we learned some positive things during the day, so I was feeling pretty confident for qualifying. Unfortunately though, when we got out there on Saturday it started drizzling a little and my car didn't get in fast enough as I'd hoped for, so I wasn't able to get everything out of it because the tires weren't in yet when it started raining harder.
I ended up P6 in provisional qualifying, but the times really didn't reflect what we could have done if the weather had been better. It was pouring rain again for our second qualifying session, but it was really a lot of fun out there!
At times it was quite interesting because there was so much water on the track – there was a lot of aqua-planing, so it was sometimes kinda crazy on the straights – you didn't even touch the brakes and the car was going sideways! Once it dried up a bit toward the end of the session it was a really cool track to drive, and our car was great.
We ended up P3 for the session which was okay, but I know we could have done better if I had a couple more clear laps without any spray in front of me – there are so many fast corners that it really hurts your times when the visibility is so bad."
Not knowing for sure what the weather man had in store for race day, the team prepared their strategies and maybe even hoped for a little rain. Since Tremblant provides very few opportunities for passing, Wirth was a little disappointed to be starting on the outside of the grid in 6th place. That said though, Andreas had a great outlook for the race since his car had performed so well in qualifying.
Explaining his run that produced a 7th place finish Wirth said, "I had an okay start, but it's really tough through turn one because there is room for only one car through the chicane. I just wanted to make it through clean, and the guys that started on the inside definitely had an advantage, so I lost one position.
We got through the first lap okay, but coming out of the last turn I had engine misfires, so the acceleration dropped out and the guys behind got a run on me and a couple of them got by. I don't know what the problem was – it could be the ECU or the Master Switch, or maybe the wires after all the rain this weekend – we really don't know yet but it was just very unfortunate that it had to happen on race day.
I feel sorry for my guys, and want to thank them for all of the hard work they put in this weekend, we just weren't fortunate enough to bring home the good results yet."
Andreas is 6th in the standings as the Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda returns to Edmonton Alberta for the first double header of the season, which take place in Edmonton July 25 – 27 . Having produced podium finishes with each of his visits to Edmonton, Wirth is obviously optimistic for better results in the near future.
Don't forget to get involved and join the competition with Andreas as he continues to chase the Atlantic Championship Title – enter his 2008 prediction contest and win an AW Motorsport Prize Package!
Visit www.RacingRealities.com for complete details.
-Gail Shankland -
