Workman / Tibbett WRL Road Atlanta - Victory and 2nd 16.07.2018: World Racing League - Peachtree Grand Prix Road Atlanta July 13-15th, 2018 Jason Workman / Simon Tibbett/ Alex Ethier in #213 Casy Carden Motorsport Mazda SATURDAY

World Racing League - Peachtree Grand Prix
Road Atlanta
July 13-15th, 2018




Jason Workman  / Simon Tibbett / Alex Ethier in  #213 Casy Carden Motorsport Mazda



SATURDAY
 

We came into Atlanta confident after a successful weekend in Daytona. With Road Atlanta being our home track and Alex Ethier having experience here we knew we could be in good shape for another win.



Saturday started off with Jason taking the green flag and we started moving up to eventually leading our class. Our pace was so good and strategy working so well we even topped third overall at one point in our little Mazda MX-5. Jason got a strong lead before pitting and handing the car to Alex.



Alex ran a good stint keeping us in the lead and turning consistent laps. We maintained our lead in class though dropped some overall as the faster cars got their pit stops done. Alex ended up doing a double stint and pitting for me to do a double.



I got in the car and felt good, just going quick but saving the car for Jason to round out the day. Despite some heavy traffic on occasion we maintained our top ten advantage and multiple lap lead in class.




Jason got in to finish the race and despite the tires starting to fall off we were able to continue turning laps and eventually taking the checkered flag. Another win and another top ten for Casey Carden Motorsports!



Sunday’s race is a seven-hour race with a two hour “quiet time.” This is required for local noise ordinance. Cars are parked in pit lane under parc ferme rules and cannot be touched.



The driver lineup is Alex starting the car and running two hours before myself will get in and then Jason. We have a long afternoon ahead of us and we will push hard like always.





SUNDAY


Alex took the green flag for us on Sunday and quickly reported handling concerns with the car. We told him to just drive it and see if it came to him. The track was not in perfect shape at the start anyway as the whole field was a little slower at Saturday.



At the restart after quiet time I got in the car to run a double stint. The car indeed did have some handing issues, but I was able to cope and find a way to manage it. We narrowed it down to the differential which was causing a lot of the problem and causing the car to slide a lot.



We also had a leaking axle boot. It was one of the hardest stints I’ve done in a car as it was such a handful. The team did everything they could to prepare for the race Sunday but it was entirely out of their control, so we had to work with what we had.



I made it back up to third position and pitted for Jason to get in the car to finish the race. Luckily it was a smooth stint and he just kept turning good laps. With good strategy we finally crossed the line in second in class.



 While it wasn’t another win we were hoping for second place is still nothing to be ashamed at especially with a car that was so hard to drive. Our team did everything by the book and we walk away from the weekend with two podiums and a handful of good points.

Our next race in the World Racing League is at Barber Motorsports Park next month.
 



- Simon Tibbett -  photos  Mrs Tibbett