Group-A Racing Takes Championship Lead at COTA
After an intense season long battle in all three classes of the Blue Marble Cocktails Radical Cup, Group-A Racing has taken a narrow championship lead in the top Platinum class at the penultimate round this past weekend.
Group-A Racing entered three drivers for the 5th round of the Blue Marble Cocktails Radical Cup event at COTA. Full times Reid Stewart (PRO 1340) , Steve Jenks (Platinum), and Aurora Straus (PRO 1500) rejoined the team following a successful triple podium debut weekend at Watkins Glen.
After a lot of promise showed during testing and official practice sessions, qualifying left a bit to be desired by all three drivers under the Group-A Racing tent. With a very tight field as always, all three drivers qualified 4th in their given class. Race one saw Jenks find some extra pace in his 425HP Platinum class Radical SR10, lighting up the timing board every lap with fastest lap of the race and moving forward in a hurry. Jenks found himself on the gearbox of the leade, Jon Field with a win seeming imminent. Sadly, a fuel pump issue would cause a temporary shut down of Jenks car, causing him to pull over and re cycle the system. He would lose a tremendous amount of time and go from challenging for the win to having to settle for 6th. Aurora Straus would pick up where she left off. She instantly moved forward to 3rd in the opening laps, running with series regular, Greg Gorski, for 2nd. Aurora would come across the line in 3rd extending her podium streak to 4, in as many races. Reid Stewart would find himself in an unlucky situation. A few cars tangled in front of him in the opening lap, and would collect him, creating race ending damage.
Steve Jenks would start race 2 on the pole after setting fastest lap in race 1. He would lose two spots on the opening lap to those who chose new tires for that race but was able to quickly stable pace and start to close in. Trouble would strike championship leader Robert Rossi, with him dropping out of the race lead, moving Jenks up to 2nd. Jenks would come home with a 2nd place podium result behind hometown hero, Judd Miller. Jenks gained many points on championship rivals, with them all having trouble. Aurora Straus found herself in an intense 3-way battle for 2nd with two veterans; Greg Gorski and Alain Derzi. The back-and-forth manner would carry on for the entire 40-minute race, including side-by-side battles in the final corners. Playing the long game in very dicey situations, Aurora would settle for 4th to protect the equipment for the final race that afternoon. Reid Stewart had a massive drive forward starting last, since he was taken out of the opening lap of the first race. Stewart using speed and race craft in his Fasano Textiles/Group-A Racing PRO 1340, and would charge all the way to 3rd, earning a podium from the back. He also earned the races Sunoco Hard Charger Award.
Final race of the weekend features the mid race fixed pit stop. In the race, Steve Jenks was in another intense three-way battle for the lead with John Field and hometown hero Judd Miller. The three would trade positions back and forth, eventually with Field and Jenks pulling away. Jenks was on the gearbox of Field, but struggling to find a way past, so the team elected to pit him early, hoping to achieve the ‘undercut’ on its rival. Jenks executed a very good in lap, pit entry, and the team released him at the perfect time. Jenks found himself in clear space, allowing him to lay fast laps down. When John Field exited the pits a few laps later, Steve Jenks found himself leapfrogging to the lead by 7 seconds, a well timed out and perfectly executed strategy, turning the race in Group-A’s favor. Jenks was able to cruise to victory from there, his third of the season. Aurora Straus would have some bad luck find her. In the opening laps, a shifting issue later found to be a failed actuator would cause her race to end early. Reid Stewart was involved in a 5-car battle in PRO 1340. Again, with the field tight, the team elected to pit him early hoping to achieve the undercut on the competition. Just like his team mate, Stewart executed a good in lap, pit entry and the team released him perfectly allowing him to leapfrog up to 3rd. An intense battle all around would find Stewart having to settle for 4th in a huge stacked PRO 1340 field.
Going into the season finale at Sonoma Raceway October 28-30, Steve Jenks has launched himself to the championship lead in the Platinum class. Jenks has a small 8 point lead over Rossi and Field, with Judd Miller, only 30 back. In what has been a huge learning year and his first full season in racing, Reid Stewart finds himself in an impressive 3rd in the PRO 1340 field going into the final event. Group-A Racing finds itself 2nd not far behind in the team championship in the Platinum Class and leading the PRO 1500 class.
Race Fans can re watch the live stream coverage from COTA on the Radical Motorsports Youtube page https://www.youtube.com/c/RadicalMotorsport
Group-A Racing is an exclusive dealer of Radical Motorsports for the North East. Parties interested in all things pertaining to Radical Motorsports, such as new cars, used cars, parts, service, arrive-and-drive opportunities, contact Jonathan Scarallo info@GroupARacingTeam.com 631-974-4379.