Round 2 was set for the legendary Sebring International Circuit for the Porsche Cup Challenge. 4 new teams showed up for this round while several teams were missing. Most noticeably was Team Professor the series points leader. The new teams of Eaton, Thompson, Pester, and Frampton making their debut would have to wait as preparations were delayed due to the Porsche Cup track wagon wouldn't start. After difficulties of track workers and equipment were overcome the race day was underway. Mike Long helped out the ailing track mobile by putting his Excursion to work. The hour delay gave the surface time to warm up and teams a chance to finish up last minute preparations.
QualifyingSebring wasn't the longest track on the Porsche Cup calendar but at 440' is was no slouch either. As qualifying started the new entries of #46 Joel Eaton, #42 Rory Pester, #41 Mike Thompson, and #90 Frank Frampton took to the track for the first time. During the 10 minute session Eaton took the early pole position with Kendall in tow. No one seemed to threaten the lock these two had on the front row until the last minute of qualifying #68 Anthony Aquila stole the pole from Eaton with a staggering 17.756 seven tenths faster lap! In Senna-esque fashion the experienced driver put together a cracking lap with no time left of the clock.
Round 1As the 11 teams filled the grid the anticipation was brewing during final inspection. The lights went out and all Porsche Cup cars barreled into turn one. Amazingly most survived but Turn 3 proved to be the collapse of nearly the entire field. A serious pile up ensued and only Eaton, Parker, and Kendall survived the melee. Eaton would lead until a mishap dropped him back for what appeared to be a early pit stop. Parker took over the lead at this point but was struggling with a less than ideal set-up. At this point everyone was doing their best to deal with Turn 3 as the off-camber turn leading into a tight switch back led more than one Porsche off line. Though Kendall would soon assume the lead Parker, Eaton and Aquila fought hard to make a run at the #23 Porsche. The mid-pack was where the real action was as both McCrea's, Frampton, Landefeld, and Thompson all battled what seemed to be every corner. Ultimately Kendall took the victory but the race wasn't going to finish with incident. Suddenly Parker's Porsche veered across two sections of the track only to collide head on with Landefeld's #73 Porsche in a massive explosion of lexan. Amazingly both cars continued to the finish once again showcasing the strength of the F103GT chassis in a crash that would claim both chassis 9 out of 10. The podium opened up for Pester and nearly caught Eaton finishing on 80 laps just 7.5 seconds behind. A great race for the two new-comers to finish on the podium first time out.
Race 2 coming soon...
