2021 Opening Weekend at Palmer
The first event of the 2021 race season for me ended up being a last minute trek up to Palmer Motorsports Park to compete in the opening New England Region SCCA race of the season May 1st-2nd. Having not been to Palmer since the beginning of 2019 and having almost a year off from Miata racing I used up the valuable test day to get a feel for the fantastic Flatout Motorsports MX-5. Gradually building speed and confidence every session I got to a pace that seemed to be competitive considering the tires I was on and the track conditions. But I wouldn’t find out until the Saturday morning qualifying session.
Qualifying
Qualifying was the first real test of 2021 as I attempted to tame the 2.3 mile Palmer Motorsports Park. The track is built basically in the side of a mountain giving over 500 feet of elevation change and a unique challenge for drivers. The car felt fast and I managed the 3rd fastest time of the session only half a tenth off 2nd.
Race 1
Saturday afternoon hosted the first of 3 races that weekend with an 18 minute + 1 lap race to set the grid for Sunday’s morning race. I lined up 3rd and got a decent start with the leaders battling side by side through turn 1 and 2. But then going up into the hard braking zone for turn 4 I had to check up for one of the leaders filing back into line in the brake zone which allowed John Raudat too move around me into 3rd. The rest of the race was paying catchup with a T4 Subaru finding it’s way between me and Raudat leaving me stuck for most of the race. When he finally was out of the way, I had 2 laps to make an attempt to get 3rd back but wasn’t able too on the tough to pass circuit. P4 wasn’t a bad result but definitely didn’t show our full potential.
Race 2
Race 2 was definitely the highlight of the weekend. Rolling off 4th and another good start racing side by side into turn 1. Unfortunately that out of class Subaru struck again taking us 3 wide into the first corner and splitting me from Raudat in 3rd place once again. After a couple of laps being stuck once again, the T4 car took off past John and left us to battle it out. It took a few laps of hard fighting but eventually I was able to make a move when he drove in a little too deep at turn 4. At that point I drove away with my eyes set on the leaders Evan Karl and Christian Sarnecki who had built a gap to us while we fought. I clawed back some time but ultimately didn’t have enough time to catch back up finishing only 1.5 seconds behind 2nd. But the first podium of the year and a 3rd place starting spot going into the final race had me confident.
Full onboard from race 2 can be found here
Race 3
“All the time you have to leave a space!” - Fernando Alonso
Race 3 was nothing but frustration. Started in line behind of the T4 car (3rd in class) which should have helped give a clear run into turn 1. Unfortunately it wasn’t the best start and without the draft of a Miata in front it allowed a car behind to get the jump on me into turn 1 pushing me back to 4th once again. Fortunately the car that passed me had been a couple seconds slower in qualifying so I was able to stay aggressive and pass him back within the lap. We went side by side for a few corners before I made the move around the outside when he forgot I was there and made contact around the second half of the lap. After that I spent a few laps driving away and chasing the leaders which had once again built a gap. Then a full course yellow came out, ultimately ending the race early after only 6 laps (most of them behind the safety car).
Overall a promising weekend to start the year with a lot of potential upside heading into the meat of the season in June. Stay tuned for more and follow me on social media to stay up to date with all my latest events.
