K-PAX Racing collected two top-ten finishes in the first of two races at Optima Batteries Mid-Ohio Grand Prix presented by Game Streamer, round 8 of the 2010 World Challenge Championships.
Randy Pobst started from the number 5 position on the grid in the number 6 K-PAX Racing Volvo S60 and moved up to fourth on the opening lap just before the race’s first caution, which lasted for four laps.
Randy would hold the fourth position until lap 6, when he was passed by Patrick Lindsey in a Porsche 911 GT3. Mid-Ohio’s long straights combined with the reduced horsepower and extra weight the K-PAX Volvos must compete with due to the S60’s all-wheel drive made it difficult for Randy to hold his position against lighter, more powerful competitors. As a result, he dropped back in the field to ninth, before recapturing two positions to finish seventh.
Mike Skeen collected his first win of the season in a Chevrolet Corvette. Porsche 911 GT3s completed the podium with James Sofronas finishing second and Patrick Lindsey third.
“As long as there are enough corners, it’s a good race and we can actually turn a good lap time here. I was only a tenth of a second off the pole, but in the race, horsepower is very easy to pass with. So the guy behind us passes us on the straight, and we get stuck behind him through all the corners. Then the next guy behind us passes us on the straight and then were stuck behind him in the corners and we knife our way rearward because of the straightaway situation,” Randy explained.
Randy’s teammate Andy Pilgrim, started third in the number 8 K-PAX Volvo S60 and moved up to second on lap 3 before being passed by Skeen going into the keyhole section on lap 5. Like his team mate, Andy was unable to hold off lighter competition and was shuffled further back in the running order. He finished ninth.
“We’ve just got to work on it. Hopefully it will be better for tomorrow, but even so I think it’s going to be very tough for us to get a really good result this weekend – either one of us. The [extra] weight really hurt us. If we were the weight of the other guys, we’d be able to compete [more effectively],” Andy said.
Randy’s lead in driver’s championship is 102 over second place Kuno Wittmer and he is 185 points ahead of third place Dino Crescentini.
Volvo’s lead in the manufacturer’s championship standings is 6 points over Porsche and 14 ahead of Dodge.
K-PAX Racing will be back in action for the second of two races at the Optima Batteries Mid-Ohio Grand Prix presented by Game Streamer on Sunday, August 8, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
All World Challenge practice sessions, qualifying and races can be followed live at www.world-challenge.com. The K-PAX Racing team can be followed at www.kpaxracing.com or on Twitter @kpaxracing.
