Cordeiro report; nothing sweeter than a repeater...

[andrew1984]

Cordeiro report; nothing sweeter than a repeater...

It was a fantastic feeling going into the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup race, at Autobahn County Club, with the sense of accomplishment from Mid-Ohio. I was looking to repeat (or better!).

I arrived a day early at the track to setup camp and scope out the premises. The track seemed very flat and predictable, more technical than gutsy. Like all things, don't knock it until you try it. It was fast and unexpecting. I placed third in practice and was on a roll! Totally stoked, I headed to my camper to chill out and recharge the batteries before the qualifying session.

We hit the track to qualify and I kept my eye out for the top two from practice. No dice! Where were they??? The track has several straights but not very long in distance making it difficult to judge a good separation from the competitor ahead. I never gave myself enough room to cut a clean fast lap, bad move Andrew! Qualified 6th. Lesson learned! But maybe not so appreciated, yet. I was still happy that I was starting on the third row and positioned to take a podium.

Racing under green... Great start! Passed for P4. Three more to go! I wasn't greedy, all I wanted was a podium finish . A few laps passed and we kept it neat and single file, trying to distinguish ourselves from the middle pack. Megenbier caught Pombo braking too early. I was on Megenbier's BUMPER, surprise! I quickly stabbed the brakes and tried to avoid and overtake -like that deer on I-75 the other day-, but no such luck this time. I smucked his rear bumper. Gave my car a "black eye"! (see pic) Couldn't make the pass clean and gave it up. Doing so, I lost a position to Atterbury, falling back to P5.

Oh snap. Here comes the battle. We raced HARD. Neck to neck down the straight and through the corners. I made several attempts to pass but they never stuck for a clean pass, so I let up. Time was running down and my podium was slipping away. We raced hard down to Turn 1. Atterbury braked too late and his car began hopping off the line. The door was WIDE open. Success! (Borat) I took back P4 and began to gain on Pombo. Out comes the double yellow and the race was over. Checkered flag. WHAT A TEASE!

I definitely want to thank my partners for without their support I would not be able to pursue my dream.

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