Ruman Scores a 6th in SCCA Trans-Am Race at VIR

Amy Ruman scored another top ten finish in her #23 McNichols Co./Goodyear/Cenweld Chevrolet Corvette in round 2 of the Muscle Milk SCCA Trans-Am Series this past weekend at VIRginia International Raceway. Ruman started 9th in the 20-car grid for the 28-lap, 91.56-mile race on Sunday afternoon.

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Amy Ruman Slated to Run Trans-Am Series Heads at VIR for Round 2

Coming off her third place podium finish in the first round of the Muscle Milk SCCA Trans-Am at Road Atlanta, Amy Ruman and the Ruman Racing team are headed to Virginia International Raceway for Round 2 of the Trans-Am Series. Ruman will take to the track starting Thursday April 16 for a test day. Friday and Saturday afternoon sessions will be practice, followed by one qualifying session on Sunday morning at 8:50. The Trans-Am race will start approximately at 3:15 pm Sunday, the last race of the day.

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Gail Hill testing Silverstone

Gail Hill was back on track last weekend at Silverstone but not in her usual Jaguar.  She was testing the Ginetta G50 sports car and is now working hard to raise enough money to compete in the G50 Cup this season which forms part of the British Touring Cars package.

The car is powered by a Ford 3.5 litre engine developing 300bhp but with the car weighing in at only 945kg there is more than enough power all of which is fed through a Quaife six speed sequential box to the rear wheels. She had not previously driven such a professionally built car and wanted to make sure she wasn’t a complete numpty behind the wheel. ‘I am really looking forward to throwing it around the GP circuit but sadly the slick tyres have been replaced with full wets due to the sopping wet conditions after all the rain last night’ she said prior to going out for her first few taster laps.

The conditions were treacherous and she did admit to turning in a bit late at Vale and spinning onto the grass infield. Once she re-familiarised herself with the circuit layout however and got used to the slip shift system she was flying. The car is an absolute dream to drive with extremely responsive steering and ten times easier than my non power assisted V12 she quipped later. The acceleration is lightning quick and the whole package feels right, very easy to develop confidence even in such bad conditions though I am only driving at around 80% because I haven’t organised insurance, and this baby is worth more than my annual salary she joked after completing several stints in the car.

It was a shame that the track never really dried out all morning so she never got the chance to see how the car performed on slick tyres but she was very happy with the support provided by Ginetta cars who had transported the car down for the day, many thanks to them.

Asked afterwards what the next step was she said ‘I need to arrange to see my commercial partners now and get the money together. I can definitely go well in the car and with more seat time think I could do well in the G50 Cup. The hard work starts now with trying to get all the funds in place and with the current economic climate it could be hard and there is not much time before the season begins. I’ll be spending more time on the phone and travelling around I suspect in the next few weeks but I am hopeful of getting a package together.That said, anyone who is interested in talking to me about what is on offer, the TV and other media exposure, corporate hospitality etc then don’t be shy and do get in touch.’

Lets hope we do see this ex Jaguar champion driver out competing with the mostly male grids that appear on the TOCA calendar.

Halliday enjoys ALMS return despite Petit Le Mans retirement

Liz Halliday’s return to her native USA didn’t end as she would have hoped after an accident for co-driver Dean Stirling forced an early retirement at the Petit Le Mans race. However, despite that frustration, the California-born dual sportswoman enjoyed her outing with Creation AIM. [Read more]

Justine Jackson takes a DOUBLE-VICTORY at the Palisadoes International Raceway

The Jamaica Karting Association held their 9th racemeet of the year at the Palisadoes International Raceway in Kingston, Jamaica on Sunday, September 21, 2008. Justine Jackson, driver of Kart # 0, participated in the Rotax Senior Class only in an effort of focusing on her Championship hopes, being 2nd in the hunt and only 27 points out of the lead.

Her efforts proved to be worth it as she started off her day on a high capturing pole position in the 5 minute qualifying session. Starting from P1, Justine sped off to take 2 victories in race 1 and race 2 (12 laps each) along with the fastest lap in race 2 earning an extra point as she continued to reel in the championship lead.

Race 3 proved to be different as she started from 4th place and after getting a bad start, was pushed back to P6 after the first corner. But with a strong head on her shoulders, Justine quickly grabbed back her 4th position after passing 2 karts on lap 1 and another on lap 2- kart # 83 who proved to be her battling partner for the 15 lap race. Now in 3rd place and P1 and P2 still in close contact, Justine and kart # 83 dueled throughout the race, but her 3rd place finish was lost as she caught up on a bunch of lapped karters within the closing laps of the race. In exiting the last corner onto the main straight, Justine took to the outside line and kart # 83 took the inside to sandwich the lapped karter and in a photo-finish was just barely clipped on the finish line to take 4th place.

A job well done for the young Formula 1 aspirant, taking the overall Rotax Senior Class victory! She now trails by 24 points in the championship. With only 2 racemeets left, can she capture the 2008 Rotax Senior Championship? Only time will tell. She sure thinks so!

Double podium finish for Sarah Bennett-Baggs!

Sarah’s inaugural outing in her new loaned 911 SC won her a double podium finish at Silverstone over the weekend. Extending her points for 2nd in the Championship.

Sarah Bennett-Baggs returned to the Porsche Club Championship at Silverstone last weekend - following a huge accident at Castle Combe three weeks ago, which wrote off her beautiful pink 1978 Porsche 911 SC.

Sarah was loaned an identical car Porsche 911, which was quickly prepared with her engine and gearbox by Harvey Racing, then wrapped in an eye-catching pink furry wrap by Cre8, Potters Bar based Creative Agency. [Read more]

Sarah Wheery gets two wins at Cadwell

Grimsby lady car racer Sarah Wherry managed to get two first in class wins at Cadwell Park on Saturday the 6th in her Toyota MR2 MK2 2L, it was the first time she has raced the car in the Nippon Challenge a new series set up for any Japanese cars to race in,”I was racing against Evo`s,Subaru`s,Nissan`s ,Mazda`s and Honda`s it was great racing in difficult wet conditions, “so to get the wins at my local circuit was brilliant said Sarah”. [Read more]

Good weekend for Shea Holbrook at Labour day Members Memorial SCCA

Labor Day Members Memorial SCCA

Rainy Florida turned out to be a good weekend for Shea Holbrook. Shea has been very busy racing with NASA in a Teen Mazda Challenge up north at tracks such as, Mid-Ohio, Summit Point and Road Atlanta.

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Highs and Lows at Castle Combe for the Pink Panther

Sarah Bennett-Baggs went fully prepared with her pink Porsche to Mondays Castle Combe event after a successful test day where her pink 911 3.0SC was fully back on song.

The results were confirmed in qualifying when she put in a fantastic time 0.5s quicker than last years pole time! However it wasn’t enough as her much more experienced rival Jeremy Clark, put in an even quicker time to get pole position. So it was 2nd in Class on the grid for Sarah and over 2s clear of her next rival in 3rd.

The tightly packed grid of the Wiltshire circuit was always going to be challenging as sprint races here are all about the start. Sarah had a door banging start to the first race, but kept her nerve and came out of the first few corners on Jeremy’s tail, chasing him hard to the end of the race to finish a close second and half a lap clear of the next competitor in 3rd.

The 2nd race of the day was not to be so successful. Another brilliant start by Sarah holding her own in the bun fight to get down to quarry corner. She turned into Quarry alongside her rival Jeremy Clark, but an incident was unfolding up ahead and the 911 of Ian Oliver got tapped into a spin in front of Jeremy. He braked to avoid the accident and Sarah’s path was clear to go, but as Sarah pushed hard to pass, the spinning car came across her path and she T-boned the car at full throttle. With such a high speed accident the race was red flagged to recover the two cars. Both Ian and Sarah were unhurt in the incident which resulted in both cars being badly damaged.

Hope’s to fix the pink panther look rather doubtful in just three weeks before the next rounds at Silverstone, but Sarah is more hopeful of returning to finish the series in a borrowed car of similar type.

Despite this, Sarah is still lying 2nd in the Class Championship standings and is down but not out!

The final rounds of the Porsche Club Championship are at Silverstone GP circuit and Spa Francorchamps

Good run for Justine Jackson at the Palisadoes International Raceway

The Jamaica Karting Association held their eighth race-meet of the year on Sunday August 24 at the Palisadoes International Raceway in Kingston, Jamaica, having been postponed from the previous Sunday, when Tropical Storm Fay passed through flooding the track.

Justine Jackson participated in the event racing in two classes- FR 125cc Rotax Senior Class and the 125cc Shifter class with a total of 6 races, qualifying 3rd and 5th respectively.

Her day got off to a bad start after being involved in an on-track incident in Race 1 of the Rotax senior class where she was punted from behind and forced into another kart, followed by an off-track incident with an angry parent which really affected her mentally. But remembering what she learnt at the Women in the Winner’s Circle Driver Development Program, she had to put it behind her knowing that she still had 5 more races. Jackson would later finish 3rd in Race 1, 4th in Race 2 and she claimed the top spot in Race 3!

In the Shifter Class she finished where she started in Race 1 and 2- 5th place. But Race 3 would later shape up to be the most exciting race of the day. Justine drove her heart out, racing from 3rd on the grid to 1st in a handful of laps while being trailed by the top 2 qualifiers, kart #90(championship leader) & #23. She held her own driving defensively making it virtually impossible for her competitors to get by, not making a single mistake despite enormous pressure from behind. But what looked like a second win for the day turned into a 2nd place finish after being passed on lap 5 by kart #90. For the remaining laps she battled with kart #23 trading 2nd place, back and forth, 3 times before finally finishing 3rd after a race well fought. But her competitors had nothing but praise for the 17 yr-old, Formula 1 aspirant.

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