On The Line
September 17th, 2022
Porsche Club of America, Summit Pt. Schattenbaum Region Club Race, Endurance Series.
Team Members: Bryan Shute, Alex Amaral, Don Karagianes, Boris Kalimantan, Todd Pajonas, Art Tsang, Grant Maiman.
I was invited by SpeedSport Tuning of Danbury, Connecticut, to spend the week with them while they competed for the Porsche Club of America national race series. Schattenbaum Region hosted the event at Summit Point Raceway in the rolling hills of West Virginia.
The weather was on the cusp of transitioning from summer to autumn. Rolling fog caught everyone by surprise one of the mornings and caused a significant delay. Flaggers from one corner could not see the large waving flags at the next corners: a clear safety risk. I honestly think I was the only one enjoying the reprieve to take some slower-paced foggy shots of the eerily quiet track. The only thing heard during this red flag condition was radio chatter back to Control Tower regarding who was waving a flag and if the stations could see. One by one, the corners began to give the clearing and the engines started their warmup cycles in the paddock. With tire blankets removed, pressures were documented and pre-running rituals commenced.
The crew was there late the night before making setup changes based on performance mannerisms and driver inputs. Grant Maiman, former driver for Formula Red Bull Racing, was on hand providing coaching for the team members. Drivers were inside the trailer reviewing video feeds and telemetry. Want to know how to get a jump on the competition at the start of the race? Grant sat with the drivers reviewing every pedal and steering input. An out-lap, even under yellow flag prior to race, takes less than four minutes. The team spent over 20 minutes discussing decisions, strategies, tricks and tips to maximize the tires, brakes and vehicle conditions during that four minute period, so that when the green flag waves - passes can be had.
I try to keep a radio handy whenever shooting in these environments. The more information I have while out there, the better I can prepare for what's next and where I should be going. Over the radio, I could hear the Marshalls discussing the abrupt move caused by one of the drivers- it was Todd Pajonas, driving with SpeedSport, in contention for the win, and also winning the championship series for the year. A LOT WAS ON THE LINE. Post race discussions about a penalty were looming, yet refuted, because the driver (Pajonas) was actually keeping an eye on something that nobody else behind was – the pace car was entering pit lane slower than expected.
Each series has nuanced breakdowns of rules. Exactly where does pit lane start? There is a demarcation line. In this case, there was a precedent of the leading car passing a pace car while it was entering pit lane – before crossing the line - and the car got a stiff penalty. Pajonas, having slowed down to match the speed of the pace car was unexpected by everyone including the flaggers and marshals watching – but it was exactly the right thing to do. So much of racing is about the split second choices, and responding calmly instead of impulsively. Could what was perceived as a brake check give him an advantage before entering the front straightaway? Absolutely. Was it the correct thing to do according to the rule structure of the series? Absolutely. The start allowed Todd to have a clean start and avoid being passed which would have ultimately netted further lap time loses. Todd carried on taking the win and ultimately won the championship in the GTC6 class with just 7.5 points of separation. Todd has an odd tradition of licking a Swedish Fish and sticking it on the hood. Eating it off the hood – no hands – after a win. Simply amazing that these fish stick with only saliva at 170mph! What is in those fish…
~ Chris Booth // @EdgeOfAdhesion
