Due to the concerns and restrictions of the COVID-19 crisis, Team Sahlen had not been on track since December of 2019. Thus, it was with sincere enjoyment, that Team Sahlen was able to get back on track in June at the Summit Racing – American Endurance Racing event at Nelson Ledges Road Course
The Friday test day saw Team Sahlen putting laps of 4 different race cars, #943 Porsche Boxster “Mustard”, #41 Porsche Cayman GT4/PDK “Lunatic”, #42 Porsche Cayman GT4/PDK “Saucy” and #43 Audi R8 GT3 LMS Ultra “Retro”. The beautiful sunny days allowed the team to work through initial shake down runs as well as several fine tuning runs on suspension set up.
Will Nonnamaker shared his thoughts on the successful test day – “We had several off season programs we were working. And to finally be able to get out on track and see what the results were of the different ideas we had was very nice. As typical with any racing development, most of the ideas did not work. But we learned a lot and found some areas we can continue to work on for future races during the year.”
Saturday’s 4 hour enduro saw Team Sahlen start from the front row of the grid. Very stiff competition saw Team Sahlen mixing it up with in the early hours of the race. Excellent pit stops and consistent race lap pace saw Team Sahlen emerge in 1st and 2nd OVERALL with an hour to go in the race. A position the team maintained as the checkered flag flew to minutes later.
Joe Nonnamaker shared his thoughts after the race – “I 1st raced at Nelson Ledges 46 years ago, when I took my 1st driver’s school in my Ford Pinto. My fastest race lap today was something like 20 seconds faster than I went back then. That is quite a bit of difference in speed, especially on a track that only takes 77 seconds to get around. I really enjoyed today’s race. It was beautiful blue skies, and wonderful racing on this classic road course.”
As a result of their 1-2 finish on Saturday, Team Sahlen started Sunday’s 9 hour enduro on the front row of the grid. Again, Team Sahlen faced very steep competition. But never a team to not put up a challenge, Team Sahlen fought hard all day to bring the fight to the competition. The team maximized the several yellow and red flag conditions to their benefit in pit strategy. As well, the Team Sahlen crew executed super quick tire changes to minimize the time of the track. At the end of the day, Team Sahlen secured 2nd and 3rd OVERALL.
Wayne Nonnamaker shared his thoughts after the weekend was over – “What a great weekend of racing. It was really nice to be back on track after such a long layoff. The crew did a fantastic job all weekend. The 2 Caymans were on track for a combined 26 hours of racing, and we didn’t have one mechanical or pit stop error. That says a lot to the preparation and dedicated efforts of each member of the team.”
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