ALMS Round 2 - St.Petersburg street race.

After the ups and downs of Sebring the team arrived at St Petersburg hopeful of improving on their creditable performance in the 12 hour classic race.

Ben was looking forward to the challenges a street course presents. Having raced the streets of Miami, Washington, Trois Rivieres and Houston Ben was eager to "hit the streets" once again. Unfortunately, due to a combination of an electrical glitch on the car and Ben himself suffering from a virus, laps before the race were very limited.

Jamie was given the job of qualifying, he also had very few laps due to the electrical gremlins and the very crowded schedule of the weekend. However, Jamie did a great job in qualifying and the car sat on the grid ahead of the GT cars and ready to chase down the rest of the LMP2 pack.

Ben, although still not 100%, felt well enough to race and was given the job of starting. He got off to a clean start and managed to pass the Autocon and Intersport LMP1 cars, also gaining 2 more places due an altercation at the front of the field, causing an Audi and Penske Porsche to pit.

With a few laps under his belt Ben was putting in very competitive times and reported that the car felt good, the engine felt strong and the Kumhos where working really well. This was the most consecutive laps the car had run all week and the lap times showed this, with Ben's fastest lap nearly 2 seconds quicker than the car had gone previously.

Sadly, it was'nt to last, as on lap 26 the car pulled over to the side of the track and would'nt re-start, the electric gremlins that had plagued the team all week had returned and the car was unfortunately towed off the circuit and out of the race.

Down but most definitely not out as Ben confirmed the car felt good, very quick and with a good balance. It would appear the only thing missing is testing miles, but at the moment the race schedule is such that testing opportunities are nil.They will however have the chance for some serious testing and data logging after the Houston race.

Next stop is Long Beach, California and another street race. Ben, Jamie and the team are once again looking forward to the challenge, all feel it's only a matter of time before everything comes together and the B-K Mazdaspeed Lola achieves the success it deserves.

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