What a week in Sebring!!!! Gateway Racing Inc. managed a 5th place finish in the grueling 100 mile SCCA Pro Trans-Am race at Sebring International Raceway, part of the 12 Hour ALMS weekend.

Weather was gorgeous, sunny 80 °F every day, but the week was far from smooth! Winter car glitches that are usually worked out in the first practice session of the year, haunted the crew and resulted in almost no practice time, which meant being a day behind in set-up and driver training. “Robbie-the wrench” and his valiant crew never gave up and worked tirelessly to get the car ready for the race. It ran flawlessly thru the entire race, many thanks to Penny, John, Robbie, Martin,  Brian, and Rod.

The race itself was most eventful. Starting seventh,  the Gateway car was able to keep pace until a missed shift in turn 5 resulted in a spin and backwards contact with the tire wall, dropping us to 14th position. The car wasn’t too badly damaged, and Blaise was able to continue although the flat spotting of the tires resulted in some severe vibration and a loose condition for the balance of the race. Luckily for us, a full course yellow bunched the field up and we were able to pick up a few position after the re-start.  We actually made it to 4th, but a fuel pick-up problem in the last few laps lost us that position.

5th was an awesome finish for the team, proving that low-budget operations can successfully compete with the “big boys” with some luck and perseverance. Many thanks for all the support, and we look forward to our next Trans-Am race at Mosport on the May 24 weekend.