Season is coming down to the wire…

Thunderhill Raceway was host in September to Rounds 11 and 12 of the San Francisco Region SCCA Championship. Joining the regulars were the always-fast boys from Oregon who have enjoyed good results at Thunderhill over the years. The weekend was a mixed bag for our car featuring a big mistake (spinning from the lead at T5) as well as two pole positions and a win. My main competitor in the points race, Darin Posley, took 2nd place on Saturday but broke a tie rod on Sunday taking him out of the race so we left the weekend the way we entered: me leading the championship by about four points.

Unfortunately four points does not a lead make, because the final race of the season is a double-points race and the separation between the top positions are four points. So, it’s going to be a single race winner-take-all showdown at Laguna Seca on October 17th. If I finish ahead of Darin, I win the championship. If he finishes ahead, he wins. Laguna has been home to some great racing for me this season including my first overall win so I am glad to be heading to a track that suits our package. We had some minor mechanical issues at Thunderhill with a CV joint going bad and that will be repaired in time for the next race putting us back at 100%.

There is also a four-hour enduro on Sunday which while the #12 car will be sitting in the trailer (hopefully covered in champagne!), I may be co-driving another car at the race, possibly in preparation for the 25 Hours of Thunderhill enduro in December. I will post here when I return and you can follow along in real-time on the event weekend as I post updates on twitter as @ghidinelli.

Regional #11 Qualifying (1st overall)
Regional #11 Race (6th overall)
Regional #12 Qualifying (1st overall)
Regional #12 Race (1st overall)

With twelve of thirteen races in the books, the current standings are:

The final race will pay a total of 100 points so if Tommy is still mathematically in the hunt. If either Darin or I DNF and Tommy places inside the top few cars, we will swap season-ending positions. To finish first you must first finish!