Burrows, Hopwood, and Bentinck-Smith Close out 2009 KONI Challenge Season
at VIR
ABS makes KONI Challenge Debut with RSR Motorsports
(13 October 2009)--Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood had been hoping
to extend their streak of podium appearances in the season-ending Bosch
Engineering Octoberfest at Virginia International Raceway this Sunday,
but the duo will look to make it back onto the barn-based rostrum next
season as the 2007 KONI Champions closed the season out with runs to 8th
and 15th position in the four-hour enduro.
The race outing saw the champs joined by a new name as Andy
Bentinck-Smith (ABS) made his KONI Challenge racing debut after having
long established himself in SRF competition with Motion Dynamics.
With a season that has seen the No. 198 Fischer Ski MINI Cooper S show
flashes of brilliance, the target was clear as a podium appearance would
be a fitting finish for an up and down year. And that goal was looking
like it was well within reach as a shift in team strategy made Hopwood a
busy man on race day.
After starting the race in the No. 198 Fischer Ski MINI Cooper S from the
sixth row of the 55-car Street Tuner (ST) and Grand Sport (GS) grid,
Hopwood then moved over to share the No. 197 Mini, which had taken a
strong pole position with team driver Owen Trinkler behind the wheel. The
shake-up in strategy saw Hopwood's fitness training put to good use
as he effectively drove the first three hours of the race.
But their pace in the No. 197 was hampered late in the race by a motor
that went soft after a cooling element in the Mini motor was cracked,
robbing Trinkler and Hopwood of the chance to convert the pole into a
podium for team owner Randy Smalley.
"I'm pretty disappointed because obviously this car was quick
today so it would have been great to get a podium for Randy to finish the
year," said Hopwood. "It was fun driving both cars today-what
else could a guy ask for than to get to drive two different cars in the
same race? Thanks to Fischer Skis for the support all season long, and
to Randy, Tim, and Frank for the effort every race weekend. And
congratulations to our old teammate Kenny Wilden for taking the GS
Championship today!"
The eighth place finish for the No. 198 marked the fourth consecutive
top-ten result for the screaming yellow Mini as ABS proved up to the task
in his first KONI race start.
"I survived out there!" said ABS, who had to acclimate
himself to scores of new factors in his first-ever production-based race
car experience, not least of which included having a roof over his head,
view-blocking A-pillars and safety netting to contend with, and also
front-wheel drive. "Even though I've raced here at VIR
several times, there was a lot to get used to and I didn't want to
interfere with the guys racing for the championship today. But I was
pretty happy with how consistent our times were and how much we improved
through the weekend.
"I was worried about the driver changes because I just didn't
have any experience with them before this weekend, but they turned out
even better than when we practiced, fortunately!" said ABS.
"I had a blast racing with Trevor and Adam and I just want to thank
Randy Smalley for letting me be part of the weekend."
Even though the season's denouement event didn't carry the
same championship drama for the two as it has in previous years, the
switch to the four-hour format still saw the duo running strong at the
rural Virginia country-club setting.
"Congrats to Christian (Miller), Karl, Ray, and all the guys at
Compass on winning the championship, it's been a long time
coming," said Burrows. "This was a fun weekend to have ABS
with us and even though we weren't able to make it up on the podium
for the RSR guys, it was good to race to the finish in the top ten. I
want to thank iRacing for their support all year long and to Randy for
creating this opportunity for us to race here at RSR Motorsports. ABS did
a great job, even in the driver changes that he was so worried about.
Maybe we can get him to do a little more of this KONI racing next
year..."
-credit: sgm
