Cleveland Race Review

The Cleveland event is always a surprise to drivers that have never raced there. Charles Zwolsman was no different; his initial description was “Bumpy, fast and a lot of fun. So wide and flat that makes it a challenge to find your lines and fast way around it.”

He adapted well to the track, the first practice was a base to start working on set-up and driver acquaintance with the track.

Qualifying for Race One

The session went well and the Team was confident of having a shot at the pole. With ten minutes left in the session, Charles stopped to install new tires. Out of the pits he worked through traffic while building temperature in his tires. His first quick lap was slightly compromised by slower traffic and on his final lap the tires weren’t quite up to optimal operating temperature. He needed one more lap to be in the right window but the checkered flag came out to determine that second place was the best he could do. Kasemets took the pole with the championship point that goes with it.

Race one

Starting on the outside of the front row, Zwolsman made an astonishing start and he managed to drive out of turn one in first place. From there, the race constantly was Zwolsman leading and Kasemets chasing. A scary moment was waiting for Charles was forced off track at high speed while passing slower traffic.

Kasemets wasn’t able to capitalize on the opportunity and Zwolsman held on to the lead until the end. The fastest lap of the race went to the Condor Motorsports driver with the awarded Championship point.

Qualifying for race two

As usual fastest laps were traded among several competitors during the session. At the end, the Condor Motorsports car with “the flying Dutchman” at the wheel was on top of the charts. This was a pole position that added another point towards Zwolsman’s quest for the championship. It seems like neither Charles nor Tonis are able to spread the point difference without the other responding and balance the stakes one more time. Obtaining the pole was certainly a relief knowing that on Sunday, the Condor Motorsports car was at the best position for the start of the race.

Race

The notion of starting on pole promptly disappeared when at the drop of the flag Zwolsman wasn’t able to select gears. Apparently, the dash mounted override switch for the “no lift” gear change mechanism was accidentally turned off. This switch is there to be used only in case of malfunction of the system. In that event, the driver has the option of overriding the “no lift” system and change gears in a normal but slower way. He had a good start but he had trouble going through the gears because he was on the gas without the aid of the no lift system.

To his credit he was able to figure out the problem and turn the switch back on by the time he got to turn one. Unfortunately, by then he dropped from first to seventh. On pit lane, the crew was not aware of the problem and assumed it will be a race lost. Zwolsman had a different idea, one by one he recovered all the lost positions and at the checkered flag he was in the lead winning the race. In the process, he collected the points for fastest lap, most positions gained and most laps led. The championship battle is tilting more towards Zwolsman and his Condor Motorsports Team.