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Round 6 of the IVRA GT Sprint Sponsored by Heusinkveld was at the cathedral of speed, Autodromo Nazionale Monza. With some serious work put in with stints, setup and fuel strategy. Could the NOMAD boys bring back the pancetta?
Warm up gave the lay of the land with regards to pace and from the Merc side of things, impressive times were promised for the #256 and #356. The lads in the #208 were also confident of their fuel saving strategy but we had discussed the options if a safety car arose.
Qualifying was around the corner and Jason, who admitted he had a 1:46 in him just fell short after getting a little distraction but an impressive 6th overall was a phenomenal effort. The 208 went about their business well and gained a 13th in class start in 27th. Ryan in the #356 had the pace for a 1:47.4 but a spin in his out lap on his second run barred him from improving any further. 29th overall he would start.
We shall start with the #208. An unlucky day to say the least. Two incidents for the duo of Jon and Chris caused them to always be playing catchup. Despite having decent pace and trying to stretch the strategy as far as they could they finished strongly and earned a respectable 12th in class and 25th overall.
The solo effort from the #256 from Jason managed to capitalise on his high position and put him close to his rivals. An unfortunate accident into Prima Variante earned him a drive through upon the safety car restart. Fortunately the safety car guaranteed less fuel saving so Jason was able to get up to 8th in class, but a spin after the pitstop dropped Jason further down to a 10th in class finish and 21st overall.
Second of the duo's in the #356 of Ryan and birthday boy Ayden started well making up places in the mad scramble of lap 1. Sitting comfortably in second in class though, Ryan spun on the exit of Seconda Variante. The safety car however brought the field back to Ryan, who then cut his way through the snake and managed to hand over to Ayden, 1st in class after some penalties were dished out to rival Division 3 drivers. It was then on Ayden to bring the car home, and he did with aplomb. Keeping the second place driver in division at arms length for most of his stint. A second win for the duo and 15th overall. This team seeming to love Italian tracks.
The team now looks towards Road America on the 16th of April as the end of the season edges closer. With class wins and class podiums up for grabs and tickets still on the table for podiums it still all to play for in this highly competitive season in the IVRA.
