MANTISSPORT CAYMAN S - WORLD CHALLENGE SEASON RECAP

 Well to start with, MantisSport wasn`t even contemplating racing World Challenge in 2010. The plan was to race several PCA races; Sebring, Mid-Ohio, Watkins Glen and Mosport. However, WC phones us up asks if MantisSport would like to race in their new GTS Class? Sure why not, "like giving a drowning man an anchor. Its part way through the season, Mosport May 24 Wknd race is between Mid-Ohio and Watkins Glen PCA races, 3 races in 3 weeks, not happening. We had not even tested with the spec Toyo R888 tires. MantisSport then does the PCA race at Sebring and Mid-Ohio, we miss the WC Race at Mosport, however we do go and observe to check out the competition.The following wknd we race at WG and test the Toyos and Matt White, 3 time FF Champion comes to test with us. With 2 data samples, we conclude we could be competitive in World Challenge.

The first WC race is at WG a few days later and we feel good about our chances, so we ordered another set of tires for the race. Well, to our dismay, they are 2007 tires, they don`t feel good so for the second practice, we change tires back to the test set of 2010`s, beat up from testing, but still 1.5 seconds faster.  We decide to race on the test tires and qualify 3rd and finsih 3rd and are quite pleased about going forward in the series.

Second WC Race , home town track, Toronto Honda Indy. I`ve raced here twice before so feel we have an edge, but a small one. Qualified 3rd again, need more HP and handling is more critical under braking as car is not as stable as on the Hoosiers we ran other years.Cut the starting light well and going into Turn 1 in second gear, battle with the second Acura for 2nd place,get hit and spun, got by the Acura again, regained 2nd place and finish in second. Great race !

Third race , Mid-Ohio, we get a break on weight, 2900 lbs instead of 3000 with driver, except they tell us at the track. The Ford Mustangs show up FR500s, plus some more Acuras, we have our work cut out for us. Qualified 3rd again, at least we out paced the Mustangs, V8 power and all. Saturday`s race ran second until I spun into a gravel trap. Sunday, cut the starting light and am in 1st place before Turn One, Cunningham gets by 13 laps later after working on me the whole time, he slowly drives away. Full course caution, 6 laps from the end, at the restart, the GT3 which caused the restart is behind me. Coming on to the straight, he passes me and then cuts in front, clips my front wheel which sends me spinning off. I regain control and am 13 positions behind now. In 2-3 laps, I drive the Cayman hard and passed back into 3rd place, where we finished. Now that was fun and I wasn`t going to let that race be a poor result.

VIR, 4th race, we lightened up the car, doors 40lbs lighter, Guard Transmission LSD unit installed (more stable under braking ), and added IPD plenum with GT3 throttle body. JRP comes on board with a Sprint Booster, its the latest version with 3 settings. It perks up the throttle response so much it feels like 15 HP in the MAX mode. I really like it. Now....The Weekend of Mistakes - We again qualify 3rd, but we left the hot pits without asking. Well that gets us a penalty of starting at the back of the class, no time. Saturday race we start last, 6th by Turn One, I am beside Cunningham going into T1 as he started from pole. A Corvette and Viper end up spinning in front of us going into the turn, I let Cunningham go, Corvette almost hits him but he pulls away. It starts raining, the second Acura has been on my heels, falls off the pace and I gain on the leading Acura. A few laps from the end, Cunningham pulls into the pits with an engine issue and I win,  then do not, post race inspection, we are 1/2" too low ahead of the rear wheels, the engine sump is sticking down exactly that much. We are DQ`d. We spend 3 hrs getting the car at the right ride height, raise the rear front chin splitter as it is too low, the rear wing is too high, got it right.

Saturday night, both Acura`s have their engines changed, maybe we are finally pushing them ? Qualify again 3rd, now our crew is also taking care of two 944`s in the National Championship race in the morning, we loose track of time. Late for pregrid for the WC race, there`s a penaly for that, now starting from the pits. Not happy about that, at the start there`s a big accident. Missed that, 30 seconds behind the Acuras after 1 lap. Managed to bring the gap down to 7 seconds at the end after driving through the Touring and GTS field to finish 3rd. All in all, ok.

5th race of the WC season and last, Miller Motor Sports Park. After a long drive out, 1 day early to acclimatize. The goal this weekend was to survive, gather enough points to finish 3rd in the GTS points , which we did. Now since we will be switching to Pirelli slicks next year, we didn`t buy new tires for this one race. Thought we would have things well in hand. Surprise, WC gives the Mustangs 80 HP more, 300 lbs less weight and 2 Corvettes show up. This is a horse power track, dam, anyway we qualify 7th quickest on old tires. IF we had new tires we would have been right up there. The race, standing start, I get a smoking start, I think I could have cut even better as it happens, within 100 ft I am in third place with only 2 Mustangs ahead. Going into Turn one, I out brake one Mustang. All short lived as Cunningham and I make contact with each other as we pass the start/finish line. I end up with a cut tire. One long slow lap into the pits, change tire and finish high enough to get 3rd in points.

So MantisSport finishes 3rd in GTS points and I won the Game Streamer Rookie Award.......Ernie

Summer Update 2010- It has been an event full summer so far for the MantisSport Team, With some fresh bodies and a lot of excitement the team has tackled every obstacle with enthusiasm and vigor. With multiple trips to Watkins Glen, Mid-Ohio, Mosport an an invitation to the Toronto Indy, the racing season has kept everyone here at MantisSport on their toes and constantly on the go. In April the MantisSport prepared cars brought home a cornucopia of awards and accolades. At the PCA race at mid Ohio Ernie was on top of the podium for both of his sprint races and the enduro race, Mark Wolfe brought home a second place from his sprint race and Bob Seitz developed a water leak at the end of one of his practice sessions but we managed to get him back on track for the enduro where he ended up on the podium and brought home a second in class. After a quick trip back home, the team was busy preparing to go to the Glen two weeks later. The Glen saw a larger selection of cars from the MantisSport stable, with Mark Wolfe bringing home 2 3rd place finishes, and John Amardeil bringing home a 4th overall in his run group of about 20 cars, Ernie was no slouch bringing home a first and third. That's when we got the call that would invariably change the 2010 racing schedule for the MantisSport team, we got invited to participate in the SCCA Pro Racing World challenge. We would be back at the glen 2 weeks later to see Ernie take his first podium in his first World challenge race. The next race to be prepared from was going to be on our home turf, with a load in Wednesday night and the crew chief returning from Tremblant early Thursday morning the team was ready to go for a weekend of racing, and what an event full weekend it was. due to the tight nature of the Toronto Indy course, keeping the car off the walls was a top priority, one that a few teams missed the memo on. Ernie raced an amazing race and while he was able to keep the cayman off of the walls, one of the Acura drivers made contact with him and Spun him out in turn three, this forced both of the drivers to come into the pits. Assessing the damage as a bent rim and a little vibration in high speeds, Ernie tore out of the pits and raced with a slightly injured car to solidify a 2nd place victory in front of a crowd of his hometown fans. All of the the highlights from the world challenge events can be watched at http://www.world-challengetv.com/ 

Feb 6-7, 2010 Sebring 48Hours PCA Club Race - Ernie Jakubowski drove his SP2 Class 944 to 1st Place in both Sprint Races beating a large field from across the country. The other MantisSport car, a 911SC, driven by Scott Giannou finished 2nd and 3rd in D Class in his 2 Sprint races.