S2K Challenge Series 2010: 3rd race at Buttonwillow
Original write up by Edward Lee (600rr_rocket)
Welcome to the third 2010 S2K Challenge event, held at Buttonwillow Raceway on April 11, 2010. A total of 39 S2000’s showed up to event…shattering our attendance record since the inception of the Series in 2009!!!
The variable that affected all the participants was the weather. For weeks before the event, people were closely eying the possible forecast of rain. The morning session started off cold and perfect, around 49F. The first session reflected the fastest lap times, with several drivers below the magical 2:00 barrier. Then came the WIND!!!
Winds gusted up to 46mph at times (knocking over EZ-ups, tools, equipment, etc.) and having people scrambling for shelter. I remember hiding in my rented garage and people would come in like refugees. Every time we opened the door to peek outside…it looked like Armageddon with the sky completely filled with dust clouds. The warmer weather combined with the high winds, needless to say affected lap times, as participants’ lap times rose on average 2 seconds from the morning session. Dirt was scattered on the track (making for slippery conditions) and the high winds would affect car handling on all different parts of the track. And after the day was over and the awards ceremony was finished, the anticipated rain finally hit causing for some scary conditions on the drive back home, especially over the Grapevine on I-5.
Stock Class
We saw the greatest growth of participants in the The Stock Class, which was designed for newbie drivers in a near completely stock S2000 setup. It was good to see so many new entrants learning from the veterans and learning the basics of track driving. Charles Ng, once again set the bar for the Class and set a blazing 2:05.1! Congratulations to Douglas Chan (2nd) and Travis Wong (3rd) for their podium finishes, with respective lap times of 2:10.6 and 2:14.9!
Street Class
One of our newer (and most improved!) drivers, Konstantin Nikiforov took 3rd place in Street Class with a 2:05.5. Joel Perez once again nonchalantly showed up late for the event, did a couple practice sessions, and came in second with a 2:04.7. Nam Yoon, our 2009 Street Class champion once again set the bar with a blazing fast 2:03.7 lap.
Modified Class
Coming in at 3rd place was Edward Lee, who managed to speak by with a 2:02.8 after running out of gas on the second hot lap. Jim Tway, our Mod Class newcomer came in at 2nd place with a 2:00.7, only half a second behind our 2009 Mod Class Champ, Mark Tsai who came in with a 2:00.2.
Unlimited Class
Our exhibition class featured 4 entrants with heavily setup S2000’s Paul Flores had trouble with his supercharger and both could not participate in the Time Trial (thanks for the gridding assistance!). Robert Burch in his W2W ready S2K came in 3rd with a 2:04.7. Alex Doan (pictured) with a very cool looking Spoon kit S2000 came in second place with a 2:03.5. Jei Chang from BlackTrax Performance with his supercharged S2K came in first with a 2:00.9.
Class Standings
Follow this link for further details and highlights of the race!
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