 
Would Have, Could Have, Should Have
TeamRTR Sentra slowed by failure of 25ยข part Lakeville, Connecticut
May 26, 2003 TeamRTR's 2004 Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V raced from a seventh place start, took second place on lap six of today's rain-soaked SCCA Speed World Challenge Touring Car race at Lime Rock Park, and held the spot for the following 24 laps. The problem was, though, the race lasted 38 laps. "On the third or fourth lap, a 25-cent clip on the shift linkage broke, and I was stuck in fourth gear for the rest of the day," said TeamRTR driver Peter Cunningham. "Of all the gears to be stuck in, though, that was the best one." Cunningham, the defending Touring Car Driver's Champion, pressed on, and it wasn't until late in the race that the competition came knocking. On lap 30, he was passed by the BMW 325i of Matt Plumb and the Audi Quattro of Jon Prall, dropping the TeamRTR Nissan to fourth. On lap 34, Bill Auberlen's BMW found his way past, followed by Ken Dobson's similar machine one lap later. "With only two laps to go no one else was within striking distance," Cunningham said. "We would have been pleased under the circumstances with sixth place, but then Dobson got caught out in a pass attempt of a lap marker and came spinning back onto the track collecting me in the process. By the time I got unstuck from the mud and slipped the clutch in fourth gear to get back around, we had dropped to 22nd." Crew Chief Andrew Armistead managed to find some sunshine on such a rainy day, "None of our problems today were the fault of the Nissan, and at least we know what happened and how we can prevent such a thing from happening again in the future." Cunningham added, "In the first two outings we've proven this Sentra is a contender, and it's only a matter of time before our results will better represent our performance." Lime Rock's Touring Car race will be televised on the Speed Channel on Saturday, May 31, at 3 pm EST. Round Four of the SPEED Touring Car Championship will be June 27-29 at Road Atlanta. The TeamRTR Nissan Sentra SE-R effort is sponsored by Nissan North America, Inc., NISMO, Red Line Oil, Eibach Springs, BOSCH, Sparco, Gemini Technologies, and Brembo.
  |
