The second event of the Spec MX-5 Challenge 2020 season took place July 24-26 at Road Atlanta. This was the first time East Regional Series, National Series and Invitational competitors have been on track together. With 18 cars entered, there was plenty of competition as it turned out.
Race 1 pole was secured by East Regional competitor Grant West, winner of one of the prior races at Hallett Motor Racing Circuit. He was followed on the grid by fellow East driver Charles Mactutus and National Series drivers Aidan Fassnacht and Thomas Martin. The top six drivers qualified within less than a second.
In Race 1, West and Mactutus had a mostly nose-tail battle, with Mactutus leading at first but West ultimately prevailing. They were closely followed for much of the race by Martin, who slipped by Fassnacht at the start. When West re-passed Mactutus for the lead, Martin tried to go with him, but Mactutus slammed the door and Fassnacht capitalized.
The Invitational drivers offered some excitement too. 2019 Spec MX-5 SimRacing Challenge champion D.J. Alessandrini started last due to a transponder issue. Using his impressive skills, he moved up 10 positions during the race to finish in P8 and score the maximum Invitational points.
The Race 1 East Regional Series Podium was:
- P1: Grant West
- P2: Charles Mactutus
- P3: Matt Fassnacht
The Race 1 National Series Podium was:
- P1: Aidan Fassnacht
- P2: Thomas Martin
- P3: Ricardo Arruda
Race 2 qualifying shuffled things a bit. Tyler Quance secured pole with the first time in the 39’s all weekend. He was followed by Mactutus and Alessandrini. The overall gap from P1 to P7 was less than 0.8 sec.
In the race, Quance and Mactutus swapped the lead, despite two lengthy yellow flag sessions that allowed the field to close up. Mactutus dropped back for a bit, but fought back to take second place. He was followed by the son and father duo of Aidan and Matt Fassnacht, Martin and West. There was plenty of movement during the race. Alessandri dropped back several positions and Martin moved up 3 on the start. Aidan Fassnacht showed his steady hand and again got the better of Martin on the back straight; Martin immediately found the track blocked by spinning out-of-class driver who brought out the a yellow preventing any possible showdown.
The Race 2 East Regional Podium was:
- P1: Tyler Quance
- P2: Charles Mactutus
- P3: Matt Fassnacht
The Race 2 National Series Podium was:
- P1: Aidan Fassnacht
- P2: Thomas Martin
- P3: Adam Gonzalez
In Invitational competition, where points are scored for a single weekend to earn a shot at the Championship, D.J. Alessandrini prevailed. He scored maximum points for race finishes (56) and also earned bonus points for Social Media and Clean Driving giving him the Invitational trophy for the weekend. Will Tally picked up 53 points for race finishes and scored a bonus point for Teamwork.
Once the SCCA results are final, we will post all points and standings to date.
Mactutus is a national driver. Quance did not lead flag to flag in race 2. Mactutus was in the lead for most of the race.