Climbing the Learning Curve

New Challenges

This was my first time racing at Virginia International Raceway and my first time in “Sweet Potato,” Justin Piscitell’s Spec MX-5. Knowing the car had pace, the mission was clear: get up to speed quickly.

Hot and Humid

Practice day at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) went well, and my confidence grew with every lap. But staying consistent was tough — especially after adding the heat and humidity to the equation. It felt like a sauna inside the car.

Qualifying Struggles

Qualifying 1 was tough. I ended up P21 after struggling to manage traffic and piece together a clean lap. It was hard to post a competitive time without a tow on VIR’s long straights.

Race 1: A Solid Climb

Starting P21, the plan was to stay patient and make up ground. I knew there was a lot of pace to extract, and this race would be a game of patience. I got a really good start, passing a few cars in turn one, and ended up climbing to P13 when the chequered flag came out.

More Qualifying Woes

On Sunday, we had a second qualifying session to try and beat our times on Saturday. Given how poor Saturday’s qualifying went, I saw this as a golden opportunity. I nearly matched my best time from Saturday’s qualifying session on the build lap, being only two-thousandths off. But on my first push lap, I went off on the high-speed turn ten (South Bend). The damage was too much to repair in the pit lane. Once again, I would be rolling off the grid P21 for Race 2 later in the afternoon.

An Honest Conversation

After that session, I had an honest conversation with the team about my lack of confidence in the car. I just couldn’t push to the limit with the setup as it was. We made significant changes to help me find confidence and consistency for the race.

Race 2: A Big Improvement

The radical changes we made to the car for Race 2 did exactly what we expected, and I had lots more confidence in the car. While there were some areas that I was still having difficulties with, it was a massive step forward from Qualifying 2. I ended up climbing all the way to P11, my best result yet in Spec MX-5.

The Turnaround

This weekend tested me, but also taught me a lot. While there were certainly a lot of challenges, we made significant progress. As a team, we learned a ton, and I’m heading into Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course next month with renewed confidence.