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BEDFORD, MA (10 October 2007) For both Don Knowles and Joe Aquilante, drivers of the pair of iRacing.com Pontiac Solstice GXP Z0Ks entered in the T2 class, there is a sense of unfinished business heading into the 2007 Sports Car Club of America National Championship Runoffs at Heartland Park Topeka this week. Knowles, a three-time champion, recalls a fourth he didn't win, while Aquilante, whose Phoenix Performance company has prepped 16 SCCA title winners over the years, aims to take home his first championship medallion as a driver.
Knowles, winner in SSB in 1978, 1979 and 2006, was on his way to one in the T2 class in 2004 until late in the race when another driver bumped him out of the lead and off the track.
"This year is my chance to get that T2 title," Knowles said during a recent visit to the iRacing.com Driver Development Lab in Bedford, MA, where he spent a couple of hours driving a Solstice in the company's auto racing simulation.
The canny North Carolinian identified preparation in three areas as the key to success at the Runoffs. "You have to maximize the performance of the engine, the suspension and brakes, and the driver. The people at GM Performance Division have taken care of the those first two items for everyone running GM cars, and I'm making sure that at the end of the race I won't be needing another five 'personal horsepower' and find it's not there."
In addition to driving the iRacing.com sim, Knowles, 60, has been working out four to five times per week, alternating between running and long bicycle rides. "I have the opportunity here to drive a race car with a chance to win, and I need to keep up my end of the deal," he said.
Knowles went on to explain that although the Runoffs is a week-long event, track time for drivers in each class is scarce. "You only get on track once each day. There are four 20-minute sessions for practice and qualifying, a 10-minute warm-up and then the 40-minute race. Time is at a premium, and this year they've made substantial changes to the track at Heartland Park Topeka, so it's pretty much new for everyone. We're fortunate that GM Performance Division has done some testing there and provided some basic chassis information to all competitors in Solstices. You just never have enough seat time."
"That's the reason we're in business," said Scott McKee, vice president of marketing for iRacing.com. "As Don noted, you never have as much time on the track as you'd like. More seat time equals better performance in the race. The top Formula One teams know this, and spend a lot of money on simulation for driver familiarization and race rehearsal. iRacing.com is able to provide real-world racers with most of the same benefits at a fraction of the cost."
Aquilante started racing in 1979 and drove for the first time at the Runoffs in 1982. He told his wife that if he won that year, he'd quit racing. He's come close at the Runoffs several times, including third place in a Chevrolet Camaro Z28 in 1991, but 25 years after making that vow to his wife, Aquilante is still looking for that elusive first national driving championship.
"It's a matter of personal pride," Aquilante said. "The cars are ready. Our crew has gone over them from stem to stern. In light of what we've learned this year, both from our on-track experience and working on the chassis dyno in the shop, we've updated the shock calibration and exhaust system."
Aquilante also noted that the team had replaced the engine in Knowles' car following an overheating problem during the final race of the regular season. "We were very fortunate to find an engine with four miles on it in a scrap yard in Florida. It cost us about half of what it would if we had to purchase a new one."
Qualifying for the Runoffs is October 811; individual championship races run October 1214, with the T2 race taking the green on the final morning of the event.
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