For the third year in a row, I have been able to join up with Brian Kleeman and the rest of the team at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. This event is, to me, one of the most fun events I go to every year. The street course is nestled right in the middle of downtown St. Pete and proves to be a challenging course, despite virtually no elevation change. This year we had a GREAT car. The JWT built engine was finally making the power it was supposed to thanks to some a proper tune and Brian was P5 in class during the first practice session with more out there to go. His theoretical best lap time was right up there with the top 3 when the racing was all said and done. However, during the second practice, the brand new engine threw a rod. Our weekend on the track was over. We made the best of it though, enjoying nights at the various bars downtown and going karting since we didn't have to worry about the race car! We pulled the motor on Saturday in preparation for it being returned to the shop, getting the backup motor in 2 days and back on the truck headed for the race in Long Beach. Despite the blown motor, we still had an amazing weekend hanging out in St. Petersburg and if you live in Florida or just want to make the drive I can't recommend this event enough! As usual, I will keep the pics here team focused but there are plenty more in the album of all the other cars on track...
Album:
PWC Streets of St. Petersburg '14 - JPMcG Photography
Fav's:
1. New wider wheels were allowed this year enhancing handling
2. We spent Thursday going over the car to make sure everything was perfect for this track
3. Brian blitzed his personal best on this track by almost 2 full seconds compared to last year during the first practice
4. Here's Brian battling it out with the reining GTS class champ, Jack Baldwin into turn 10
5. After the first practice, we continued to make some small tweaks to the car
6. This was just before the engine let go
7. Driver's signing the next morning
8. Once we got the motor out, we discovered how bad it was; check out the hole behind the alternator and oil filter. There was an equally large one on the other side and it almost made its way out the dry sump as well
Thanks for looking, comments/critiques welcome as usual! Also, plenty more of the other cars in the album so take a look!
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