TOUGH RACE WEEK FOR ANSA MOTORSPORTS DRIVERS AT BARBER
When ANSA Motorsports drivers flew to Barber, Alabama, they were looking to have a great racing weekend and compete with the 2016 Pirelli World Challenge GTS Championship contenders.
The first day of the racing week for the GTS championship was packed with five test, practice and qualifying sessions, making it a very hectic day at the track for ANSA Motorsports’ crew and the rest of the teams.
Brett Sandberg came to Alabama as a championship leader and was expected to continue his fight with the best racers of the series. Dore Chaponick Jr. was also looking to compete at the front of the pack and was aiming for his first podium of the year.
Right at the first session on Thursday, ANSA Motorsports suffered some electronic gremlins that parked the No. 13 car and its driver, Sandberg, in the garage for most of the first three sessions. The problem was discovered just before the end of the fourth session, and Sandberg was finally able to turn a series of laps at speed.
Seventy-two hours before going to Barber, the series decided to announce a BoP change for several cars competing in the Pirelli World Challenge GTS championship, including the KTM X-Bow GT4. The team was not happy about that last-minute decision, but complied with the change. Sandberg qualified 16th and Chaponick was not able to get a time, since he was a victim of the wet track and hit the barrier during lap 1 of the qualifying session.
ANSA Motorsports worked hard to repair Chaponick’s car for race 1. Chaponick and Sandberg had a good start. Sandberg gave 100 percent in the race, but had an enormous lack of speed and could not finish better than 13th with a best lap almost 3 seconds slower than the winning car. Chaponick had a tough race with the ever-changing, wet/dry racing conditions and finished 20th.
In race 2, it was a little bit better for Sandberg, who qualified 10th for the race and finished 11th. Chaponick started 20th, but was not lucky, and his car suffered transmission issues during the race. He finished 21st in race 2.
Rounds 5 and 6 raced at Barber did not help Sandberg in his quest for a first Pirelli World Challenge championship. He came as a championship leader and, after losing precious points at Barber, is now ranked third with 504 points, behind Parker Chase (518) and Lawson Aschenbach (546), the new championship leader. Chaponick is now ranked 10th in the GTS championship, after six rounds.
After the race, both drivers had only one goal: Put the Barber event behind them and focus on the next event, to be raced on May 19-22 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada. Don’t miss the broadcast of rounds 5 and 6 on CBS Sports, Saturday, May 7, at 1 p.m. EDT.
Brett Sandberg came to Alabama as a championship leader and was expected to continue his fight with the best racers of the series. Dore Chaponick Jr. was also looking to compete at the front of the pack and was aiming for his first podium of the year.
Right at the first session on Thursday, ANSA Motorsports suffered some electronic gremlins that parked the No. 13 car and its driver, Sandberg, in the garage for most of the first three sessions. The problem was discovered just before the end of the fourth session, and Sandberg was finally able to turn a series of laps at speed.
Seventy-two hours before going to Barber, the series decided to announce a BoP change for several cars competing in the Pirelli World Challenge GTS championship, including the KTM X-Bow GT4. The team was not happy about that last-minute decision, but complied with the change. Sandberg qualified 16th and Chaponick was not able to get a time, since he was a victim of the wet track and hit the barrier during lap 1 of the qualifying session.
ANSA Motorsports worked hard to repair Chaponick’s car for race 1. Chaponick and Sandberg had a good start. Sandberg gave 100 percent in the race, but had an enormous lack of speed and could not finish better than 13th with a best lap almost 3 seconds slower than the winning car. Chaponick had a tough race with the ever-changing, wet/dry racing conditions and finished 20th.
In race 2, it was a little bit better for Sandberg, who qualified 10th for the race and finished 11th. Chaponick started 20th, but was not lucky, and his car suffered transmission issues during the race. He finished 21st in race 2.
Rounds 5 and 6 raced at Barber did not help Sandberg in his quest for a first Pirelli World Challenge championship. He came as a championship leader and, after losing precious points at Barber, is now ranked third with 504 points, behind Parker Chase (518) and Lawson Aschenbach (546), the new championship leader. Chaponick is now ranked 10th in the GTS championship, after six rounds.
After the race, both drivers had only one goal: Put the Barber event behind them and focus on the next event, to be raced on May 19-22 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada. Don’t miss the broadcast of rounds 5 and 6 on CBS Sports, Saturday, May 7, at 1 p.m. EDT.