ECC Lime Rock Recap

June 8, 2015

Team Rlease - ECC Motorsports and driver Adam Andretti did the first Trans Am double in round 4 of the 2015 Championship at Lime Rock. Andretti ran in both the TA class race and the TA2 class race on the same weekend. The results were mixed but encouraging.

Andretti, who was second in the TA2 championship in 2014 and Rookie of the Year continues his pursuit of this year's championship by winning another pole position award and finishing a workman like 6th in the race. In his first TA class start Andretti started 9th and set the fast lap of the race before crashing out of the race as the result of an oil leak.

"Overall it was good. It was good for points(in TA2)" said team owner A.J. Henriksen. "In the TA2 race the car got stuck in 3rd gear. At any other track that would ruin your day. At Lime Rock it dropped us about a second a lap, but we could still go fast enough to get a good finish."

In the TA class Andretti started the event by posting the 4th quick time in opening practice and that was a sign of things to come. "We had some minor issues in qualifying, but overall he was fast." said Henriksen. Andretti qualified 9th.

"In the race the first time we started lapping thru the TA3 cars Adam got turned around by another TA car down in turn 1 and one of the TA3 cars hit us in the door. That dropped us 50 seconds back. He made up three quarters of that somehow. He was consistently the fastest car on the track." Henriksen said things were really looking good and they were hoping for a caution to close up with the leaders. "Adam started calling in on the radio saying there was an oil leak spreading on the floor and that he wanted him to come in. While he is saying this he runs the fastest lap of the race. We hesitated and encouraged him to keep going while we thought it over. Then his foot slipped off the pedal at the wrong time and he crashed really good. It was our fault for not calling him to the pits."

Turns out the oil leak was a result of the contact early in the race. The TA car suffered some significant damage which may effect ECC's plan to run Andretti in the double at Mid Ohio Sports Car Course in August. "We're hopeful. We've just got so much going on at once, though. It's hard."

After the pole points and the 6th place finish Andretti sits 3rd in TA2 points and only 2 points behind second place in the championship with 8 race still to go.

Next on the Trans Am schedule is New Jersey Motorsports Park. NJMP holds a special place in the heart for ECC Motorsports. In 2014 Andretti and Henriksen both finished on the podium in the same race for the first time. "That was a real highlight for all of us last year. Maybe we can pull that off again this year." said Henriksen. "I will be back to my R & D role with my entry. Trying some new things to see if we can't find a way to get faster for Adam. When we hit on something it can make both of the cars pretty competitive like it did last year."

Henriksen has a season best 7th place finish in his last TA2 race, Road Atlanta. "At Road Atlanta the cars couldn't have been more similar. Which is odd because he was driving a Ford and I was in the Chevy, but the set ups were the same and I knew what the car was going to do. At NJMP I will be experimenting with some things and it will be different. We will see how it turns out."

Round 5 of the 2015 Trans Am Series season is June 12-14 at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Updates and live timing and scoring can be found at GoTransAM.com