Lehdistötiedotteet - Rookies Duel from the Front Again

Rookies Duel from the Front Again

A Rookie Series race, this time at Watkins Glen in the U.S., will for a consecutive week start off with Brandon Knight and Nick Wheeler in the spotlight. This time, the two are separated on the score sheet by less than 1 tenth of a second, as Knight ousted Wheeler's attempt at the pole for the second week in a row.

After last week's debacle in Donington's 2nd race, many American fans thought Wheeler would be firing off the line and going for broke. "Losing out after running 10 seconds ahead of the field is heartbreaking. I imagine he'll be driving like crazy during qualification so he can gain some ground back on Knight" said one fan on his way to the grandstand.

Contrary to popular opinion, Wheeler looked calm and measured in the cockpit this week. His lines were good, his pace wasn't overbearing, though he made a few small mistakes in both runs that ultimately cost him the pole.

A normally talkative Wheeler hurried back to his garage, but still managed to answer a couple questions as the American press mobbed his pit box. One reporter shouted "Knight got you again! What happened?"

Wheeler responded, "He's faster than us when we run alone. He almost always is. Thankfully, he only got 1 point on us today. With the field the way it is, there's a chance, come race day, we can gain some of this 29-point difference back."

Another voice boomed over the bustle to catch Wheeler's attention. This time, a more provocative question, "What will you do to fix all the mistakes as of late?"

Wheeler stopped in his tracks, and in an unhappy tone replied, "Whoever asked that question, clearly hasn't driven one of these machines. We're working on the mistakes. I have some tweaks to make in my style, the car wasn't perfect today, and this past weekend was just a bad weekend [3 DNFs in 5 single races, and 13th after leading by 10 seconds and crashing in Donington Rookie Series]. I've got changes to make to my machine. That's enough for today."

If Wheeler's post-run mood was any indication of what's to come at Watkins Glen, we could be in for a different type of show come race day.

The field is strong for the Watkins Glen Rookie Race. Wheeler and Knight likely won't be able to easily run away the way they did in Great Britain last week. 3 hungry and experienced drivers sit P3 - P5 breathing down the necks of the two front runners, and top 5 sectional times are scattered all the way through the field, including P11 (Rocco Wolf) who had the fastest Section 3 after a couple mistakes early.

We're expecting an exciting race at Watkins Glen this week. Potentially a repeat of Donington's barn burner last week.