SBRS: Series VIR weekend summary

Bosch Engineering 250 Wrap Up Pigot and Dorrbecker Take Skip Barber National wins

Danville, Va. (Apr.25) Rounds 5 and 6 of the BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda proved to be a thrilling race weekend at Virginia International Raceway. Both races had intense battles for the lead positions and the last laps of both races brought epic shuffles in the field.

Several drivers came into the race weekend with struggles behind the scenes to overcome. In a Skip Barber Regional Finale race in Sebring two weeks ago, Dennis Trebing broke a bone in his hand and entered the race weekend with a temporary cast. The cast did little to impede his performance, placing in the top five for both lapping sessions, the practice session, and both qualifying sessions. English drivers Daniel Lloyd and Isaac Lyons were stranded overseas due to the Icelandic volcano ash still in the European skies. Daniel Lloyd and his father managed to book flights to America, only to almost miss their flight due to a traffic accident. Isaac Lyons made it to the track in time for the first qualifying session, only to have the airlines lose his luggage (which was eventually found). Despite the loss of track time and the less than ideal travel schedule Lyons qualified in the sixth position for round five.

Round 5

Dennis Trebing clinched the pole position for round five after an intense qualifying session that saw the pole position change hands several times. In typical Skip Barber National fashion the battle at the front of the pack was intense with no less than nine cars in the lead group. Five drivers officially lead at the stripe with Dennis Trebing leading six times at the line and Spencer Pigot, Ashley Freiberg, Mukul Sud, and Isaac Lyons all taking turns at the point.

Spencer Pigot started the last lap in the third position. In the famous Oak Tree corner, the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development driver moved past Sud to assume second as the field entered the long back straight for the final time. Pigot then gave chase to Trebing and took the lead into turn fourteen with a solid breaking maneuver and went unchallenged to the stripe to claim his second win of the season. Ashley Freiberg, the recently crowned Skip Barber Southern Series Champion had an incredibly strong run, leading one lap, and ultimately finishing in the second spot. Rookie Scott Anderson turned in his best performance of the season running in the lead pack the entire race, scoring his first podium finish with a third place result. Pole sitter Trebing was running second in the final lap when he was forced off course and finished tenth. Brandon Newey gained the most ground, running consistently through the race and impressively fighting his way up from eleventh to fifth. Ultimately, there were five race leaders with Pigot taking home the race win.

Round 6

The Skip Barber National Championship drivers were greeted by a damp but drying Virginia International Raceway for the round six qualifying session. Round five winner Spencer Pigot made the most of the changing conditions claiming his second pole of the season. Two rookies put in impressive qualifying runs with Brandon Newey claiming second and Scott Anderson third.

With clear skies and a dry track, the field took the green for round six. Pigot lead from the pole into turn one and was immediately challenged by fellow MAZDASPEED driver Felix Serralles for the top position. By mid race Isaac Lyons moved to the front and lead laps four and five. The top seven cars ran nose to tail the entire race with all the drivers racing clean for the length of the race. Pigot moved back to the point on lap five and lead until the penultimate lap. On the final lap Luis Michael Dorrbecker, who had been stalking the leaders from fifth, moved into the lead for the first time of the race. In turn ten contact between the second place car of Spencer Pigot and third place car of Nick Andries gave Dorrbecker just enough gap to hang onto the lead down the long VIR back straight. Dorrbecker, who started seventh, scored his first ever Skip Barber National victory. Felix Serralles and Nick Andreas rounded out the round six podium.

-source: sbr