The aim for Mid-Ohio: a trouble-free race meeting
 paddock - Nathan Morcom engine change [Monty Mathisen 0396; cropped; 740x600].JPG)
A sight that Nathan hopes won’t be repeated at Mid-Ohio! Photo by Mathisen Media.
Nathan Morcom is hoping for better luck in rounds 7 & 8 of the American F2000 Championship Series at Mid-Ohio this weekend – not a big ask after the previous two rounds at Watkins Glen.
The young Sydney driver’s Rondo Van Diemen suffered no fewer than three major engine failures at The Glen, two of them on their first lap out on the racetrack! He missed most of practice, and had to sit out the first race after the third engine blew up during qualifying. That he managed to salvage seventh place in the second race from 11th starting position, using an underpowered borrowed engine, was a minor miracle.
“It looks like the problems at Watkins Glen started with some debris from a crack in the first engine block getting into the oil system,” he said. “When the next two engines failed so early, the guys at Primus Racing cleaned the entire oil system when the fourth one went in. It did qualifying and the second race, so there shouldn’t be a repeat.”
What Nathan is looking for at Mid-Ohio – but hasn’t had so far in the ultra-competitive US openwheel series – is a trouble-free race meeting.
“Even after I won the first race in Virginia there were problems: traffic in qualifying for race two, a first corner incident that put me down the back of the field, and an overheating engine that cost me a few positions at the finish,” he said. “Then at Road Atlanta I didn’t qualify as well as I could have, the car’s set-up in the first race wasn’t ideal, there was a gearbox problem in practice before the second race, and the throttle cable broke in the race itself. And of course everyone knows what happened at Watkins Glen.
“In such a competitive series any problem can make a big difference in terms of results, and I’ve had more than my share so far."
But all that is in the past, and with eight of the 14 rounds of the F2000 Championship Series still to be contested, Nathan is looking forward to the remaining races with renewed enthusiasm.
“The season will only reach the halfway mark at Mid-Ohio, so there’s still time to come back from sixth in the pointscore,” he said. “I’m confident that with trouble-free race weekends I can finish on the podium consistently.
“That was my goal at the beginning of the series, and it still is.”
2011 F2000 CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES (USA), ROUNDS 7 & 8
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (3.9km/2.4 miles) – Lexington, Ohio
TIMETABLE (subject to change without notice by the race meeting organisers)
THURSDAY, JUNE 30
16:45-17:30 USA Eastern Daylight Saving Time (06:45-07:30 Friday, Australian Eastern Standard Time) – practice session 1
18:00-18:45 USA Eastern Daylight Saving Time (08:00-08:45 Friday, Australian Eastern Standard Time) – practice session 2
19:15-19:45 USA Eastern Daylight Saving Time (09:15-09:45 Friday, Australian Eastern Standard Time) – practice session 3
FRIDAY, JULY 1
15:30-15:55 USA Eastern Daylight Saving Time (05:30-05:55 Saturday, Australian Eastern Standard Time) – Round 7 qualifying session 1
16:25-16:50 USA Eastern Daylight Saving Time (06:25-06:50 Saturday, Australian Eastern Standard Time) – Round 7 qualifying session 2
17:20-17:50 USA Eastern Daylight Saving Time (07:20-07:50 Saturday, Australian Eastern Standard Time) – Round 7 race
SATURDAY, JULY 2
15:30-15:55 USA Eastern Daylight Saving Time (05:30-05:55 Sunday, Australian Eastern Standard Time) – Round 8 qualifying session 1
16:25-16:50 USA Eastern Daylight Saving Time (06:25-06:50 Sunday, Australian Eastern Standard Time) – Round 8 qualifying session 2
17:20-17:50 USA Eastern Daylight Saving Time (07:20-07:50 Sunday, Australian Eastern Standard Time) – Round 8 race
Follow Nathan's progress 'live' during practice, qualifying and racing on the F2000 Championship Series Twitter page!
POINTSCORE AFTER 6 OF 14 ROUNDS
1. Remy Audette (CAN) 267
2. Kyle Connery* (USA) 200
3. Chris Livengood (USA) 172
=4. Robert La Rocca* (VEN) 166
=4. Tim Minor (USA) 166
6. Nathan Morcom* (AUS) 134
* Rookie
MORE INFORMATION
F2000 Championship Series website
