Nathan gets going when the going gets tough at The Glen
 race - Natjhan Morcom [Dennis Valet IMG_6935; 1000x680].jpg)
Every last kilowatt is wrung from the borrowed down-on-power engine as Nathan holds off the midfield pack at Watkins Glen. Photo by Dennis Valet.
Nathan Morcom has salvaged some pride, if not many points, from an F2000 Championship Series race meeting that would have tried Job’s patience. The young Sydney driver’s Rondo Van Diemen suffered no fewer than three engine failures, the first two throwing his testing and practice program into disarray, and the last one costing him a start in Saturday’s fifth round.
But when the going got tough, Nathan got going on Sunday, with a down-on-power borrowed Ford Zetec in his car. Wringing every last kilowatt from the tired motor, on a daunting circuit that he’d only driven a handful of quick laps throughout four test and practice sessions, he qualified in 11th starting position. In the race, he kept out of trouble to finish a creditable seventh.
Despite his disastrous weekend, Nathan remained the third-placed rookie in the F2000 Championship series, and only slipped one position to sixth in the overall pointscore.
Round 5
Nathan’s dramas began in Thursday’s first testing session, when oil started streaming from a crack in his Rondo Van Diemen’s engine block. While the other F2000 Championship Series rookies were finding the quick way around the 5.5km former US Formula 1 Grand Prix venue, Nathan was doing speedway sprintcar impressions as the escaping lubricant found its way onto his rear wheels.
The Primus Racing mechanics patched up the cracked block overnight, but in the Friday morning practice session the motor was operating well below par. Fortunately there was enough time before the afternoon testing session to install another motor – which promptly destroyed its bottom end after just one lap of ’The Glen’.
By Saturday morning, Nathan not only had the last Primus spare motor in his car, but he also faced the prospect of qualifying with virtually no set-up data. It didn’t matter as things turned out, because that motor’s bottom end let go in a big way three-quarters of the way around Morcom’s first tour of the circuit.
With no more Zetecs in the Primus truck, and only 100 minutes between qualifying and the 11am race, Nathan’s day was over.
Nathan’s Rondo Van Diemen spent most of the weekend in pieces! Photo by Monty Mathisen.
Round 6
Never one to throw in the towel, Primus boss Jon Baytos scoured the F2000 paddock in a desperate attempt to give Nathan a chance to score some points on Sunday. Some teams were reluctant to loan him a spare, but one outfit was prepared to help out a rival in distress.
With everything crossed, Morcom fired up his fourth motor for the meeting and drove onto the track for round six qualifying. Despite his lack of track time, and a motor that was no powerhouse, he secured the inside row six starting position in the 32-car field. His only defence against faster cars was a set of tyres that were still fresh after their Saturday ‘holiday’.
From the rolling start, Nathan quickly moved into 10th place, which soon became 9th. Then a full course caution slowed the field for several laps, while debris from a dust-up between three cars immediately behind him was cleared away. At the restart, Nathan continued to advance and almost caught Robert La Rocca’s slowing RFR on the line.
Afterwards, Morcom reflected on his turbulent weekend. “I was getting a bit nervous by Friday afternoon, because with all the motor problems we’d hardly done any set-up work during the testing and practice sessions. Then, when the third motor blew on Saturday it looked like that was it for me for the weekend.
“Luckily Jon Baytos has a good reputation in the F2000 paddock, because he managed to find a team that would loan us a motor. It wasn’t the strongest one in the race – maybe 10-15km/h down on top speed along the back straight – but it got me through qualifying and the race. I nearly caught La Rocca because there was something wrong with his car, but with the full course yellow there just weren’t enough laps left.
“If I can still come away from a race meeting with some points after losing three engines, then there’s still hope for the rest of the series!”
2011 F2000 CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES, ROUNDS 5 & 6
VENUE: Watkins Glen International 'Grand Prix' circuit (5.472km/3.4 miles) - Watkins Glen, New York
.jpg)
Saturday, June 4 - round 5 (14 laps/77km)
1. Remy Audette (CAN) Van Diemen 29min. 41.015sec.
2. Kyle Connery* (USA) Van Diemen 29min. 42.769sec.
3. Niki Coello (USA) RFR 29min. 56.993sec.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DNS Nathan Morcom* (AUS) Van Diemen
Sunday, June 5 - round 6 (14 laps/77km)
1. Remy Audette (CAN) Van Diemen 31min. 32.864sec.
2. Chris Livengood (USA) Van Diemen 31min. 34.472sec.
3. Tim Minor (USA) Van Diemen 31min. 38.319sec.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Nathan Morcom* (AUS) Van Diemen 31min. 45.550sec.
* Rookie
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
5. Tim Minor (USA) 166
6. Nathan Morcom* (AUS) 134
* Rookie
MORE INFORMATION
F2000 Championship Series website
MEDIA ENQUIRIES
